Alright folks, let’s do this thing! We’ll have to hurry, though, since we’re getting a late start this year.
Here are the details, copied shamelessly from Silvorange’s instructions last year:
PM me. Please put your username in the subject line. In the message, include your real name, your shipping address, and whether you are willing to ship internationally.
Post in this thread with some ideas for people - favorite things, colors, stuff you are allergic to, etc. You might want to mention whether you are ok with getting homemade food items.
Plan to spend $10 or so, not including postage. If you want to go over, feel free, but remember that it is not expected. Please pack carefully, include your name and username, and send promptly for delivery before Christmas if possible.
Post again to the thread when you have sent a package and when you have received one.
I will be keeping a running list of participants in this thread. If you have posted here and sent me a PM and your name somehow does not make it onto the list, let me know! Same with any other mistakes, like if I give you the same person as last year or send you your own address.
***DEADLINE TO SIGN UP will be MIDNIGHT of THANKSGIVING DAY THUR. NOV 28th *** to give everyone a change to take advantage of the Cyber Monday sales.
I will try to get assignments out sometime early morning on Black Friday and yes, this is cutting things close. LOL last year’s deadline was Saturday, November 17 (the weekend before US Thanksgiving) which is … today!!
Look, if it’s a bad idea to let y’all procrastinate that long, and want the deadline/name assignments sooner, speak now or forever hold thy peace.
I cleared out my message inbox here JUST FOR YOU so hopefully nobody will have issues sending me their info.
I’m sooooo in. I love doing this so much that I took it to a group I run of people that never celebrated Christmas most of their lives. So this idea lives in other forms as well and people love it.
As for me personally, I am still only a few years in on celebrating the holiday. I’m a shunned ex-Jehovah’s Witness and as such I have a tree that has a lot of generic ornaments on it but not many with meaning. Last year in my own exchange I received a really cool ornament from the state of Arizona that is the state outline made really nicely. So if I had a specific ask it would be for an ornament from wherever you live, something representative of it, and something non-religious as I have a bad history with that aspect of life. My wife and I try to pick up an ornament of places we travel to but we don’t get to travel much. I’ll always remember the person that sent me the Arizona ornament when putting it on the tree.
Aside from ornaments I generally like things from places people live that I might not have. I also love sports so things representing various teams are cool. I can’t do food items because I just have too many issues with food due to lactose issues, texture issues, etc.
Looking forward to another Secret Santa exchange on the SDMB! Props to purplehorseshoe for becoming our acting Santa facilitator.
Yaaaaay Secret Santa time!! I love the one from last year. Wrapping the presents I sent was just as much fun as unwrapping the ones I received!
I like arts and crafts of all kinds. Stationery, embroidery, quilling, painting, calendars, scrapbooking…
I enjoy decaffeinated tea
Any foods are cool - except mushrooms and whipped cream lol
I’m a gardener, and I love the outdoors
Animals I like are octopus, jellyfish, turtles, bats, dragonflies
The only thing that I could put on a NO list, is religious things, and I have a nickel metal allergy.
Feel free to be as weird and quirky as you want or go straight basic lol. All of this is just fun!
PHS, thank you for taking up the mantle! I just logged in to to see if Silvorange had replied to me yet. I’m in! Home baked is great, coffee and its accoutrements are always appreciated, I like almost all colours although pastels are kind of meh. I also garden, play guitar, and love things automotive so anything along those lines is great as well was anything your area is famous/infamous for.
Oh, whew. Thank gawd. I did that thing where you start a thread, pretend you totally don’t care if anyone replies for all of a minute, then obsessively check if anyone posted. (Like a cat that’s pretending to ignore you.) Anyway, I had exactly one single P.M. all night and thought, “This is gonna be a helluva sad gift exchange.”
Okay, at least we have a bare minimum. Quorum achieved! Let’s hope the weekday crowd hops on - seems like weekends draw different traffic.
I’m not allergic to anything food-wise, love chocolate and fudge, homemade is great. I knit, sew, do beadwork and make my own flame worked beads and jewelry. I am owned by two Maine Coon cats, tolerated by a large black lab (who worships my husband) and am trying (unsuccessfully) to retire.
Oh yeah - always interested in what a country/state/province/city is known for!
PM’d you (twice, I think, cuz something weird happened the first time and then I realized I hadn’t put my username in the subject line.)
Thank you, purplehorseshoe, for taking this on! The Secret Santa Exchange is one of the highlights of the year!
I like cats, biking, hiking, and kayaking. I’m an artsy-fartsy type, so homemade and/or local are both awesome! I love jewelry, especially unusual stuff. Colors – purple, blue, turquoise; actually, just about anything other than pastel. I have pierced ears (and am blessed with no metal sensitivity!). I love funky socks. I’m not allergic to anything. I’m a drinker of dark roast coffee.
Okay, so everyone is good with the Thanksgiving Day deadline for this year’s exchange? Not too horribly late?
**swampspruce **I don’t suppose **Silvorange **replied? (I’m not trying to abdicate … but I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or something. Just wonderin’ is all.)
I wonder if you can get a mod to temporarily sticky this in the spirit of holiday cheer, etc. Otherwise it will just keep migrating down the page and people may not see it.
The Dope Secret Santa is one of my favorite holiday traditions! I don’t post much, but lurk a lot, hope it’s okay to participate.
Love – local favorites, handmade items, arts and crafts style things, retro pins and brooches, tea, chocolate, puzzles, knitting, pottery. I have 4, possibly 5 cats, please don’t send me another. No allergies, but heavily scented items give me a headache.
I’d love items local to your area, especially handmade. I’m into knitting, pit bulls, tea, coffee, Nightmare Before Christmas, Die Hard and gardening. Favorite colors are deep jewel tones. If you send treats, nothing with mushrooms or coconut, please.
Okay, I hafta ask… is that “possibly 5” or “possibly cats”? :dubious:
My likes: Earrings (pierced), cookbooks (especially those regional plastic/spiral-bound, church/club ones), homemade food/candy is great (but NO cilantro), tea/coffee and the accoutrements thereof, scarves (autumn colors & jewel tones), kitchen gadgets & tools… mostly I just like PREZZIES!
PM’d! I love wildflowers (just finished my first summer with my own garden!); pierced earrings; socks; stationery/notecards/stickers/stamps; all food, homemade and otherwise; magnets; keychains; all fragrances; cool stuff local to you.
Purplehorseshoe, thanks for putting this together! I look forward to it all year.
I’m vegetarian (pretty strict, I don’t eat gelatine, but dairy and eggs is fine), otherwise unfussy.
I’m interested in local things- I’ve not been to North America, so pretty much anything will be new to me. I like animals, gardening and weird stuff. Green, purple, brown are all good, but I like pretty much any colour but baby pink. I do have a nickel allergy and don’t have pierced ears.
Practical notes if you’re posting the UK: straight up international post, is probably best. Royal Mail actually get parcels to me- the courier companies a) can’t find my post box and b) have crazy policies like if you’re away for a few days so miss delivery, don’t get the note and don’t contact them, they won’t hold it, they’ll sent it back to the depot, (25 miles away) then destroy the parcel if you haven’t collected it after a week (no kidding!).
Do remember to check posting regs as well- you’re not allowed to send booze, for example, or customs will drink it and confiscate the lot.
If it gets here late, that’s totally fine- it’s actually really nice having a last parcel to look forward to when I get back from visiting family, so please don’t bust a gut or pay a fortune to get it here on time.
We officially have 4 cats, though one is named Five. The unofficial cat, the “possibly” ours cat, is the local stray that we feed, take to the vet, and basically lives on our deck. If it wouldn’t cause complete pandemonium, she might become an official indoor cat, but things aren’t looking good for her being accepted by our “offical” cats.
So, what I want for Christmas, that you might actually be able to deliver? Well, I’m a bit of a foodie and love local treats. I’m partial to bright colors (no wool), dark chocolate, science fiction, sportscar racing, cats, puzzles, and I love a good laugh. Puns, puzzles, and wearable art are all good. No vegamite, please.
(J/K)