Handmade Hair Thingie Swap!

***SWAP IS CLOSED***

Earlier this year I loudly declared that I would swear off pants and wear only skirts all summer long. I kicked off that resolution with The Summer of No Pants Skirt Sewing Challenge in which myself and a handful of dedicated sewists took to making one skirt per week for four weeks. The challenge went really well and I ended up making my favorite skirt, that I still wear at least once a week, and in the 3-month span of the Summer of No Pants, I only wore pants twice. Well, actually, I also wore work-out pants to my kickboxing class, but then I sprained my knee, remembered that I don't exercise, and that put an end to that. Ultimately, I still love my jeans, but making the effort to dress nicely definitely helped me feel prettier on a daily basis, and I regularly wear skirts even now that the challenge is over.
So, it is time for a new declaration! This time, I've decided that I'm not going to put my hair in a ponytail before 5pm (I don't like to cook with my hair flapping around) until the end of the year. No Ponytail 'til 2011. Fall/Winter of No Ponytail. Ponytail-Free Cold Weather Season.
I couldn't really think of a catchy catch phrase (suggestions totally welcome).
Anyway, along with this declaration, I've decided to do something fun and I hope many of you will play along. It's time for the

Handmade Hair Thingie Swap!

 (flashing lights and applause here)

 

For this challenge, participants will make five handmade hair thingies. What's a Hair Thingie? Anything for wearing in the hair: hairpins, clips, combs, barrettes, headbands, even ponytail holders are allowed. Some people call them hair "accessories" but since I have always had trouble spelling "accessories" I've decided to go with "thingies." For this challenge, at least part of the Hair Thingie has to be handmade. That means you can use a store-bought barrette, but you have to doll it up with buttons or beads or a felt flower or something.
So, anyway, you make five Handmade Hair Thingies and send them off to five different people. In return, you get five Handmade Hair Thingies from five different people! How fun is that? Pretty fun! Here's how it will work:

Sign up in the comments here. ONLY sign up if you will 100% commit to participating and completing the swap on time. Bailing is not an option, so check your calendar for conflicts before you sign up, especially if you know you are a procrastinator (yeah, I'm lookin' at you)! Deadline to sign up is this Saturday, November 6, 2010.
Rant about saying "I didn't have time!" available below at the *

Copy and fill out the questionnaire below, and e-mail it to me (DO NOT POST IN COMMENTS) at sadsilver@gmail.com with the subject "Handmade Hair Thingie Swap":

Screen name and/or name used in comments:
Real name:
Complete mailing address, including postcode and country:
Email address:
Blog address, if applicable:
Are you willing to ship internationally (YES?NO) (please note, if NO, I can't guarantee the maximum number of partners for you, but I will do my best)?
Are you at least 16 years old (YES/NO)?
If NO, please provide a parent or legal guardian's e-mail address so that I can get his/her consent:
Do you (or does anyone in your household) have allergies (YES/NO), please specify if YES?
Do you have any allergens in your home (smoking, pets, etc.) (YES/NO), please specify if YES?

I will send you 5 names & addresses to send your Thingies to.

Make 5 Handmade Hair Thingies. They can all be the same, or each can be different.

Take pictures of the Thingies you made and post them in the Swap Gallery (currently under construction, I'll let you know soon how to post your pictures in the gallery). Feel free to post pics of Thingies you receive, as well.

Thingies must be in the mail by December 3, 2010

That's it! I hope you guys want to play!

* I don't want to scare people off, but probably my biggest pet peeve in the world is the use of the phrase "I don't have time for that." It almost always means "I'm not making that a priority" or, roughly translated, "I don't feel like it 'cause I'm frickin' tired and I feel like watching Glee instead." Saying, "I don't have time!" makes it Time's fault, not your fault. It's a way of not taking responsibility for letting someone down. And, in this case, you (and not Time!) would be letting down five total strangers who were nice enough to make something for you, by hand, using their own precious time. Everyone who is signing up for this swap is busy. So pretty, pretty please, look at your calendar for the next month before you sign up, and DON'T SIGN UP if your schedule is too packed to complete this project on time. This will be really fun, but only if all of the swappers are committed to it. Thank you!

***SWAP IS CLOSED***