Twelve Days of Christmas

I am so happy I joined the Chaotic Goddess 12 Days of Christmas Swap! Sure, the crazy craziness of finding/preparing twelve gifts to ship off the first weekend of December added to the insanity of my holiday preparations but in the end, it was pleasant having twelve gifts to open. Here's a little secret. Some days, I would forget I had a little package coming my way. I don't usually forget such important things! I was the person who still pre-opened her Christmas gifts to find out what they were as soon as possible when I was in graduate school. (It's true, I'm a peeker! I love getting presents because surprises are the best.ever! I don't know how to explain it but some days I would be walking out of the kitchen at the end of the night, spy my box of goodies and say, "oh right, I have a present today!" That was delightful. My swap partner was Beth of Printcess.

The very first present I opened was that tin. I suppose I could show you what was inside, but then I'd have to kill you. (It was gummi candy.) (The real reason I can't show it to you is that I ate a metric ton of gummis in 12 Days.) I'm pretty sure that Beth had great confidence that that would go over! Day Two brought me that hat and fingerless mitts muffatees. Rare is the knitted gift I receive, and I was really very pleased. I started wearing the hat immediately to walk the dog. On Day Three I got that gingerbread scented lotion and two nail polishes--red and green, and I see that this is truly a lousy photo because the red seems to have fallen down behind the lotion AND you cannot see the cute little reindeer on that bag. I also got a snowman cuddling a chocolate bar that seems to have just been a free day sort of thing. Funnily enough, the chocolate lives on. 

Day Four saw me receive a pile of scrapbooking supplies. I've always held that the best presents for crafters are more crafting supplies and I think Beth generally agrees with the philosophy. I was quite delighted! Day Five was the day of salted caramel, which should pretty much be a holiday on its own. I got a small bag full of homemade salted caramels and a little packet of salted caramel hot chocolate, the nectar of the gods. On Day Six, Beth sent four coasters that she handcrafted. I think they are decoupaged, but they might be painted. The are lovely either way. You will also see a small collection of snowmen--a cross stitched card and a--what are those loopy bands the kids are making stuff with?--a snowman made from loopy bands! He would have found a place on our tree had we, you know, had one. There were also jingle bell--wine markers? earrings?--because, you know, I will pretty much put anything on a wineglass to make sure people do not touch my wine! Anyway, these little treats got separated from their day markers, and because it was in the middle of the whole thing, I have gift amnesia. But I was so happy opening everything Beth sent. 

Day Seven brought "dapper decor" that wicker snowman hat. It has a soft folded fabric interior, and I am not sure quite why, but I think it would make a cute tree topper for my snowman tree, if I could engineer that. Day Eight was a favorite! A case full of beads "for boot camp." Beth was a wonderful swap partner actually reading my blog and finding out what I like. Imagine that. (Does this make me sound bitter about past exchanges?) I've been poking around in my case of beads like it's a little treasure chest. Because the only thing better than using craft supplies is fondling them! Day Nine was a plate for my snowman collection! It has currently replaced one of our everyday decorative plates--one of the few bits of seasonal decor I managed.

Day Ten was fabric so I can make some Pinterest projects! In addition to the grape fabric (I keep wanting to write wine fabric for some reason) there were some lovely blue and purple cuts of felt. They are not all shown because, I may have mentioned this, I am the worst photographer. On Day 11 I received some coffee. At this point, I really needed it! Because I had soooooo much still to do and so little time. Day 12 was the grand finale of the BH&G 2001 Cross-Stitch Designs. Beth really paid attention not just to what I wrote for likes and dislikes on the form, but on the blog too. It was a pleasure to do this exchange.

I've already seen some of Beth's responses to my gifts on Instagram, and because it is better to give than receive, it was a great pleasure to watch her unwrapping unfold. I'm especially pleased with the response to the glittered dinosaur...well you'll just have to go over to her blog to find out more!