Organised Christmas 2008.. The countdown has begun!

Baybee1984

Still need to do my Xmas plan.. think Ill prob start buying next week once this weekends out the way. Its hard as only been split from OH a month, so planning alone isnt great, need to work out whats happening in terms of DS.. and presents.. everything.

Mandymull - if your daughter enjoys sticker books, Usborne do some really nice ones. I used to work for them and the sticker books were a favourite of mine. I especially liked the 'sticker dolly dressing' kind, where there are pictures of dolls etc and you can choose what 'stickers' to dress them in.. if you get my gist. Do you think she'd enjoy this? Maybe something for you to do together, could she help choose which clothes to stick on them? Just an idea.

yummymummyoftwo

i hope im posting this in the right place,
ive started my christmas shopping,a bit late but im trying,the thing is my children are dd7 and ds4 every year they get what theyve asked for and i mean everything and more i go mad,they normally have about 40 presents each not all expensive,but we just cannot do it this year so my oh has told me to get them 10 presents each and a main one,already got dd's nintendo ds and ds wants a go cart ,im worried that they'll be dissapointed,the other thing is ds has asked for 3 board games but i know from having wasted money in the past on them they last about a week and they've lost the pieces,i dont know what to do

mum2one

yummymummyoftwo wrote: »

i hope im posting this in the right place,
ive started my christmas shopping,a bit late but im trying,the thing is my children are dd7 and ds4 every year they get what theyve asked for and i mean everything and more i go mad,they normally have about 40 presents each not all expensive,but we just cannot do it this year so my oh has told me to get them 10 presents each and a main one,already got dd's nintendo ds and ds wants a go cart ,im worried that they'll be dissapointed,the other thing is ds has asked for 3 board games but i know from having wasted money in the past on them they last about a week and they've lost the pieces,i dont know what to do

Your children are very luckly, they have you both, it sounds like you both have a heart of gold. My dd is 6, I involve her in the prezzie choosing and that way its method in my madness, I hope she learns the cost of money....
Re the board games, by xmas ur ds will of most proberly 4got what hes asked for and be exicted with everything he has. Maybe could you just get him one of the games, a sort of meet in the middle, and maybe if anyone asks what he wants maybe suggest one of the other games.

Children just get carried away, for dd birthday, she had 3/4 of the DS games marked off in the Argos book, she had a couple, but didnt moan or ask where the rest was. xx

irchy_mum

mum2one wrote: »

Found this in my folder of tricks.......(ideas borrowed from mags etc at docs surgery)

countdown to Christmas

5 weeks to go -
Make list of presents, buy gift wrap
Start sending xmas cards
get kids to write santas letters

4 weeks to go -
start planning ur xmas menu
prepare in advance and freeze anything you can
if your making an xmas cake - bake it this week and store in an airtight container
Buy the kids an advent calender

3 weeks to go -
stock up on frozen and non- pershible foodstuffs
online order big and heavy stuff
if your haveing frozen turkey, make room in freezer and buy this week
buy tree/ get from loft, check lights decs replace as necessary

2 weeks to go -
prepare any freezerable dishes
wrap prezzies, dont forget to label!!

1 week to go -
double check your gift list
prepare xmas stockings

3 days to go
if your haveing fresh turkey - pick it up
shop for fresh ingredients - no room in fridge, try shed, garage
Frozen turkry work out how long to thaw - guide 2kg to 5kg 15 to 20 hours to defrost
Play the game called "how the heck do we get the turkey in the fridge to defrost"

2 days before -
have a final check that u have everything
check the medicine cabnet, plaster, headache tablets, diarrohea tabs etc

night before
prepare the veg -
keep peeled potatoes in cold water
trim sprouts, prepare carrots, and parsnips and keep them in fride overnight

PUT YOUR FEET UP, AND GRAB A LEAST A GLASS OF WINE..........TAKE A BREAK

All Christmas stress and worries have just melted away....thanks to your guide:D

scouserwench

I got my Xmas deco's in Sales so far...... Got some from Matalan and ebay & Carboots.... and also been to Wilko's and Hootys & Poundland! Hubby just lets me get on with it lol

Managed to get 2 packs of Xmas cards on BOGOF which was fab and me xmas paper.

sarahf191979

Morning All

I'm waking up more and more excited everyday now :j . I have finished 2 Adipose so will start doing other things now, and maybe do some more later when I have finished all the other Home made gifts that need doing. Other wise I may never get through my lists....(But at least my boys will have one each)

I managed to order 2 birthday presents yesterday so feel a bit better now thats done, just need to get a few more little bits from B&Ms over the weekend to finish that off then they can be wrapped up, and the birthdays will be done.

I really want to get all my home made gifts made over the next week before we go away, then I can put it all away and have a proper deep clean everywhere before Christmas, So I've got til the 26th Oct to do that, then a week off and I'll be nice and refreshed to finish of any decluttering, a bit of painting (only touching up), Will still give me a month before The Xmas Dec's come out.

Today I Plan to do:

Wrap a few more pressies up

1 x Baking Hamper (Cousion)
1 x Joke in a Jar (Friend)
2 x Books (OH and Friend)
2 x Personalised Story Books for kids xmas eve hampers

Plus a few loads of washing, and the normal everyday cleaning we all have to do.;)

Will let you know how I'm getting on as the kettle is my worst enemy these days, I wake up with good intentions and then get nothing done LOL

But thats my Plan

Sarah
x

scattymam1

yummymummy - what board games is he wanting? we could all do a search and find the cheapest options.

I noticed home bargains have a lot of games in cheap this year.

Also with him only being four, if you try ebay, you may get them veyr cheap on there just because the box has been bashed or opened, but your 4 year old probs wouldn't even notice that...

maria_and_the_imps

ok need all you lovely ladies to tell me everything will be ok have just realised that although i have been buying for christmas for the last 3 months that i still cant afford christmas, still have hundreds of pressies to buy and no money, i havent brought a single thing for my little ones yet have said to hubby how about tellin everyone we are only doin children and he wont do that, so am stuck with what to do could get a loan but i really want to clear all my debts next year so dont really want to add to the problem and the only loan i would be able to get is a provident loan with stupid intrest, i feel like giving up and i have lost all my christmas spirit. thanks for letting me rant
maria and the imps

roosterbean

Hi Maria, have you got any old toys, clothes etc, that you could sell on ebay to raise some money?

Don't take a loan out - one miserable xmas day is better than a whole miserable year...

Why won't your husband let you do children only? What sort of things do you need to buy as pressies?

sarahf191979

maria_and_the_imps wrote: »

ok need all you lovely ladies to tell me everything will be ok have just realised that although i have been buying for christmas for the last 3 months that i still cant afford christmas, still have hundreds of pressies to buy and no money, i havent brought a single thing for my little ones yet have said to hubby how about tellin everyone we are only doin children and he wont do that, so am stuck with what to do could get a loan but i really want to clear all my debts next year so dont really want to add to the problem and the only loan i would be able to get is a provident loan with stupid intrest, i feel like giving up and i have lost all my christmas spirit. thanks for letting me rant
maria and the imps

Hi maria and the imps

I hope you feel better after your rant, but I bet you have more than you think and don't need as much as you think (if that makes sense)???

If you go on the organised christmas website:

http://organizedchristmas.com/christmas-countdown

You will fins loads of ideas

Print of Gift lists and cards lists to help you see what you have got and what you need to get.

They also have food inventories, clothes list, Freezer inventories, the list goes on. They really helped me put everything in perspective.

When you have your lists set up you will see what you need to do (sorry if I sound like I'm preaching - I don't mean too but this has really helped me)

As for gifts for adults look at maybe doing hampers between couples/ or familys

A Movie night hamper for a family could include popcorn, bags of sweets, bottle of pop/ Wine and a DVD.

A romantic night in for couples, Wine, Choc's, Candles etc...

There's lots of ideas on hampers which I'm sure youve seen.

I love the hampers as you can pick up a few bits each week and spread the cost.

What age are your children? there are lots of simple gift ideas on here that you can bulk out the pressies with. You can downloads and Print Free Personalised Christmas stories, letters from Santa etc..

I am making Treasure boxes for my 2 from 2 old shoe boxes, I'm just going to Print loads of Dr who Pictures of the net, cut and glue them to the box and put their names on I don't know if you could adapt that for yours, I will be naming a star free (from a website found on here) and will put that inside to start them off collecting special little things.

I'm going on with myself know, but I know how you feel.

Sarah
x