New Thrifty Gifty - Organised for Christmas and all ocassions 2010- Santas Challenges

cookiecrumbs

Hello everyone

Went to Sainsburys last night to get a tin to put my Christmas cake in. Saw they had some chocolates on special offer - thought I'd get some to keep for presents. Bought a box of mint matchmakers for £1. Seem to have eaten them all...

pinkflop - those muffins sound good, I don't usually like cinnamon but I might give them a go. Sure OH will get through them even if I don't!

mum2one - wow, Miss Hoodie is doing you proud with her school achievements, well done to her. Any update from the lovely people of Tesco yet?!

Mary - glad you had a nice weekend and it wasn't terrible weather.

Am struggling massively with what to buy OH for Christmas. Got loads of ideas for little things but nothing for a main present. It's driving me mad!! It's his birthday at the beginning of January too :eek:

piglet27

Well done to miss hoodie you're doing brilliantly!

rufusdog52

Have finished my Dad's cushion, might get him a bar of chocolate and thats it for him. Met my friend yesterday in the town and was telling her about the writing set I concocted for ExMil and she said how she likes writing letters too so this morning I printed out some note paper and cut it up to size and put it together with some envelopes I had left from card making and two packs of first class stamps. Had a nice box that holds note paper with a compartment for pens too and put it all in this and wrapped in cello.

Not much else left to do now present wise except a few more bits for OH and for youngest daughter. Found a lovely gold coloured hand bag mirror in Wilkinsons yesterday which was only 99p so picked one of them up for her to go with her make up.

findingmyfeet

well my dilema off the day................i have always made the delia xmas cake but fancy trying another, do i go with nigella or hairy bikers???? going to do at the begining of november after half term.

cookiecrumbs-for your jars what about brown paper and string around the lids or checked/striped fabrics and print your own labels or wrap the entire jar in a bright coloured organza fabric and tie with ribbons. and well done getting christmas and new year off too.

rufusd!!!2 -love the jewellry . thanks for advice on patchworking, feel a dunelm visit approaching and got a bid in on ebay too.
legendmum- hope the tooth is improving, nothing more painful than teeth when they are acting up !
susan42- agree with your oh on the cake front. homemade all the way now.
abdonz-have you tried one of the large supermarkets for a new tv seen them between £100 and £200 depending on the size you want.

mummyslittleboy- lovely idea doing the hamper for your friend- brought a tear to the old eye here....im sure she will really apprecite it. what about bubble bath, crayons, heartwarming dvd (suitable for them to watch with mum), box of sharing sweeties, cookies, craft stuff etc loads in wilkin*ons eg make a mask, paint a money box all very cheap (£0.50 to £5).

managed to get a couple more cards yesterday and have seen a few more gifts i want to get in town but desparate fro payday at the end of the week!!!!

cdsmiler

elysia2003 wrote: »

Anyway I waved to everyone in S.Wales as I went up the M4 like I promised. Cold here and so, so windy. Mary, I hope your weekend went well., and that the weather was kind to you.

I waved as you passed! Hope you're having a lovely...if not a bit chilly... time!

Pinkflop - bet that feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders (PTA!)!! Keep wrapped up warm, drink hot drinks, etc etc and I'm sure you'll feel better for your holiday.

mum2one - you know you leave room at the top of your bottles when doing flavoured vodka for shakage? Does it not look odd at the end because there's a gap - almost as if someone has come along and tried it first?? lol How much space do you leave? Thinking of suggesting my mum tried to make toffee vodka....

Big well done to Miss Hoodie! She's turning into a little star!

sangus - tut tut!! lol But hey, if you hadn't tried them, who knows, one set could have been 'off'!

mary - welcome back! Glad you didn't freeze too much! lol

piget - hope you get better soon! And your wrist is back to normal!

mummyslittleboy - what a lovely thought to do for your friend! I think everyone else has pretty much covered it though.

toffeeapple - likewise for your godson. Oh gosh you're going to be so important to him this year.

cookiecrumbs - don't talk to me about matchmakers. Hubby can't help himself with the orange ones.....

Vistaprint - is there a 99p calendar offer somewhere? I went on the website but they're all much more than that....or have I missed the boat?

Getting somewhere - decided most of what I'm getting for my Mum, Dad and half for my Brother, and everyone important in the family is now happily discussing Christmas! Phew! Can get loads sorted now!

Thanks for those who commented on my "Earrings and Icings" name for my blog. Also thinking of incorporating cross stitch into it too now, so back to the drawing board! lol Sorry all. Currently thinking "Stitches, Sponges & Sparkles" or.... "Makes, Cakes & Mistakes" :rotfl: lol Oh I dunno - just need a way to incorporate all aspects I suppose. Or go completely off the wall in a different direction maybe?? SOmething with the Smiler nickname? <sigh>

Clare x

kelda_shelton

mum2one wrote: »

Hi Susan

Love the wangle trip to Hobbycraft,

flavoured vodka- basically any flavour avoid mixing skittles as it turns it a lovely!!!!! not shade of brown.

Wine gums - I stuck to red and orange flavours, chopped them in half, help them to dissolve quicker

Toffee - brought mixed flavour toffee from aldi - so could do couple flavours - half filled the bottle with the toffee

Kola cubes - had to break them to get into bottle -

Pear drop - we used the pink ones - but that may be an acquired taste looked more like medicine

raspberry / strawberry / cherry - fresh fruits add sugar to them put them in the bottle

For all flavours top up with vodka, give a good shake, I used value vodka - does the job - always leave a space at the top to allow shakeage. I would say for the 1st week shake daily then weekly, our toffee has 90% dissolved. The thing is don't add any extra vodka as it makes it seperate.

I used 1 x 70cl bottle, and some smaller bottles for mixing, the final plan is to put them into 5cl miniture bottles so there be taster pots. xx

Hi there.. i began following this thread in like february - was all prepared to get ready for xmas and do a craft stall and all sorts and well then, I got made aware i may be made redundant and would have to reapply for my own job, which I got, phew, and also bought and sold a house! So just starting to get back into the land of the living!

You guys are doing so great.. puts me to shame but starting to get organised for xmas now.. think I'm a little to late for getting stuff for a stall organised now as also still getting my house in order.. but hopefully for friends and family I can do bits and pieces....

just wondered.. where do you get the little 5cl (or slightly bigger) bottles mum2one? I'd love to do the vodka thing!

Qaphsiel

Hi all,

Mummyslittleboy in our Christmas Eve hamper we have:

New pj's and slipper socks
New toothbrushes
A Christmas duck each for the bath found on EBay:
Angel Bath bomb each from Lush (makes children skin so soft and good for sensitive and baby skin)
New christmas theme film / DVD
Box Chocolates for us all to share whilst we are watching film
New Book - christmas story one for bedtime
Reindeer dust to sprinkle outside so Ruldoph knows the way! (porridge oats with hundreds and thousands in)
Key to let father christmas in as we have no fireplace

Ordered my sons XBOX for delivery tomorrow so that another big pressie out the way and paid for :T

cdsmiler

Btw - has someone made a nice voucher envelope or something on here? Or am I dreaming? lol If someone has, can anyone point me in the direction of some instructions and directions please?

Thanks

Clare x

toffeeapple

Qaphsiel - I love Christmas Eve hampers.

We go to the church carol service on xmas eve mid afternoon and see all our friends for mulled wine afterwards and then its home where we always have a special family meal around the table where we each get to choose our favourite thing to eat. My husband is a chef, he makes an extravagant 3 course meal for us whilst the kids chose pizza and chips last year. While they are all around the table I nip to the kitchen for something and while there sneak into the lounge and put our hamper next to the Christmas tree. When we've had dessert we go into the lounge and the hamper is there. It gets opened and then its bath time and the kids put on their new pj's etc... before we start a cosy evening in front of the fire.

Please don't think I'm mad but I think Christmas Eve is sometimes more magical and exciting than Christmas Day!!!:rotfl:

elysia2003

Clare I have the link for the Vistaprint 99p calendars but it's at home. There wasn't a date on it, as it was for Amazon customers. If you can wait 'til friday, I'll pm you it.

Have fun everyone!


Edited to add: I remembered I saw it on the Grabbit too. Here's the link Clare and anyone who needs it - 1 x 99p (no upload fee) or 3 x £9.99. Remember if you want dates put on, it's about 50p extra and postage is NOT included. I bought the one calendar (with dates) and three freebies for £4.50 ish, so you can judge postage charges.

Topcashback won't track using the link, so copy the link, then go through TCB to Vistaprint, then paste the link in to get the bargain AND the £5.00 cashback.