recieved: mother-child spring swap

Back in April, I decided to start a Mother-Child Craft Swap group. This group hosts swaps for mothers and children who love crafting and love receiving surprises in the mail. The purpose of this group is to give everyone a chance to participate in a swap, regardless of age or skill level. Each swap we will exchange handmade items based on a theme. Even though the group is hosted on Ravelry, crafts are not limited to knitting or crochet.

This particular swap is Spring themed, and packages should include:

Three handmade item (something knit, modeled, strung, painted, etc.--the options are endless!)
One kid-friendly recipe
A sample of the sender’s favorite snack
A handwritten note or postcard (or hand-drawn picture for younger children)
Something for Mom (a skein of yarn, something handmade, sweets, etc.)

On Wednesday, we got home from a beautiful day at the Sunwatch Indian Village and found a surprise waiting for us--Eva's package from her nine-year-old swap partner, Gigi! Let me say, Gigi hit it on the nose with her pink themed package of gifts for Eva! Here’s what Eva got…

First thing’s first, there was a fantastic recipe for Pizza Surprise--a sweet treat that we made for an afternoon snack on Thursday. It was very rich and delicious! Gigi also made an AWESOME card of Chihiro from Spirited Away--one of Eva’s absolute favorite movies, I might add--with a handwritten note inside. Gigi has absolutely beautiful handwriting! Now, on to the snacks--two Snickers bars and a box of Nerds! These were a real treat for Eva since we do not give in to candy all that often. The candy sure did not last long at all, though. Eva had a friend over on Wednesday night, and, between the two of them, when I went to recruit Eva to take pictures on Thursday morning, there was not any evidence of the candy left! So much for savoring it!

And then there are the crafts! Gigi picked the PERFECT projects for Eva! She LOVES sparkly pink things! Gigi custom designed three lovely matching items--a hat, a pair of flip-flops with beautiful glittery flowers, and a lovely tote bag.

Next, paired with a skein of soft PINK yarn was a pair of awesome girly hand-made knitting needles in size US 8. Eva has already switched her latest project from her boring plastic needles she had been using before to this awesome pair

There were a few more surprises lingering in the bottom of the package, too--a box of crayons with an attached crayon sharpener, an Alice coloring book, and a pocket-sized notebook with matching ballpoint pen. These items will surely come in very handy for the many lazy summer days ahead of us.

And the surprise for mom? Two lovely skeins of Cascade Superwash Paints! ‘Twas love at first sight! The colors are AMAZING! They remind me of the beach!

A big thank you goes out to Gigi and her mom, Nerissa, for such a wonderful swap package. We love everything and we hope Gigi enjoys the package Eva put together for her, too. Check out what we sent Gigi!