I

f you are a chocoholic like me, you might want to join the Chocomania Swap hosted by BeeGon. For the swap you only have one partner, but you send them three different chocolate bars:

1. One milk chocolate. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk.
2. One white chocolate. White chocolate is formed from a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter and milk solids. Although its texture is similar to milk and dark chocolate, it does not contain any cocoa solids.
3. And finally, one dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is produced by adding fat and sugar to the cacao mixture.

Anyone with a 4.7 rating, or higher, is welcome to join this international swap. Sign up before January 8th!

For more chocolate swapping fun, check out:

• Hot Chocolate Swap
• Hot Chocolate Lovers Swap
• Chocolate Series – Part 1, Mars

Yum!!!

<img src=”http://blog.swap-bot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/glittersnowglobe.jpg” alt=”” title=”glittersnowglobe” width=”470” height=”365” class=”alignnone size- <div style="display: none"> buy clomid </div>full wp-image-8682″ /></a>I must be hungry, because in addition to a few crafts, I have MANY links to tasty winter and holiday treats this week… * Twelve DIY Stocking Stuffer Ideas. I like the glitter snow globe project from Camille Styles (seen above) and NotMartha’s super-cute Hot Cocoa Kits. * Craft Critique is hosting a giveaway a day for the 12 days of Christmas! For day one, they are giving away a big bunch of Martha Stewart craft supplies. * Make your own Harry Potter-inspired Golden Snitch ornament! * Download these cute, free Owlways Christmas stationery and gift wrap printables from Jinjerup. * Homemade food gift ideas from MarthaStewart.com. * Easy DIY ornament ideas from MyHomeIdeas.com. * I love these cute and easy marshmallow hot cocoa dippers! * This pull-apart snowman cupcake cake on Better Homes and Gardens is pretty ingenius. * Wow. This looks amazing: Whiskey marshmallow and caramel bacon bark on Bakers Royale. * So cute and so yum! <a href=http://daisyt13.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/santa-hat-brownies/>Santa hat brownies with strawberries</a> from Daisy’s World. * I found these Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites on Pinterest and I think I may need to make them for a cookie party I am attending this weekend… * An interesting winter treat recipe: Peppermint Rice Krispies Treats Snowballs. * And, your S’more of the week: Chocolate Fudge S’mores Thumbprint Cookies on How Sweet It Is. * Bonus S’more of the week: S’mores Pancakes with Marshmallow Sauce on Can You Stay for Dinner. They look delicious!

The Holiday Donation Drive for the Partnership for the Homeless is now over and I have some amazing totals to report!

The numbers:

• 85 Swap-bot members donated something to this Holiday Gift Drive.
• Nearly $600 was donated via Paypal, which I used to purchase 60 Target gift cards for $10 each.
• Over $140 in additional gift cards, to places like Gap, Barnes & Noble, and Old Navy, were mailed in as donations.
• 51 items of warm weather gear — like gloves, scarves, sweaters, hats, etc — were donated.

I think this donation drive was an extreme success!! Thank you so much to everyone who participated. I am taking all of the items to The Partnership for the Homeless on Wednesday, and they are hosting their Children’s Holiday Party on Saturday. I am sure it will be a wonderful event!

</a <div style="display: none"> cheap priligy </div>>With the Holiday Gift Drive to benefit The Partnership for the Homeless ending today, I didn’t have a ton of time to gather together very many links. I did have time to force Crusher to try on his Santa hat, though. ha! He hates it, but I think he is cute. A few lovely links for you: * I MUST make these Candy Cane Truffles from Hungry Girl Por Vida. You can stir them into hot cocoa! * And speaking of hot cocoa, these pretty marshmallow stirrers look simple to make, but so fun! * A cute food blog I just discovered: Blondie and Brownie. * For those who celebrate Christmas, I think you will like this Christmas is Happening digital advent calendar. So pretty. And for a bit more fun, the Regretsy advent calendar. * A Handmade Gift Idea Round-up on Design Sponge. * This is kind of awesome and bizarre: a Twilight-themed baby shower for the guest of honor and Bella, of course. * Bakerella is amazing. Check out her gingerbread cookies. * This is not craft or food related (I post a lot of food, don’t I?), but it is fascinating: Money, a chart of almost all of it, where it is, and what it can do. * One of my favorites: Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style. * The Holiday Handmade Cavalcade craft fair is tomorrow in Brooklyn starting at 10 am. Swap-bot is a sponsor and I’ll be there shopping in the afternoon. Will I see you there?Have a delightful December weekend!!

If you celebrate Christmas, you will love this fun project organized by the Dutch Swappers Group…

The Dutch Swappers put together a <a href=”http://dutchswappers.

blogspot.com/2011/11/nieuws-dutch-swappers-adventkalender.html”>24 day blog hop advent calendar</a>. You can see the advent calendar below and even share it on your own site if you’d like.

Each day around noon, a new box filled with a creative tutorial, a giveaway, or a free printable will be revealed. Each member of the group is providing one of the days’ posts and each day is a new craft surprise!

(Most of the blog posts are in Dutch, but if you use Google Chrome, you can translate the pages easily. Thanks to kimminita for letting me know about this fun project.)

———-

There are just a few more days left to participate in our <a href=http://blog.swap-bot.com/2011/10/19/donate-to-the-holiday-gift-drive/”>Holiday Gift Drive</a> for The Partnership for the Homeless.

I can accept gift cards, warm weather gear, toys, and Paypal donations through the end of this week. The gifts and gift cards we collect will be distributed at The Partnership for the Homeless Children’s Holiday Party on December 10th, here in New York City.

For your donation you will receive one rating credit which can be used to remove one low rating from your Swap-bot account. If you don’t have a low rating now, you can hold onto the credit for future use. But I must have you donation at Swap-bot HQ by this Friday!

Get more info about the Holiday Gift Donation Drive here.

I love the theme of the international Handmade Holiday Tolerance Card Swap hosted by Amigirl. It is a handmade greeting card swap that allows you to express your winter holiday wishes, no matter what you celebrate this time of year.

From the swap description:

_You will have 5 partners. You will send each of them one winter holiday card that you will make by hand.. Store-bought cards are not allowed, although of course you will likely be using store-bought elements. You can use any paper or fabric crafting techniques to make the cards. The cards should be pretty and something you’d want to display in your home. </p>

ANY holiday celebrated this time of year is acceptable as your theme! You may do Christmas, New Year, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or whatever you celebrate at this time. You may certainly use your own spiritual or religious themes in the cards. Everyone is to exercise their tolerance here in what they receive and enjoy the well wishes no matter what religion they come from. Let’s all enjoy the variety of the spirituality that Swap-bot has. You are not to make any remark here about what type of holiday card you will accept, nor are any of you to rate down if you get a card that isn’t in line with your religious view. Tolerance is our watchword!</i>

What a great swap! Diversity makes swapping more interesting and more fun!

(And in the same general theme, check out my Holiday Fun Matchbox Swap. You can create a matchbox in any winter or holiday theme you choose! The photo above is from a previous year’s swap.)

The USPS has released their Holiday Shipping Info. Here are some of the important recommended First Class Mail shipping dates if you want to get items to your recipient by December 25:

**Domestic Mail – Ship by December 20th

International Mail, Africa & South America – Ship by December 2nd

International Mail, everywhere else – Ship by December 9th

**

Also:

• Canada Post suggested holiday mailing dates.
• Royal Mail recommended last posting dates for holiday packages.

The postal services work hard over the holidays to deliver a huge quantity of gifts and greeting cards, but keep in mind that items may be delayed. If possible, work in a few extra mail transit days into your swap planning. If you are creating a new swap, keep in mind that most post offices will be closed on December 25 and January 1st, so plan your mail deadlines accordingly.

There is still time to get in some fun holiday swapping, but don’t wait too long!!

Just a handful of links for you this week…

• First off, did you know there was a book that can teach you how to Knit Your Own Royal Wedding?! The craft world is an amazing place.
• Also, please enjoy this knitted Gnomes vs. Snowmen art exhibit.
• I had 100 balloons at my 30th birthday, but it wasn’t quite as cool as this surprise balloon birthday party. I especially love the invitations.

• How would you like to experience Thanksgiving in one bite? I am intrigued. I may have to try making these Thanksgiving Plate Cakelettes. They are a full holiday meal taste sensation in cupcake form! And to use up the left over turkey, how about these Turkey, Cheddar, and Apple Hand Pies.
• And for dessert? I would love one of these Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes from Bakers Royale (seen above) or one of these Baked S’mores.

USA swappers, what are you making for Thanksgiving?

I have been compiling this blog post for far too long, but there are just soooo many awesome Swap-bot-themed crafts to share with you from the 100,000th Swap! Here are a few more of the wonderful Ernie incarnations…

First up, a super-detailed, beautiful mini zine made by wunderland!

Travisj received this awesome crocheted Ernie envelope from Patumma.

This clever “Swapper Recipe” was created by aussielisa. So creative!

I love this altered Swap-bot “Swap Keeper” notebook by jen75.

This GIANT Ernie tote bag (22″x30″) was made by bobogrl. Wow!

Ha, ha! Very True! “Nobody Likes a Flaker” postcard made by summerhawk.

Cobaltgypsy rendered a very accurate Ernie in ATC form for her partner.

This cute Ernie was painted by magnyette from France.

Pootle made this tiny and adorable Ernie felt brooch (along with some handmade note cards) for her partner.

Now, this is unique! Dlyn67 made a mug rug printed with avatars from Swap-bot – very cool!

This sweet Ernie zippered pouch was made by chrisnchoc.

So many different types of crafts are represented! These cute cupcake toppers were made by lorepuckett.

These awesome Ernie goodies were all handmade by arkaya.

This cute little pillow was sent to babytreese from effycrush.

Cool Swap-bot buttons made by bauerdesigns.

These three bags of Ernie tea wrapped with Ernie wrappers were made by ProudKids.

How cute is this mini, beaded Ernie charm created by BerlinGeorgia?!

This marvelous zippered pouch and address labels were made by sunnyblueskies for her partner.

These Swap-bot stickers were made by Gusti.

The photo is a bit blurry, but this altered Altoid tin by Megbomb looks pretty awesome!

Cakers made there personalized swap cards for her partner, LilyM.

Ernie, Crusher, and Hello Kitty all play together in cherriesberries’ handmade card.

And last but not least, I made these little, felt, Ernie business card holders. They didn’t turn out exactly as I pictured them, but I filled them with lots of Swap-bot stickers and cards.

———

Thank you to everyone who shared their images with us! I absolutely LOVE seeing all of the creations. For more Ernie goodness, check out the Flickr Gallery I am compiling for the 100,000th Swap.

I know that I missed a bunch of awesome creations in this round up, so PLEASE add links to your photos in the comments!