The $5 Craft Challenge!

This swap is copied (with permission) from the LJ Group Full Moon Swaps. That Group has in their archives some really awesome swaps & Oreon & I will be pulling some inspiration, if not the swaps themselves from there in the coming year. We are going to try & make your swapping experience much more fulfilling with information gleaned from the survey.

We all want to swap but we're all closely watching our spending in this tough economy. We hope that through more creative, inexpensive swap themes, everyone can still enjoy the excitement of fun mail, new friends and creative outlets without breaking the bank.

The goal for this swap is to create something handmade for your partner based on their likes and taste but the challenge is to spend no more than $5 on supplies. You will be allowed to purchase up to $5 on materials for your swap, and tap into your stash for extras if need be, and send the item with a mock "receipt" breaking down how you pulled it off. It's not only about making something creative, it's about doing so while on a budget. How creative can you get with materials? Perhaps you can repurpose, reuse, or "upcycle" something into a great new item?

Example: Jane Doe wants to make a necklace for her partner, Sarah Smith. Jane goes out and buys somereally pretty beads on sale for $4 and a clasp for $1. She already has a cool pendant she can reuse and stringing material in her stash. The necklace looks like a million bucks when it's done but it didn't cost Jane that!

Jane then writes out a mock receipt like this:

Beads - $4

Clasp - $1

Pendant - stash

Stringing Material - stash

Total: $5!

Even if you think you aren't crafty or creative, there are many things you can do. Craft stores and even bookstores offer up "craft kits" in a wide variety of projects with instructions and supplies all included. And the "on sale season" is just around the corner ;-)

You could also pick up a tee shirt and iron-on transfers, ceramic paint pens and a cool mug to decorate, or buy a ready-to-finish wooden box and decorate it, or put together a customized picture frame or photo album - the sky is the limit! We want you to have fun with this swap and challenge yourself to create something fantastic on a small budget. If you need inspiration on what to make try this page

I will be hosting more swaps like this in the future, there will be different prize levels. I am thinking of doing 5, 10, 15 dollar challenges.

For the 5 dollar ones I will be allowing new members to participate so they can get their ratings with a fun swap.

So new members ARE WELCOME in this swap. But NO FLAKERS.