The 2012 BOL Ornament Exchange is here…bright, shiny, and dusted in glitter for its FIFTH year!

How the BOL Ornament Exchange works: I pull names and randomly pair each BOLer with an ornabuddy for them to send an ornament to. A decoration is also acceptable (some BOLers may indicate a preference). The requirement is one ornament or decoration in the $10 range (or handmade) though some people opt to send two ornaments or include candy or other goodies. WHAT YOU SEND BEYOND THE ONE ORNAMENT REQUIREMENT IS UP TO YOU —please do not send anything more than that if you will be upset if your buddy sticks to the guidelines and sends you one ornament. Ornaments must arrive to your ornabuddy by Thanksgiving . Please consider whether or not you can have your ornament shipped in time for your buddy to receive it by Thanksgiving before joining. Names are kept secret from the group until everyone receives their ornament (but include your name with your ornament so your ornabuddy can thank you when they receive it). After Thanksgiving and once everyone has their ornaments, we all have fun guessing who the ornabuddies were by giving clues about the BOLer who sent our ornament.

A word on Privacy: Your true name and mailing address are provided to me and your ornabuddy only. You may choose to provide your home address, work address, or a PO Box so long as that address can accept packages.

Who can participate: Anyone registered on BOL! We have regular, well-known BOLers as well as new people join each year, and many of the newbies become regular Cooler rowdies by getting to know everyone. Just make sure you can play nice with anyone who may join. The last two years we had about 50 people participate.

If you want to participate this year, send me a PM with the subject "2012 Ornament Exchange."
Include your real name and mailing address in one line, i.e. “Betty Boler, 4045 Main Street, Anytown, CA 92101” as this helps me input you into my spreadsheet easier. I will use this PM to communicate with you during the course of the exchange…getting info, sending you your ornabuddy assignment, etc, so DO NOT DELETE IT.

The cut-off date to participate and send me a PM is Friday, October 6th.

Ornabuddies will be assigned around October 11th and the PM for the exchange will begin after that. The PM is set up for all the participants to get to know each other and share details to help you pick an ornament or decoration. The PM is very active, so you will want to turn off email alerts for PMs. Otherwise, your inbox will be clogged with PM notifications.
To turn off email alerts for PMs: From the threads, go to “My Stuff” and then “Edit Preferences” to turn off email notifications.

Note that this year, the PM is planned to go live on Saturday, October 13th. This is so everyone may participate in initial introductions without interruption to your work day, though of course the excitement in the PM continues into December.

Once the PM is set-up, I cannot add additional participants, so please make sure to send me a PM by the October 6th deadline.

Note: I will be MIA on BOL from Monday, September 24th through Tuesday, October 9th for my wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii. If you have any questions during that time, please consult a trusted veteran ornabuddy.

It's that time!!!

::Gets out glitter, glue, and pipe cleaners::

:hopes she doesn't get NP:

:P

::Sends an ornament to Deek just because::

Yay Orny Exchange!!!

It't the most wonderful time of the year

In the words of Melvin...Da Da Da Daaaa!

::Hopes she gets NP::

Me loves glitter and shiny stuff!!

Woohoo!! :rushes into the bedroom to pull out the Christmas Ornament Cross Stitch Pattern book - what to make this year :

Corky, I hung mine in my room last year and left it up....it is adorable!

Wooo Hoo! Excited! This just made my otherwise ucky morning!

Hope I get included this year!

Zoo, glad to see you will be participating again this year!

YAY!!!

Me too.
I loved EVERYTHING you sent last year. And will still put a Jimmie Johnson ornament on my tree...just for you and your family.

One of my prior ornabuddies is in again!
Looking forward eagerly to finding out who I get this year.
I've loved scoping out the perfect ornament in past years. This year I won't be hampered by anyone needing my care after getting new knees (MOML) so I will expand my shopping arena beyond the hospital gift shop!
Then again, I won't have that quiet time to make something to go along either.
GLITTER TO THE RESCUE!!!

Yay! Had so much fun last year!

I LOVED my ornament and the handmade snowflake!

I feel I'm out of my leage with my lack of creativity, but I'm going to do my best to rock someone's world! Figuratively, of course

Mani- you realize this means we've been soul mates for a year- we realized we were the same person during the ornabuddy PM.

YEA!!!! Look forward to waiting for the man in brown with yous guys again this year!

It is too early to be pressing your nose up against the window pane!

I was so tempted to call you out in that line! Lol
Not that you were the only one, but def the first who came to mind