Saturday, November 02, 2013

My Favourite Halloween Tradition: 13 Days of Halloween

In New Zealand Halloween isn't really a thing - when I was a kid pretty much no one in the small town I lived in celebrated it. People do celebrate it more now and I've been to plenty of Halloween parties in my time and some of my friends that live in more "child friendly" parts of the city do get trick or treaters (you don't get any when you live in an inner city apartment). 

In general I LOVE the idea of Halloween - a celebrations which includes two of my favourite things - sweet treats and scary monsters can ONLY be a good thing. Plus I do have an annual Halloween celebration of my own, every year I do a "13 Days of Halloween Swap" with my friend Vany in Germany.
Vany and I met through Craftster - you see there was a time I did a lot of craft swaps with people on craftster and I got partnered with Vany not once, but twice for swaps and we became friends and each Halloween we do a 13 Days of Halloween Swap. Basic idea is you wrap up 13 packages and send them to your partner and you ope up one package in the lead up to Halloween. It's pretty fun and perfect for us as we both like Halloween and creepy things in general so much.

I should say here though, Vany is no regular crafter, she is in fact some kind of magic craft ninja with super skills. You'll see what I mean when you see what she made me. Here's what I received for the 13 days of Halloween for 2013.

Before my packages arrived Vany told me it was actually cheaper for her to send four smaller packages rather than one large one - its a good day when you receive four boxes in the mail! 



Vany is always so kind and includes a few "extras" in my packages - usually my beloved dark chocolate German chocolate.

 Check out how gross this eye ball lolly is - I can't even deal with it!
Other extras included some cute wee robots (for Rich of course) and these fun window decals - these may now be a permanent fixture in the living room. Isn't the view from our apartment glorious?

What else did I receive over the 13 days of Halloween?

DAY ONE

I received some "freakshow" coasters - how cool are they? Vany also sewed the little case they are sitting in and she also sent me a Hello Kitty bracelet as she knows how much I love Hello Kitty.




DAY TWO

I received a Halloween wreath with two cute little owls, its not hanging in my sewing corner. I also received a Hello Kitty charm - its super cute, love all the little stars.



DAY THREE

On day three I received the most amazing shoes EVER! These amazing Nosferatu shoes - how great are they and they fit really well too. I also got this chocolate spoon, which I still haven't eaten yet!




DAY FOUR

On day four I received the most amazing note cards - look at these monsters and their adorable faces! I also received some of my favourite German chocolate.



DAY FIVE

Whilst everything was amazing I have to admit, I think day five may be my favourite day. Look at this amazing hand painted octopus box. It's an upcycled chocolate box! I also got more chocolate (you can never have too much) and also some fun nail art stuff. 




DAY SIX

For day six I received this fun magnet set - now we have a dancing skeleton on our fridge! Those chocolate coated gummies were pretty good, I've never had lollies like that before.




DAY SEVEN

I received a notebook and pen covered in my favourite things -  Hello Kitty, Kuromi and My Melody, Monsters High, skulls. So awesome! Vany also personalised the notebook with my blog name and included a wee pocket at the back with more stickers. She also send these two zombie dudes - on is a barber and one is a doctor.






DAY EIGHT

So guess what's hanging on our bathroom door right now? A zombie mermaid cross-stitch - I know you're jealous. She is amazing.



DAY NINE

Day 9 was a day of pouches - you can NEVER have too many pouches. Don't you LOVE the fabric of the heart shaped pouch and isn't it awesome that its heart shaped. I love the fuzzy monster pouch too.  I also got another Hello Kitty Charm - if you look closely you will see she is a sewist! She is carrying scissors, has a tape measure on her neck and a pin cushion on her wrist.




DAY TEN

For day 10 I received two cute fabric bracelets, I especially like the one with the spiders. I also got a zombie cupcake pincushion - which I LOVE and one of those things that you plug into your phone when you're not using your headphones, do they even have a name? In case you were wondering, yes that is Hello Kitty's hair bow. 





DAY ELEVEN

One of the reasons Vany and I get on so well is that we both love horror movies - so it only makes sense she would make me a "Bates Hotel" towel and not to forget those zombie brain soaps for the bathroom!



DAY TWELVE

If you're scared of clowns, or found "Stephen King's IT" scary, you may want to scroll quickly past the next part of this post. That's because I got an amazing "IT" and also and adorable "Creature from the Black Lagoon".




DAY THIRTEEN

The final day of the swap is always so bittersweet - I always feel so sad when my 13 days of Halloween is over with for the year. For my 13th day of Halloween I received a vintage look apron and some cupcake baking supplies.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the treasures I received - I'm so happy I have this fun Halloween tradition. Already looking forward to 13 days of Halloween 2014!

12 comments:

Vintage Bird Girl said...

I'm not really into Halloween, but your gift swap idea is rad. I love the creativity of each gift. It sure must make the month of October so much fun! Xx

Vany said...

The seamstress HK changes faces when you push the star. And sorry, I forgot about the spoon. Yes, you heat up milk and then just stir it in.
Glad you are pleased again!

Vix said...

It's not something that I'm into but I love those shoes! x

Meghan Edge said...

OMG OMG OMG ZOMBIE MERMAID!!!! Good golly! Love it! That looks like an amazing swap. You're right- your friend must be a magic craft ninja. Wow. :-) Happy Halloween Trees!

JuanitaTortilla said...

Vany is ridiculously awesome; craft ninja, you're right!!! Oh man, you girls have such high standards when it comes to swap packages :)

Isn't it strange how 4 packages could be cheaper than 1 large one? Sometimes the postal services are beyond me.

Curtise said...

What an amazing array of spooky gifts from Vany, she has really spoiled you! I think the Nosferatu shoes, the owl wreath, and the Bates Motel towel are my favourites! xxx

Louise said...

Every last bit of this is amazing! What a great little tradition you have! (And a very generous friend).

I wish we made more of a fuss over Halloween in England, like they do in America, because it's mostly just about kids and trick or treaters here. All I ever do is carve a pumpkin and watch a few Halloween themed DVDs, which is fun but nothing exciting!

Krista said...

This is the most coolest thing ever! I was so excited to see what you got each day. Your pal is so talented and obviously knows what you like, we like the same stuff so I want everything! The mermaid zombie and clown are a few favorites but honestly I could pick they are all amazing! Happy Halloween!
Xxoo

alicia said...

i would probably have a heart attack if i had that much fun mail dropped off in one shot! so many fun treats - i love the zombie mermaid! i also see that my little yellow eyeballs card originated in this swap as well! happy halloweeeeeeen! <3

Helga said...

I love how you and Vany go MENTAL at this time of year!!! I've eben wondering what was going to come up...! I'm quite attracted to the eyeball sweeties.
XXXXXXX

Camelia Crinoline said...

I'm not really one for Halloween, but it's awesome that you get so into it. Vany sent you so many amazing things. I love the shoes.

Anonymous said...

This is without doubt the coolest Halloween tradition ever, and your friend is an amazing craft ninja. I so wish I had an occasion and a friend to do this with (probably not Halloween but what else would be so cool?) I just love this so much!