Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I am SO excited! After 18 months of travel, planning, changes, delays and a few tears - but plenty of excitement, my new gift packaging is here!!! In my 17 years of being a jewelry maker, my gift packaging has gone through several iterations. I started with a simple organza bag, moved on to basic off-the-shelf gift boxes, then on to my first custom gift box design. And now...something so precious and lovely that I can't help but smile when I think of it. {sigh}
I must say looking back, I'm so proud of my packaging changes, but possibly even prouder of my improved photography skills! Whoa! That's craziness. I work super hard behind-the-scenes to make sure your pearls are perfect (another blog post about that is coming soon), your gift wrap is gorgeous, and that her pearls make it all the way to her hands without a hitch. I think you'd be surprised at the journey of this gift packaging's path into existence. It was quite a roller coaster, but a ride definitely done out of love.
It all started in 2015 - hubby and I packed up and flew to the bright lights of Las Vegas to our very first major trade show. Coming from our little town of Lompoc, we were crazy overwhelmed. Holy moly! We had spent weeks making a plan of attack, so we didn't miss any vendors at the show. It was all mapped out & loaded up on the phone.
It took us THREE solid 8 hour days just to get through all of the vendors. We had meetings and looked through what seemed like a gazillion box choices with scores of vendors. We were exhausted, so we spent the last night binge watching
House of Cards in our gorgeous room at the Aria - while looking out over the beautiful lights of the strip.
We left Las Vegas exhausted, with a bag full of colorful business cards, brochures, and contact information. We even ran into my business crush, Lisa Leonard, at the airport in Santa Maria [I was too nervous to say hello]. Goodness. {blush} I felt like a goofy groupie. So silly! The funny thing is that I've been in the jewelry biz far longer, but she's just AMAZING. Seriously. Amazing. Cat got your tongue kind of amazing. But I digress... After looking through the piles of the colorful brochures and business cards, the research began. I spent literally 3 months researching, contacting, chatting, requesting samples, and generally getting to know several box manufacturers across the country. I wanted to find the perfect box to hold the pearls while still sticking within the budget, so I didn't have to raise my prices just because of gift packaging.
We found a company relatively close to home (and only a few minutes from Disneyland...can't beat that!) So we took the trek down several different times to meet with the company, design the boxes, choose all...the...things. It's insane how many decisions go in to making a superb box! The shell, the fabric, the lining, the outer covering, the hot stamping foil choice, the outer gift packer, the bow. Then I found the best anti-tarnish cloth that was also soft enough to safely store pearls, and I hired a seamstress to custom-make my special anti-tarnish pearl pouches to fit perfectly inside of our new custom boxes. Hooray!!
We found that to have the manufacturer tie the ribbon on top of the box (not around the box...I want you to be able to open them before gifting), was going to QUADRUPLE the price. What?!?! Seriously. Craziness. So I sourced the perfect pink ribbon and now we individually cut, attach, and hand-tie each ribbon to the top of each box, right here in our little California studio.
So after a crazy journey of elation, disappointments, joys and tears...I present to you the fancy schmancy gift packaging that comes complimentary with every
Little Girl's Pearls order!
So what do you think? Do you love it, too? I can't wait to hear your thoughts!! ♥
