Old Style Christmas Presents

luxor4t

Blairweech wrote: »

......And completely non-OS...a Nintendo Wii :eek:

It could be OS if it replaces gym-membership & all associated costs like travelling, leotard, equipment etc etc

Churchmouse

Mmmmmmm depends. What's an OS gift???? Can't quite get to grips with the concept if you buy it yourself that's not OS, if it's a gift it is Think maybe there's a tad confusion between OS and moneysaving

Anyway, I got Economy Gastronomy and I guess that is OS. Also a lovely HM hamper of goodies from Dniece and Dnephew. Both very much appreciated :T Then I had a barrel-load of *soap and glory* stuff :j:j OS or not OS Lots of other goodies, some of which may take the middle ground.
But my bestest gift was from DH. A beautiful gleaming, engraved 32 GB ipod touch :j:j:j So not OS it's untrue :D:rotfl::T And the kids had got me an itunes applications giftcard as an extra :j I had no inkling this was to be my major present, but had driven them all crazy every time the * there's an Ap for that" advert for the iphone came on, by saying " I want Aps" :rotfl: Now I've had a fantastic time buying loads of Aps for my ipod :D:o I've loaded music, photos, videos, games, cooking thingys and not even dented the memory :j:j:j Do you get that I'm a happy bunny

Whatever, seems as if we've all been blessed with some lovely gifts, based on a lot of thoughtfulness and that surely is the very essence of Christmas giving

Valli

ocemeer wrote: »

A lovely spice collection with recipes that I will get more every month and a 'Thrifty' cookbook and some lavender smelling stones (not sure of purpose).
Really happy as I love lavender.

you put them in with your lingerie, to fragrance it all ... and, when the fragrance fades you can add a couple of drops of essential oil to them and revive them.

SunnyGirl wrote: »

I got a slow cooker cook book

Snap!

and I gave HM jams and HM Chocolate and cranberry fudge. Next year I MUST make and gift some Sloe Gin, not least because a WHOLE bottle was emptied on xmas day!

(Note to self - save some nice bottles!)

Churchmouse

That reminds me Valli, in our hamper of HM goodies was a bottle of sloe vodka. Don't usually drink vodka, but manfully forced the delicious brew down I've never tasted anything with sloe berries before, was it them that sweetened the vodka, or would my niece have added sugar I thought I might try sloe gin for next year, although I have no idea where I will find sloe berries :rotfl:

KarrieBee

I did get some lovely OS presents this year:
A set of silicon bakeware
A new sewing box for all my goodies
A tapas cook book
a lightbox from Dh for when I am crocheting and a crochet book to go with it ( also got some very non OS, lovely undies)

Also got some lovely Liz Earle stuff to build my stocks back up - OS in the sense it lasts for ages and gives me really good skin so I dont't buy other gimmicky products!

Hope you all had a lovely day filled with love and peace - the best OS gifts of all!

greenbee

Churchmouse wrote: »

That reminds me Valli, in our hamper of HM goodies was a bottle of sloe vodka. Don't usually drink vodka, but manfully forced the delicious brew down I've never tasted anything with sloe berries before, was it them that sweetened the vodka, or would my niece have added sugar I thought I might try sloe gin for next year, although I have no idea where I will find sloe berries :rotfl:

Sloes are on blackthorn bushes, so get out your toughest gardening gloves before you go picking! They are very, very tart (think damsons, but not nearly as sweet!), so you need to add sugar to the gin/vodka - however, some of the nicest sloe gin I've had has been the least sweet, so a bit of trial and error to get it to what you think is best is definitely worth it!

My OS gifts were a poker & tongs plus several sacks of logs and a couple of bags of kindling from my dad, and my stove is now burning happily! I also got a boot jack from my aunt, which should save the utility room floor when I get back into the garden. I'm hoping for a log basket, ash can and coal bucket for my birthday... and a sugar gun for my cake-making.

My non-OS gifts were a camera (for taking pictures of cakes ), bluetooth car kit so I can switch between work and personal phones safely, a lovely personalised photo album of my brother's wedding, some fabulous candles, smellies & pot pourri too. An a hideous wrap/scarf from my mum's stepmother (luckily it had a decent cheque with it for a change, so that made up for it!)

OS gifts I gave included home made truffles, fudge, marinated feta, spiced vodka, christmas biscuits and blackberry whisky (can't stand the stuff, waste of blackberries AND whisky as far as I'm concerned, but some people like it ), all in recycled bowls/bags/baskets. I'm definitely going to go back to more home made gifts in 2010. I used to do this alot, and people seem to appreciate it so much more than bought stuff!

Patchwork_Quilt

OS gifts this year included our Christmas pudding (historic) and two or three jars of chutney, including some piccallili. OS gifts sent this year included crocheted scarves, shortbread, chutney and jam, and also some peaches in vodka syrup. All very well received.

The other thing that we did this year, for the first time ever, was stick to a family limit of £15 each adult. I have been campaigning for this for years and it has been such a relief. It does mean that the amount of presents per person looked rather small but it did mean that everyone felt it was fairer and that all the 'extras' like tubs of sweets disappeared. I hope we continue this next year.

Valli

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

OS gifts this year included our Christmas pudding (historic) and two or three jars of chutney, including some piccallili. OS gifts sent this year included crocheted scarves, shortbread, chutney and jam, and also some peaches in vodka syrup. All very well received.

The other thing that we did this year, for the first time ever, was stick to a family limit of £15 each adult. I have been campaigning for this for years and it has been such a relief. It does mean that the amount of presents per person looked rather small but it did mean that everyone felt it was fairer and that all the 'extras' like tubs of sweets disappeared. I hope we continue this next year.

Welll done you! a bit of freedom from the xmas tyrranny
(says she who moaned that it we had a children get gifts only policy SHE would get nought)

Valli

Churchmouse wrote: »

That reminds me Valli, in our hamper of HM goodies was a bottle of sloe vodka. Don't usually drink vodka, but manfully forced the delicious brew down I've never tasted anything with sloe berries before, was it them that sweetened the vodka, or would my niece have added sugar I thought I might try sloe gin for next year, although I have no idea where I will find sloe berries :rotfl:

ooo

I'll try that, too...

Blackthorn is a hedgerow bush they look (like Greenbee says) like little damsons, they have that 'blush' - the first year I made (and shared) sloe gin my mum was dead suspicious and wondered how I knew what they were - comes of working in casualty I suppose :rotfl:

tryingtoruletheworld

I was lucky to get some great OS gifts this year, and they were all suprises! :j

I got the 'Bread Matters' book by Andrew Whitley, Nigel Slaters 'Tender', a huge sewing book, sewing machine, material, sewing pattern, gorgeous sewing box, propogator, gardening accessories, a beautiful food hamper from my sister and a few others!

I was expecting a pretty lean christmas, and was certainly not expecting a sewing machine! It is my first one so I was very excited! I love the books too...............actually, I love everything!:j:D:o