More Matchbox Swaps

After my initial matchbox swap with Mary, I had the opportunity to do two more swaps, with Chris and Patty. 

I didn't expect to be able to pull off a St. Patrick's Day theme, but once I started exploring my craft room to find little doo-dads to include, it all fell into place!  Here are the little boxes each swapper received:

Each end of the drawers offered a Dymo greeting in St. Patrick's Day green:

Inside were all sorts of green goodness:  a Dymo label ("Lucky Lady"), green beads and buttons, a tiny green pom pom, a little leaf, a painted tag, a green postage stamp, a few fancy brads, and even "Irish eyes smiling" (that would be the googly eyes down front!).

Here are the doo dads tucked snugly in their matchbox bed:

Just as exciting to me as the matchboxes were the envelopes I used to send them to Chris and Patty.  Mary has sent me goodies in these see-through envelopes before, and gave me a stash for my own mailings.  I shredded some green paper, tucked in the matchboxes, and closed up the sides with festive duct tape.  Later, I added all the necessary addresses with labels. 

I always wish I could see the faces of postal employees who handle these kinds of packages to see if they have any positive response.  Or, who knows, maybe it's all in a day's work!

Chris shared my matchbox for her in this post on her blog.
Patty shared my matchbox for her in this post on her blog.

NOW...for the goodies I received in return.

First came Patty's matchbox, festively decked out for the holiday and sporting a charm that I can wear on a necklace well past our swap.

She included a lovely handmade card:

And inside, I found these fun items, including a cute little plastic baby, pacifier, and clothespin...too cute!

Then came Chris's beautifully painted matchbox in an owl-themed envelope:

I love the color!  Opening the drawer, I found a collection of lovely handmade beads:

She carried over the owl theme from the envelope to the inside of the matchbox:

I definitely need to remember to decorate the inside of the matchboxes as well as the outside--what a great touch!

Thanks, Patty and Chris, for a fun matchbox swap experience!  Your gifts to me have been great fun!

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Even though it drives me crazy to find my kids' little doo-dads all over the living room floor--buttons and pom poms and little figures and scraps of paper--I can appreciate their love of tiny things.  It is no different from the delight I feel at the goodies in these tiny little matchboxes!  Doing these trades helps me to have more patience with the girls' "stuff" because the apple has clearly not fallen far from the tree!