Swapper Gift Guide, part 4

It's December now! Time for some serious list-checking! If you're a crafty type, you know that now is NOT the time to start crafting presents. But I've got some quick to whip up ideas for those in a time-crunch.

Knit or crochet a pair of washcloths, tie them up neatly with ribbon and add a nice bar of soap. My favorite soap purveyors online are:
Daisycakes Soap-I love their soap, I love her olive oil soap, great affordable gift sets and the BEST lip balm in tons of great flavors! And when I say flavors, I mean FLAVORS, they are seriously tasty! (Chai tea and mint chocolate chip are tops on my list.)

SoapyLove- Home of the soapsicle! Deb also makes some great, colorful, fun soaps!

Along the same soap/cleaning line, Little Birdie Secrets tutorial for fancy dish gloves captured my heart. I hope I'm not giving away any of my own little secrets but I made several pairs as gifts! I bought my oilcloth from Mendel's because they have the largest selection I've seen with some really unique patterns. And you can buy as little as a 1/2 yard of each if you want!

A great and quick gift is a set of handmade napkins. This tutorial will show you how and also includes how to make your own bias tape for binding.

Birds of a feather flock together. If your list includes other crafty types, check out this great list of gifts to create for the creative. And One Pretty Thing just posted a lovely selection of tutorials and projects as well!

Is there a pooch on your list this year? A new collar is quick and easy to whip up! I love to order my hardware from Creative Designworks and they make great kits with all the parts you need plus instructions to make a variety of different styles of collars and harnesses. Just add the fabric of your choice. A set of collars for each holiday would make an excellent package!

And what about babies? My go-to gift for babies are ribbon tag blankets. Here's a great tutorial I just saw via One Pretty Thing.

To wrap it all up, how about making reusable fabric gift bags? These are so easy! Just two fat quarters and some ribbon but they are so cute. Use holiday fabrics and you've got yourself the perfect wrapping!

Swapper Gift Guide, part 3

A lot of swappers are crafters. And such crafty people can be hard to shop for. They are creative enough to come up with wonderful accessories and items for themselves and so usually have more than enough baubles and trinkets. They need supplies but that is a very personal decision, not something you can generally just swing by and pick up. What do you get the crafty swapper?

How about a t-shirt that feature their preferred medium? Crafty Gear has shirts featuring a WIDE variety of crafty hobbies including knitting, weaving, beading, painting, polymer clay and more! Even shirts for herder to find crafts like rubber stamping, felting and tatting!

One great idea I hit on was that if someone likes swapping through the mail, they probably like swapping in real life too! Pass It On Plates are all about swapping and sharing! Give them a plate with some goodies on it. They go to the plates website, enter their info and then pass the plate on to someone else! How great is that?

I think edibles are always a great gift! And drinkables too! Full Bloom Teas are so awesome, they are tea and art combined!

And for more great shopping, check out Tip Junkie's Shop-a-thon. Tons of great shops, arranged by category, most of them offering special savings codes!

Swapper Gift Guide, part 2

So, you've got a swappy friend on your gift list? What kind of things does a swapper like that they don't already get from swaps? How about supporting their habit with supplies they use frequently!
1. Bubble mailers-Spend a few extra dollars and get the fun colored ones! Or make a set yourself from patterned paper and bubble wrap!

2. Deco Tape- To seal up all those envelopes (especially when recycling gently used ones) in style! Deco (decorative) tape has a design running along it.
3. Postage- I wish the USPS allowed you to buy gift cards but your swappy pal will just have to settle for an assortment of stamps. Swappers are sure to get good use out of not only 42 cent stamps like these awesome Eames stamps but also postcard stamps (27 cents) like these tropical fruit ones!

4. Swapper who like to penpal and write personal notes for their packages might appreciate some stationery. Simply Embellish has lovely cards like these fall leaves cards, as well as great personalized address stickers.
5. Swappers with blogs or websites to promote would love a set of promos to send along with swaps. Promos in a Snap has all sorts of fun goodies like buttons, notepads, magnets and stickers. I think notepads would be such a fun item to drop into each package.

6. Speaking of promos, I just started dropping a business card in all of my swaps. It's a great way to give your partner all your pertinent info without having to write it all out every time. I ordered mine from VistaPrint, known for their "free" cards (just pay shipping). I ended up going with a more high-end card but still paid less than $10 for 250 cards, a great deal! Info to include: name, address, email, blog, flickr, shop, and user name for any swapping sites like Swap-Bot.

7. A custom address stamp would also be welcome by anyone who frequently mails packages. If they swap internationally, make sure you remember to include their country in the last line.

Swapper Gift Guide, part 1

In the months of November and December, I will be writing a series of posts featuring holiday gift ideas for swappers! If you have a swapper on your list to buy for, you're sure to find some great ideas. But watch out, you may just find yourself adding to your list for Santa. I hope no matter what, you'll have fun reading along!

What does a swapper love more than mail? More mail! Product sampler boxes are a relatively new promotional device for e-tailers. And I think they would make fantastic presents for the swapper who love independent shops, crafty goodies and handmade items. A box of surprises in the mail: sounds like a swapper's favorite thing! Here are a few of the sampler boxes out there.

The Sampler
One of the better-known sampler boxes, The Sampler highlights indie crafters, artists, zines and record labels. The November Sampler is on sale now, the Holiday Sampler will be available later in December.

The Spotted Box
Released on the 15th of each month, the Spotted Box is a newer sample box catering to families with children and featured eco-friendly samples from independent retailers.

Phat Fiber
So new, it won't be available until next year! This one is for the yarn and fiber enthusiast, containing yarn, roving, batts, stitch markers, patterns, coupon codes from indie fiber artists. Coming in January 2009.

My Pretty Pink Box For the girly-girl, this sampler box contains beauty items from small e-tailers.
Released mid-month, the November box will be on sale soon.


Little Black Box
Filled with a wide variety of items from indie retailers including jewelery, candles, soap, crochet items, edibles and more. The November (Holiday) boxes are on sale now.




And I will definately be checking out their Black Friday Bonanza! During this special event, participants shops are offering sales, free shipping, buy one get one free deals, contests and door prizes! Awesome! Watch their blog for more info.



My Little Purple Box
The Little Black box is USA only, but if you're shopping list includes an international swapper, My Little Purple Box is their worldwide sister site.

Pets Jubilee
There's even a sample box for those of us who love spoiling our pets! Each box debuts on the 1st of each month. The Holiday box, full of handmade goodies for pets of all kinds, will go on sale Dec. 1.

Lemming Central Sampler Boxes
For the person who likes smelly things, Lemming Central boxes are mainly filled with beauty and candle products. Their Holiday box is scheduled to go on sale in December.

Get Eurofied is a brand NEW sample box containing only products from handmade enterprises located in the European Union. Don't worry, they ship globally! It's a taste of handmade Europe, starting this December.