Petite Inspiration Box swap

Even though I've largely sworn off swaps, I couldn't resist signing up for Speckled Egg's Petite Inspiration Box swap, and boy am I glad I did! Heather's Petite Box swaps are perfect--all you have to do is embellish a kitchen matchbox according to the theme and then fill it with goodies. Small and do-able, right? The theme for this round was Flea Market--right up my alley!

I was paired with two lovely ladies: Barb from 123 Lavender Lollipop Lane and Tammie from My Art Soul Wings. We each made two boxes and each received two. Here are the boxes I received from Tammie and Barb:

Aren't they pretty? And the contents were wonderful too:

Doesn't this look like a game of Vintage I Spy? All those yummy little bits and trinkets, just waiting to be stashed away until the perfect project. You won't think I'm crazy if I admit that I enjoy the organizing and the having just as much as the using, right?

Sweet Barb also included a pair of the most fabulous kitchen towels that she made, embellished with rickrack, vintage fabrics and vintage buckles:

You had better believe that I'm not letting anyone wipe their dirty hands on these beautiful things! Barb also made the most adorable little pillowcases to match my kids' bedrooms.

As usual, I didn't get a photo of my boxes before I sent them because I was in such a hurry to get them into their shipping boxes. I was putting them together at the very last minute, as The Mister was literally moving things out of the office around me because we had new carpet installed the following morning. Here's a photo that I swiped from Tammie's blog of the box I sent her (the box for Barb was nearly identical with a few differences in contents and a similar flower on the top):

I was feeling kind of clever because the silver flower that adorned the top of the box is actually a pin that I made, so it did double duty as an embellishment for the package and a gift for my partners to wear as well. I also made each lady a charm bracelet using vintage and new buttons, jewelry, and charms. I hoped that it might look like it was made with trinkets you'd pick up at a flea market.

I loved this swap! I got to "meet" two really fun ladies, enjoyed putting together their packages and received two outstanding packages in return. I'm so glad I participated--thanks to Heather for hosting!