Looking for a way to fill your jewellery chest without emptying your pockets? Do you have one-too-many birthday gifts to purchase this month? There’s a sterling silver jewelry solution to all of these thorny problems – one that’s also a great lot of fun: the sterling silver jewelry swap.

A sterling silver jewelry swap is just like a bake swap, where everyone bakes and everyone eats. Except that at a sterling silver jewelry swap, everyone tries on everyone else’s jewellery…and walks away with something new without having spent a penny.  A sterling silver jewelry swap gives you and your BFFs a chance to socialize whilst browsing in your self-created, cottage-located, “pop-up” jewellery shop!

How does it work? First, send out invitations to 10 or 20 friends. Remember: the more friends you invite, the more sterling silver jewelry there’ll be to choose from. Tell them when and where to arrive, and to bring any jewelry they want to trade. (This is a perfect opportunity for the cleaning out of jewellery chests.)  You can specify the type and number of sterling silver jewelry items you want each guest to bring. It might be wise to set a price-range; even though sterling silver jewelry never loses its value, you don’t want friend’s items to be dearer than another’s.

As your friends arrive, write down what each has brought on a small card; each friend will be entitled to take away the same number of sterling silver jewelry items she’s brought. Set all of the sterling silver jewelry out on a table or tables. You can arrange it by type (grouping bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc.); by style (flirty, conservative, elegant); by colour (with gemstones or without); or by guest, if you wish each person’s items to be identifiable.

Next, give everyone time to browse the sterling silver jewelry whilst sipping punch, munching, and gossiping. To ensure the swap is fair, you can have each guest pick a number from a hat or you can roll dice, and ask the friend with the highest number choose first (etc.).  Or you can distribute identical cards to everyone, and play sterling silver jewelry “bingo”, holding up each sterling silver jewelry item in turn and letting your friends “bid” for it.

Still another method is to give the guests a card when they enter, and have them write on it the sterling silver jewelry item or items they most hope to take home. Then, toss the cards in a hat, pulling them out one by one to determine the “winner” of each item. Lastly, you can let the swap be a “free-for-all” – but only if your friends are an easygoing lot.

However you decide to arrange it, a sterling silver jewelry swap is a wonderful way to update your sterling silver jewelry collection whilst spending a fun time with friends – but not one red cent!