Holiday Gift Trade at our Underground Holiday Party

We're hosting our first Gift Trade event during our Underground Holiday Party and we couldn't be more excited!  We've had a lot of questions regarding how the holiday gift trade will work and since it's our first go at it, we thought we'd include some guidelines.

How it works:

We anticipate this part of the event to last about an hour.  Starting at 5:45pm you can begin setting out your items to trade.  From 6pm-6:30 you will be able to walk around and see what items others have brought.  If you see something you like, write down your name and anything you'd like to include about the items you'd like to trade for. We'll start the actual social trading around 6:30pm where you'll take your own trade sheet, select your favorite items from those that others indicated they were willing to trade and find the person who owns them to work out the details of your trade.  This is meant to be very casual - barter however you like.

What to bring:

Any number (5-10 is a good amount) of small homemade items in  4-16 oz serving sizes that you think others might like to swap for. Some ideas include jams and preserves; homemade granola; homemade cheese; infused oils, liqueurs or vinegars; syrups; home brewed wine, beer or spirits; baked goods and candy; tea; home canned foods; pickles, sauerkraut or kimchi; salsa or chutney; charcuterie; herbs or other produce from your garden; honey from your hives...you get the idea! Gifts don't necessarily have to be edible - you might consider including handmade soaps, body scrubs or tonics, hand-poured candles or other good that you make at home and can be packaged up to share. Just remember that the higher perceived value of the items you bring, the better the loot you'll take home with you!

Some pointers:

• Consider bringing an extra jar of each item to let other traders sample - you'll be much more likely to find a taker if they can taste your delicious goods first!
• Be sure to bring a box or bag to carry your loot home.
• Don't forget to bring a card for each item you're trading which includes the name of the item and ingredients plus your name and email address in case they want to contact you later with questions, recipes requests, compliments, etc.  You might even consider including the recipe if you're open to sharing.

If you haven't yet RSPV'ed for the party, please do so here.  If you have RSVP'ed and you can no longer make it please let us know so we can open up your spot for someone else.