Vintage Market: altered box

For this swap, you will send your partner 1 altered box filled with trinkets & ephemera. You can use a cigar box, wooden box, metal box, etc - the important thing is to make sure that it's beautifully decorated, can be closed, and is chockful of awesomeness.

Please also make sure that whatever you use is clean and doesn't have any strong smells like smoke, mold, mildew, mothballs etc. or other unpleasant things like hairs, bugs and so on. My advice is to really clean out whatever box you plan to use before putting anything inside.

You can also hand-make a box or redesign/upcycle something from other materials, provided that the end result is something your swap partner will love to display and use.

Absolutely NO sticker slapping; both genuine and reproduction ephemera are ok for this swap but all/any items MUST be in good, usable condition; pictures must not be blurry/smudged; effort, time spent & creativity should be apparent.

I'm going to give you all some leeway on the size but it should be something approximating a small flat rate priority box (which, FYI, is not an invitation to cannibalize said box because that's an illegal use of USPS shipping supplies). Please don't send someone a tiny matchbox as the main item, although that would definitely be a lovely inclusion.

A good idea would be, for example, to source a tin box at thrift stores and then paint or spray paint it - for example with chalk paint - before decorating/embellishing it. Boxes can be any shape, hinged, with or without keyhole/key, any age - the important things are:

• must be decorated with vintage ephemera
• must be filled with vintage ephemera
• must NOT be gross, dingy or have any problematic issues (examples being: anything that smells of smoke, mothballs etc; rust; bugs and so on - PLEASE use common sense for this)

Also, it's a good idea to check with the post office which was is cheaper to mail; depending on the size and weight of your swap, as well as the destination, sometimes priority by weight is cheaper than flat rate.

Remember to carefully package whatever you send with bubble wrap or other packing materials to make sure your package arrives safe and sound!

No specific theme for this - you can do something for the season, holiday themed, or take inspiration from Pinterest etc. Please be sure to check your partner's profile for dislikes.

As always, general group/swap rules apply (see forum) - I'm giving plenty of time for this so it can hopefully be something truly beautiful for all participants.

Feel free to PM me with any questions/concerns.

(Swap pic by gingernonutsbits.blogspot.com/)