A Most Charming Day!

Last Saturday was charm swap day at the studio. It is one of our favorite days of the year! We had two groups of swappers, with 25 women in each group. One group met in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Everyone had made 25 charms ahead of time, and then swapped them with everyone in the group.

Here’s a picture of the morning group. Don’t they look happy? And they haven’t even started receiving their loot yet!

Now the biggest fun ever begins. Each person has their charms on a plate, tray or basket, and it is passed from person to person. It is my idea of the best sit down dinner. Exuberance, glee and jewelry happiness fills the studio.

After everyone has chosen their 24 new charms, we go around the circle with each person explaining their creation – where they found their components, what tools they used, what glue worked or didn’t. So many hot tips and useful suggestions are shared and learned.

Here is Pam explaining her felted pumpkin charm, Christie admiring hers and Yvonne looking happy.

Now Deb is explaining her charms. She made two different ones for each of us. We love overachievers. Check out Melinda’s necklace. She was in both swaps last time, so her necklace displays those 50 charms. And in front of them are their treasure troves of new charms.

And there were cookies! Yvonne has spoiled us during the last two swaps. Her charms were attached to homemade cookies! Sue brought plates of cookies for the group and is sharing her delicious recipe:

These cookies are easy, fast, and versatile…

Yields about 4 dozen cookies
1 box cake mix (any variety)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (substitute caramel or peanut butter or combination)
½ - 1 cup oatmeal
½ cup oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup raisins (optional)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, blending well. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little water. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 8 – 10 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute before removing from the cookie sheets.

I frosted mine with store bought German Chocolate Icing. The possibilities are as creative as our charms (I’m thinking lemon cake mix and a lemon glaze). Enjoy!

Courtesy of AllHomemadeCookies.com

My apologies to the afternoon swap group for running out of steam and not taking any pictures of that fun session. Thanks to Jenifer, I had plenty of pictures of our morning party. I’ll be taking pictures of all the charms and their presentations in the next week and sharing them on a blog post.

And here are two cuties for you – my husband, Raoul and Lisa’s husband, Doug – literally manning the check-out counter while Lisa and I played! A big thank you to them for all their help! -- Beth