Christmas swaps

Friday: I found a Christmas Happy mail:

 Not sure what I'll end up doing with the towel and oven mitt. I like the rest.
And an ATC:

 Very cute.
We had an after-hours work party. It was ok. It was good food and good company.
Saturday: I went to a sale.

 I picked up the Precious Moments ornament for a swap and then realized it had the writing on the back. I picked up the Santa for my mother.
Saw a tumbleweed on my way to my next stop:

 I wasn't aware we had tumbleweeds.
I stopped at our British foods store:

 I was disappointed, it was mostly tea/teapots and incense. There were some holiday crackers (the ones you pull open) for $42, I wanted some, but not for that price.
Last stop, HyVee Drug:

 I needed the Chai, I picked up the lady for a swap, though I'm not sure if I'm using her for it. And of course the Russell Stover chocolate.
And then I realized I forgot the Mtn Dew

 so I picked it up and a couple cute postcards.
I found this I Spy book from a Little Free Library on my way home.

Sunday: I put together a Dollar Store tag:

 I tried to go flat with some sticky notes, that didn't quite work, see a photo further down.
A Kawaii tag:

 I got this for a past Kawaii tag, thought I'd send it along. It turned out to be flat enough for one stamp.
Favorite color: Purple.

 I had the hardest time with this tag. Apparently I don't have a lot of purple things. I felt bad just sending the gems. I kinda cheated, as this is one of those color change sequin pillows, one way is purple, one is blue. I switched it to the purple side, put in the gems and a postcard.
My Crafty Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar all packaged up and ready to go:

 I didn't like that every package had to be embellished. I basically used a bunch of envelopes I had gotten from previous swaps with a number I had gotten on a previous swap. We were informed the reason they were supposed to be embellished was so we didn't just slap a kid's number sticker on them. Since the envelopes were already embellished and I added the punched numbers, I kinda felt like adding more to them made them look worse, but I try to follow instructions. I ended up wrapping 3 because they didn't fit in the envelopes, I didn't really embellish those, as the wrapping paper was very busy.
Monday: I went up to the mall after work. My 12 Days of Christmas swap partner and I don't really have much in common, so shopping my stash wasn't working. Figured I could find some things to purchase for her.
First stop: Walmart

 Hot chocolate bomb, bottle brush tree ornaments, Hershey's chocolate and warming oil for the swap. The Dove peppermint bark is for me. Total spent $12.
I wandered through JCPenny's but didn't find anything, so I headed to the Hallmark store, figured they'd have candles and essential oils, they did:

 All of this is for the swap. Total spent $13.
I avoided Claire's even though I wanted to shop there, headed into TJ Maxx. I wasn't that impressed with their selection of stuff, but I found some things:

 decorative napkins, holiday travel spa pack, kindness cards, jewelry dish, wrapping paper. All of this was for the swap, total spent $13. I also returned the sports trivia cards, so it was $6 cheaper.
I walked over to Kohl's found a few things, but I'm not spending $10 on sticky notes or bag clips, no matter how cute they are. I found a monster on clearance.

He ended up being a buck, just for me.
I walked around the outside of the mall to Walgreens, I don't go there very often. They didn't have a ton of Christmas stuff out.

 All for me. Actually the hedgehog is for a friend, I picked up the Russell Stover chocolate for the swap and then decided not to use it, I'll either end up eating it or giving it to my dad. I picked up the Ooey Gooey cakes to try, I didn't get to try any in St. Louis, they were great, I'd totally buy more.
Total spent: $26
The blind bags:

 I picked up one of these cat guys at Target a few weeks ago, I love them, I'd totally buy more, they're pricey, but I'd still do it. The dog, you press a button on his back and he gets all mean.
I went to the mall to kill time until 4pm when a local store was doing a fundraiser for the library. By this time it was about 10 of 4, so I hopped on the bus and headed back towards the library.
As I was heading to the store, I got distracted looking in another store window and had to pick up a few things.

 This is our local arts center store, they sell stuff made by local artists. Everything but the pin is a magnet, it's basically all for me. I'd love to send out the Ames, IA magnet, but I'm afraid it would break. I added the Pride pin to my bag. Total spent: $14.
And I finally made it to my last destination. It's a fair trade store:

 A cute bag, a star ornament, Matryoshka keychain and a couple Tagua seeds with cute sayings. It's all for me, but I might pass them on in the future. Total spent: $26.

I ended up spending way too much and am kinda done shopping for awhile.
I found a collectors tag of a squishy when I got home:

 I wish they had picked a more exciting squishy, it was from wish or alli, I'm sure they could have.
Tuesday: I switched shifts with a co-worker so she could attend a basketball game, it felt like Wednesday all day, which in turn made me forget to do things.
I remembered to get a couple things put together right before I went to bed.
Grant a Wish: Cute Christmas ornament:

 I ended up sending to the same person as my Dollar Store tag above, it was no longer a one stamp envelope.
Christmas happy mail:

 this one however ended up being one stamp. I sent some die cuts, stickers, washi, tags, card and some project life cards.
Wednesday: I spent a lot on postage, mostly because of my crafty Christmas advent calendar, I sent it in a medium flat rate priority box.
I received my mega destash swap:

 I really like this paper collection.

 not sure I'll use any of these.

 Lots of flowers and die cuts and trim. Good selection.

 And a bunch of die cuts, I won't use the stamps.

 Mostly cards and sticky notes and paper scraps.
I'm annoyed that she sent it on Monday when it was due to be sent out on Saturday. I hate following rules when other people don't.
Thursday: I got my 12 Days of Christmas swap packaged up and ready to go:

 I really like the wrapping paper I bought at TJ Maxx. I used some tiny wreath ornaments I picked up at Hobby Lobby with paper scraps and stamped numbers to number them, I love how they turned out.
I put together my Wednesday tags.
Wacky Wednesday: Edible:

 and I ended up sending to the same person for another Christmas ornament;

 I mostly read a book all day. I did receive some cute Christmas tags.

 I wish people would include notes.
And a sticker sheets tag:

Not happy with the kid's stickers.