Ornament Swap Brag!

[Marigold]

I agree, what a great idea for customization! 

[Libelle]

Nessy, your pets are adorable! <3 Teehee, Pip was completely overwhelmed by all those reindeers everywhere. And Matilda is thinking: "Really ... I am so much prettier."

Painting those wood ornaments would be a great idea! Why didn't I think of it? I am so glad you liked the non-pink-and-blue ornaments as well! It turned out to be really difficult to find some (this year's fashion was pale aqua and pale purple and the shops and Advent markets were full of these), but I thought traditional colours would always work well, too.

Haha, Vanessa is a common name in Germany - the personalised ornament was actually the first one I bought (I was happy you had a "German" name, so I knew I would be able to find something personalised).

Thanks for posting a picture of your tree, love it! Oh, and I had no idea this was your first swap! Makes me all the more happy you liked everything so much! 

[Sugar]

I'm loving all these boxes!   So many wonderful ideas for gifts for friends and colleagues this year, and for swap box stuff next year.

I tried to explain to a couple colleagues about Arena swaps, but they just didn't get it.   I think it's one of the coolest things I've ever participated in, it's so much fun to learn little bits about someone and then spoil them silly with gifts.

[xeevee]

Ack, can't keep up with the brags!  They're all so awesome!

Sandra, that peg is stunning!  So lucky!

Nessy, I love the paper stars.  They sell MASSIVE versions of those here.  I always am tempted to buy some.

RedLynx, how cute is that little deer.   

[wystearya]

I only got a close up of one ornament, and I don't meant to pick favorites, but gosh do I love it. It's the Pegasus that wystearya customized for me.

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart, wystearya. I couldn't be happier with my box. I can't wait to get a tree this year so I can display all the beautiful things you sent me. Baby Yoyo is also very excited to be joining my herd, and she already has her own spot up on display with my other baby ponies. You did an amazing job and I'm so happy that you were my partner!

I'm really happy you enjoyed your box!   I was actually worried about the pegasus.  I didn't know if you would mind the home made touch, but I knew it would be a lot closer to what you really wanted with a little work. 

Enjoy your things, and next time open the box away from your boyfriend so you can hide your treats.    LOL!! 

[michelle53]

I only got a close up of one ornament, and I don't meant to pick favorites, but gosh do I love it. It's the Pegasus that wystearya customized for me.

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart, wystearya. I couldn't be happier with my box. I can't wait to get a tree this year so I can display all the beautiful things you sent me. Baby Yoyo is also very excited to be joining my herd, and she already has her own spot up on display with my other baby ponies. You did an amazing job and I'm so happy that you were my partner!

I'm really happy you enjoyed your box!   I was actually worried about the pegasus.  I didn't know if you would mind the home made touch, but I knew it would be a lot closer to what you really wanted with a little work. 

Enjoy your things, and next time open the box away from your boyfriend so you can hide your treats.    LOL!! 

EPIC ORNAMENT!!!  That's just unreal!!  I love it, what a special gift.

[Ice Crystal]

I love those wooden kitties you got MiRaja. They're precious!

Such beautiful boxes. What an amazing swap. Congrats everyone!

[MiRaja]

Ahhhh! I'm getting worried about my box!  I did ship it priority, but because it's international, it's not showing up anything for me. . .  My partner should be getting it very soon!  Probably just lots of worrying on my part, but aiyiyi!

[wiccanpony1]

Great brags:) I want to steal at least one item from everyone's boxes lol

[M!ndy]

Yay! My turn to brag

My partner was the amazing MiRaja! I had the best intentions of taking so many pics during the unwrapping but I was too excited 

Here's everything out of the box.. I was so overwhelmed by all of the little gifts!
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And everything unwrapped.. Minus one candy can that my boyfriend claimed as soon as I unwrapped them lol
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I opened the amazing, glittery UNICORN First!! I was soooo happy and everything else just complimented the previous gift - you did an amazing job MiRaja 
The card definitely made me giggle.. and my boyfriend laughed even harder

I couldn't get a good pic because of my terrible lounge room lighting.. But the glass bauble is full of tiny purple and aqua (my two very favourite colours!!) cranes and GLITTER!! MiRaja made it for me!! There's also tiny crane earrings 
I think the beaded/sequinned baubles are also made by MiRaja too?

Everything is SO sparkly and I'm still covered in a little glitter - but anyone who knows me, knows that I pretty much live my life covered in glitter
Thank you so much MiRaja

[archidraca]

  Everything is glitter! I love those balls, especially the transparent one.

[Marigold]

I really like the two sequined balls.

[Mirnyj]

Love your glittery things! Must have taken a small eternity to pin all those sequins! 

[xeevee]

What a gorgeous sparkly box, M!ndy.  Love that Uni. 

[Sugar]

It's here!  It's here!  It's all the way to Canada from Estonia, and it's here!



My partner was the wonderful and tremendously talented Doedeardarling, and boy oh boy, did I ever get spoiled.   Thank you so much!  I managed to stay focussed enough to take lots of photos... though my son kept asking why I was squeaking so much while opening things.

Here's the box prior to dismantling:
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I was super delighted with the wrapping paper, all wintry silvers and frosty pale blues and pinks - I managed to save out a few good, large pieces for re-use and all the ribbons, too.   We have this habit of re-using bows and ribbons as long as we can, then using them as extra tree decorations, so they'll be well-loved.

Then I spied... ponies!
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A full dozen beautiful ponies, all of which are particular favourites of mine!  The photo's a bit floofy and out of focus, but I hope you can all see what amazing art Doedeardarling does.   Each pony card has a little story about its featured pony, and they're all hand-rendered.  I was gobsmacked, literally.  They're so very beautiful, and I can't wait to find some frames I like so I can display them properly.   Gorgeous!

Then... the treats!
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Holy sweet tooth, Batman... that's a lot of candy!  The little penguin bus was full of sweets, and that's besides the incredibly huge pile of chocolates and jelly-chocolates (like Turkish Delight) that were scattered liberally throughout the parcel.   Wow.  We've started in on the chocolates that were loose, but we're rationing ourselves on them (they're that good!).  Not easy, but when treats are that scrumptious, I have to at least try.

And here are all the wrapped gifts:
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And unwrapped - first, a group shot of the ornaments:
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A beautiful wooden star in shades of wintry blues and silvers!  Love it!
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This reindeer ornament has the prettiest iridescent glitter (and now so do my jeans!).  Superb!
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Do you see the little squirrel who's hiding in this pine cone?  He's so sparkly and cute.
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A delicate cameo ball - the beads all over it make me think of lace.  It's so ethereally beautiful!
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And one of my favourite bird feeder regulars, a blue jay, is hanging out in this ornament (and is now hanging out on my tree!).
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And as if that wasn't spoilage enough, here are the extras:
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Again, apologies for the slightly blurry photo, but there's a FiM sticker and activity book, several sheets of ultra-cute stickers (very trendy bunnies, and matryoshka-style and geisha-style dolls), some sweet blue flip-flop erasers, and last but certainly not least, two more Ponyville ponies for my collection!

Like I said, I was spoiled absolutely silly.   Thank you again so much, Doedeardarling, I'm over the moon with everything!