~♥Galentine's Day Exchange♥~

[Mcakes]

***All gifts have been sent/received*** Thank you for all of your support ❤

We promised you something magical and fun to start off the new year...and now the time to play is finally here! 

Our previous rounds have been wonderful platforms for bringing us all together though our appreciation for beauty, treats and camaraderie. We're glad that you've  decided to join in on the fun!

Positive Energy and Unicorn Love Always, 
Mcakes & ZombieMetroAnt

Tips and Tricks

Spoiler

♥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

Spoiler

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

Spoiler

angel7594- gift received, thank you prettyinpa!

beadshopgirl- gift received, thank you MissPuff!

CC3616- gift received, thank you mermadelove!

ClassicallyFab- gift received, thank you mella900!

darkiceis- gift received, thank you ElleElleG!

ElleElleG- gift received, thank you beadshopgirl!

fatimamummy- gift received, thank you SpaceLlama! 

gonerogue- gift received, thank you Ispend2much6!

heartsmyface- gift received, thank you PaletteAddict99! 

Ispend2much6- gift received, thank you unfungirl!

jozkid- gift received, thank you Lazybeautybeast!

lazybeautybeast- gift received, thank you ClassicallyFab!

LCResz- gift received, thank you txcatx!

lipstick4soul- gift received, thank you LCResz!

Mcakes- gift received, thank you angel7594!

meganlisa- gift received, thank you myumew!

mella900- gift received, thank you ZombieMetroAnt!

mermadelove- gift received, thank you jozkid!

MissPuff- gift received, thank you ohheyitscindyk!

myumew- gift received, thank you Tamara76!

NotCrocker- gift received, thank you gonerogue!

ohheyitscindyk- gift received, thank you heartsmyface!

PaletteAddict99- gift received, thank you Mcakes!

prettyinpa- gift received, thank you veronika23!
Sabrinas- gift received, thank you Samtian!
Samtian- gift recieved, thank you Sabrinas!

shimmerbait- gift received, thank you fatimamummy! 

sister13- gift received, thank you darkiceis! 

SpaceLlama- gift received, thank you NotCrocker!

Tamara76- gift received, thank you lipstick4soul!

txcatx- gift received, thank you sister13!

unfungirl- gift received, thank you CC3616!
veronika23- gift received, thank you shimmerbait!

ZombieMetroAnt- gift received, thank you meganlisa!

Shipping Deadline: On or before Galentine's Day (2/13)

[SpaceLlama]

Omg a hand made llamacorn! You have some serious talent, @MissPuff! I'm loving all of the llama and unicorn items! Your nails are going to be looking magical, @Beadshopgirl! 🌈 Have fun eating your new sweets and playing with all those treats! 

[MissPuff]

Thank you @SpaceLlama! You are too sweet 🙂 The llamacorn almost didn't make it, it's less impressive up close 🙂

[Beadshopgirl]

No way @MissPuff! It’s amazing! 😍

[Beadshopgirl]

Right @SpaceLlama? I’ve never made such an intricate amigurumi before! Yup, those unicorns are going on my nails right away! 🦄🦄🦄 💅🏻

[Samtian]

@Beadshopgirl ooooooh lovely!!! What is the honey thing from Lush? I love all things honey lol. That handmade llama omg so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beadshopgirl]

@Samtian The honey box has my favourite items from Lush: the Scrubbee, an It’s Raining Men shower gel, the Honey I Washed The Kids soap, and Honey Trap lip balm. The scent is so enticing, I wish there was a perfume of it!

[angel7594]

Amazing and beautiful gifts, I enjoyed your photos! 💕 The hand made llamacorn is adorable! 💕💗

[Ispend2much6]

@Beadshopgirl  @MissPuff  I love all of the crafty items in the box!  How fun!

[MissPuff]

@Ispend2much6 I LOVE washi tape even though I'm easily the least crafty person ever. There's just something about the tiny patterns repeated over and over again that calms me 🙂 I don't even use the tape really, I just like collecting the rolls like a weirdo 🙂 

[tsavorite]

@MissPuff,

Not weirdo!  Just Collector!  🙂

[Beadshopgirl]

They’re so sweet @Ispend2much6! I forgot to list them all, but there are foam stickers in hearts, Llamas, and unicorns, an alpaca patch, a llama sun catcher kit, unicorn shapes to colour, llama love stickers, and unicorn & llama washi tapes!!! @MissPuff

[darkiceis]

Holy cannoli!

[Beadshopgirl]

@darkiceis I know right? Amazing!!!

[Anonymous]

I feel terrible but my galentine will receive her box by Friday. I sincerely apologize for the late gift T__T

[veronika23]

Mine is late too... I'm so sorry Galentine! I was waiting on something...  sure enough I shipped without it and the missing item should be here tomorrow or Friday... one more item will be making it's way to you shortly.

[Ispend2much6]

My box came, and it is perfect!  (I'm probably going to use that word a lot in this post.)

Thank you, @unfungirl, for making my Valentine's Day!  We tried to celebrate yesterday, but everyone was cranky and things kept going wrong, so this was a wonderful way to celebrate today!

First, the box.  It was decorated with super cute heart stickers and one of our BIC mascots, unicorns.

Inside the box was a sweet card and message and some pretty glitter hearts!  I really appreciate all the time and care you took in decorating, @unfungirl!

I sent her a message a couple of days ago to check in, and she said she was "thinking of me too."  Now I know why! 😉

Next we have some cute unicorn stickers, a unicorn notepad (I actually was on the hunt for a notepad to use for making lists; this will make it more fun,) some cute Valentine buttons, and some girl power Valentine napkins (I'm a sucker for holiday napkins; have no idea why.)

Next up is skincare.  I am so excited to try the Aura body oil, because my skin is dry, dry, dry!  And a bio Belle facial mask- confession time- I almost ripped into this thinking it was some sort of drink mix. lol

And here, we have the cutest pair of fuzzy Valentine socks.  @unfungirl  sure did put together a cozy box for me!

Let's talk about the treats selection:  if I were going out to our local gourmet store to treat myself, these are the exactly the types of snacks I would buy (obviously I'm good to myself.)  Salted caramels (yum!  Already opened these,) Land O Lakes Hot Cocoa (which is one of my favorite brands,) an assortment of tea bags (not sure if these made it into my pictures- my son did the editing for size and downloading and that image might have gotten cut- sorry!) candy hearts (gotta have these,) and two candy bars- salted chocolate and chocolate covered pretzels!  I was actually hoping you would be a mind reader and include these in the box. 🙂  Shortbread cookies!!  Please excuse the garbage can in the background. Sigh.

Last but not least, beauty items.  My first Lipstories!  The colors truly are perfect, @unfungirl.

Kiko Bright Quartet in #04, Sephora Lipstories in Drive-In; Kiko Smart Eye Pencil in a nude shade- I forgot to put it in the photo! and Kiko Lip Stylo in 02.

There were so many gifts, I hope I didn't forget to mention any!!!  I started to cry while taking the fourth photo, just overwhelmed by your generosity as a full-time working student with limited time (and finances!)  I really, truly, feel spoiled by you, @unfungirl!  I'm glad we're friends.

[ElleElleG]

@Ispend2much6 @unfungirl  this all looks so exciting!  The unicorn foam stickers and note pad are adorable, fuzzy socks are ALWAYS a must, and the treats look yummy!

[Ispend2much6]

@ElleElleG  Thanks!  I need to hurry up and try on my new makeup!

[ohheyitscindyk]

@Ispend2much6 What a fun box!! @unfungirl decorated everything beautifully. I love the Kiko, the socks look so soft, & the treats look delicious.

[Tamara76]

Awww- This is too sweet, @Ispend2much6!  @unfungirl certainly put together a special box for you!!! ❤️  I love everything about this!  The snaxxxx look especially yummy and those socks look super cozy!!! ❤️  Enjoy!!!! 

[jozkid]

@unfungirl you did such a great job choosing all these great things for our @Ispend2much6. Such a thoughtful box. I can see why you got all teary-eyed!