Hello hello! I am back. I've been sick since NYE  BUT I'm back in action now.
A fellow craftster wanted to start a surprise/yarn ball swap and I've asked her about consolidating so everyone would have a choice between doing a yarn ball or surprise ball. What do you think? Should we have two separate swaps or consolidate into one?

Ah, the surprise ball swap I had in mind was crepe paper/tissue paper. Maybe that could be an option in this swap, along with the yarn ball version?

Hello Crafty Ladies!

I've offered to throw a baby sprinkle for a friend of mine, and her choice of theme really threw me for a loop -- The Little Mermaid. I was hoping to make this a super crafty shower, but I'm at a loss for theme appropriate games, food, decor...
I'm a graphic designer so I was planning on designing my own invites and games. I thought about doing fish as part of the food but was worried that someone may not like it. Do you think that shrimp cocktails would be a bad idea for a baby shower? We are having it at her house, so I could really decorate however I'd like but I am not even sure where to begin!

YES, me too!

Should we make it 3 weeks for send out to allow as much time as possible?

I was thinking one or two balls depending on the size... It could be a mix of crafted and purchased items, like gum ball machine prizes, temporary tattoos and stickers! When would be the best time for everyone to do this? Sign ups after Jan 1? What about turn around time, would 2 weeks be too long? I will organize, unless there is someone else interested

We could do themes... pirate, learn a new craft (with a tiny instruction book in the middle!), party/holiday/birthday in a ball (balloons, candles, etc.. wrapped in streamers!). More ball friendly crafts: knitted/crocheted/sewn hats/headbands/accessories, handmade jewelry, magnets, keychains, bookmarks, origami, small candles, a charm bracelet with the charms wrapped in layers and the bracelet in the middle, candies...

coffee_tea_me, check out the notmartha tut and google image surprise balls to see some examples of how intricate they can get (I checked the google images before I posted this to make sure you didn't get any not so pleasant surprises... Everything seems to be SFW )

Sadi27, I certainly hope you can play along, it looks like it's going to be a good time!

notmartha has a good tutorial for surprise balls...
http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/surpriseballs/

There are so many crafty opportunities! Buttons, felt pins, ATCs, fun papers, stickers, eye patches, crafting supplies... we could totally do this!!

I have a slight obsession... with surprise balls.
It's bad.

http://www.uppercasegallery.ca/uppercase-journal/2009/8/5/surprise-ball.html

Like that. *squee* What do you think about a swap?

Sort of like the yarn balls, but not quite. With crepe paper or tissue paper instead, and all sorts of fun things inside?
I'm thinking, now? Or should we wait until after the holidays?

Yay! I will keep an eye out

I'm still interested!

This sounds like fun! How many beads would we send?