Tara Mann

We’ve written a number of times about the gifts our neighbor Matthew Sporzynski occasionally leaves outside our door. They always come with perfect timing for whatever is going on in our lives, and are always wonderfully presented.

Like this one. Matthew called to say “I made an experimental mac-and-cheese. Would you like to try it?”

YES!

Outside our door we found a chic black Prada box…and inside of that an oddly sculptural block of foil, with the mac-and -cheese inside.

Delicious.

Now the Prada box is waiting to hold a gift we’ll give to another friend, as we recycle the fab box once again…as we did with this Hermes box……We don’t remember who gave it to us (or what it held), but it became the perfect unlikely wrapping…

Sally Schneider

….for a swell little copy of the I Ching.

Sally Schneider

Related post: Leaving Secret (or Surprise) Presents

What to Do When Someone’s in Trouble

Couturier de Cardboard: Matthew Sporzynski

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3 replies on “give your gift in a fab (recycled) box

  1. I just read an article in the NYT where someon famous was lamenting receiving a Tiffany’s box from a boyfriend, but alas, the gift was $50, not a ring, and she was crushed. So in some situations, a designer box could raise expectations. Consider pasting a photo or bow over that prada or hermes logo.

  2. Hi Jillian, I read that article too…
    I think it’s all about balances and vibes and who the recipient is. For the person I was giving the I Ching too, I knew that it would have been more valuable to him than an Hermes scarf. A friend once gave me a ring (not a Tiffany one) in a giant Tiffany box, the ring itself, wrapped and wrapped in layers of wrapping, and maybe inside of other boxes inside of boxes. It seemed like a fabulous presentation, I imagine because I’m not into Tiffany stuff, and “got” what the wrapping is.

  3. The big chain coffee company SB sells there instant coffee in small 10 single serving packages that look like a table tent advertisement in a restaurant. I am taking these and decorating them with cut out old Christmas cards wrapping paper ribbon and what ever artistically is festive. I then put a smallish present like jewelery, gift cards or the like in them. I tag the bottom with the name of the recipient . Then tie a reasonable loop of ribbon on the top through the hole provided so the package can be hung on the tree with the other decorations. They look nice and I have personalized each package according to the persons likes or funny bones. I am hoping that they will look nice enough that the people will keep them for a continued decoration the next year. This recycles the previous years festive memories and materials and adds to the charm of the Christmas season with out destroying the earth to do it.

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