My Own Send Us Christmas Swap

Goodness me - I took part in 4 or 5 swaps before Christmas and it takes a bit of time around everything else to get around to blog about them! I run an annual Send us Christmas swap. The aim is to fit Christmas into a one litre container or box. I partnered myself with the very lovely Stephanie. Stephanie runs an adorable mug and tea cup swap a couple of times a year. I've taken part in 3 of her swaps so far and they really are delightful!
Her (much bigger than the swap size ;) ) box arrived just before school ended and oh. my. It was stunning! Lots of photos as it was so divine, I took photos of every layer... so here goes....

 Stunningly presented and wrapped...

 a lovely heart which Stephanie made...

 little poinsettias - I'll use these on a few scrapbooking pages...

 a pocket card with tea, little bookmarks, a tiny envelope with hearts, which i also use for scrapbooking...

 a tissue pouch (I used to make these, but i've forgotten how!); a wooden happy sign...

 a large tin of peppermint tea...

 cute spotty socks and whitman's chocolate, a little mirror and photo frame too...

 notecards...

 and a recipe on the bottom of the box. Lots of gorgeous things, so beautifully presented!

 My little plastic sistema box looked like this....

 wooden pohutukawa decoration (New Zealand's Christmas flower), cupcake baking cups, fabric, candycanes...

 a notebook, pen, ribbon, a raindeer decoration...

 cookie cutters, an angel decoration from Trade Aid, key ring, wooden angel decoration...

 chocolate santas...

 And all together ...

I love this swap. it is always neat to see what people from around the world send. Thank you Stephanie for being such a wonderful and very generous swap partner!
I'll be hosting the swap again this year!

Road Trip Rotorua to Napier Part Two

Time is flying. Hard to believe this little road trip was 2 weeks ago. I loved this sign on the foreshore of Lake Rotorua! From there it was a decent drive which took quite a few hours to get to Napier. We drove the Taupo to Napier Road which was a long 1.5 hours drive with forest and farmland and this gorgeous waterfall and more forest and farmland - not my favourite part of the trip really. It was msot certainly a lot colder up on this road!

 This is Napier! New Zealand's Art Deco city. Remember I went to Napier back in August for the Knit August Nights wool retreat? Well I promised the husband I'd take him back and that we would be staying at the Masonic Hotel, which I had wandered through back in August. This was the view from the hotel...

 The hotel room - oh my - it truly really was one of the most divine rooms I have ever stayed in! I made sure I spent some good time relaxing here!

 I can never tire walking around this city, taking too many photos of the divine buildings. The city was re-built after the devastating 1931 earthquake. I believe it is said to be one of the best art deco cities in the world. Very well kept and looked after and pleasant to walk for hours, which we did! We also did a lot of cycling all over the place and up some decent hills too.

 These Seven Sister Buildings are quite famous.,..

Such a beautiful city with so much to do. It wasn't the best weather while we were there, but we managed! It is kinda off the beaten track to me and not hugely known for NZers to visit there (I don't know anyone who has taken family holidays there but I think there is loads of stuff to do with families - the foreshore area with the aquarium, parks, skateboard ramps etc looked fantastic). Napier and surrounds are also very well known for its wine! I think it is a very under-rated city, which becomes very busy around the annual Art Deco weekend in February. I certainly do recommend a visit here!