what crafts do you make at your exchange

[Cathie in PA]

Hi:
I am thinking this year I would like to have the girls make a craft while they are at my exchange that they can take home. Any ideas what would be an easy, fun craft. Thank you in advance.
Cathie

[Kim_B]

I've only hosted one CE so far, and we did not do any crafts or anything, though several people came thinking we might bake cookies, which could be kind of fun, depending on the size of the crowd.

Lordy I could go on all day long with ideas...

• Pre-made paper mache recipe boxes for them to decorate to keep their cookie recipes in
  
• Personalized storage containers to keep their cookie cutters or other baking gadgets in
  
• Aprons! Decorate aprons with fabric paints, appliqués, ric-rac, ribbons, buttons, etc (full size or half-aprons)
  
• Picture frames, then have a group picture taken or have each lady get a picture with the goodies they brought
  
• Ornaments
  
• small brag books or keepsake books (I'm picturing the little accordion style books only 4-6 pages long)
  
• Heck, you could even bake cookies
  

If you want more ideas, I'm sure I can come up with more...hehe! I'm a craft junkie!

[pamw]

I am a scrapbooker and have a few stamps. One year at my cookie exchange, we made gift tags. I had researched a few different kinds and had precut some of the stuff and had stickers and punches. You can also use old Christmas cards for gift cards and let the girls cut them out. Also we did a Paper Bag photo album. If you haven't seen them, check them out on e-bay. I purchased the bags ahead, and precut squares of a variety of paper and sayings and had many stickers on hand. I did receive quite a few compliments that year. Those take homes were their thank you gifts for coming to my exchange. If you have any questions, just let me know. It was fun for the girls that do crafts but also fun to the ones who didn't, to show them they can!
Pam

[Michelle]

When I was a little girl we'd go to the Charles Dickens Christmas Faire in San Francisco and everyone that came was invited to string popcorn and dried cranberries (with needle and thread) to decorate the large tree in the middle of the faire. This could be a fun project if you have pretty evergreens in your yard and the birds would love it.