Joy Swap

 Monica and Carrie hosted another swap and I was so thrilled to participate.  My swap partner, Michelle, replied when asked what colors come to mind when she thinks of Christmas "red, green, silver, sparkly,"  So I took the sparkly silver and ran with it.  This theme was titled "Joy" so I tried to keep the theme the best I could.

I spotted a really neat large pinecone at a local boutique sanded with silver glitter and topped with other pretty sparkly things.  I recreated this by incorporating a sparkly "Joy", I bought a large greenery pick that had red berries on it, I tore this all apart and made two smaller picks, replaced the red berries with silver, sprayed the pinecones with adhesive and doused them with glitter.  I added some silver bells and a hanger of silver ribbon. 

I also sent three black and cream paper medallions.  I was going to make a garland with them or attach ribbon for hanging on the tree but decided to just include the ribbon and let Michelle decide.

When I was all out of ideas on what else to include I found this great ezine (click on the picture of the magazine) through Jenny Allsorts.  I completely forgot the contents of the swap were supposed to fit in a shoebox, hence the name "Shoebox Swap".  This caused a real glitch in the mailing process (they wanted $45 to ship this box Priority - yikes)!

You simply take a wreath form (instructions said foam but I had straw) and wrap with batting.  Then you layer strips of white and cream fabric.  As you wrap the fabric you can add bits and bobbins such as twigs, doilies, etc.  I made photo copies of Joy to the World sheet music then tea-stained it, cut into strips and pinned on.  Then I added a felt dove, the title from the sheet music, and a brooch.  The only thing I purchased for this was the wreath form.  I had all the fabric (white eyelet, creamy burlap, a cream with white pattern, white felt), batting, the silver twig was left over from the pick above.  My dad's girlfriend found the brooch in a parking lot and I begged it off of her :o)  Thanks Sue!

I added a bar of soap that said "Joy" and a package of Ohio Buckeye candy to complete the package.  Hope you like everything, Michelle!

UPDATE: I hadn't added what Michelle sent me - oops!  It was a really fun box that matched my personality and decorating style perfectly:

A tea towel, an adorable tin snowflake ornament, a really cute snowman head ornament, two wonderful smelling candles, a cute tin sign that says "Ring in the Season" and has rusty bells hanging from it.  A box of Stash Chai Holiday tea - yum, a star ornament (not pictured - it was hanging on the tree already), and my very favorite is that stuffed owl ornament with rusty bell feet - so, so cute.  Thank you Michelle!