Well the results are in and we have some very crafty people out there. Here is a handful of what was created:

Kim with a rockin’ scarf-kerchief from This Chickadee

Becky got this great bottle cap ornament from Sara.

Juliette was the lucky recipient of this precious bunny, made from lost gloves on the metro, by me.

And I was ecstatic for these amazing lockets by Kim to come into my life.

Thank you to all of our participants! It was a blast seeing all the creativity. Keep an eye out for possible future swaps.

We were so enamored of the swap process over at swap-bot, that we decided to give it a try. So please join us in our Upcycled Secret Santa Swap.

In the spirit of promoting handmade and a dash of conservation (good for both your wallet and the planet) we will be using items you probably already have on hand to re-create them and turn into a gift for your Secret Santa!

Always wondered what to do with all those bottle caps? They’d make a lovely pair of earrings. Have a sweater with a nifty cable pattern that doesn’t fit anymore? It would be great as mittens or even a pot holder!

The possibilities are endless and you are only limited by your creativity.

You will have one partner and your upcycled gift must be handmade by you using “unconventional” materials and items that you probably have on hand. If you must purchase additional materials such as thread, needles, glue, etc to finish your item please spend no more than $10.

To join the swap, visit our swap site here. You have until the 26 of November to sign up. All handmade, upcycled gifts will be sent by December 19th, just in time to enjoy on the holiday of your choice.

Image by craftapalooza

Have you ever run into the problem of making with no one in mind to receive your handmade gift of awesome? So your thing of beauty ends up languishing away with no one to appreciate it?

Well no more! If you haven’t gotten around to trying your hand at selling, swap-bot is the perfect way to test your creativity out.

Swap-bot helps facilitate group snail mail and internet swaps. It removes the hassle of collecting swap participants and assigning swap partners. Once you sign up for a swap, Swap-bot will assign you a partner and someone else will be given your name. At the end of the swap, you will send off your lovely creation to your partner and you will be mailed something equally awesome from your other partner.

You can choose to enter a myriad of swaps from themed swaps, where people create and swap items related to the theme, to de-stash swaps, where you swap old crafting supplies. Each swap has rules that must be followed and if you sign up for a swap you must complete it! Imagine your partner thinking that they’ll be receiving a pretty sweet handmade item, but instead you blow them off. How rude!

You can even start a swap of your choosing, but are in charge of marketing and promoting the swap yourself. So if you want lots of people to join in, start working your networks!

A little marketing tip: No matter the swap, include a business or show card in the package. If your swap item is of exceptional quality, you might create some buzz around your work.

Have any experience with Swap-bot? Tell us about it in the comments.