Christmas 09 Let's Get Organised!!

MissSearles

I know, I was really dissapointed with Argos too! I always used to have a browse thru Studio...but they seem to have decide to ignore all my requests for a catalogue this year

^!£$&

stokegal wrote: »

Where did everyone go???

I think my crazyness scared everyone off

Well I have just had a look on a ebay for a christmas tree and have found not 1 but 2 that are suitable and are less than 5 miles away, the only problem now is to choose which one...

It's a choice between

tree1

or

tree2

I don't want a thin tree where there is loads of spaces between the branches so it looks bare so I'm trying to figure out which one will be the best.

I like tree number one!!!

sarahf191979

stokegal wrote: »

Where did everyone go???

I think my crazyness scared everyone off

Well I have just had a look on a ebay for a christmas tree and have found not 1 but 2 that are suitable and are less than 5 miles away, the only problem now is to choose which one...

It's a choice between

tree1

or

tree2

I don't want a thin tree where there is loads of spaces between the branches so it looks bare so I'm trying to figure out which one will be the best.

I like number one as well, I have one very similar but mine has snow and pine cones on, they look really good when up. Good price as well paid £100 for mine:eek:

sammy_kaye18

Well I like Tree 2 but that's only because its my tree

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
In the name of all things Christmassy NO!!!!!

^^^^^^^^^this made me laugh
you cant have beans on toast for Christmas dinner! My boyfriend told me him and his ex use to have a microwaved chicken curry as she wasn't at all festive and i nearly had heart failure - ok we have chicken but we aren't keen on turkey and I find cooking the chicken/turkey/meat the night before makes Christmas day easier because if you cook the meat on Christmas eve and prepare the veg Xmas Eve night then you literally have to turn easy things on to cook and it takes like half hour max and reheat the meat in the microwave.

Also my decorations go up on December 1st - some here go up in November but I prefer December first. My usual decorations are red and green because i like traditional colours.

Clare - where in Wales are you? we could have a welsh Christmas bargain hunting meet at this rate! and don't worry I'll be 7 months pregnant and still working come Xmas! :eek:

pretzelnut

There isnt much in the studio catalogue TBH, i had a flick through it yesterday, there are a few nice decs but stupidly over priced in my opinion.

DF's side of the family have a massive christmas diner - it starts at 4 o'clock and their still eating well after 10pm as there are like 7 courses. Could you imagine trying to get a 7 & 2 year old to sit through all that.

I'm sure i'll manage with dinner - a few practice runs is as thats needed. We're not keen on turkey either - i tend to only eat pork, so think we might have a nice pork joint instead. I hate heating anything in the microwave.

I do like having a nice christmas breakfast, last year we had waffles & cream, croissants, egg's & soldiers, champagne & orange juice. DF made castles out of toast to go around the outside of the kids egg cups. It looked really cute. We set the table up the night before (as it was in the living room) and it just felt even more chritsmassy than ever. DF cooked breakfast - which was a nice treat for me.

I tend to stick to green, gold and red for all my decorations. I buy a new unique bauble for each of the kids each year, i spend months trying to find the perfect one's, by the time they leave home they will have enough for their own tree's.

I also think it's important to teach my kids that they are very lucky to get what they get as there are many other children in the world who dont have families etc. So we make shoe boxes and always donate a few gifts to the chritmas appeal for local children who will not get anything for christmas otherwise. And where possible we buy a small tin of biscuits (usually those danish cookies from the pound shop) for all our elderly neighbours.

Chritmas is the only yime of year i wear a hat - well my santa hat, it's great if im running late in a morning and havent had chance to brush my hair, lol. Just put on my hat and no one is any the wiser.

Tashja

Hi all

Still here reading and today I bought the first bits ready to be made in to pressies !!

I got 6 face cloths from B&M for 99p - 4 brown and 2 cream for the flannel raindeers

2 packs of baby socks ready for BIL & partners baby bouquet - due September

Just waiting for MrT to deliver a box of over 100 nappies for a nappy cake for above baby's Christmas present. Also got 2 ITNG baby suits and a ITNG bib for the same nappy cake 5.00 - shound havre been 20.00.

1 tray for the retro sweet tray - need to go back tomorrow as I wanted to see if it would be the right size - 1.00 in pound shop.

I am also going to be watching out for brown paper bags for raindeer food.

Has anyone been offered work from the things they make ?? I have shown people the things I am doing and I have had some people offer to buy bits off me. Not sure though wheather or not this is a good idea !! Sounds too good to be true - lol.

Sammy - Love the signature -x-

T xxx

DaisyFlower

Stokegal, I like tree number too. Astbury garden centre do a lovely range of trees in their display to give you an idea of widths etc. We had ours from Focus, its nice and wide but the branches come off so stores well.

May change colours again on ours this year, had a few years of red and gold, then have had blue and silver so may change again this year if something stands out nearer the time.

Try and hold off until around 10th December to put the tree up but DS usually tries to get us to put it up early December.

yippee_kye_yay

princesswoo wrote: »

Poundland have pencils and sketch pads - in various sizes.

I cant remember the exact name i think its book world or book zone - anyway there's one in most towns now - they have a very cheap art section, in fact their art section got me through college on my tight budget. There are also loads of cheap books on drawing / sketching etc that you could add to the hamper. They even do those little wooden men that you can position so that you can learn how to draw a human in proportion. In fact you could probably get everything you need in hthis 1 shop alone.

My 1 suggestion to anyone doing a drawing set / hamper - please put in a ''putty rubber'' i know these are a little expensive compared to a normal eraser but they are a valuable tool when sketching / drawing as they are much more precise and dont leave smudge marks when erasing something. And it looks a lot more proffesional especially for older kids / teenagers.

Charcoal is a great medium to work with, as is chalk, its very easy to use and produces great results even from the most untalented person. Which helps when encouraging kids as they feel less disheartened. If your including charcoal or chalk - you could add a can of hairspray as this fixes the image and stops it smudging.

i think we have a book zone in town, it is small though and i dont recall seeing any arts things in there, but i havent been in for a while so i will check it out. ill have to write putty rubber down before i go as i havent even heard of it before! i didnt think of adding charcoal but im going to pop some in there along with a can of hairspray (thansk for that tip!)

i was also thinking of adding one of the little men in too as i think it will finish the hamper off nicely!
thanks for all the help there. i think this hamper is going to look really good, im just racking my brains to think of something for his sisters birthday (22nd dec) that will look as good. she will be 15 if anyone has any ideas?
i did her a pamper hamper last year so thats out and they are both having movie night hampers for xmas

helyg

princesswoo wrote: »

I do like having a nice christmas breakfast, last year we had waffles & cream, croissants, egg's & soldiers, champagne & orange juice. DF made castles out of toast to go around the outside of the kids egg cups. It looked really cute. We set the table up the night before (as it was in the living room) and it just felt even more chritsmassy than ever. DF cooked breakfast - which was a nice treat for me.

I tend to stick to green, gold and red for all my decorations. I buy a new unique bauble for each of the kids each year, i spend months trying to find the perfect one's, by the time they leave home they will have enough for their own tree's.

I also think it's important to teach my kids that they are very lucky to get what they get as there are many other children in the world who dont have families etc. So we make shoe boxes and always donate a few gifts to the chritmas appeal for local children who will not get anything for christmas otherwise. And where possible we buy a small tin of biscuits (usually those danish cookies from the pound shop) for all our elderly neighbours.
.

You sound so like me, we always have a special Christmas breakfast, always stick to the traditional colour scheme of red, gold and green, and do shoeboxes etc too!

helyg

Well my jam jars have arrived from Lakeland (minus the lids that I ordered, apparently they are "to follow" so I can't get cracking just yet), and so has the lovely holly leaf design fabric that I bought from ebay to make little "hats" for the jars. I'm getting excited just lining the jars up and imagining what yummy things I can fill them with!

Am also rushing to get my daughter's cardigan finished so that I can make a start on the mascots/dolls for the three of them for Christmas when the pattern arrives.

I'm sure I enjoy the planning and the preparing more than the big day itself!