Old style Preparations for Christmas 2010!!

mardatha

I love these sugar mice many thanks for the pattern xxx !

rosieben

Georgiabay, thanks so much for all of these great patterns :T I'm going to be a granma again in the new year so they'll come in useful

there are some good freebie patterns to download on Jean Greenhowe's website, not all christmassy but some really good ones.

TudorRose

Like everybody else I am trying save on Christmas pressies so have decided to get a couple of nice gift bags & some nice edible goodies in them for my 2 children & their spouses.
Will be putting in a bottle of Cava, a nice box of chocs & a tin of chocolate biscuits & another couple of other items when I see something that atkes my fancy.
Got the biscuits in Tesco this afternoon. They are selling 400g tins of Cadbury Dairy Milk biscuits in a lovely gold limited edition tin for £5.00 instead of £10.00. Would never ever pay £10.00 but they do look good & the best bit is I used Luncheon Vouchers that I have got from Pinecone for doing surveys so they didn't cost a penny of real money!:j

zarazara

:jlast year when we were realy skint we did xmas for £10:j
we acually had a good time and felt in control, so from now on we are sticking to the plan.
1. DH declined the invite to the works booze up. he felt relief.
2. house decorated with things from the garden and hedgerows, plus a bit of saved red ribbon and some gold spray paint =£3
3. everyone was told there would be no cards, many expressed relief as they think i ts silly anyway. one or 2 elderly relatives who live a long way off got aHM one as we knew they wouldnt understand.
4. no pressies just a few special one off foods we like eg candid fruits. the turkey was free from supermarke t , our usual month'y shop was over £100 [ stocked up on loo rolls,shampoos etc] as for the rest, we have to eat anyway so it was just normal shopping.
5. Small gift for baby grandson.
6. made HM crackers with crepe paper and loo roll insides.
whole lot cant have been more then £10

I felt so much in control , it was wonderful. :j

Seakay

One year my Mum felt that she could stand the commercialisation of a religious festival no longer and decide that all presents to each other in the family should be home made, or if bought should contain an element of imput to complete them from the giver or receiver (eg one present she gave to her OH was a cardboard clock to put together).
To emphasize the new start we exchanged gifts on Boxing Day instead of Christmas day (youngest was 13 at the time).
We all had so much fun using our imaginations and (often limited!) skills to create presents for each other and it did work out a lot less expensive in cash - though more so in effort and thought.

triticale

Can I ask how you got your turkey for free?

Fruball

triticale wrote: »

Can I ask how you got your turkey for free?

I was wondering that - I have visions of an OSer with a turkey stuffed up her coat walking shiftily thru the supermarket

I bet its more likely to be with saved up MrT vouchers or similar tho...

Lets see

LandyAndy

triticale wrote: »

Can I ask how you got your turkey for free?

Just walk out while trying to look inconspicuous.

lambanana

Our Christmas food costs us the petrol to get to our in-laws and back it's presents that cost a fortune. I'd love to go cheaper but DH loves Christmas and insists on spending (not beyond our means but to the edges of our budgets) and he has such a large family, everyone has children and they keep having more and we have to buy for all of the little ones (only 4 of them are over 18 and don't get anything) and it's just so difficult. Still we'll do our best and I'll do what I can to keep down the costs as much as possible where I can.

Penelope_Penguin

As it's still more than 2 months to go I'll add this to the Old Style C-word 2010 thread where there are lots more ideas for you.