10th Annual Thrift Thread Gift Exchange

[Jackstraw001]

Hey @Evacipator, the package arrived a couple days ago! Many thanks for the great box that travelled a VERY LONG way from Australia to Georgia! I love the great Irish scarf, the Grateful Dead playing cards and the Australian treats! My wife has already made a dent in the Macadamia honey and my youngest son killed the TimTams and Allen Chews before I got a single one! Fortunately we have an international farmers market not far from here that I have heard may carry TimTams....gonna pick some up this weekend! Thanks again to @HansderHund and @drlivingston and anyone else who helped facilitate another great Thriftmas!

 

[Evacipator]

Hey @Evacipator, the package arrived a couple days ago! Many thanks for the great box that travelled a VERY LONG way from Australia to Georgia! I love the great Irish scarf, the Grateful Dead playing cards and the Australian treats! My wife has already made a dent in the Macadamia honey and my youngest son killed the TimTams and Allen Chews before I got a single one! Fortunately we have an international farmers market not far from here that I have heard may carry TimTams....gonna pick some up this weekend! Thanks again to @HansderHund and @drlivingston and anyone else who helped facilitate another great Thriftmas!

I'm glad it all traveled successfully, and that by the sounds of it there was a little bit in there for everyone. I was fearing it would arrive as a honey-smeared-everything by the end! Do grab some Tim Tams if you come across them - biting off opposite corners and using them as a straw for coffee or tea is another way people like to enjoy them here ocassionally, too, if you want to try something even more different!

 

[drlivingston]

Thanks again to @HansderHund and @drlivingston and anyone else who helped facilitate another great Thriftmas!

While I would love to take credit for such an awesome venture, this year's Thriftmas was totally run by Hans. And, as you would expect, he did a stellar job.

 

[SpooPoker]

finally! I guess you just had to wait for Novak Djocovic to leave before you let me in huh

 

[SpooPoker]

@Evacipator you did get it right?

 

[Evacipator]

@Evacipator you did get it right?

It did arrive, yes!

That is, I have confirmation from family today that it was delivered, but in other news I'm currently serving a fresh C19 isolation period for being a close contact (but so far negative), so it will be a little bit before I can actually have it...

Thanks for your patience and persistence in checking for me though, and I'll have a post and photos etc as soon as I can!

 

[Ken P]

Never heard from my recipient @bpk1 and he seems to be inactive on here as well. Hoping all is well with him.

 

[SpooPoker]

It did arrive, yes!

That is, I have confirmation from family today that it was delivered, but in other news I'm currently serving a fresh C19 isolation period for being a close contact (but so far negative), so it will be a little bit before I can actually have it...

Thanks for your patience and persistence in checking for me though, and I'll have a post and photos etc as soon as I can!

OK cool, glad it completed the journey! Sorry that took so long!

 

[Evacipator]

Oh... wow!

Through trial and tribulation, @SpooPoker's especially generous gift finally got into my hands today, and suffice to say it was worth every second of the wait! Just throwing this up to say a big thank you right away, as it's going to take me a while longer than I bargained for to catalogue and photograph it all to show off here!

It's all above and beyond on every front, thank you!

 

[Evacipator]

So I've snapped some shots of what was, quite frankly, the bonanza that I was lucky enough to open yesterday. I've tried to trim down the number of shots to something approaching manageable...

Right from the start, the abundance was clear with individual parcels accompanied by a wonderful handwritten note.

Spoiler: Parcels and note

Things only multiplied when each of these, it turned out, contained several items.

First, a sweet LuxeSwap T-shirt - which I've also used to backdrop most of the rest of the photos.

Spoiler: T-shirt

Along with this beautiful Drake's for LuxeSwap tie that I can't wait to wear.

Spoiler: Tie

Spoiler: Closeup

And then there were two wonderful, reversible Brioni pocket squares - the richness and complexities of which are really not afforded justice in pictures.

Spoiler: Pocket Squares

And, as if any one of those items wouldn't have already been enough, there was also a set of cufflinks to round out an entire outfit of accessories. I like to collect cufflinks as souveniers of places my friends or I have been (or come from), so it is lovely to have these Brooks Brothers links sent to me right from New York (all this came to Australia, by the way!!).

Spoiler: Cufflinks

And then things got turned up another notch. I like card games a lot, and so have come to really appreciate playing cards as an object, and Spoo knocked it out of the park with an entire raft of decks which are not only beautiful and historically interesting in their own right (my favourite kind!), but which he explained had been procured "...from a wealthy North Shore mansion here on Long Island. The heiress of a Belgian shipping scion. She had an affinity for smoking and having long card nights with her friends." Indeed, as Spoo writes, if only they could talk!

So, the following are a lot of playing card photos!

All of them together:

Spoiler: Group Shot

Japanese Flowers:

Spoiler: Japanese Flowers

France Royale Bridge decks (lots of famous faces to research and read up on here!)

Spoiler: France Royale

C.F.A. Voysey architect-design decks

Spoiler: C.F.A. Voysey

A very SF-suitable pair of Time Pieces decks

Spoiler: Time Pieces

Set of Caspari x Neiman Marcus cards with nice large poker-sized pips. Separate photo of box, to make it visible.

Spoiler: Neiman Marcus

Spoiler: Box

Beautiful set with complementing Ming planter-pot artwork on the backs, in an absolutely wonderful wooden box.

Spoiler: Ming Planters

Spoiler: Wooden Box

Two Francis I decks - one silver, one gold - with beautiful portraits and number cards that are themed and arranged in a way that I'll need to learn some French to fully unpack...

Spoiler: Francis I

And finally, a Louis XIV deck which reproduces images of an historical deck created between 1672 and 1698, and which is kept in the National Library of Paris. Fascinating stuff!

Spoiler: Louis XIV

Again, thank you Spoo for your unbelievable generosity. Any single one of these things would have made my day, so I'm blown away by the whole package you put together. I foresee quite the sartorial card night in my near future...

 

[SpooPoker]

Very glad you love them all! Sorry that took so long to get there but happy it was worth the wait. I guess that puts an end to this thread, so till next year everyone!

 

[Fueco]

Very glad you love them all! Sorry that took so long to get there but happy it was worth the wait. I guess that puts an end to this thread, so till next year everyone!

Nope, still waiting here.

 

[txwoodworker]

My guy should have his, or will very soon.

 

[SpooPoker]

Hah, oops

 

[capnwes]

Mine arrived Saturday, about the same time I was headed to the ER for some sort of scary allergic reaction. Will open soon.

Ok....more like, will open later. Lost track of the package, and time.

It's nice box of casuals from @GoldenHarvestMedal Thanks!
AX Khakis and Shirt, Porsche Design x Adidas Pants and Shirt, Mountain Hardwear pants, Columbia and Lindeberg Shirts, and some a few ties and camel scarf. Gonna see if my mama wants to hem some of these pants, dang corgi legs.