New Tradition: Holiday Swap!

First off, a major disclaimer:  I searched the internet for this topic and couldn’t find any posts or articles.  So, while I really doubt I am the first to think of this, I can’t give any credit to someone if they had the idea before me.

I first got the idea of a decoration swap a few months ago when I saw one of the morning shows talk about helping women save money by trading clothes and accessories.  It was this neat concept of having a “swap party” where everyone brings their gently used clothes, accessories, handbags and shoes and you swap items.  One person gets rid of some “old” clothes and accessories and gets “new” items to replace them without spending money.  A win-win situation right?

So I thought, why not do the same with holiday decorations and stuff?

I always fall in love with the holiday serving platters they come out with every year.  I want new ones all the time, but where do I store them?  Plus, they are expensive and it really doesn’t make sense to buy them before the holidays when they are drastically reduced the day after Christmas!  Even though I don’t do much entertaining, I want new serving platters!

How about a holiday swap?  Here are a couple of ways it could be done, but I am sure you all with come up with many more!

1. Host a holiday themed swap party! Some examples include Christmas serving platter swap, Christmas ornament swap, Thanksgiving dishes swap, Kwanza decoration swap, etc.  The idea would be for guests to bring their themed items to swap for other items.  If you bring 5 items, then you walk away with 5 new items. (Of course “sets” would have to  be considered as one item.)
2. Have a holiday themed “garage” sale! Everyone brings their items to the hostesses house and they price it for a fair amount.  The hostess then trades the guest play money in the amount of their items so they can “buy” other items.  Everything can be placed in a room to purchase the items and they pay with the fake money.
3. Holiday block swap! This could work well in neighborhoods where everyone decorates their house for the holidays.  The host would announce an outdoor holiday decoration swap where everyone puts out their “old” holiday decorations and trades for new ones.  To keep things fair, I think this one would need to be done like the “garage” sale where everything has a price and you pay with fake money.  Unless you have really great neighbors and don’t mind if you get something of less value.  Hey, its still new to you!
4. Cookie and platter swap! OK, this takes the traditional cookie swap to a new level.  Instead of just swapping cookies on a paper plate or tin, why not swap cookies on a nice platter?  Again, you will get a new platter (and some delicious cookies) to use this year.

These are just some of the ideas I had.  I can’t wait to hear what you come up with. Please leave a comment  if you liked the idea or maybe if you have done something like this in the past!  I think I’m going to start organizing my holiday platter swap party now!

Written by:  Ivette Muller, http://www.wahmbahm.com