Sister Swap

My sister, Carrie, and I have had fun hosting a Christmas Cozy swap recently! My boxes are waiting at home for me to open them - that will be so fun when we get back from Colorado!

Meanwhile, the friend I was paired with also has two daughters so we did a sisters to sisters swap and a mom to mom swap! So fun!

I wrapped everything and realized I didn't get a bunch of good photos - but here are a few pictures.

For the daughters - the girls and I made a 12 days of Christmas Advent wreath with activities for the sisters to enjoy together.

You can see the activities we included above - and then wrapped and numbered the supplies for each of these activities in cute little Christmas bags!

I hope they have so much fun doing these holiday activities together as sisters!

Now, for my mom box!

I recently found a stack of these handwriting boards at a thrift store and knew I wanted to make some sort of Christmas sign out of it. This is fun because she can change the words on the hoop  just by unpinning the tag and adding a new one.

Other items included fun socks, a devotional book, magazine, stack of cute homemade cloth napkins, dishcloth, mug {not pictured - already wrapped!} and some other little goodies.

Thanks to all the gals who joined our swap, made a new friend and brought cozy to their lives this Christmas season! We invite those who participated to leave a comment with a link to their blog post, Instagram photo or other post about their swap!

Swap Show & Tell

Hope any of you who participated in the swap had fun! It is time to show and tell over at Carrie's blog today!

And, here are the fun goodies that Holly my swap partner sent me!

Grateful Swap

After a two-year hiatus, it's time for another swap! We are pleased to announce that our next Sister's Shoebox Swap has a theme of Grateful!

For those are who are unfamiliar with our swaps, my sister and I started these several years ago as a unique way to make a new friend and encourage them. Based on the information you send us, we match you with someone we think you will pair well with, and then we ask each of you to fill a shoebox with goodies tailored to the theme and your swap partner. It's a lot of fun!

This theme is mainly aimed at Thanksgiving, but Christmas can certainly be included! I've started working on my goodies and Christmas is heavily represented so far :)

Please read the following details carefully if you are interested in swapping:

1.Before you send us an e-mail, please consider if you have the time and resources to fulfill your swap. We don't want anyone to be disappointed!

2. You need to fill out your questionnaire as part of the sign-up. In order to sign up for this swap, please e-mail therustyrobin {at} gmail {dot} com with the following info {sorry, our swap email account does not seem to be working right now}:

name
complete mailing address
e-mail address
blog site, if you have one

If you would be willing to ship internationally, please indicate that specifically. If you don't mention it, we'll assume it's your preference to ship within the U.S.

Also, please answer the following questions in your sign-up e-mail. The more thorough your answers, the better we can match you with someone complementary.

What are you are grateful for? (Just list a few!)
What are your favorite things about the holiday season?
What are your favorite holiday colors?
What are your favorite holiday scents?

These next questions are to indicate your preferences--feel free to elaborate on your choices:
Hot weather or cold
Tea or coffee
Cake or pie
Buy it or make it
Book or movie

Sign-up entries must be complete to be included. Even if you’ve swapped with us before, please send all of the information requested above. Please keep the theme in mind when selecting items for your partner, and as usual, please limit your gifts to what can fit in a shoebox.

Important dates to consider:

Sign-ups due by 8 a.m. (CST) Wednesday, October 23, or when 20 people have signed up.Partner info will be e-mailed to you by Friday, October 25.
Please send your shoebox by Friday, November 15.

Thanks, and happy swapping!

UPDATE: Swap is full!!! Thanks for your interest, friends!

Merry Swap!

My swap partner was Lizzie! Here are the fun goodies I put together for her:

She loves red! So, that was an easy thing to accommodate with Christmas!
Lizzie - I hope you love your box!!


And, here are the beautiful and fun goodies she sent me:


Thank you, Lizzie!
Visit Carrie's to see more swap show & tell!

Merry!

It's time for another Christmas swap! We are pleased to announce that our next Sister's Shoebox Swap has a theme of Merry!

For those are who are unfamiliar with our swaps, my sister and I started these several years ago as a unique way to make a new friend and encourage them. Based on the information you send us, we match you with someone we think you will pair well with, and then we ask each of you to fill a shoebox with goodies tailored to the theme and your swap partner. It's a lot of fun!

Please read the following details carefully if you are interested in swapping:

1. In order to participate, you must either have swapped successfully with us before, or you must be a regular commenter on one of our blogs (The Homespun Heart/with all that I’ve been given). You don't need to comment daily, or even weekly, but we need to recognize your name when you sign up.

Before you send us an e-mail, please consider if you have the time and resources to fulfill your swap. We don't want anyone to be disappointed!

2. You need to fill out your questionnaire as part of the sign-up. In order to sign up for this swap, please e-mail sisterswaps@hotmail.com with the following info:

name
complete mailing address
e-mail address
blog site, if you have one

If you would be willing to ship internationally, please indicate that specifically. If you don't mention it, we'll assume it's your preference to ship within the U.S.

Also, please answer the following questions in your sign-up e-mail. The more thorough your answers, the better we can match you with someone complementary.

* How do you define a Merry Christmas?
*When you think of Christmas, what colors or images come to mind?
* What are your do's and don'ts of holiday decorating? (for example: Do you collect snowmen? How do you feel about Santa or religious decorations in your home?)
*When it comes to gifts, are you more likely to buy them or make them?
*Do you have a favorite Christmas book or movie?

Sign-up entries must be complete to be included. Even if you’ve swapped with us before, please send all of the information requested above. Please keep the theme in mind when selecting items for your partner, and as usual, please limit your gifts to what can fit in a shoebox.

Important dates to consider:
Sign-ups due by 8 a.m. (CST) Thursday, November 3, or when 40 people have signed up.
Partner info will be e-mailed to you by Monday, November 7.
Please send your shoebox by Friday, December 2.

If you have not received an e-mail with partner info from us by November 10, please check your “junk” folder first, and then contact us if needed.

Thanks, and happy swapping!

Nest Swap Show & Tell

Thanks so much to all of you who participated in the Nest Swap!

My swap partner was sweet Bevy ~ what fun! Here is what I sent her:

Cute twine dispenser, polka dotted spoon rest, notecards, Easter Garland, Mrs. Meyers spray (lavender - my favorite!), bird cage, pin and hobnail bowls.

Here is what she sent me:

Muslin Rose Pin (oooh! Love this!)

Sweet and vintagey notecards!

Hand-dyed ribbon scarf crocheted by a friend of hers - how pretty is this?!

Cute basket with sweet bird on top!

Lots of other Spring goodies!

And, look at these cute cinnamon stick and felt flowers! Charming!

Thanks so much Bevy for making this a fun swap!

And, here is the fun box that my Mom received from her swap partner - Betsy!

Hop over to Carrie's to show and tell your swap or see all the goodies!

Nest Swap

The first day of spring is just around the corner, and we are pleased to announce that our next Sister's Shoebox Swap has a theme of Nest!

For those are who are unfamiliar with our swaps, my sister and I started these several years ago as a unique way to encourage others. Based on the information you send us, we match you with someone we think you will pair well with, and then we ask each of you to fill a shoebox with goodies tailored to the theme and your swap partner. It's a lot of fun!

Please read the following details carefully if you are interested in swapping:

1. In order to participate, you must either have swapped successfully with us before, or you must be a regular commenter on one of our blogs (The Homespun Heart/with all that I’ve been given). You don't need to comment daily, or even weekly, but we need to recognize your name when you sign up.

Before you send us an e-mail, please consider if you have the time and resources to fulfill your swap. We don't want anyone to be disappointed!

2. You need to fill out your questionnaire as part of the sign-up. In order to sign up for this swap, please e-mail sisterswaps@hotmail.com with the following info:

name

complete mailing address
e-mail address
blog site, if you have one

If you would be willing to ship internationally, please indicate that specifically. If you don't mention it, we'll assume it's your preference to ship within the U.S.

Also, please answer the following questions in your sign-up e-mail. The more thorough your answers, the better we can match you with someone complementary.

*Considering that your home is your nest, how would you describe your ideal nest? (bright, spacious, cozy, etc.)

*How do you celebrate Easter?
* What are your do's and don'ts of spring decorating? (for example: Favorite spring colors? Do you collect bunnies? How do you feel about religious decorations in your home?)

Sign-up entries must be complete to be included. Even if you’ve swapped with us before, please send all of the information requested above. Please keep the theme in mind when selecting items for your partner, and as usual, please limit your gifts to what can fit in a shoebox.

Important dates to consider:
Sign-ups due by 8 a.m. (CST) Friday, March 11, or when 40 people have signed up.
Partner info will be e-mailed to you by Wednesday, March 16.
Please send your shoebox by Wednesday, April 6.

If you have not received an e-mail with partner info from us by March 16, please check your “junk” folder first, and then contact us if needed.

Thanks, and happy swapping!

JOY Swap - Show and Tell

Thanks to all of you who participated in the JOY Swap! It was so much fun! I was paired with the lovely and sweet Leanne - what a fun box of treasures she put together for me! But, I'm ashamed to say I forgot to take pictures and now am 1800 miles away from my house! Hope she will post on her blog today! Thank you, Leanne!!!!

Ok, here is what I sent her:

Go link up your swap and see all the other goodies over at Carrie's!