Kitschy Gift Swap

A few weeks ago, Caitlin had the brilliant idea to host a gift swap. But not just any gift swap: a gift swap centered around the cheap, touristy, kitschy stuff from around where you live. Seeing as Austin in particular and Texas in general is chock full of that kind of thing, this seemed like a breeze on my end. Plus I’d get paired with someone from some other part of the country, and get a bunch of random, possibly fascinating slices of localized culture in return. Needless to say, I signed up.

I was paired up with Ashley, who lives in Florida. She’s a graphic designer, too. And also has an adorable pit mix. So, well done on the pairing up, Caitlin! Ashley and I exchanged emails and shipping addresses, and got to work putting together our boxes of kitsch. You can see what I sent her over on her Instagram feed.

Here is what she sent me:

Kitschy gift swap

Contents: Some gator-themed French Vanilla coffee and hot sauce; citrus-themed soap, mini bowl, and piercer/sipper gadget; some pin-up style postcards from the museum she works at; flamingo-shaped chopsticks; and a Native American ghost beads necklace.

Great stuff, right?! And oh-so-very Florida. I especially love the long necklace and the postcards and the bowl. I’m going to have to hand over the chopsticks (I’m hopeless with the things!) and the hot sauce to the boy, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate them.

Overall, a very fun swap. Thank you, Ashley! 😀

What kind of kitsch is common where you live?
 

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Tuesday Treasure Trove

Tuesday Treasure Trove

If you’re here for the Preview to Summer Blogger Book Swap, scroll down. Laugh-worthy thing of the day: visit Gizoogle, type in your Twitter name, enter, and visit the first link. Too funny. Here’s mine. Life Lessons in Fighting the Culture of Bullshit. Possibly the most realistic commencement speech ever. More great advice from the Adulting blog: How to Share Your Cause or Beliefs Without Being a Total Jerk. 6 Social Situations That Aren’t A Big Deal, But Give Me Anxiety. Funny, but also yes on #1,2,3 & 6. 10 Beautiful Words About Love That Don’t Exist in English. Engineering […]

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Lucky Leprechaun Book & Polish Swap

Back in February, I signed up for the Lucky Leprechaun Book & Polish Swap. Because I like books and nail polishes, if you didn’t know, and swaps are always a fun way to get new ones. 🙂 I was paired up with Lauren, we exchanged a few preferences, and here is what she sent me: She was spot-on! This book has been on my to-read list for awhile, and I LOVE the nail polish color. It’s the color currently on my toes, in fact (but I’ll spare you a feet picture). 😀 Thank you very much, Lauren! Have you participated […]

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The Rejects Swap

At the beginning of this month, Kristen over at Milo & Molly proposed an interesting gift swap. It was for shop owners only, and the purpose was to clear out closets/shelves of ‘rejects’ from your shop – things that had just a tiny imperfection or old stock that didn’t sell or samples or whatever. In return, you’d get new-to-you things from other shops. You got to say how many packages you would send out, and that’s how many you’d get in return, and Kristen did a great job matching everyone up with shops whose products you were actually interested in. […]

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Bling in the New Year Gift Swap

This past month I participated in the Bling in the New Year gift swap, which was all about accessories you could use for a New Years Eve party and beyond. I got paired with Allie, one of the organizers, and sent her a box of goodies earlier this month (even though I was tempted to keep some of the pieces myself!). Head on over to her place to see what I gave her! (erm, I may have forgotten to take a pic before I sent it off to her). And here’s what she got me: A very pretty beaded necklace! […]

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All About the Polish

You guys probably know by now that I don’t paint my fingernails. But my toenails? Always painted. And I’ve been slowly growing my collection of nail polish colors (I only had 4 for the longest time – pearl white, pale pink, copper, and a dark maroon). So this past month I participated in my first ever nail polish swap, organized by the lovelies Rachel and Carly. We each filled out a little survey about our nail polish tastes, and then they paired us up to get swapping. The idea was to send two nail polishes to your swap partner that […]

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Arm Party Gift Swap

This past month I participated in the Summer Time Arm Party gift swap hosted by Leonora & Ilene, and it might have been the most fun I’ve had doing a swap to date. 🙂 As the name of the swap would suggest, this swap was all about bracelets. When you signed up, you had to include some favorite colors and your wrist size, and then the two hosts paired everyone up. The idea was to make a bracelet for your swap partner – using any DIY method you wanted, or even making more than one. If your crafty efforts fell […]

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