Press-on Nails, False Eyelashes. and Sticky-Bows

            Sticky bows are similar in aesthetic to press-on nails and adhesive lashes. Cousin Eddie wears blue leisure suits, a dickey under a V-neck sweater, and wraps presents with sticky-bows. His wife wears a sticky bow as a hair ornament.

            A friend and co-worker raised my consciousness concerning the inadvisability of any faux beauty technique, except subtle hair color. She not only decries the use of “sticky bows” but also gives a deep sigh when addressing the topic of bargain priced, easy-rip wrapping papers.

            For those uninformed about “sticky-bows” digest this morsel of education. Sticky-bows are fashioned of thin, shiny ribbon in various colors and are in no way kin to delicious sticky-buns.  They are created by looping ribbon around and over with a well-positioned staple plus a peel and stick backing. Available in all colors and sizes, sticky-bows also may be purchased in bulk. Like Twinkies, their shelf-life has yet to expire.

Christmas Candy Theme

              My friend, who alphabetizes her spices and canned goods, orders her wrapping paper to coordinate with her Christmas Tree and home décor. She has never worn an ugly Christmas sweater in her life, even when the rest of the world wore them, unaware. She purchases ribbon in various widths and in blending hues, again festively matching the overall theme of the home’s Christmas trees. 

               I was inspired, but not before I was shocked, aghast, in fact. I never imagined how out of touch I had become. Guilty of purchasing bags of bows for ease in wrapping many gifts in the wee hours of the morning, I had no idea that I had participated in a great holiday faux-pas.  Our collective group of educated women and power-mamas was equally unaware. We became hysterical in thinking about our gaffe.

                So, since she deserved it so richly, we fixed her right up with a Sticky-Bow extravaganza, all in good-natured fun. We sticky-bow’d her office in its entirety. Every flat surface was pasted with a sticky-bow, including the computer monitor. The plants grew sticky-bows on each branch.  We poured them from the bag into her filing cabinets and covered her office door from bottom to top with a multitude of varying size sticky-bows. It’s one of the highlights of our Christmas memories and lives in office lore. She was still finding sticky-bows at Easter.

                   My conscience was raised nonetheless. I have delighted in creating a different kind of Christmas Tree that I place in our living room/hallway area.  It is themed “White Gold” which in the Arkansas Delta translates as Cotton. At Target I found several wrapping papers that also coordinate:  white flocked paper, brown textured paper, a snow-glittered copper colored paper. 

The ribbon is wired, glittered  in gold, silver, white, brown, and highlighted with green and turquoise, accent colors on the tree and in the living room/den.  To add the final touch, several packages have cotton bolls attached. 

                   

            Our Christmas Tree and the packages underneath are beautiful, inspired, tasteful, elegant, and color-coordinated.

                         I owe the inspiration to a sweet friend, The Sticky-Bow Gift-Wrap Queen.