How to Host a Clothing Party and Food Swap in 10 Simple Steps

Frugal living is in, food swapping is the new green, and hosting a clothing party is the new little black dress. Combine these ingredients for a win-win money-saving opportunity. Meet great friends in the process and learn something new. How do you get started?

1. Prepare a guest list. You know who is on board with food swapping and who is horrified of eating anything prepared in a stranger's kitchen. Leave out also the cooks whose loose adherence to safe cooking practices and standard sanitation you have witnessed first-hand. If this is your first food swap, limit the number of attendees to 10 or 20. Subsequent events can get bigger.

2. Set up the hardware. You need long tables, and lots of them. When you host a clothing party as part of your food swaps, have clothes hanging space available as well. Borrow chairs from attendees to make sure everyone has a place to sit. Designate one table to be the snack table. It holds samples, snacks and potluck dishes.

3. Set the theme. Baby food swaps are the rage among organically-oriented new moms. If your group does not contain any new moms but is instead made up of enthusiastic bakers, home gardeners, marmalade makers or roasters, adjust the theme accordingly. If you are still testing the waters, consider making your first food swap a free-for-all, where everyone brings whatever they would consider a personal signature dish.

4. Listen to your legal beagle. Have each participant sign a simple release of liability that holds you - the hostess - harmless. In other words, if a participant breaks out in hives after eating the canned concoction of another participant, she will not come after you, your homeowner's insurance and your personal assets.

5. Lay down the law. Host food swaps only if everyone is on board with the basic rules. For example, you must stipulate that every dish is cooked and prepared according to current food safety rules and regulations. If you wish to deviate from this rule, you must have the written agreement of all participants.

6. Stipulate on ingredients. Will you accept generic store-bought ingredients or do you insist on organic ingredients only? Does the produce have to be locally grown or does it matter that the bananas are imported and the grapes were shipped in? Are garden veggies allowed, even if they were treated with pesticides? Do you want to avoid any nuts, specific oils, sodium, eggs or grains?

7. Print out swap sheets. You can put together your own sheets or use the ones set up by the Food Swap Network. Consider distributing these sheets to the participants ahead of time, so attendees can fill out their portion of the sheet and have them ready to go on the day of the food swap.

8. Set the clothing party parameters. Generally speaking, each attendee cleans out her closet and brings items that are too big, too small, or simply unwanted. Each item must be clean, free of defects and brought on a hanger. Bag like clothes, such as your collection of medium sized white t-shirts or the collection of toddler clothes your preschooler outgrew. Use food swap tags for these clothing items, if you like, or make up your own tags. Do not be surprised if food swapping and clothes swapping go hand in hand.

9. Agree on what to do with leftovers. Leftover food may become the hostess' property, taken back by the attendees or donated - if appropriate - to the local homeless shelter kitchen. Leftover clothes can also be donated.

10. Learn from mistakes. Discovering how to host food swaps, how to host a clothing party, how to soothe ruffled feathers and calm hurt feelings takes a bit of time. If you enjoy the role of hostess, evaluate what went well and what could use improvement next time around. Be open to feedback of participants and realize that food swapping is a learned art; it does not come natural.

Source

Food Swap Network, "Swap Sheets"