Secret Santa 2019 (Real Gift Exchange)

[ThiagoPE]

I hope you liked your gift @cleargreenwater, personally i loved that mug.

I was traveling outside Brazil during the christimas, my gift arrived during that time. as soon i have pictures of it i will post here.

[Sharifu]

My Secret Santa was Kossu! She gave me a lot! A heat changing TLK mug, a Nala key chain, a card, a beautiful piece of artwork she made of Sharifu and Sadiki, and some chocolate and candies!

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Since I went to Oregon for a week during Christmas, I decided to open my Secret Santa package before Christmas, right before we left. (I opened it on December 19) Our car was so packed full to go to Oregon, I decided to open my Secret Santa package then so I could save some space in the car and leave my Secret Santa gift at home. I saw the mug, the key chain and the chocolates, and I thought they were all great gifts. After I got back home, I opened up the package in early January so I could clean and use my mug, I noticed a piece of paper at the bottom of the package wrapped in light cardboard and in a clear envelope sheet, and I thought, "Wow! This is probably artwork!" I didn't notice it the first time I opened the package, so it was an extra surprise! And I have to say it's a beautiful piece of artwork. It looks like it was done in watercolor? The shades of purple in the background are amazing. They give off a romantic evening feel. I'm really impressed with the way the water was done, seeing the reflection of the moon reflected in the water. Sharifu and Sadiki are adorable. A really beautiful piece of artwork, I think I might frame it. ^^

The chocolates are really good too. Especially the bag in the photo, on the right side. They taste like chocolate covered pieces of ginger bread. (I assume that is what they are) I did take the chocolates to Oregon with me and I shared some with my family.

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Here is some pictures of the heat changing mug, before and after hot coffee was poured into it. Very cool!

Thank you Kossu for all of the amazing gifts. I got way more then I expected, what a treat! The artwork seemed like a bonus to me as I didn't even notice it at the bottom of the package the first time I looked in the package.

[nathalie]

Kruidnoten, eww, haha
Typical thing from the Netherlands that is, have you tried them yet?

Great gifts everyone

[ThiagoPE]

My SS was @Vidan, He sent me this nice christmas tree ornament and a T shirt.

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Thanks Vidan, loved your gifts ^_^

[Leorgathar]

Great gifts everyone! They're all fantastic

I finally received mine today!! And wow, it was really worth the wait! ^^
My Secret Santa was Sharifu, and to start, just look at this wrapping! I just had to open this with surgical precision xD
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Inside the little envelope there was a cute little card with a jaguar, and in the package there was a nice magnet from San Francisco, a totally awesome jaguar T-shirt (which is my instant new favorite of course!!), and the nicest surprise of them all, a drawing of both Coatl and my girlfriend's fursona, Jead!
It's so beautiful, Sharifu, thank you so, so much I love it to bits <3 I showed it to Jead and she really liked it as well (she sends her gratitude too ^^)

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If I'm not mistaken, it was only me remaining to receive a gift, and now that I have, the 2019 Secret Santa is finally complete. So... success!

[Sharifu]

Oh thank goodness. I was starting to worry that your package was just gone forever. XD I sent it almost two months ago. But I am so glad you got it now. I'm sorry you had to wait for so long! I know I should have sent your package in October really, but it took a while for me to find that shirt for you, and in that size. But that was the one I really wanted to give you, so I was searching Ebay and Amazon until I found one in that size and that was brand new. (By the way, I wanted to tell you that those Mountain brand shirts do kind of have a funny smell when they are new, but they wont smell like that once they are washed). Also October and November were kind of hectic and busy for me because of some health issues that came up for me and a car accident I had in November. (But I'm doing fine now, so no worries) So it took me a while until I had the time to work on that drawing for you. And even though the drawing is on a small card, it still took me a few days to finish it! But you said the wait was worth it, and I'm so glad to hear you say that. ^^ I'm so glad that you finally got your package and you are happy with it.

Kruidnoten, eww, haha
Typical thing from the Netherlands that is, have you tried them yet?

Eww? I think they are good. You don't like gingerbread?

[Kossu]

Um, very late post.

Sharifu, I'm so happy the package arrived safe and sound! I was fretting a lot, since it was my first time posting something outside of Europe. I'm really happy you liked everything! And I'm glad you found the drawing too. I put it last in the box, before I closed it. It caused me a bit of trouble, since the box was slightly less wide than the drawing, so it got a bit bent...I hope it’s ok!

The drawing is indeed watercolours! I had a lot of fun working on it, though I wish I had added some more detail on the background. I'm very happy you like it though. And like Nathalie said, those are kruidnoten, a very popular dutch sweet.

Now...

My secret santa was Leorgathar! I finally opened the generous package he sent on the 10th of January, the day I got back to the Netherlands. He sent me lots! A cute Simba POP figure, a beautiful Chihuahua dog statue(I love it so very much!), a beautiful magnet from Chihuahua, a wonderful TLK postcard(there’s so much hidden stuff there, I’m sure I still haven’t found everything xD) and a lovely sketch of Nirani.
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Also, some very tasty treats!
The candy with the rose was amazing! It tasted a lot like a greek sweet with almonds (kourabiedes). The one you sent is a lot sweeter though. It’s really a pity one of the 2 rose sweets got squished on the journey. When I opened the box, there was powdered sugar everywhere.

Here’s a clearer picture of the sketch Nirani.jpgand the postcardCard1.jpgCard2.jpg.

Thank you so very much Leor, for all the wonderful gifts! And cool gifts, everyone! This was a very nice experience and I hope I can participate again.

[KanuTGL]

So many awesome gifts, everyone! I've loved looking through this thread And I love that there was so much art gifted, hehe! Beautiful stuff!

I hope to be able to participate again myself someday, when I'm rich enough to be able to deal with the ridiculous intl. postage fees

[Kossu]

Honestly, the ridiculous international fees was what kept me from participating for years...Then I decided to save up specifically for that and thankfully the fees were slightly cheaper in the Netherlands, in comparison to what I had heard when I lived in Greece...

[nathalie]

When we sent packages from Belgium to abroad, we also go to Holland to ship them now, lol

[Kossu]

When we sent packages from Belgium to abroad, we also go to Holland to ship them now, lol

Wow, really? Wasn't that a problem, if the package had to be returned for whatever reason? It'd make me paranoid.

[nathalie]

No problem at all. As we drop it off at a drop-off point, they'll put the stamps on it, so it really doesn't matter what address is on the back.

If you use the post NL website, then you must enter a valid NL address as the sender, otherwhise it won't accept it.