New to Matchbox Swaps

I want to join this swap because I also would like to learn how to do these. I have one that was sent to me in a swap that I have as a guide. So we get to decorate with whatever theme we want right?

Yep, yep, yep. You can decorate however you would like or you can look at their profile. It is completely up to you. :)

ok you got me. I have NEVER made anything like this and I got to thank you for hosting such a neat swap to challenge us newbies to matchbox swaps. Thank you for adding a link to a template as I will have to go that route. Guess I best getting to it. Keeping fingers crossed they turn out ok :)~

Ha ha, no problem . . . I haven't done it either. I'm a matchbox newbie too.

I have kinda silly question. How should we mail our little works of art? I have never made or received one of these and was just wondering do we place these in a padded envelope.. or reg. envelope. I was just wondering sense these can be crushed easily by the PO I would think. THANKS!

Good question. I actually don't know, I've never mailed one. Does anyone have a good idea? I would think maybe a padded envelope.

I was wondering about how to mail it too.

Great link for how to ship matchboxes

http://www.swap-bot.com/forums/topic/35726

So, we use the template link and construct a tiny-tiny box made from cardboard? How do you get the cardboard to crease well or fold into such a tiny shape? Could we potentially use match-holding boxes and take out the matches before covering it with paper and such? Also, after reading the 'how to ship' link zerofantasis provided, I got thinking- could we put the boxes inside those little boxes that Christmas pendents and earrings sometimes come in? Instead of a heavy Altoid tins like someone commented, this is slightly lighter in weight and cheaper to ship- would still put it in some envelope something.

Yes, to everything above. You can use heavy cardstock paper or light cardboard.

after reading the "how to ship link" I think I will go the bubble envelope route with tissue paper around the matchbox as this will make the envelope bigger and write fragile on it perhaps this will work? I don't eat altoids (LOL) You can get the bubble envelopes at the dollar store even to save money. It will cost more then a stamp to mail..but that is fine for me. SEE mamatoallie you made a GREAT swap for us newbies to get this craft right before we start on the big league ones and get bad ratings..heehee SO this will be a test for us all! KUDOS mamatoallie and to everyone that is trying!

haha, I really did it for selfish reasons lol. I did a swap that I had never done once and all the "experienced" people were really nasty to me and that is not something I would like to repeat lol. But I figured I wasn't the only one in that boat!

oh i'm so glad for this swap, i love the idea of these, actually i didn't at first, i'm not sure what happened, but now i'm really interested! and we get three chances to practise and 3 samples to look at! anyway about the shipping, i did make just one matchbox, once a few days ago and i put it in an old check box, put that in one of those giant envelopes and wrapped it all up around itself, so it just looked like a regular little box, i mailed it along with a few extras, it weighed a quarter pound and i mailed it to canada from florida for $2, i didn't think that was too terribly bad, i dunno how many of those check boxes i have though : /

I'm a matchbox newbie, too. Can't wait to try this...thanks for hosting such a cool swap. Thanks for the tip...I think I'll use the padded envelope, too.

OK I got how I am going to ship it with out costing extra... I am going to wrap the matchbox in bubble wrap cause I have extra, once gone it will be tissue paper. Then I am going to cut up one of the priority mail boxes you can get at the PO for free and wrap that around the matchbox and tape it to secure it. Then I will place it inside a bubble envelope and write DO NOT CRUSH on the outside. SO lets see if that works. (fingers crossed)

that is such a good idea creation, i think i'll try that too

Just a follow up to what I posted earlier. I just got back form the PO and it only cost me 1.56 to ship each envelope packed the way I mentioned above. Hope this helps some of you out. Have a wonderful day and I look forward to my little creations I get!