Secret Santa exchange http://www.bestsmileys.net/hats/xmas2.gif

For those who are interested, we will be organizing a Secret Santa exchange.  The purpose of the exchange is to send a small gift to another person.  The recipient of the gift will not know who they will be getting their gift from until it arrives.  

A few rules for the exchange:

• All participants must have at least 25 posts at this board. (This is for everyone's protection, especially since real names and addresses will be shared).
  
  
• The value of the gift should not exceed $10 US.  
  
  
• The gift does not have to be hair related, but we all know we love hair toys! Please do not send hair products such as shampoos or conditioners - these can be easily tainted and are heavy to ship.
  
  
• Since we have people here from all over the world, we will try to keep people within reasonable shipping areas, but if you are willing to do an overseas shipping, please let us know.
  
  
• To participate, please PM me by November 10th with your name and address, favorite color(s), hair color, type and length.  Once I have all the names I will PM you with your person's information.  Your Secret Santa may not be the person you are sending your gift to.  
  
  
• I will update this post with the list of name of those participating and when they have received their gift.
  
  
• Gifts should be sent by December 10th. Be sure to include your screen name with your gift.
  
  
• Once you have received your Secret Santa gift, please post here what you got and from whom so we can all share in the fun.
  

Please keep in mind that you are participating in this exchange voluntarily.  We certainly hope everyone will keep up their end of the exchange.  If unable to send your gift, please PM me so I can try to arrange another exchange.

I have the following people in the exchange so far:
Moonchild
Lisabelle
Greek_Lady
Maggie
Anais Satin
Sexywitch
BardicLove
Juri
Sakina
Khrome
Galadriel
Panpeus
Beasan16
13bodies

Jingle Bells, jingle bells, ...........this is going to be fun  :)

I just sent you my info, BB

Love it!!! I'm in! :D
Which of course means that I *will* be shipping overseas since noone lives around here.  ;D
Do we have anyone on board from Antarctica?  ;D ;D

Yes, I suppose anywhere you ship could be over a sea, Greek Lady.  ;D  

However, I was thinking about keeping the European particpants together and the North American participants together.  As for Antartica - well, no one has admitted to being from there yet!

Ohhh I am ok if you want me to ship to wherever.  :D In fact I think it may be more fun the further away.  ;D
Anyway what I mean is that I'm ok with whatever you decide  :)


OOOps I actually have to send the PM though! LOL

Ooooh, count me in too!  This will be fun, great idea BB!  ;D

I will PM you my info now...

I love this idea. We do this every year on another forum I go to as well. It's tons of fun. ;D

I'll send you my info right away.

I am with Greek_Lady, as far as I am concerned BB, you don;t have to split us up in North America and the rest of the world group.

It doesn't really matter to me since our military address is considered a stateside address anyway. There wouldn't be no aditional costs.  8)

But whichever you decide is fine.  :)

This sounds like fun!

*off to PM info*

wrote on Oct 28^th, 2005 at 9:28pm:

I am with Greek_Lady, as far as I am concerned BB, you don;t have to split us up in North America and the rest of the world group. It doesn't really matter to me since our military address is considered a stateside address anyway. There wouldn't be no aditional costs.  8) But whichever you decide is fine.  :)

I know that for some of us, international shipping is no big deal, but for others it might be.  That's why I asked the question.   I'm just trying to make it "comfortable" for everyone. :)

How fun!!  I'm in!

Cynde

I'm in!  :D And I'm willing to ship also over other seas than Gulf of Finland  ;D . So, whatever you decide, BB, is fine with me.

*off to send info*

wrote on Oct 29^th, 2005 at 11:45am:

I'm in!  :D And I'm willing to ship also over other seas than Gulf of Finland  ;D . So, whatever you decide, BB, is fine with me. *off to send info*

LOL ;D

I'd like to add that if any of our guys want to participate, I'm pretty sure we can accommodate them.   ;D  I promise I would not send any pink froo-froo hair toys  (unless pink is listed as a favorite color!)

Thanks, BB  :)

BB, have you received my info? I tried to send it to you, but my pm box seems to be acting weirdly. ???

wrote on Oct 30^th, 2005 at 8:34am:

BB, have you received my info? I tried to send it to you, but my pm box seems to be acting weirdly. ???

BikerBraid My computer as acting strange that day.  Did my info get to you?

Lisabelle, I have your info and your name is listed on the first post.

Galadriel, I did not get your information.  If you want, you can email it to me at robin@longlocks.com.

BB, did you get my info?

Yes, Moonchild, I have your info.

I have information for the people who are listed in the first post .  I edited the original post to show who is participating and I will continue to edit that post as new people send me information.

wrote on Oct 30^th, 2005 at 8:34am:

BB, have you received my info? I tried to send it to you, but my pm box seems to be acting weirdly. ???

Galadriel, I received your email with your info.  I have added you to the list of participants - Yea!

Yay!  :D This will be fun!

I'm game! :)  I'll PM you my info.

I've received your info, Panpeus, and added you to the list! :D

Oh shoot, I didn't see this part!

To participate, please PM me by November 10th with your name and address, favorite color(s), hair color, type and length.

My favorite colors are: Light Green, light blue, and pink.

My haircolor is: Dark Golden Blonde
My type is: 2aN/Cii
My length is: 15'' right now!

wrote on Nov 2^nd, 2005 at 3:58am:

My favorite colors are: Light Green, light blue, and pink.

That's almost exactly what I wrote! Except I wrote "yellow" instead of "pink". lol

Okay, that was totally pointless.   >.<

Aww, that's not pointless!

I love yellow, but it washes me out.  =(

Just a reminder that the deadline for signing up is this Friday, November 11th.

I will pair everyone up and send out the info on Saturday.

Once you have your person's info, remember that the deadline for sending the gift is December 11th.  Try to keep in mind the distance it will have to travel - our goal would be to have gifts in everyone's hands by Christmas.  Overseas shipments would need to be quickly the achieve this.

That is such a great idea BB! :)

But i have one question: will anybody other than the person sending me the gift know the information i send you??

sorry, but my mom is soooooo protective over the whole internet, and well sometimes it's not- i'm not saying that LL is not trusted but you know....it's better to be safe than sorry

Personal information that is sent to me will not be shared with anyone other than your Secret Santa.

Your mother is right to be concerned about what is shared on line.  You should always be careful about what information is shared on the internet.

...tomorrow's the big day.....who's secret santa will I be.........

Is it time yet?

Patience, patience, Greek_Lady.  The time will be soon enough.

Beesan16, I got your info and you have been added to the list!

I just found out that I will probably be busy on Saturday, making it hard to get the Secret Santa assignments out.  So....... I have sent everyone their assignment early!

Please be sure to PM or email me (robin@longlocks.com) that you are still wanting to be part of the exchange.  If you can't participate, please let me know so that I can make new assignments quick!

I am withholding the specifics of your recipient until I get your confirmation that you are still in.  Once I have it, I will then send you the name and address info.

Happy shopping!

La, la, la, la, la, la.......I know who I'm secret santa to!

Me too, me too ;D
la la la la la la la la la.......... http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/kik.gif

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!  I missed it!   :'(

I'm chronically late.  Merry Happy Christmas Holidays to everyone anyway.   :-/  :)

wrote on Nov 11^th, 2005 at 11:05pm:

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!  I missed it!   :'( I'm chronically late.  Merry Happy Christmas Holidays to everyone anyway.   :-/  :)

No, i don't think you're late today is the deadline anyway, right? ???

wrote on Nov 11^th, 2005 at 6:36pm:

Me too, me too ;D la la la la la la la la la.......... http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/kik.gif

Me three!!  Oh this is so much fun.  I even did some gift "research" during work today.  :-D

Cynde

Hehe!  I'm off to go shopping tomorrow! ;D

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!  I'm so excited!!!  I can hardly decide what to send "my" person!  Now, I have to be careful 'cause I'm the one who usually says the thing I'm trying so hard not to.  Maybe I'm related to Homer Simpson?

So many ideas so little time...

For some reason I didn't receive a pm, nor could I send one. Anyway, I'm now in.

Last time when I was in Helsinki I did some hairtoy-spotting keeping "my person" in mind...

I know too! ^^~

This is so exciting!

ATT BB

i didnt know about this  :(, can i still be added to the list. it sounds fun. if its too late thats ok. :( i was sick and delirious so i didnt know.

caui

I'm not sure if my PM is working properly, but I'm still in this, BB.  :)

Ruzika/Bardic Love - are you still in for the Secret Santa.  I need to know ASAP so I can finish up the last of the assignments.

Yay, I have my person! I wonder what I should get.  ???

All of the Secret Santa info messages have been sent out.  Hope you all have fun shopping and anticipating your gift!

Be sure to post here when you have received your gift - we all want to know what you got!

wrote on Nov 14^th, 2005 at 6:27pm:

Ruzika/Bardic Love - are you still in for the Secret Santa.  I need to know ASAP so I can finish up the last of the assignments.

Yes, of course. I would have posted here sooner but my interenet has decided to become troublesome. They've come to fix it twice now and we're still having problems. Yay for technology. ::)

I'll be going shopping soon. I love getting gifts for people.

*Sniff, I missed it!  :'(
Curse you school. It keeps me busy and I don't check the board enough. sigh, maybe next time.
Meg

If this exchange works well and people are interested, I thought we might try another exchange in Feb - to break the winter blues!  What does everyone think?

I'm in  :D

I think it's a good idea. I'm going to wait until after I finish this secret santa before giving a final answer, but for now I'm in.

I'm with juri this time.

I'm happy to report I went shopping today and bought the gift for the person I got. I will mail it out soon with a holiday greeting card. :)

I missed secret santa this time, I would love to join the Feb one. :)

The deed is done!  ;D ;D
I am on time! Yeahhhh :D
I sooo hope "my" person likes what I got for her!

put me on febs list!!!! i missed it this time :(.

I got my gift!!!  :-D  My Secret Santa was...*drumroll*....  Galadriel!!  Thanks, Galadriel!!   ;D ;D ;D

Are we opening them right away, or saving them 'til Christmas?  

Hair Minion has offered to "peek for me".  LOL  I told him he should've signed up for his own Secret Santa!  

Cynde

Good to hear that your gift arrived safely. And fast! I think it got ahead of Christmas rush.  :D

Methinks that when my gift arrives, I can't wait to open it...

KK I decided to open it!  I couldn't wait, it was just way too tempting.  I absolutely love it!!  Thank you, Galadriel!  I got a pink crocheted scrunchie and a butterfly clip.  Pics and details are in my journal ;)

http://www.longlocks.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=journals;action=display;num=1120248624;start=195#201

Cynde

Those are really nice gifts, Khrome!

Galadriel--You have good taste.  :)

Very cute! :-*

My Secret Santa gift arrived! :D :D :D

My Secret Santa was Khrome. She sent me: five Scünci velvet scrunchies, a beautiful crocheted bun cover and a LOTR bookmark with One Ring that just happened to fit my finger perfectly.  ;D

Details are in my journal. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait pictures until our digicam has been repaired.

http://www.longlocks.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=journals;action=display;num=1099471681;start=540#540

Thank you, Cynde!  :-* :)

You're welcome!  It was really fun shopping for you.  :-D

Cynde

My secret santa is Anais!!  I posted a bit about it in my hair journal and her journal.

I <3 my new gloves!  They're so bright and cheery -- without being Christmassy.  Thanks again!  They match my solid pink scarf.

I got my secret santa gift today, too! My secret santa was *drumroll*..................13bodies! The details are in my journal, but pics have to wait until the digital camera comes back from vacation.  :P

Thank you again, 13bodies!  :D

I'm glad you like it!   ;D  

:)  :)  :) I've got a box today!  :)  :)  :)

My secret santa is LISABELLE  :)  :)

Thank you very much! I received a Christmas Card with good hair growing wishes

a cute little red zipper pouch, which will be my traveling hair toy pouch  :)

the cutest crocheted bun cover in a light yellow - very pretty!

a leather pony tail holder - which I absolutely love  :)

a pair of silver earrings with a stone which almost looks like "Bernstein"

Celine Dion Eau de Toilette and a travelling size lipstick and rouge set!!! :)  :)  :)

Thank you very much, LISABELLE

I will post pictures ASAP  :)

Teee Heee! ;D Your very welcome! I'm so happy you like your gift!!  The stones on the earrings are Amber. ;D

:) Thanks again, Lisabelle! I really like it!  :)

It is so much fun hearing what everyone is getting.   :D I wish I could have participated.  :-/  (We had an even number of people sign up, so I stayed out.)

My person should get her gift tomorrow or Tuesday. :)  Let me know when you get it!

:'(  BB, no secret santa for you? We have to make sure that enough LL folks sign up in February....
BTW, what kind of name are we giving the secret gift exchange in February?

Ohhhh BB  :-/ :-/ I feel so embarassed now! I should have noticed it was an even number!

Please whoever my Secret Santa is, in the off-chance you haven't shipped the gift to me yet, please I am bowing out in favour of BB. Will you, my Secret Santa, please send "my" gift to BB? It will make me feel so much better!
Thank you

Theoretically, Secret Santa exchanges can happen with any number of people greater than 2... the thing is to make a list of these people and shift everyone downwards, or upwards, to get their Secret Santa. It doesn't have to be in partners.

Say we have five people (most importantly when they DON'T know what order they are in)

an example could be:
1 sends a gift to 2
2 sends a gift to 4
4 sends a gift to 5
5 sends a gift to 3
3 sends a gift to 1

So it could work with an odd number. :)

Anais

:'( :'( :'( :'(BB i'm so sorry, but i was really thinking about it today. I was wondering how it works out if you were giving out info, then you would know who your Secret Santa is ??? Thats really confusing, i guess! unless we ALL send you a gift ;D

[glb]WE LOVE YOU BIKERBRAID!! :-* :-*[/glb]

Anais Satin- that is a great idea! ;D ::smart girl you ;)::

Anais;  Yes, I know it can work with an odd number, but I was also working with overseas shipping issues, and then my head started to hurt from thinking too much  ;D so I took the easiest way out this time.

I do plan to mix it up more if we do it again.   8)

Ahhhhh I finally get it! Doh! ::)

wrote on Dec 5^th, 2005 at 3:00pm:

Ohhhh BB  :-/ :-/ I feel so embarassed now! I should have noticed it was an even number! Please whoever my Secret Santa is, in the off-chance you haven't shipped the gift to me yet, please I am bowing out in favour of BB. Will you, my Secret Santa, please send "my" gift to BB? It will make me feel so much better! Thank you

NO!  Don't send to me!  I'm having fun seeing what everyone else is gettimg.  I'll get in in the next one.  It was a sweet offer, Greek Lady - thank you.

Boy!  That Greek_Lady, ain't she sweet?  She's also My Secret Santa and she gave me a super duper great gift.  It's a fancy two pronged hair fork, with rhinestones and dangles!!  It is totally something I would buy for myself.  G_L, either you read people really well, or you're simply a genious.  Muah  :-* THANK YOU!!!!!

wrote on Dec 7^th, 2005 at 6:58pm:

Boy!  That Greek_Lady, ain't she sweet?  She's also My Secret Santa and she gave me a super duper great gift.  It's a fancy two pronged hair fork, with rhinestones and dangles!!  It is totally something I would buy for myself.  G_L, either you read people really well, or you're simply a genious.  Muah  :-* THANK YOU!!!!!

Hmmmm, considering your avatar shows you wearing sparkly, dangly hairsticks - I don't think it would be hard to guess what you might like!   ;D  But then, we all know that G_L is a special person anyway!

I am SO happy and relieved you liked it Ariel! I was hoping you would  :D :D Enjoy! :-* :-*

BB You are too good, I know!  :-[ :-[ :-*
We ALL are special ladies in here!!  :) :)
But next time we won't let you escape so easily!  ;D

My Secret Santa was................. Moonchild!!

I got some cute pink pearl hair toys, a card in German, incense and the cutest little nutcracker doll!  Thank you Moonchild, that was a great present!! ;D

I am glad you like it  :)

Enjoy the season  :)  :)  :)

Here's the picture of my presents! ;D ;D ;D ;D

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a90/Lisabunnie/x-masspresents.jpg

What fun!  Love the nutcracker and those pink scrunchies look darling!

Very Cute! :D Enjoy~!

I have my gift all wrapped, boxed, and ready to send, I will be taking it to the post office this afternoon.  I hope she likes it, I guess we'll find out!  :)

I sent my present out on friday, so she should be recieving it soon  ;).

I got my present on Saturday, and my Secret Santa was...Juri!  Thank you Juri, I loved it!

I'll be posting details in my journal this afternoon.   ;D

My buddy should be recieving it on Friday or Saturday

wrote on Dec 13^th, 2005 at 3:32pm:

I got my present on Saturday, and my Secret Santa was...Juri!  Thank you Juri, I loved it! I'll be posting details in my journal this afternoon.   ;D

You're welcome, 13bodies! I'm really glad you liked it!  :D

I received my package this morning!!!  THANK YOU BEESAN  ;D!

Beesan sent me a variety pack of scrunchies (this is ALWAYS a good gift), a very, very pretty pair of gold hoop earrings, and the cutest little cross-stitch kit, it has a floral pattern on it, which is perfect, because I am a florist.  She wrote me a very lovely note on a burned piece of parchment, rolled up and tied with twine, and she even included a piece of her favorite holly plant for me.  I love the creative edge, and the piece of the holly plant was a wonderful and personal touch.  I have it soaking in water right now, I am going to try to root it and start a new plant out of the pieces...I hope they take, it would be so special to have a piece of your plant growing half-way across the country, then I can always remember you!

Thank you so much again, Beesan, I love everything you picked for me!
Merry Christmas!  ;D

Oh, no thank you maggie it means soooo much to me that you're planting a piece of my holly :-* :-*- i think i'm gonna start bawling any second, i'm not very good in these situations :-[

But i must apologize for the not properly gift wrapped gifts- i was so occupied with making the paper and sending it i totally forgot :-/

I'm glad you liked them :D

Merry Christmas!

Don't you dare apologize!  Gift wrap is only superficial, what you did was FAR more creative, and it means so much that you took the time to add your own personal touches.  I would much rather what you did than a dull piece of wrapping paper...it shows you've got style!  ;)

Oh, i got it, i got it, it's WONDERFULLY wonderful....and my Secret Santa is......Maggie

I always thoght my first pair of hairsticks will be special, now they are EXTRA special and they're beautiful, clear with little diamonds, a beautiful jaw clip with a glitter puff, a flower pot ornament that says " be happy", and a Happy Sentiment Stone, that is clear with a cute little snow man inside and says "Happy Hugs" that i will forever keep in my purse- that's a promise- and a card

thank you, thank you, thank you Maggie :-* :-* :-* :-* :) :)

P.S. pics will be posted soon

You are sooooo welcome, Beesan!  I'm so glad that you liked your gifts, I picked out an extra pair of those hairsticks for myself (I liked them so much!), so we will have the same sticks and we can think of each other when we wear them.  The flower pot ornament and the little jingle stone are gifts from my shop, I just think that they are such prettly little keepsakes, and I am so touched that you will carry your stone in your purse...now it's my turn to get teary-eyed!  I planted your holly sprigs in a little pot of soil on Saturday, I keep checking on them - I want so badly for them to take root so I can plant them outside at home.  They look very healthy so far...I think they just might survive!  This exchange was such a wonderful idea...kudos to Bikerbraid!

Merry Christmas everyone!  ;D

Yes, thanks to Bikerbraid for this wonderful idea :-* :-*

I love the sticks too, they hold up soooo well ;D :-*
here are the pics i hope they're clear...

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/gift.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/jinggle.jpg

ETA: eep, i'm sorry they are so big, but i don't know how to resize them :-[ :-X

Beesan your hairsticks are oh so nice!!! I love them!If your hair is dark it will be di-vine!

Maggie, where did you get them? Can someone buy a pair online? I love that they are completely clear in colour and simple and just a touch of sparkle.

Thanks Greek_Lady :) Yes my hair is dark...

GreekLady:  I picked them up at my local drug store (Rite-Aid) in the hair toy section...believe it or not they're actually "Bratz" hair sticks (you know, those dolls with the big eyes and lips), so maybe if you check out Bratz accessories you can find them.  I have dark brown hair and they look really nice against my color, I just thought that they were the cutest little sticks i'd ever seen, so I had to have a pair too!  I hope that helps you to find them.

I just recieved my present today. Thank you Ruzika! Its a gold butterfly hair pin with pink stones. Its so pretty, I cant wait to wear it.

So, was the Secret Santa Exchange successful?  Did everybody on the list send and receive their gifts?  I hope so!  I really enjoyed doing this, the anticipation made it fun.  Bikerbraid, we definetly want you in on the next swap!

I think we still have a couple of people that have not reported in that they received their gifts.  (I left my list at home, so I'm not exactly sure of the number).  

If anyone has not yet received their gift - please PM me and I will see what I can do for you.

It's here, it's here, it's heeeeeeeeereeeeeeeeeee!
Yeeehawwwwwwwwwww ;D ;D ;D

My Secret Santa was Ariel (aka Sakina  ;D) and she sent me a whole lot of goodies!!!
A pink silk scarf (that will look very nice with my offwhiteandpink coat!), velvet scrunchies in black, burgundy (yeah!) purple (at least I think this is what you all call *scrunchies*), strawberry black tea (yummy!!!!), body butter with cocoa butter from Body Shop (I have been meaning forever to try this one out Ariel and always postponed, now it's the time!! ), an aromatherapy bath salts sachet in lavender smell (that one will have to wait, cause we haven't got a big bathtub here, but the smell is divine even with the sachet closed!!) and coffee candies!!! (mother has eaten most of them already, she is sooo fond of candies, LOL I hope you don't mind!!!  ;D ;D ;D)
Oh boy, was that all for me??? WOW!
Thank you Ariel!  :-* :-*

I think I remember someone mentioning that we might be doing this again...is that still true? I want to be involved this time around if we're doing it again. It looked like so much fun.
Meg

I was thinking about doing another exchange in February.
Maybe we could exchange silly socks, or something red - any other ideas?

How about bright, silly, shiny things to break up the grey monotony that is February?  Kind of like a little party in a box.

Well whenever it is, I'M IN!!! ;D ;D ;D
a RED THINGS exchange would be so cool.

I'm so glad you like your gifts, Greek_Lady!  You are welcome!!!  I hope you got to eat a candy or two!  Guess I should have sent the whole bag, but I didn't know if you liked candy, or coffee.

I'd like to participate in a February exchange-I love the idea of silly socks and red stuff.

Fun!

PS. absolutely, G_L, everything in that box is for you!!!!

wrote on Jan 6^th, 2006 at 8:52pm:

How about bright, silly, shiny things to break up the grey monotony that is February?  Kind of like a little party in a box.

Great idea 13bodies!  Count me in on this one Bikerbraid!

Ariel ( ::) ::)) my mom is sooo much into candies and especially coffee candies!! I, on the other hand, don't even drink coffee :D But her pleasure in those candies was great! You should have seen her eyes sparkling! I guess moms are persons with needs too, huh?? LOL
What I'm trying to convey is that your gifts made two people happy, not only one  :-* :-* :D :D

Red gifts would rock for two reasons.   1.) Valentine's Day and 2.) National Wear Red Day is February 3, if I remember correctly.  (It is to encourage Heart Disease Awareness, the number one killer of American Women.)

Sounds like fun!

Yeah red....socks, candy, whatever. I need more red in my life.  :D
Meg