Swapping and trading is a good alternative to shopping
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Hold an art swap in your backyard inviting friends to bring framed prints or unimportant paintings they no longer enjoy. Serve lots of wine so that everything looks extremely enticing and you leave the party feeling you plucked something great from the treasure chest.
See if you have a designer friend who will work for food. Offer to make him or her lunch or dinner for a design consultation. What do you say, Orlando? You do my dining room and I cook you an omelet. Deal? Things are so slow – designer buddies might take you up on it. If you need the designer to return for more free advice, offer a massage!
~Form a design crew with your circle of friends and travel to each other’s homes to help with a quick-fix makeover. Often, simply rearranging the furniture can make a huge difference. Let’s face it; some of our friends just don’t have the talent but still desire a cool pad. It’s also a way to get a small room painted. Call it Extreme Makeover – the economic collapse home edition.
~Pillow Talk: Changing out pillows is an easy way to make a big difference in reviving a sofa or bed. Flickrstream photos of pillows you no longer love and get friends to do the same thing. Hopefully, the bed pillows won’t tell tales.
~Have a Father’s Day garden party for actually gardening, not just firing the BBQ and watching grandpa rock and sip bourbon. Turn on some lively tunes and get down to that urban gardening. Replant those pots and flower beds. Maybe someone has a bird house or feeder they don’t want that would attract feathered friends to your garden.
~Roll out a fabric free-for-all with rolls of extra upholstery fabric from your past projects. I have several I’d be happy to part with that might be useful to someone.
~Pass on kids’ furniture that your little ones have outgrown. There is nothing like getting a used rocker or desk set that your child will view as special and new. It’s absurd to have to buy a lot of furnishings for children’s rooms when so many of our friends also have children and can share the wealth – especially pieces that aren’t marred with permanent marker graffiti or dented from raucous play.
~Media rooms are simply spare spaces with televisions and lots of good DVD’s. But we all know they get pretty tired. Have a Hollywood night and let everyone bring movies they can’t watch again, no matter how sentimental the scene of George picking out a Cracker Jack ring for Audrey at Tiffany’s. I’ve even given away large-screen televisions to people who wanted them. Electronics are another good thing to swap. Anyone got an iPod for a Hello Kitty CD player for it?
~Register for serving items again (with your friends), after the divorce or when you have decided you never use that china in the spare closet or that giant salad bowl in the attic. Tell everyone what you need, and offer to swap with what you no longer want.
~Call area hotels and department stores and find out if they have spare furniture they want to get rid of. You’d be surprised how much of their stuff is headed for the heap. You might be able to score a nice headboard or set of chairs. Say you will return the favor by telling all of your guests to stay there. Hospitality, indeed!
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Different Kinds Of SWAP PARTIES:
BOOK - gives everyone a chance to get rid of books that they are done reading and get new interesting books to read.
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CLOTHING - a group of friends get together for an evening of socializing and clothes swapping.
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COOKIE - catch up with friends and trade recipes along with delicious baked goods.
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FOOD:
-Soup Swap
Each guest made six frozen portions of a homemade soup. The hosts then drew numbers, and each guest took turns picking a container to take home until each had six. The host even had prizes for the first soup selected and the last.
-Harvest Produce Swap
Many gardeners have something that produces more than they need. For us (and many others), it’s basil. For others, tomatoes or zucchini. Bring your surplus and swap for what you didn’t grow. Think about it: if everyone planted different tomato varieties–you can take home those zebras that you might not have planted, yet make sure your extra beefsteaks find a good home.
-Value-added swap
Maybe you jar your own salsa, pesto, or pasta sauce or can your own jams and jellies. These make great swap items It doesn’t take much to bottle your own flavored oils or vinegars, and I bet jars of marinated feta would be hot items. Even non-cooks can make spice blends or dip mixes.
-Frozen Dinner Swap
The homegrown version of those meal-prep shops–at a fraction of the cost. Each person brings enough four-serving portions of a freezable dinner for each guest: think casseroles, pastas, perhaps a pan of enchiladas. Presto! You’ve got several dinners on hand for busy nights when you don’t have time to cook.
-Recipe Swap
Learn the secrets to your friends’ signature dishes by organizing a simple recipe swap. Ask your friends to bring in copies of their favorite recipe card to pass out to each guest, then craft decorative recipe tins for stowing cards in style. With a new collection of easy, sure-to-please recipes in hand, your guests will leave inspired to take back the kitchen.
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Photo Swap
Photo Swap
Hosting a photo swap with your favorite gal pals brings a whole new meaning to sharing memories. Ask each of your friends to bring a variety of picture frames that they no longer use, along with copies of their favorite photographs from special occasions and funny moments spent together. As you pass these treasured keepsakes around, you’ll relive your fondest moments as friends and come away with “new-to-you” frames and photos. At your swap party, you can offer inspired ideas for using picture frames in unexpected ways. Suggest using them to frame
modern heirlooms like handmade face silhouettes, or as the perfect casing for delicate pressed flowers. ~
Plant & Seed Swap
Give your garden a boost by hosting a plant and seed swap party with your green-thumbed pals. Whip up quick and easy appetizers, served alfresco, and exchange gardening advice and plant cuttings or seeds. Set out a table where your guests can display their favorite plants and seeds, reminding them to label the pieces and mock up quick cards listing the care instructions. As you talk botanicals, start up a fun game of plant trivia, share your favorite photos of prize gardens, and even suggest an impromptu trip to a local garden center. With a simple garden swap party, everyone will leave with new knowledge and new materials to bring to life in their own backyard.
Plant & Seed Swap
Give your garden a boost by hosting a plant and seed swap party with your green-thumbed pals. Whip up quick and easy appetizers, served alfresco, and exchange gardening advice and plant cuttings or seeds. Set out a table where your guests can display their favorite plants and seeds, reminding them to label the pieces and mock up quick cards listing the care instructions. As you talk botanicals, start up a fun game of plant trivia, share your favorite photos of prize gardens, and even suggest an impromptu trip to a local garden center. With a simple garden swap party, everyone will leave with new knowledge and new materials to bring to life in their own backyard.
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Purse Swap
Make sure to specify whichever types of purses you plan on having. Some people really like to do designer purse swap parties so everyone goes home with a quality purse, however its just as much fun to do older purses as well.
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Ornament Swap
My family has an Ornament Swap each year at Christmas. We each bring a wrapped ornament with no tag. When someone leaves for home they pick a present and get an ornament that is either hand made, bought, or handed down from the year before.
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Magazine Swap
With a careful review of the budget, subscribing to new magazines is one luxury that often gets trimmed to cut costs. So why not swap magazines with your gal pals? It is a great way to recycle and reduce paper waste. While being good for the environment, it is also an economical way to read magazines that you might not otherwise spend the money on. Ask your girlfriends to save their magazines and bring them to your next girls night. It’s always interesting to see what magazines people read, too!
With a careful review of the budget, subscribing to new magazines is one luxury that often gets trimmed to cut costs. So why not swap magazines with your gal pals? It is a great way to recycle and reduce paper waste. While being good for the environment, it is also an economical way to read magazines that you might not otherwise spend the money on. Ask your girlfriends to save their magazines and bring them to your next girls night. It’s always interesting to see what magazines people read, too!
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Home Decor Swap
Redecorating can give you a fresh perspective, a sense of accomplishment and a source of pride. So instead of cutting home decor out of your new budget-conscious lifestyle, just swap it up a bit. Instead of purchasing new knick-knacks and picture frames for your house or apartment, just gather the girls together and recycle. Ask everyone to bring home accessories that they don’t need, don’t use, or don’t like. A great party to hold at the change of seasons, this swap gives you an inexpensive way to update and beautify your surroundings. Not only will it make you feel good to spice up your space, your guests will be happy they had the opportunity to clean out their clutter. Make sure you give everyone a few weeks to prepare for this swap. If there are items no one wants, simply donate them to charity.
Redecorating can give you a fresh perspective, a sense of accomplishment and a source of pride. So instead of cutting home decor out of your new budget-conscious lifestyle, just swap it up a bit. Instead of purchasing new knick-knacks and picture frames for your house or apartment, just gather the girls together and recycle. Ask everyone to bring home accessories that they don’t need, don’t use, or don’t like. A great party to hold at the change of seasons, this swap gives you an inexpensive way to update and beautify your surroundings. Not only will it make you feel good to spice up your space, your guests will be happy they had the opportunity to clean out their clutter. Make sure you give everyone a few weeks to prepare for this swap. If there are items no one wants, simply donate them to charity.
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Coupon Swap
It’s a Sunday pastime in many households to sit and clip coupons from the newspaper. Why not start the week off right by pinching pennies with the girls, coffee and a coupon swap? By inviting the girls over to clip coupons and swap, you can score big savings. Some girlfriends might toss valuable coupons that others could use or keep coupon wallets stuffed with coupons that they know they will never use. So get your coupon-collecting girlfriends together and help each other cash in. The key to this swap is to invite guests with varied size and age of families. For example, if you invite all women with kids under 2 years of age, they are all going to want the same baby and infant coupons. You guests will end up fighting over the coupons. In order to keep harmony among your girlfriends, just be sure to create a diverse guest list.
Coupon Swap
It’s a Sunday pastime in many households to sit and clip coupons from the newspaper. Why not start the week off right by pinching pennies with the girls, coffee and a coupon swap? By inviting the girls over to clip coupons and swap, you can score big savings. Some girlfriends might toss valuable coupons that others could use or keep coupon wallets stuffed with coupons that they know they will never use. So get your coupon-collecting girlfriends together and help each other cash in. The key to this swap is to invite guests with varied size and age of families. For example, if you invite all women with kids under 2 years of age, they are all going to want the same baby and infant coupons. You guests will end up fighting over the coupons. In order to keep harmony among your girlfriends, just be sure to create a diverse guest list.
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House Swap
If your vacation dreams are bigger than your budget (and whose aren't?), house swaps can be the perfect solution. You get to stay for free in a comfy home instead of shelling out for a cramped hotel room, you save on food costs, and you can shop, play, and relax like the locals do in places across the United States and around the globe, from charming small towns to major capitals. There's just one big question: Are you game for letting strangers stay in your home while you hang out in theirs?
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