Homemade Holidays :: The Swap

We decided to include crafts in our local homemade food swap for December. What a fantastic idea this was! Simple rules: everything - food and craft - had to be homemade, handmade, homegrown or hand foraged. No money was exchanged, we could only trade goods.

My swap offerings included Sugar & Spice Pecans, Sweet Pepper Relish and Florida Tangerine Marmalade, which for the potluck I paired with my mother's Southern Cornbread (made using her mother's "quick mix" recipe).

I also brought "peppermint indulgence" goody bags with peppermint beeswax candles, peppermint lip balm and peppermint body butter (based on this recipe, but I used sweet almond oil instead of olive oil, and no Vitamin E ).

It was a lot of work to prepare all this yumminess. But so worth it! You'll never believe all I came home with...

  ...Limoncello and Irish Cream for a little holiday cheering!

 ...handmade holiday cards!

... a gorgeous homemade pinecone wreath! 

...an original stained glass ornament made by my sister!

...felted cupcakes and hair bows for my girls! ...a hand quilted bag for me!

...organic cinnamon strudel flavored creamer!

...and a super funky knit purse that I just love! But wait, that's not all... I traded for all kinds of other goodies, including a handmade bracelet, silver stamped earrings, a felt crown for my girls, white chocolate & apple cider toffee, a "sore throat & cough-be gone" tincture, pine cone bird feeders, fresh lemons & herbs and some Thai Red Roselle seeds.

This was the swap coordinator's loot, all packed up to tote home.

I can't tell you enough what a great idea it is to swap homemade stuff. If you're looking for a food swap near you, or want details on how to host one, check out the Food Swap Network site. To see more pictures of our event - which was full of great homemade holiday gift ideas - visit my Facebook page and view the entire album.