Greetings from the North Pole Boys and Girls!
Can you believe it's been five years since our last Gift Exchange!? How time flies! For those of you who may not know me, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Bingle. Maybe you've heard of me? For those who haven't, let me tell you about myself:
When Santa left his shop one day,
he found a snowman near his sleigh.
"You'll be my helper now" he said,
and tapped the little fellow's head.
The snowman found that he could talk;
"look Santa, I can even walk!
And then he gave a little sigh...
"Oh, how I wish I could fly!"
So Santa gave him holly wings;
then looking through his Christmas things,
found ornaments the very size
to make a pair of shining eyes.
Then Santa said, "You need a hat;
an ice cream cone's just right for that.
And keep this candy cane with you;
you'll see what magic it can do!"
The snowman laughed and sang a jingle,
so Santa named him "Mr. Bingle"
That's how it happened.
Now he's here for us to enjoy throughout the year!
Past exchanges were so successful Mr Bingle's 2019 Reindeer and Sleigh and so fun that we've decided maybe we should do it again! Only, this year it'll be bigger and better!
We're going to be using a 3rd party exchange service again, so take a second and familiarize yourself with www.Elfster.com. I hope none of you will be turned off by the thought of using another site, but please take comfort in knowing that myself and many close friends who have used Elfster for the last several years to facilitate our own gift exchanges, and more than 2 million other people world-wide use it for their own gift exchanges. It reduces the matching process from hours to seconds, and even allows you to create and continually edit your wish lists. You can even anonymously ask your secret pal questions. With that in mind, however, please be mindful of the wishes of our leadership, here at Badger & Blade. This site only exists because of the content provided by you! So please keep all the conversation here, and use Elfster only as a source of stalking!
Once you send me a PM as directed below, you will be emailed an invite to join the exchange at Elfster. Once you sign up and accept the invite, you can get started building your wish list. On November 10th you will receive a notice that you've been paired up! That's when you'll start stalking your prey/victim/pal!
I'm only asking that you spend at least $25 USD on a gift, but knowing how some of you guys tend to get a little carried away. Don't be ashamed to ask for anything on your wish list! The more you wish for, the more your new friend can get to know you. You can also find their posts around the forum, find out which subforums they like best, inquire with their friends, and generally be really sneaky (in the nicest way possible, of course)! Now, you can spend as much as you want to on your secret pal, but remember, you may only receive a gift worth $25 and that's ok! It's better to give than to receive any way! Right?
I know what else you're thinking (Because Mr. Bingle is one smart snowman!) But Mr. Bingle, I live in Onomatopoeiatopia, and none of the good stuff ever comes here because CONUS has never been here! Well, my dear Onomatopoeiatopian, I have great news for you! Just like last year, this exchange is open to the whole wide world! Now, there may be some of you for whom shipping internationally means you can't participate. Santa wants EVERYONE to be able to take part, no matter where they live or what they choose to celebrate, so when you sign up, just let me know if you're able to ship outside of your country. Of course, we all know that it's pretty impossible to ship aftershaves containing alcohol outside of most countries, so don't even try!
You'll have until November 9th to send me a private message with your sign up information. We'll need some special information from you though. Please be sure that I won't share your personal details with ANYONE other than your Name and Address with your secret pal.
I'll need:
· First and Last Name
· Mailing Address (and any restrictions or special instructions for getting packages)
· Phone Number (in case we need to communicate)
· Email address
· Regional Pairing Preference (are you willing to ship outside of your country?)
· Acknowledgement of rules!
Failure to provide basic contact information will mean you could be left off the list, so make sure you get it all to me by November 9th so I can put it all in Santa's super-mega-secret-pal-matcher-upper!
One last thing. There's some fine print at the bottom. It's all pretty important stuff like rules and such. It's so important that if you don't read it, Santa won't let you sign up! Just let me know in your message that you've read and understood them! Thanks!
Rules:
1. Participants must have at least 50 quality posts and at least 45 days of active Badger & Blade membership. Anyone not fitting those criteria at the sign-up deadline will not be allowed to participate. These are the same requirements for creating posts in the BST Forum.
2. The gift exchange will be open to members from ANYWHERE in the world! Understand that you may be paired with a member outside of your own country. If you will not be able to afford high shipping costs, please indicate your preference to be paired only with someone from your own country/region.
3. The minimum dollar amount, excluding shipping, is $25 USD. You may spend more if you like, but keep in mind you may only receive a gift valued at $25 USD.
4. Keep your secret pal secret!
5. In the spirit of festivity, feel free to wrap your recipient's present in seasonal attire! Glitter and ribbons are entirely appropriate!
6. All domestic gifts should be shipped with TRACKING numbers. International gifts do not require tracking numbers, but do require proof of shipping, i.e. a picture of shipping receipt with destination address and customs numbers. All shipping information must be provided to Mr. Bingle so he can communicate with Santa to ensure all good girls and boys have their toys!
7. Please do NOT sell any gifts you receive. Your partner will have worked really hard to find you something you'll really like. Maybe it doesn't work out as much as you had hoped, and that's ok. Feel free to post it for trade or pay it forward to someone, just mention that it's something you received in the Reindeer & Sleigh gift exchange, cause that's the gentlemanly thing to do.
8. If, for some reason, you do not feel comfortable inputting personal information into Elfster, you should forgo this exchange. Manually pairing partners and sending addresses and wish lists makes for hours of work. Elfster makes that process much easier, and is the resource chosen by the B&B team to facilitate this gift exchange. For any privacy concerns, please refer to Elfster's privacy policy.
9. Posting a thank you, to your Secret Santa is a "must"!
10. The exchange of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms/Ammunition are expressly prohibited in this gift exchange. Accessories related to these hobbies are acceptable, if legal in your local jurisdiction.
Sign up & Shipping Dates
· Latest Date to Sign Up: Saturday, November 9th, 2024, Midnight EST
· Secret Santa names distributed via Elfster.com on November 10th, 2024.
· Latest Date for Gift Purchase: Shipment Day
· Latest Date for Shipment: Monday, December 2nd, 2024 (For those shipping internationally, please make every effort to ship your items as early as possible)
· Opening Day: Christmas Morning 2024
These dates are solid and there will be no extensions. Christmas shipping gets very backed up and notoriously delayed. On top of that, there are B&B members from all over the world. We want to make certain their gifts are there under their trees to open on Christmas morning.
If you have questions, feel free to private message me @Mr Bingle, or my helpers @Alum Ladd , @Saxonbowman , and @Fordfather .
Please contact @Fordfather if you need any of your Gift Exchange posts edited
Can you believe it's been five years since our last Gift Exchange!? How time flies! For those of you who may not know me, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Bingle. Maybe you've heard of me? For those who haven't, let me tell you about myself:
When Santa left his shop one day,
he found a snowman near his sleigh.
"You'll be my helper now" he said,
and tapped the little fellow's head.
The snowman found that he could talk;
"look Santa, I can even walk!
And then he gave a little sigh...
"Oh, how I wish I could fly!"
So Santa gave him holly wings;
then looking through his Christmas things,
found ornaments the very size
to make a pair of shining eyes.
Then Santa said, "You need a hat;
an ice cream cone's just right for that.
And keep this candy cane with you;
you'll see what magic it can do!"
The snowman laughed and sang a jingle,
so Santa named him "Mr. Bingle"
That's how it happened.
Now he's here for us to enjoy throughout the year!
Past exchanges were so successful Mr Bingle's 2019 Reindeer and Sleigh and so fun that we've decided maybe we should do it again! Only, this year it'll be bigger and better!
We're going to be using a 3rd party exchange service again, so take a second and familiarize yourself with www.Elfster.com. I hope none of you will be turned off by the thought of using another site, but please take comfort in knowing that myself and many close friends who have used Elfster for the last several years to facilitate our own gift exchanges, and more than 2 million other people world-wide use it for their own gift exchanges. It reduces the matching process from hours to seconds, and even allows you to create and continually edit your wish lists. You can even anonymously ask your secret pal questions. With that in mind, however, please be mindful of the wishes of our leadership, here at Badger & Blade. This site only exists because of the content provided by you! So please keep all the conversation here, and use Elfster only as a source of stalking!
Once you send me a PM as directed below, you will be emailed an invite to join the exchange at Elfster. Once you sign up and accept the invite, you can get started building your wish list. On November 10th you will receive a notice that you've been paired up! That's when you'll start stalking your prey/victim/pal!
I'm only asking that you spend at least $25 USD on a gift, but knowing how some of you guys tend to get a little carried away. Don't be ashamed to ask for anything on your wish list! The more you wish for, the more your new friend can get to know you. You can also find their posts around the forum, find out which subforums they like best, inquire with their friends, and generally be really sneaky (in the nicest way possible, of course)! Now, you can spend as much as you want to on your secret pal, but remember, you may only receive a gift worth $25 and that's ok! It's better to give than to receive any way! Right?
I know what else you're thinking (Because Mr. Bingle is one smart snowman!) But Mr. Bingle, I live in Onomatopoeiatopia, and none of the good stuff ever comes here because CONUS has never been here! Well, my dear Onomatopoeiatopian, I have great news for you! Just like last year, this exchange is open to the whole wide world! Now, there may be some of you for whom shipping internationally means you can't participate. Santa wants EVERYONE to be able to take part, no matter where they live or what they choose to celebrate, so when you sign up, just let me know if you're able to ship outside of your country. Of course, we all know that it's pretty impossible to ship aftershaves containing alcohol outside of most countries, so don't even try!
You'll have until November 9th to send me a private message with your sign up information. We'll need some special information from you though. Please be sure that I won't share your personal details with ANYONE other than your Name and Address with your secret pal.
I'll need:
· First and Last Name
· Mailing Address (and any restrictions or special instructions for getting packages)
· Phone Number (in case we need to communicate)
· Email address
· Regional Pairing Preference (are you willing to ship outside of your country?)
· Acknowledgement of rules!
Failure to provide basic contact information will mean you could be left off the list, so make sure you get it all to me by November 9th so I can put it all in Santa's super-mega-secret-pal-matcher-upper!
One last thing. There's some fine print at the bottom. It's all pretty important stuff like rules and such. It's so important that if you don't read it, Santa won't let you sign up! Just let me know in your message that you've read and understood them! Thanks!
Rules:
1. Participants must have at least 50 quality posts and at least 45 days of active Badger & Blade membership. Anyone not fitting those criteria at the sign-up deadline will not be allowed to participate. These are the same requirements for creating posts in the BST Forum.
2. The gift exchange will be open to members from ANYWHERE in the world! Understand that you may be paired with a member outside of your own country. If you will not be able to afford high shipping costs, please indicate your preference to be paired only with someone from your own country/region.
3. The minimum dollar amount, excluding shipping, is $25 USD. You may spend more if you like, but keep in mind you may only receive a gift valued at $25 USD.
4. Keep your secret pal secret!
5. In the spirit of festivity, feel free to wrap your recipient's present in seasonal attire! Glitter and ribbons are entirely appropriate!
6. All domestic gifts should be shipped with TRACKING numbers. International gifts do not require tracking numbers, but do require proof of shipping, i.e. a picture of shipping receipt with destination address and customs numbers. All shipping information must be provided to Mr. Bingle so he can communicate with Santa to ensure all good girls and boys have their toys!
7. Please do NOT sell any gifts you receive. Your partner will have worked really hard to find you something you'll really like. Maybe it doesn't work out as much as you had hoped, and that's ok. Feel free to post it for trade or pay it forward to someone, just mention that it's something you received in the Reindeer & Sleigh gift exchange, cause that's the gentlemanly thing to do.
8. If, for some reason, you do not feel comfortable inputting personal information into Elfster, you should forgo this exchange. Manually pairing partners and sending addresses and wish lists makes for hours of work. Elfster makes that process much easier, and is the resource chosen by the B&B team to facilitate this gift exchange. For any privacy concerns, please refer to Elfster's privacy policy.
9. Posting a thank you, to your Secret Santa is a "must"!
10. The exchange of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms/Ammunition are expressly prohibited in this gift exchange. Accessories related to these hobbies are acceptable, if legal in your local jurisdiction.
Sign up & Shipping Dates
· Latest Date to Sign Up: Saturday, November 9th, 2024, Midnight EST
· Secret Santa names distributed via Elfster.com on November 10th, 2024.
· Latest Date for Gift Purchase: Shipment Day
· Latest Date for Shipment: Monday, December 2nd, 2024 (For those shipping internationally, please make every effort to ship your items as early as possible)
· Opening Day: Christmas Morning 2024
These dates are solid and there will be no extensions. Christmas shipping gets very backed up and notoriously delayed. On top of that, there are B&B members from all over the world. We want to make certain their gifts are there under their trees to open on Christmas morning.
If you have questions, feel free to private message me @Mr Bingle, or my helpers @Alum Ladd , @Saxonbowman , and @Fordfather .
Please contact @Fordfather if you need any of your Gift Exchange posts edited
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