This past December, my Gap Inc. team created a series of stories highlighting employees and their thoughtful gifting tips as a part of the company's #LoveWhatYouGive holiday campaign.

As a part of the campaign, we created a series of laydowns — highlighting each story's theme and chosen gifts — to be used on Gap Inc. social media channels and at the bottom of each blog post.

It was important for us to include props, which gave the product laydowns a lived-in, real-life feel, and helped evoke the personality and story of the gifters and their chosen recipients. I collected holiday decorations, chopped off a few branches from my Christmas tree, and we otherwise raided our homes for trinkets — including a stuffed llama I was gifting my 1-year-old niece — that could be included in the scenes.

While we're currently working on putting together a more elevated studio space, we approached this holiday laydown project DIY-style, clearing out the video editing bay and using a thick, clean piece of white foam core as a backdrop. Post-production, I used Photoshop to color-correct the warm lighting and remove the tripod legs.

Check us hamming it up behind the scenes. I blame the small room, hot lights, and excessive amount of sugar. (That holiday candy wasn't going to eat itself.)

Read all of the #LoveWhatYouGive stories on Gap Inc.'s aDressed blog, including one I wrote about Banana Republic marketing manager Sarah Quon and her strategy for last-minute gifting.