Faith Hope and Charity Swapping – what I sent to my swap partner
Here are photos of the items I sent to my swap partner Linda at Vintage Hearth for the Faith Hope and Charity Swapping 2012 – Jubilee Special, which was organised by Lakota (who has a really fantastic blog called Faith Hope and Charity Shopping).
At least one item had to fit the jubilee theme, at least one item had to be thrifted/second hand and at least one item had to be handmade. The maximum spend was £12 (excluding postage). It was the first time I’ve been involved in this kind of swap and I really enjoyed finding things for Linda.
The most Jubilee-themed item was a Silver Jubilee mug from 1977. I found this in the Debra charity shop in Beeston. I particularly liked the fact that the reverse of the mug celebrated the 240th anniversary of Sharrow Mills in Sheffield. And of course a good mug needs tea to go with it, so I included a pretty tin of Twinings special blend for the Diamond Jubilee. (This was a freebie sent to me by PayPal)
Silver Jubilee mug with Jubilee tea to go in it
On the weekend I signed up for the swap, I spotted lots of red, white and blue items in charity shops. But knowing that I had a total budget of £12, I restricted myself to getting just two of the things I spotted. The first one was a beaded handbag charm from the British Heart Foundation shop in the Broadmarsh Centre in Nottingham. I know that Linda likes beads, because she has blogged about making necklaces and handbag charms. The second item was a small crochet blanket from the Beeston Oxfam shop because I’m a firm believer that it is never possible to have too many crochet blankets! My son wanted to keep this crochet blanket for himself but I showed him the blankets we already have and persuaded him we could afford to part with one.
Handbag charm and small crochet blanket
The final charity shop find for Linda was an linen nightdress case with cross stitch embroidery. I’ve seen pictures on the Vintage Hearth blog of Linda’s beautiful antique bed and bedspread, so I thought this would fit right in. This nightdress case actually came from a charity shop in Barmouth a few years ago. They had a basket of linens for 50p and I scooped up several items thinking I might use them for craft projects, but this particular piece of needlework seemed too pretty to cut up. So I was glad to pass it on to someone who might appreciate it.
Nightdress case with cross stitch embroidery
Finally, I made Linda a little needlebook out of purple felt with a cross stitch butterfly motif on the front. This was because I’m rather partial to a bit of purple and butterflies.
This is what Linda had to say when she received her parcel from me:
So it sounds as though Linda enjoyed receiving her parcel just as much as I enjoyed putting it together for her. I will be linking this blogpost up with the Jubilee Swap Linky at Faith Hope and Charity Shopping and with this week’s Magpie Monday at Me & My Shadow.
I’ve also written a blogpost about the parcel of goodies Linda sent to me.
Ah, how wonderful! You found some beautiful, beautiful things! She will be so pleased.
I sent my swap partner a jubilee mug too- the lucky devils x
Thanks! Jubilee mugs are cool x
I love the idea of this swap thing! So charming
Yes it was great fun. I hope you join in with a future swap
Oh and the colours of that crochet blanket are fab. I really like it
Yes I liked the colours too
I love that you chose things so carefully, that’s really lovely. Like you, I believe you can never have too many crochet blankets, I’m always buying them!
Thanks. One of these days I’ll learn to make my own crochet blankets but until then I’ll keep buying the lovely ones I find in charity shops.
You did brilliantly, you kept to theme, budget and recipient’s taste – the perfect swap! Take a gold star!
Thanks so much for taking part and for linking up x
Thank you so much for organising the swap Lakota – and it’s lovely to get a gold star! x
Such lovely, thoughtful gifts. Easy to see why Linda was so pleased with them.
I’m another one who can’t resist crocheted blankets. I recently taught myself to make granny squares, and now appreciate more than ever how much work goes into them! Love the pretty linen nightdress case and your handmade needlebook.
I’m sure you’ve had plenty already, but just wanted to let you know I’ve nominated you for a versatile blogger award x
Thank you the versatile blogger award – it made my day
And I’m so impressed you taught yourself to do granny squares. I’m hoping to get round to doing the same. But I think I ought to finish some of my cross stitch projects first!
Aw the swapping thing is such a nice idea and so lovely that you all put so much thought into it! Puts my present buying to shame, but gives me some great ideas! i love the picture displays too, that’s the thing Julia mentioned at britmums – looks great!
I’ve always loved finding presents for people – and having Linda’s blog to look through gave me a lot of clues about what she might like.
The photos have been done with BlogStomp – which works really well and is very quick and easy to use. I must let Julia know that she inspired me to try it!