Swappy Goodness

If you want to experience Christmas-like happiness all year round, sign up for swaps.  When I first started blogging, I noticed a lot of bloggers posting about their latest swap-venture, and I was both curious and envious.  No more! I found two  swap sites shortly before J's return and signed up immediately.

My  first package arrived from Suzy.  The very first thing I opened made me shriek with happy  - I LOVE these jelly jars!

Delicately  wrapped were these vintage Christmas ornaments. I especially like the curious and bright wooden ones:

And this string of lights (I spent as much time admiring the vintage type and graphics on the box as I did the lights):

She also gave me Christmas linens (unfortunately, those pics are on my computer at home), including a couple of Vera napkins!  The last item was a stack of vintage magazines (the name is escaping me right now) - these are always fun for digging for crafts to bring back, but I also had fun perusing their suggestions for the season's "party fashions" (bless their hearts). Regrettably, the picture of the "Christmas cumber-bun" is at home.  Thanks for the awesome package, Suzy!

The following week, I received another swappy Christmas box from my other partner, Kris, who was equally generous - taking pictures would have been overwhelming so I picked out a few of my favorites (can you believe there's even more?).  Everything came wrapped in fabric pieces (my stash thanks you, Kris).  Everything in this picture was an instant favorite and I am especially grateful for the acknowledgement of our  military background with the nostalgic book, A Wartime Christmas.

Kris is a collage artist and she made the pretty notecard/ornament in the bottom right.  She also included an assortment of stickers and images - much to my delight.  I have always been a huge fan of all things paper and graphic.  I already have too many crafty ventures taking up my time (and dining room slash craft space), but collage and altered art have recently piqued my interest so these paper goodies are a treat.

Comments

[Hub]

Thanks for the info. I had no idea the treasure I was letting Eve use for her play dough time. Fried cookies! Wow- that made my day :)

-Andrea

[Mom]

Andrea, I'm not positive from the picture but the molds look a lot like a rosette iron to make yummy Swedish cookies.

(To see a rosette iron, go to:
http://rosetteirons.com/_wsn/page2.html)

From yet another website comes this explanation: "Rosettes, the deep fried batter cookies, are produced with a rosette iron. The iron is preheated in hot oil, dipped in the cookie batter and plunged back into the oil until the cookies are golden."

That first weblink has all kinds of tips and info. Hope that helps!

[KBG]

Oh my goodness, we totally had those lights on our tree when I was growing up. My parents probably still have them! What a blast from the past.

[andrea]

Crystal,

I have those same molds that are in the sixth picture. I have no idea what they are to be used for. Could you let me know please? Thanks! Hope you are having a fun time in Tennessee.

-Andrea