swap party

Yesterday Nate Berkus did a segment on his show about swap parties!  I love this idea!  It's green, economical, and you get the chance to get something new that a friend would otherwise throw away.  Plan a get together with your girlfriends and have each person bring 5 items that they don't want any longer and take turns auctioning off your pieces.  To get started pass out $150 of monopoly money to each person, this is what they will use to bid on items.  The first person displays their item and gives a little background on the piece they brought, then they pick a starting point to start the bidding off.  Then move on to the next person, and you get the idea, until everyone has gotten rid of their stuff.

A couple of guidelines:
1.  If you are re-gifting something, make sure that the person who gave it to you first will NOT be attending the party.
2.  Themed swap parties, kids stuff, books, ex gifts, etc...
3.  For a clothing swap, try to invite similarly sized people. 
4.  Make sure that all items are gently used and clean before they are brought.

I love, LOVE, LOVE this idea!!!  I think I will be organizing one of these for the Christmas holiday!  Friends beware!!

Here is a link to Real Simple's article on how - to organize your own swap party!!