Sunday, February 28, 2010

a LITTLE packaging..

..goes a long way. 

And I mean, little as in tiny.
Hehh.

Anyway, conducting an online business means having to be hands-on in carrying several different activities, from photography to social media promotions to doing accounts etc. Some are rather tedious yet necessary, but there are some which I truly enjoy.

Like the part where I get to pack orders. Somehow I always get a kick out of penning down addresses, making my own bubble envelopes (yep I do that!) and MOSTLY, packaging the actual purchase.

I'm very, for lack of a better word, anal about packaging. (actually 'particular' might be a better word eh. oh well!) To me, packaging is a last step which is sadly, very often neglected. But I feel it is the key to transforming a simple purchase, into a gift. 

It wasn't easy at first, trying to figure out what kind of packaging would work best for a product that tiny. Most packaging advice suited jewellery, or books, or clothings, but it was hard to find any that taught you how to package miniatures. 

Fast forward a year later, now I've found some materials and ways to package miniatures in a way that would asthetically please. I can't say and definitely don't think they're the best packaging methods, but the main point here is to show that just a little thought and effort goes a long way. (yes, I'm starting to repeat myself.)

This is how I chose to wrap up some of my cookies for a recent customer.

 

Okay please allow me a shameless moment. I'm REALLY proud of my cursive 'cookie'! hahaha, I've always struggled with cursive since my primary penmanship days. But ever since I saw a girl in lecture who was taking down school notes in a journal which was crammed with gorgeous, messy cursive, I fell in love with the font.

Although I must admit I practised about a dozen times just for this 'cookie' label.


 I use cheap baking/greaseproof paper, and baker's twine. Trust me, you can't really go wrong with these two materials! :)


 And that's a lot of mini triangle cut-outs achieved after a few minutes of hard snipping away.


 Right, so I threw those cut-outs into the bin (not before I snapped the above photo!) as I was really cutting the jagged edges of these miniature grocery bags instead! 

I haven't seen a patterned scissors which cuts such small edges yet, but I kind of like the brainless, shut-down mode I go into when I'm cutting them anyway! I always recycle the brown envelopes of my family's mail, you should try looking around in your postbox or you could use real grocery bags. :)

 

RIGHT. This is turning out to be a long monologue, and I sound like a total packaging geek, don't I!

It's all her fault really, head on over and see if you ain't bowled over with all the pretty packaging!

WAIT, before you hop off!

How do YOU package gifts/products?
or 
What's your favourite/worst package received so far?

7 comments:

  1. wow those are adorable! It must have taken ages it's a shame you don't get miniature perforated scissors anywhere, maybe you could invent them hehe! Love your blog.

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  2. aww!! how cute! (^_^) i'd be soo happy to receive something so sweet!

    I package my makes in recycled brown boxes,wrapped in old book pages & finished with string & maybe a tag too :o)

    This is a tutorial for a variation on my packaging, using recycleables! (perfect for miniatures too!)

    http://littlegreenshoot.blogspot.com/2010/01/teach-her-tuesday-recycled-box-bags.html

    Chloe x

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  3. i LOVE the paper bags hahaha!!!! damn cute!
    for me uh i got cheap wrapping paper from daiso and started making small paper bags too (:

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  4. Your packaging is super cute. I currently use recycled packaging from my day job in ceramics (so lots of very fine bubbly paper). It is practical, but not aesthetic. I suppose my priority is that stuff gets to where it's going safely, I'm not clever enough yet to cope with that AND being pretty. I don't know how you manage it!

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  5. Miquette, perforated is the word I was trying to get out! hehh, ya I would be the first to nab them once they're invented! :)

    Chloe, your tutorial's awesome! I especially love seeing old book pages used that way, aren't they just a bit of magic? :)

    Wanyu, thank you! You mean for your feltlings? HURRY GO MAKE MORE PLEASE. hahah.

    A-M, you have a day job in ceramics!? I'm envious!! hehh. and thank you, though I agree protection of the item is most important!

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  6. ee.. ur mini packaging are sooo cute!!! love the cursive writing. me myself, i struggle wif cursive as well.. lol... good work on the paper bag.. looks cute!

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  7. Cassiemissy, ohh thank you! :) i'm still struggling with the cursive too!

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