more mini-swap mania

First off, thanks so much for all the great advice regarding my picky eaters. I'm going to do my best to respond personally to those of you who commented on my last post. Just knowing that others have faced the same problem and end up with healthy, non-growth-stunted children years later is a big relief.

So, would you like to see what we sent Kate and her boys for mini-swap? Yes, of course you would!
Here it is!

I went with a pirate theme. Kate told me that her boys weren't all that into pirates, but for some reason I just couldn't get the pirates idea out of my mind. I tried, but then I'd see something like a tube of plastic pirates at the craft store, or come across a bag of chocolate coins at the farmer's market, etc. So, pirates it was. First, I pulled out two plain chipboard boxes that I've had forever and painted them with pirate images. (One box for each boy.)

You can see Maurice the pubescent pirate monkey on the side of Caleb's box. I think the goatee makes him look rather dashing, don't you?
Then I worked on filling up the boxes with booty. Boody? Bounty? Whatever.

Here is a look at the contents of one of the boxes. Included were glass marbles, a scarf and felt eyepatch (for dress-up), gold chocolate coins, a ring pop, plastic pirates, a stuffed lizard, and some felt finger-puppets I made.

Now, about these finger puppets. I must say, I am a little ashamed of them because they are glued instead of sewn. They sat on my counter for almost two weeks waiting to be sewn together but I never could find my embroidery floss! Drat the disorganized garage! I haven't unpacked my crafting stuff since we moved (it's driving me nuts, but there is always something more pressing to do- like find the box of tax stuff or de-crud the pots and pans in the sink.)

So, having had a fit of rage in the garage to no avail (though I did manage to throw a piece of plywood halfway across the garage- quite impressive, I think) I ran to Wal-Mart at the last minute to buy some new floss. But as usual, that was a frustrating experience. They have stopped selling embroidery floss, as the very surly Wal-Mart employee told me after I searched for 20 minutes. I didn't have time to get to the far, far away craft store, so I had to settle with glue. Oh, well.

I also included two pirate-y shirts I found at the thrift store (ladies shirts- but very pirate-y, I must say) and two treasure bottles. I found that idea on Family Fun- here it is. You fill a clear drink bottle with rice and little treasures, such as jewels, shells, glitter, etc. We also made some pirate-themed shrinky dink charms. (Which was LOADS of fun- I love shrink plastic!!!) You'll have to look at Kate's blog to see those, as I never got a decent photo. In fact, none of my photos are decent because I only remembered to photograph it all in the dark of night as I was loading the box.

I think the best part of this swap is that I now have one of Brother's future birthday parties 85% planned. I am a multi-tasking queen.

OK, no big wrap-up to this post. Gotta go and get something done while Brother naps!