🎃 A Haunting We Will Go ☠ Halloween elf Exchange (2018)

[ZombieMetroAnt]

 *  Sign ups are now closed and names have been drawn.  *

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Something's brewing, and it 'll be ghoulishly fun! A wicked good time for everyone...

We're glad that you've decided to join in on the haunting fun!  

Bugs & hisses,
PrettyinPA & ZombieMetroAnt

🎃 Tips, Tricks & Other spooktacular ideas!

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💀 Elfster Tips:

-> Ask questions! Anyone can ask anyone an anonymous question, that will help you get a better idea of likes and dislikes, haves and wants, etc.


->When you purchase something, click "Mark As Purchased." They won't see it, but they might be using the same wishlist for other gift exchanges, so this can prevent them potentially getting the same gift from two different people.


->If you got something for yourself, remove it from your wishlist!

🎃 Shipping suggestions: 

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💀 How to ship abroad/add a customs label while still using online shipping:
1. Creating an account: First, you must create a free account on the USPS website. The paypal.com/shipnow site will not let you create customs forms.
2. Shipping Label: To create the shipping label, you want to use the "Click n Ship" function from the dropdown menu under Mail & Ship. Many of the directions from above are basically the same but the key difference is under, "Where are you sending to?" you will need to use the dropdown menu to select the country of choice.
3. Finishing the Shipping Label:Fill in all the corresponding information until the end of the form including the value of the package. The Canadians on the board may have more to speak to with this but I always kept this amount on the lower side so the recipient doesn't get hit with high customs fee. (average amount I would put would be $10-$20) A great feature is at the end of the page it will give you all your options for shipping. I can tell you on a personal note that when I ship to England I always choose first class international mail and I have never had a problem. Once again, delivery confirmation is thrown in for FREE.
3. Beginning the Customs Form: You will then get to a page that will you through step by step filling in the customs form. The first question will ask you to "Enter Package Information." This is where you can just write this is a gift box for a friend. You do not need to write anything more!
4. Customs Inventory: Next up is, "Enter Item Information." Okay, this one is a little tricky. If you want to itemize, and fill in every single thing in the box, you can. If you only want to do a couple, you can. I've done both over the years and both have been okay. I'm not going to tell you though that it will work every time so ultimately, the decision is up to you. Make sure though that you mark each item a GIFT so that the recipient does not get charged increased fees. Also, and this is IMPORTANT, the total that adds up for the all the items has to be the same total you gave on the previous page for the value of the box. So if you make something worth $1, that's fine! (Again, Canadians speak up hear if I'm wrong but my abroad friends always told me it was better to do this to reduce customs fees for the recipient.) Lastly, each weight of each individual item will need to add up to the to the total weight item, so I've honestly literally made up ratio numbers in the past. (I have never had a problem in years of sending packages)
5. Tarrif Number: Lastly, you do not have a tariff number so leave that blank. Okay, one last thing, choose your AES exemption. I would choose the second one having to do with gifts.
6. Obtaining the Label/Customs Form: The steps following this are similar to the ones from above except that I believe the payment options for USPS may also include credit card options as well as PayPal. Go ahead and print your label which will also contain your completed customs form. (Please note: you may need to sign your customs form before affixing it to your package) On a positive note, YOU STILL SAVE MONEY BY USING THE ONLINE POSTAGE SYSTEM!
7. How to actually ship it:For international packages, my personal advice is yes, bring it to the post office, and yes, actually check it in and get a receipt saying it was checked in by a postal worker. Since many international packages take quite longer than domestic and tend to get delayed at different intervals, you want to make sure that everything is okay when it first enters the system.


Duty Info:
US can receive a gift up to 100 USD. If you send from Canada and mark your gift as 100 you are actually saying it cost you 100 CAD. Today Google converts that to 75.87USD so your recipient should be ok and not pay additional fees.

Canada can receive a gift up to 60 CAD. If you send from the US and mark your gift as 60, you are actually saying it cost you 60 USD. Today Google converts that to 79.08 CAD. So your Canadian friend in this case might pay duties/taxes/fees.

I believe customs will check the rate on the day the item is processed. Seems Canada is at somewhat the same range recently but it does go down a bit. Just things to keep in mind.

 🎃 Participants: 

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- Anastasiya13
- ClassicallyFab
- CC3616
- darkiceis
- Dyslexia
- gonerogue
- Ispend2much6
- Heartsmyface
- jozkid
- LazyBeautyBeast
- LCResz
- Lipstick4Soul
- luvgloss13
- MCakes
- mermadelove
- MissPuff
- NotCrocker
- OhheyitscindyK
- PaletteAddict99
- prettyinpa
- sabrinas
- Sarahshter
- SpaceLlama
- Tamara76
- Trishavt
- unfungirl
- ZombieMetroAnt

Mix one part Scream with two parts Scare,

a pinch of Fear, a dash of Dare...

and give your elf a Halloween Box Extraordinare!

     👻 Shipping: our goal is to have boxes delivered by (or before) 10/31.  Boxes being shipped across the border take a bit longer

     👻 Wish lists: if you haven't already, please update your wishlist on elfster 🍬

[Ispend2much6]

@LCResz  I wanted to let you know that the Chimichurri sauce you sent with my gift saved our bland turkey dinner the other night!  It was about our fourth day of turkey, and the kids were sick of it, so this certainly livened things up (and even my unadventurous eater loved it!)  They also enjoyed putting the jerk seasoning on their popcorn.

[LCResz]

@Ispend2much6 That is awesome! Any time you need a refill I’ll hook you up! 🍽

[LCResz]

Time for Holi-YEAH! card sending! I just wanted to give all you lovely ghoul friends a heads up that if you have your address listed on Elfster I will be sending you a holiday card because it’s always fun to keep the happy mail coming! If you’d rather not receive any mail from a random person in FL please let me know, otherwise get ready to receive some holiday cheer after Dec 1 (I send out my cards during the first week of December, no need to jump the gun too much!)

Hope everyone is doing well and has an awesome end of the year/start if the New Year season! 

[Anastasiya13]

@LCReszThats super sweet of you.

[ZombieMetroAnt]

@LCResz awwww, how absolutely thoughtful of you!

[ZombieMetroAnt]

WOOHOO!!  The 'bat" has landed   

It was a wonderful surprise to get my Spooktacular box today!  In all fairness to my Ghoulfriend, the box arrived a couple days ago I just hadn't picked it up.  But I hurriedly got home, swiped the box open and dug right in!!

muahhahaahahahahah!! Oh boy, so SpOoKy!Whew, it's definitely mine ❤️

So many treats and tricks, too!  LOL  

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But wait...there's more wonderful spooky gifts

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I GOT SOCKS!!! YAY!!! The tradition continues!!Bye Bye Pokcy! (they last about 2 seconds)My ghoulfriend knows me so well...I'm a terrible cook! HA HA HA

My little ones had never played with a yo-yo before...geez, I'm a bad mom! They were excited to see it in the box  LOL!     

Thank you, thank you to my Ghoulfriend @darkiceis for all the wonderful and exciting new treats (and my trick, too!  )  I'm so glad I got socks too and all the chocolates, well, let's just say they didn't survive the day!  ☠ 

[Tamara76]

Yaaayyyyy!   I especially love the trick - lol!  And of course there are delicious treats since your ghoulfriend is @darkiceis! ❤️

Enjoy your goodies, @ZombieMetroAnt! ❤️

[jozkid]

How did I miss this? Awesome box  @ZombieMetroAnt @darkiceis!  I know I think the sardines are extra frightening! Lol! Nice collection of fun stuff. Enjoy!

[Mcakes]

That is one big bat @ZombieMetroAnt 😄 Wow I love the decor you chose @darkiceis 😮 What a spooky intro to the box lol. And that trick?! Well played 😄

[Ispend2much6]

@ZombieMetroAnt  @darkiceis  That is such a creative box!  Love it all.

[ZombieMetroAnt]

The yo~yo was especially fun @Ispend2much6 😁👍🏼

[Ispend2much6]

@ZombieMetroAnt  Don't feel badly; son 2 has never played with a yoyo. 

[ZombieMetroAnt]

 

I really should expose them a little more to fun toys like this  @Ispend2much6

[prettyinpa]

That looks like such a fun box, @ZombieMetroAnt!  Your ghoulfriend @darkiceis  sure knows how to send tricks and treats. Love the comment that the chocolate didn't last, my chocolate from Mcakes disappeared pretty quickly too. Love those socks and the ABH blush!

[prettyinpa]

As far as I can tell, everyone has received their box? If not, let me know. Looking forward to the posts of the last box to land.

Thanks everyone for participating and making this a super fall with all the unboxings, and warm fuzzies from all the friendship. You are the best!

[jozkid]

@prettyinpa I was wondering this myself

[prettyinpa]

A little bird (or bat in the case of Halloween) told me today that the last box has landed and she is taking pictures, yay!!! @jozkid

[SpaceLlama]

As I mentioned earlier, I received my box from my ghoulfriend earlier today!! My lovely ghoulfriend is @ZombieMetroAnt! The box was huge! As I opened everything, it was like it was Mary Poppins' bag. There were so many gifts packed into the box 😮

I'll put everything in spoilers since there's a lot to go through 🙂

The card:

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Zombie even found a Beetlejuice card!! It also had the sweetest message inside! Thank you so much ❤️

The Beauty:

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I bought my first wet & wild highlighter this summer and it's now my go-to highlighter. I'm so excited to try out more of them!! The other highlighters are also GORGEOUS 😮 The skull one is so sparkly! The Fenty Stunna lip paint is my first! The packaging itself just looks so bada**. I can't wait to wear it 🙂 The eyeliner kit is also awesome. It's nice to be able to try out new brands since I'm always looking for my HG eyeliner.
I gasped when I saw this eyeshadow palette. Can my handbook just be this eyeshadow palette when I die? The soaps look like a lot of fun. It'll make showering a little spookier. The pumpkin items also smell so yummy! And last but not least, how cute are the bat masks. I think I saw @bakeamuffin (correct me if I'm wrong) use these in the masking thread and I've wanted to try them out ever since 😮The mirror, the coffins, the names, the shades.. its all so perfect 😮My room and I both smell like desserts now. It's wonderful. The cat is soft and adorable!

The Spooky: 

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The socks are so cute!!! I wanted to dress up as Beetlejuice for Halloween this year, but I couldn't find anything for an outfit. The long socks will be perfect! The handbook necklace is adorable!omg I love this spoon. I'm now the type of person who has a favourite spoon.The black scarf is also a blanket. This will be perfect for when it's cold in class! The Halloween themed presents are so bloody adorable. I mean, the spider bag has a bow tie and little arms 😮Last, but not least, lots of candy, some fun washi tape, the cutest glittery pumpkin and some zombie makeup stencils!! I may have already started eating all of the candy.

I'm so overwhelmed by everything you sent, @ZombieMetroAnt! I was already in shock when I picked up the box at the post office. Then I just kept opening and opening more and more gifts. It never seemed to end. Wet & Wild and Makeup Revolution are hard to get a hold of here, so I'm super grateful to be able to try out more of those products. I couldn't help but touch everything as soon as I took the pictures and I'm now covered it glitter. It's wonderful. Everything you picked out and the theme as a whole is just so perfect!! We really are like long lost soul sisters haha. Thank you so much for everything and a huge thank you for organizing this exchange with @prettyinpa ❤️ Y'all are spooktacular! 

[prettyinpa]

Yay, @SpaceLlama, what a super box from @ZombieMetroAnt.  But then, what would we expect from one of the most super collaborators that a gal could have? The Beetlejuice theme is just so perfect, she really got it going with the box exterior and just kept right on. I love the wonderful selection of highlighters she sent you, they look so pretty.

[mermadelove]

@SpaceLlama This box is magnificent!!!!!! I LOVE the Beetlejuice theme! @ZombieMetroAnt. There are no words to describe what an awesome job you did. Spooktacular!!!!!!!!!