A swap party is when a group of girls (and/or boys) get together and brings things they don't use or need anymore and everyone swaps items.
I host a swap party at my house every few months. I get a lot of free product and promotional stuff and I also have things from ebay or etsy that don't sell. Sometimes these items just don't work with my skin/hair type or they just aren't my style so they go into a bag in my back room until the next swap night.
This is a great way to get rid of things that you don't need/use and trade them in for things that you might need and will use! It is especially good for you UK girls that can't return beauty products like we can here! I know you all have drawers full of wasted products. I have hosted 3 swap nights now and I have honed it down to a science! So here is how I run my swap nights:
1) I make a limit of 10 girls. In my space, any more than this is just too many! You want a number of girls that is manageable and also space enough to lay out all of the things everyone brings!
2) I also limit the amount of stuff girls can bring to one large laundry basket. If you don't set limits, you can have girls bringing bags and bags... and while that sounds good in theory-- it is actually really overwhelming. You want enough space to put things out so that everything can be seen.
3) I set up areas for like things. I do lots of different tables and arrange them in groups. I have cosmetics, skin care, hair care, jewelry/hair accessories, misc (kitchen stuff, books, arts/crafts, etc.), and then in the bedroom there is a wall to line shoes up and the clothes go wherever they can. My room tends to get a little hectic... I have one bar to hang clothing on and it is never enough so I make sure only dresses and fancy things get hung and everything else is laid or folded on the bed. I would definitely recommend having at least one hanging rack as girls generally bring more clothing than anything else.
4) I like to stagger arrival times of girls so not everyone is setting their things out at the same time. I always have my stuff laid out before anyone gets there.
5) I also have everyone bring a snack/sweet and a bottle of wine or booze. This is to prevent anyone from being hangry and/or too sober.
6) We all sit in a circle and 3 girls at a time are excused to choose 3 items. We run clockwise so as soon as one girl is done, the one sitting next to her gets up and makes her choices. You can definitely do a free for all-- but the order prevents girls from fighting over the same items and also prevents one girl getting 57 things while another only get 5. We go for as many rounds as things are still being picked and once the picking starts to slow, then we open it up as a free for all for last picks. By this time, there is no fighting since everyone has gotten their first pick treasures.
7) At the end of the night, everyone is free to take home their own things that didn't get picked. If they choose to leave anything, I do one of two things. If it is something I feel is valuable but just needs the right person to pick it, I will put it back in the box for the next swap night. If not, I put everything in garbage bags and I donate to a local charity that comes and picks everything up.
Swap nights are a super fun way to clean out your closet and also to meet new people and be social. We always have a blast and my girls are always asking me about the next one. I would definitely recommend them to anyone that just has too much "stuff"! If any of you have been to or hosted a swap night that ran differently than mine, definitely leave your comments and let me know what you loved/hated... I am always curious how to make mine run smoothly!
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