Saturday 21 December 2013

A Thrifty Christmas Gift Swap

I took part in two Secret Santa swaps this year - a Bloggers Secret Santa organised by Hannah from Hannah Bee (pictures and presents here!) and a Thrifty Christmas Gift Swap organised by Janet from Words That Can Only Be Your Own.

I've followed Janet's blog since May when she took part in Rosalilium's 'blog every day in May' challenge and when I spotted she was organising a thifty Secret Santa, I though that would be a great thing to be involved with as well. Plus Janet being the fab lady that she is, was letting non-bloggers take part as well so I excitedly told my friend M all about it who signed up there and then as well.
 
 
The idea behind the Thrifty Christmas Gift Swap is that presents should be either handmade, secondhand or thrifted with a suggested spend of around £12. I was emailed a few lines about the lady I was sending to, Leanne who liked Christmas, wine, the theatre and reading and had recently started crafting.
 
I started thinking and eventually this is what I came up with...
Mini perfume
Christmas tree bubble bath
Crafty card making kit
A set of rubber stamps
Homemade bunting
Homemade Christmas tunes mix CD
Some assorted chocolately bits and bobs 

Thrifty Gifty Presents
 
 
The 'make your own cards' kit and rubber stamps I discovered in my craft stash when I gave it a good sort out the other week - neither of which I'm ever going to use (I think I had ideas about making cards years ago and then realised I was much more interested in sewing than papercrafts).
In amongst all my Avon lady bits and bobs I also remembered I had a Christmas tree bubble bath and mini perfume which I thought Leanne might like.

Thrifty Gifty Presents Christmas CD

 
I also made some Christmas bunting and a Christmas tunes mix CD with an explanation as to why I'd picked those songs (including weird things like The Tweenies 'I Believe in Christmas' and The Accelerators 'Christmas is a Pain in the Arse').

Thrifty Gifty Presents
 
Thrifty Gifty Presents
 

 
 
I collected my Thrifty Christmas Gift Swap parcel from the delivery office on Monday and placed it under the tree naively thinking I'd keep it til Christmas...

Thrifty Gifty Presents

 
So it was opened on Wednesday instead (that's only a week in advance, not that bad surely...)
and I think, quite possibly it might just be one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received.
My Secret Santa lady, Charlotte had really gone to town with the presents, they were all so thoughtful and perfect!

Thrifty Gifty Presents

Thrifty Gifty Presents

Thrifty Gifty Presents

 
My box contained...
 Circus/fairground style fabric
Lovely little Christmas gift tags 
 Chocolate reindeer noses
 Mini nail files
The most gorgeous little duck buttons
Duck stickers
A design your own bunting set
Chocolate chip cookie mix
The Holiday DVD
A book of fab Christmas things to make and do

Thrifty Gifty Presents
 
Thrifty Gifty Presents
 

I absolutely love it all!
The little duck buttons are so sweet and the book of Christmas recipes and how-to's is brilliant - such a good idea (and with plenty of things I'm going to have to try out). The Holiday is also a film I've never actually seen but my friend M always goes on about how good it is so I'm looking forward to watching that over the Christmas break. The bunting kit is fab as well; it's wooden bunting for me to use whatever paint I want and design them myself - I've never seen a kit like that before and luckily after redecorating one of the bedrooms recently, we've got quite a few tester pots lying around.



Thank you very much Charlotte for my wonderful presents!
And huge thanks to Janet for doing all the hard work of organising it all.
 
 

8 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for taking part, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. What a lovely parcel of goodies from Charlotte!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It certainly was! I really enjoyed taking part, definitely up for next year! :-) x

      Delete
  2. What a fantastic idea for a swap! Next year I'm totally taking part. You both put together wonderful gifts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Angela! If I spot any more swaps during the year, I'll let you know in case you fancy it! :-) xx

      Delete
  3. Yup, this post along with the previous definitely makes me want to take part next Christmas. Have you watched The Holiday yet? I must say, I do like that one for a christmassy movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, we did - and it was a fab film! If you get a chance you should definitely take part in a swap - they're so much fun! :-) x

      Delete
  4. I love the idea of a thrifty swap, going to take part this year!
    Love what you made/sent as well as what you received!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...