Craft Swap Tips and Basic Etiquette - UPDATED!

I've been doing online handmade swaps since 2009 and I've probably done 30 of them. Lots of different themes, all different craft mediums, and various minimum requirements on several social media platforms. I've received some truly amazing packages and some that weren't so great but I have learned a lot. So, I thought I'd share my handmade swap tips and etiquette to hopefully help you have a successful swapping experience. I've also added some photos of packages or parts of packages I've sent. :)

Reducio Mini Sock Swap on Ravelry  - Hogwarts Headmasters and Headmistresses themed

Swap Mod: The person organizing the swap!

Swap Mama (or Papa!): Underlings of the Swap Mod. When a swap becomes a beast, the Mod will enlist the help of people to take a smaller group of people under their supervision. Sometimes it's one person, sometimes it's ten!


1 / Participate and SHARE!
I'll tell you right now, it's really rough to get paired with someone who fills out the bare minimum on a questionnaire and then is basically MIA for the entirety of the swap. If you want a package that suits your tastes, you have to communicate what those tastes are. I tend to share a lot on my questionnaires because that gives my spoiler lots to work with. Several of the Instagram swaps I'm in right now have me paired with people who have barely put anything for their preferences and it's really hard to make a package off of that.  If you say you're up to receive anything... be prepared to get anything! If you don't like something (in my case, coffee and white chocolate) say so! I can assure you, your spoiler won't be offended if you aren't into the exact same things they are.

2 / Make mosaics or get to pinning!
Mosaics and/or pinterest are great visual representations of what you like. As crafters, we are generally visual people so take advantage of that and give clear inspiration. I use the app Pic Stitch for my mosaics but there are tons out there to choose from. This goes along with the previous tip and will help you get an awesome package. You can't blame someone for sending you a package that isn't to your tastes if you don't give them anything to work with!

Doctor Who Craft Swap on Instagram

3 / Send your best
Getting a half-assed package or one that isn't anything that is you, sucks. I've had it happen and it's not fun. If you sign-up for a swap, make sure you have the time to do all that participation entails. You need to stalk research your partner, come up with plans, buy materials or stash dive, and then actually have time to make something of quality. Don't scramble to get something done at the last minute that's shoddy work or send your partner a box full of pink when they clearly say they hate pink. You end up looking like a jerk and a lazy one at that, when you don't put in any effort. Now, if you have someone who doesn't give you much to work with, it's hard to tailor a package to their tastes but you can at least send something you'd be proud to show off. Use quality materials, too. If you're knitting or crocheting, don't send something made out of cheap acrylic and if you're sewing, please for the love of God don't use Walmart fabric.

4 / Flex your creative muscles!
Craft swaps are a great opportunity to try something new. Whether it's a technique or a whole new craft, go for it! I have stepped far outside of my crafting comfort zone the past few months and I am extremely grateful for it. I've learned basic embroidery, foundation paper piecing, applique, and I'm getting better at sewing zippers! You don't have to spend a ton of money to make a package that someone will go crazy over.

Nerds Craft It Better Swap on Instagram - zombie apocalypse, Star Trek, cartoons, and rainbows!

Nerds Craft It Better small handmade items

5 / Communicate with your swap mama!
If you are going out of town near the send date or you know you won't be able to get your mail, drop a message to whoever is hosting your swap or in charge of your group, and let them know. It's frustrating to send a package and have it sitting for days saying "delivered" while hearing nothing. If I'm doing a Ravelry swap, I'll just put up a note in the swap thread but on IG I find it easier just to email the swap mama. Think of it as common courtesy.

6 /  Mind the minimum requirements!
Most of the IG swaps I've been in have had requirements like "one handmade item plus one extra" while the Ravelry ones tend to include a handmade item plus a monetary minimum. Those price minimums never cover shipping! That is always an extra cost. I prefer to send to the US only for that reason as international shipping is ridiculously expensive. You do need to be aware of the minimum requirements though and realize that just because you went way overboard (ahem, like me) that doesn't mean the person sending to you will. You may get the bare requirements for the swap so don't be disappointed if that happens. We all love extras but sometimes that's not possible for everyone swapping.

Hogwarts Swap 2015 on Instagram

7 / Say thank you!
It's sad that this even has to be said but have some courtesy and say thanks for your package. Your spoiler spent their time and creative process on you and you should have the decency to thank them for it. Even if you aren't over the moon with what you got, be polite and courteous. The only time it's ok to not tag a person in a thank you is if they have accidentally left out their username. You should still post a photo and express your thanks though! Usually if you put it under the swap hashtag, the sender will pop in and claim responsibility. ;)

8 / Know When To Speak Up
This goes back to communication and it's very, very important. If you are having problems with a swapper,  you need to speak up. Let's say they sent you a package full of rabbits, despite saying repeatedly that you're allergic to rabbits. Obviously, that's not good. Let your Swap Mama know that you are having issues because that's what they are there for. If you only have a Swap Mod, let them know. Now, if you are having issues with your Swap Mod and there are no Mamas, speak up publicly. This actually happened last month with an IG swap. The Mod paired herself, her wife, and her dog with people... TWICE. Yes, her dog got two packages and someone had to spend their crafting time doing it. To make matters worse, they didn't send out packages to the people they were supposed to. It was a mess and downright infuriating. Lots of people got screwed but because people spoke out about it, an amazing amount of fellow swappers volunteered to make angel packages. If you are in a swap that has no Mama and the Mod is either MIA or misbehaving, you need to speak up about it!

So, those are my tips! In short: participate, be prepared to fulfill your commitments, and send something that you're proud of!

Having Fun in Dallas and Denton

This month my husband has been working incredibly hard getting things ironed out in the technology department of our school district for the beginning of school. One day he worked for 12 hours and spent 8 hours of that in a conference call. Needless to say, he was in desperate need of a day off. Luckily, he got two! We spent three days going around the Dallas metroplex, which is huge, and I feel like we barely scratched the surface of cool stuff to do and see.

On Thursday, we went to the Dallas neighborhood of Deep Ellum and the Dallas Museum of Art. Deep Ellum is a funky neighborhood right off of downtown Dallas that is famous for it's graffiti lined streets. It was revitalized in the 90's and has lots of small businesses, lofts, and as goes with the territory, hipsters. We drove around looking at graffiti and stopped in for lunch at a super delicious burger/sandwich place, Uncle Ubers. It was some seriously good food and they had the most hilarious vintage advertisements on the walls for silly things like x-ray specs.

Next we went over to the Dallas Museum of Art and walked through every single gallery. My feet were killing me by the time we left! I took one of my blythes with me to take photos with, which I haven't done in months. I got some nice pictures in the sculpture garden (and only a few weird looks) and saw so many great pieces of art. I particularly liked the Slavs and Tartars exhibition which was awesome black and cream wool rugs but my favorite was The Museum is History exhibition.

After the museum, we attempted to go by one of my favorite local shops, We Are 1976, but they were closed this week for travel. Bummer!

My husband in The Museum is History exhibition, matching the Rothko. 

Chihuly in the Museum Cafe

The next day, we went the opposite direction and went to the suburb Southlake for some green chile and Container Store shopping. Central Market hosts Hatch Chile Fest every year where they bring in tons of green chile from Hatch, NM. You know we can't miss out on what our state is famous for! They roast them, sell them fresh, and they had so many foods with green chile mixed in including chocolate, cheeses, and even apple pie. Heaven!

On Saturday, we went up to Denton (which is the closest to where we live) to check out the Denton Community Market, a weekly art and produce market. It was super cute and had lots of great local vendors selling everything from beef jerky to hand carved wooden wine stoppers and of course, food trucks! 

My favorite booths were The DIME Store (basically a brick and mortar version of Etsy for local artisans), these things (adorable illustrations and the cutest handpainted pendant necklaces), and most of all, Denton Design Company. I chatted with the owner Darien for quite awhile about crafting, dolls, and her completely awesome trailer. She even let me check out the inside of the trailer, of course I totally want one of my own now!

Earrings at The DIME Store's booth. 

The cutest booth of all, Denton Design Company! 

Embroidered fabric buttons at Denton Design Company

Last but not least, we stopped by SCRAP Denton a resale shop for craft supplies. Holy cow, I thought I died and went to creative heaven. They had a room stacked to the ceiling with fabric, piles of vintage sewing patterns, notions, knitting needles, yarn, old trophies, beads, wood of all shapes... just about everything you need to make well, anything! I picked up a drop spindle for $1, a ball of vintage wool, and then I found the books and magazines section and went a little crazy. To my credit, the magazines were .25 or 10 for $2. I managed to get 9 issues of Interweave Knits (two from 2006, all of 2010, and all but the winter issue of 2011), a Mollie Makes, and then I also grabbed two books for $7, one about polymer clay jewelry and the other a vintage Better Homes and Gardens book of knitting and crochet patterns which look surprisingly modern. Not bad for $13! 

I'm pretty sure my husband is exhausted after I dragged him all over town but we had a lot of fun and made some good memories!

New Look, New Address, and A Giveaway!

Sparkle Monster has gotten all gussied up for a new address! Along with a new color scheme (taken from this palette), some new fonts, and graphics, I've got a new home on the web! Since it seems every domain is taken, I was shocked to find the one I wanted available. No worries, the old blogger address with redirect here. To celebrate, I'm giving away a mustard and teal slouchy version of my Over the Rainbow hat. It's made from soft acrylic and a wool bamboo blend and is perfect for transitioning spring weather. There are 5 ways to enter and two of them count for two entries. Giveaway ends next Sunday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Petite Blythe Dress Pattern

I love the petite Blythes that Littlest Pet Shop put out. They have tilting heads and are just so tiny! My girls were stuck with their stock clothes, which were just ok, so I made them some dresses. I thought I'd share the pattern in case you are in the same boat. This dress fits both Takara and LPS petites. 

You may notice my little model in the yellow dress. She was my project last weekend and I had a blast working on her. She's been spray painted and given a wig I made from leftover alpaca locks. She started out as the London girl with pigtails so she had quite a transformation!

If you make a dress, I'd love to see it added to the pattern page on Ravelry! Click the link below to view the pattern. 

Petite Blythe Dress Pattern

Yarn: fingering weight
Needles: Size 0 (US), 2.0mm
Gauge: 12 sts = 1 inch in stockinette 
Yardage: This is perfect for scraps!

This dress is worked flat and then seamed halfway up the back. I used both kfb and m1L increases because I like they way they look in this instance. The m1L is a bit fiddly with this small of a needle so If you want to use a different invisible increase, feel free.

PM - place marker
kfb - knit front and back
m1L - make one left

CO 20 sts

R 1: knit
R 2: knit
R 3: p4, PM, p2, PM, p8, PM, p2, PM, p4
R 4: knit all, kfb before and after each marker
R 5: purl
R 6: knit all, kfb before and after each marker
R 7: purl
R 8: k8, bind off 5, k12, bind off 5, k8 (you can remove the markers on this row)
R 9: p6, p2tog, p11, p2tog, p6
R 10: knit
R 11: purl
R 12: *k2, m1L*
R 13: purl
R 14: *k5, m1L*
R 15: purl
R 16: knit

Repeat rows 15 and 16 until desired length ending on a knit row. Knit one more row and bind off. Sew up back halfway and finish with a snap at the top.  

Please note this is for personal use only. This means no selling the finished product or copies of this pattern. 

Inspiration: Mug Rugs

I'm quilt crazed right now and wanting to start on small projects before I start on a full-sized one. One adorable thing to make I found was mug rugs. They are basically mini quilts that are the perfect size for a cup of tea and something to much on. I'm going to try my hand at a couple and see how they turn out but right now, I'm inspired by these ones!

1. Wonky Star, 2. Bunting , 3. Modern Meadow, 4. Flea Market Fancy, 5. Rainbow Log Cabin, 6. Cool Stripes, 7. Hexies, 8. Dresden Plate, 9. Ziggety, 10. Ticker Tape, 11. Half Square Triangles, 12. Starburst, 13. Scrappy Stripes

HPKCHC Fall 2012 Term Round-Up

I know you are probably thinking what the heck is HPKCHC? It is a group over on the knit/crochet community, Ravelry, called Harry Potter Knit Crochet House Cup. See? HPKCHC is much easier to write! Now you are probably wondering what that is. It's a friendly crafting competition framed within the Harry Potter world. We are sorted into houses and then craft for points to bring home the House Cup. Every month of the 3 month term, we have 8 "classes" to choose from, all from the HP books. They have different challenges that revolve around their area of study (say dementors for DADA or polyjuice for Potions). When you complete a challenge, you turn it in as "homework" to get points. There is also quidditch which involves more crafting for points. Obviously there is a bit of a role playing element to it all!

melofors hat, snowflake doily

It sounds way dorky and it kind of is but it's a total blast. While I played Nerd Wars in the past (another competition group on Ravelry) this was my first time playing in the House Cup. I love that it involves my love of HP with crafting and writing. These competition groups are fantastic motivators to get things done! Even making a boring garter stitch dishcloth can be fun when it's framed within a competition and theme.

calavera amigurumi, puff paint mask

I was sorted into Ravenclaw for my first term, and had so much fun. Because everyone was so nice, I never felt left out because I was a "first year". Ravenclaw had it's own activities to participate in, and even has a thread about dolls! They also love spreadsheets, and the oxford comma. These are people after my own heart! I can proudly say we scored the most points and therefor won the House Cup this term! :tosses confetti:

hand dyed yarn, blythe helmet with demi octopus

Here's the number of projects I completed September - November in the fall term:
10 little bows
6 hats
3 dishcloths
2 amigurumi
3 things for Blythe
2 masks - one knit, one paint
1 dyed skein of yarn
1 sewn project bag
1 knit bag
1 dish scrubber
1 poop bag holder

I did 11 knit, 18 crocheted, 2 sewn, one dyed, and one painted project! A lot of these were Christmas presents, so it was fun to earn points while making things that had to be done.

autumn slouchy hat, project bag

If you knit, crochet, spin, or dye yarn, and like Harry Potter, I highly suggest you play! The minimum requirement is to finish one class per month which can be something as a hairbow or dishcloth. There are all skill levels playing the game so you don't have to be spectacular to play. You have an entire month to complete at least class and I've seen everything from a blanket square to a sweater turned in. Here's the group and sign-ups for the next term (January - March) are open now through December 20. If you are too nervous to jump in and want to just dip a toe, you can play as a Not Quite First Year (NQFY) where there are no minimum project turn-ins. You don't have to sign up to play as a NQFY and can start that anytime (even in March!).

If you sign-up, play as a NQFY, or already play, let me know!

Handmade Holiday - Giftwrap

I had so much fun wrapping gifts this year. I'm totally addicted to the mini wrapping paper rolls in Target's dollar section but they are well... mini! Since they only wrap things on the smaller side, I like to pair them my other favorite, kraft paper. For tags, I doodled on white paper and then broke out my Crayola watercolor set and went a bit nuts. A few cuts and some punched holes later and I have some fun gift tags. 

I also put together some little packages for Daisy's friends and cousins. They are biscuits I made at Thanksgiving with the leftover pumpkin. Have you done any handmade for Christmas this year? 

medallions: Pugly Pixel

arrows: Creature Comforts

font: stars from our eyes

Handmade Tags Freebie!

As someone who is giving almost exclusively handknits for Christmas this year, I was in need of some cute care tags for my wooly presents. I didn't really love anything I found online so I decided to make some myself and because I love to share, I'm offering them to you to use as well!

There are two different sets: brights (which can be used for any occasion) and a holiday set (in red/green, gold/silver, blue/silver). Each set has 9 care tags with room for you to circle the fiber content, washing, and drying instructions. I recommend printing onto card stock that way they are nice and sturdy. You can punch a hole in the top to make it a hang tag or just tuck it in with your gift.

Please note that these are for personal use only. Feel free to give them with gifts or with charity items but they are not to be used with goods you are selling.


Handmade Tags (brights) pdf

Handmade Tags (hoilday) pdf


If you use these, I'd love to know!

Photo overlay: Pugly Pixel

Mixed Tape Mitts Pattern

Knit Picks Chroma Worsted in Mix Tape.... I have been in love with this yarn since I first saw it. The colorway was my favorite of all the Chroma yarns and sadly, it's now discontinued. I did manage to get myself one lovely ball that I've been holding onto for the right pattern. Unfortunately, I never found that pattern! Since I'm ahead on my Christmas knitting, I thought I'd make myself something so I whipped these mitts up.

This is a very basic pattern and it is assuming you already know how to knit and work basic (ribbing and stockinette) stitches. Please let me know if you have an issues with it! This is also on Ravelry under the same name so if you make them, I'd love to have it added to your projects. This is my first pattern I've ever released so be gentle. ;)

These mitts are worked flat and then seamed up the sides. I do have small hands (6.75 inches) and knit tightly, so you may need to cast on more stitches. 


Mixed Tape Mitts
Needle: Size 7
Yarn: Knit Picks Chroma Worsted (or any worsted yarn)
Gauge: 5 sts per inch

CO 34 (or add sts in multiples of 2)

Rows 1-8: k1p1 ribbing

Rows 9-35: work stockinette stitch

Rows 36-44: k1p1 ribbing

Bind off loosely

Sew sides (leaving gap for thumb) and weave in ends.

Bow: CO 13, work ss for 9 rows, bind off and block. Wrap center with scrap yarn. Center on the top of mitt (at the bottom) and sew on. 

Yay! I hope you all find that easy enough and again, if you make this, I'd love to see the results!