Swap 'Til you Drop!!

A few weekends ago, I hosted my first swap party. What's a swap party, you might ask? Well, the general idea is that ladies bring items to the party that are in good shape but they don't really use anymore, and swap it with other ladies' stuff.

I got the idea from my friend Kari, back in Maryland. She would tell me all about these swap parties she would have with a group of friends every few months, and how she would come home with some great finds. I remember thinking the whole concept was just a great idea! No money exchanges hands, and everybody goes home happy having gotten rid of stuff they don't use, and getting "new" stuff for free!

So, I planned out my first party. We had 12 ladies here at the house, and they brought A LOT of stuff. There was a huge variety: clothes, kid toys, books, movies, kitchen appliances, etc.

There are different ways of swapping, but I found this idea on line, and thought it would be the fairest way of doing it:

• I had three tables marked with price ranges: $1-5, $5-10, and $10-20.
• Each table had a designated color and blank tickets of that color. The ladies had to decide a price range and fill out a colored ticket for each of their items. For example, if they had a sweater that was in the $5-10 range, they would write their name on a yellow ticket and put the sweater on the yellow table.
  
• The ladies filled out colored tickets for each of their items based on their price range, and put all tickets in a basket.
• When all tickets were in, we started the swap. I would pick a ticket out of the basket, and if it was your name, then you got to pick any one item off of that color table. (This way, you left with items of about the same value as the ones you brought).
• We did the ticket system for a while, and then we just did a free-for-all time until everyone got things that they wanted.
  
• Everything left over got donated to the local thrift shop.

Can I just tell you.... it was great!!! It seemed like everyone had a lot of fun "shopping," and they left with some neat finds! Personally, I felt like it was Christmas! I got some Mary Kay make-up (unused), a Pampered Chef piece of stoneware, a new table cloth with matching napkins, a set of hand weights, and plenty of new toys for the kids! It was so much fun!

Before the party, I really wasn't sure how it would go. I was nervous that someone would leave feeling like they got much less than they contributed. So, I really encouraged everyone to come in a spirit of donation. Most ladies said they were glad just to get rid of stuff, but thrilled at the items that they got in exchange.

I would highly recommend having a swap party, and plan on having another one in the fall. If you would like more info about hosting one, I would gladly give you more details.