The Gift of Nature

This is my first entry, so bear with me while I figure this whole new world of blogging (to Bluebell that is). 

Bluebell and the Fox is a whimsical, nature loving shop on Etsy that opened in 2012: www.etsy.com/shop/BluebellandtheFox . You can find tea cozies, children's dresses, men's pocket scarves, photo cards, photographs, and other bibelots * (for a definition of bibelot see the end of this entry).  I grew up in the wild landscape of the California Coast around Big Sur, so I have always felt very close to nature in all its many mysteries. This latest venture of Bluebell and the Fox will reflect my aesthetic approach to living and offer my ideas to inspire its readers. 

I have a tricky friend to give a gift to tomorrow, and decided on parting with one of my prized possessions: a beautiful bird's nest that literally fell from the treetop into my lap. I wanted to make an offering of surprise and beauty that was as far away from the world of commerce as possible and as close to the primeval beginning of life "when women were birds" -Terry Tempest Williams' title of a book I love. Giving is a thoughtful action for me that takes some reflection about who that receiving person is and consideration as to why I am giving whatever it is. There must be meaning.

After deciding on the nest, I proceeded to think about how to wrap it - a critical aspect to gift giving. This was somewhat problematical. After searching here and there I ended up at the Paper Source in Porter Square, Cambridge, MA (www.paper-source.com) where I bought a beautiful buff colored box (sku 436700), soft sea green tissue (sage) and an interesting natural ribbon with red running through it (red double stripe). Here I am standing on a chair to show you what I bought, thanks to the shop lady named Margaret, who loved my idea and enthusiastically directed me exactly where I needed to be. So thank you Margaret!

Next, I carefully inserted two sheets of tissue into the box and with the greatest of care fit the birds nest inside. All my friend has to do is lift the tissue out and with it the nest, all safe and snug, nested in a nest.

Finally, I put the lid on, tied the ribbon, snipped the ends and thought, hmm, needs something else, so I looked in my nature collection and selected the perfect feather found in the woods. That gives a hint, but I do not think he will ever guess the contents of this box! Voilà, the perfect Gift of Nature!

Fin

* bibelot |ˈbib(ə)ˌlō|

noun

a small, decorative ornament or trinket.

ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from French, fanciful formation based on bel ‘beautiful.’     
-from the online Mac dictionary