Xmas Magazines - which are the best?

Roz_V

So far this year I have bought Prima (November edition) because it came with a free Christmas supplement - some great ideas for food and decorations in there.

I have also bought the Ideal Home Complete Guide to Christmas (cost £3.20) which also has some fab ideas for presents, food and decorations. Also comes with a 15% off at Paperchase coupon and a Hobbycraft ad-mag which contained coupons for £3 off if you spend over £15 before 26/11 and £5 off when you spend over £25 between 27/11 and 24/12

So what magazines have you got so far, and which would you reccomend?

emg

I just bought a magazine called 'The christmas magazine' and it was rubbish. It had a red front cover and didnt seem to be from any of the main magazine publishers and there was a supplement about fireplaces that was all adverts and no advice. Complete disappointment.

However! I did get the Ideal Home 'complete guide to christmas' magazine today for a bit of bedtime reading so will report back on this soon!

Lillibet_2

I bougth Delia's Christmas magazine last year. I am not a big fan of hers & I wouldn't buy it every year as I imagine a lot iof it is repeated but there were some good ideas which I can adapt to suit us & have kept it.

As a one off I think it was worth it (about £4 I think?)

linda-ann

The Good Food magazine usually has got lots of xmas recipes in by top chefs

Queenie

:think: Hmm, how do I tell you all this? :think:

I'm a mag-o-holic - still have the first issue of Prima up in my loft - but, after a while, you start to realise, that each season the same stuff is being printed, but with a slight variation depending on the current fashion/advertising.

Now though, I don't bother with magazine's and most especially not the 'seasonal' one's, but use the library all year round. There are a plethora of books to find Christmas related info. For example, I borrowed a book back in the summer which was solely about Christmas decorations; I used my printer to photocopy the pages I was interested in and returned the book. Same with cookery books, if you check the indexes, you'll often find "Christmas Menu's" ... copy them/the recipes, return the book.

I'm not bombarded by the power of advertising that is within the magazine's pages, subtly luring me to spend money. Even the money off coupons quoted in the OP are luring you to spend £40 in order to save £8 - which is all well and good if you intended spending in Hobbycraft in the first instance, but it is what it is, a lure. I find my local Hab. shop is better value than Hobbycraft so I wouldn't need any coupons to save on the overall outlay *if* I had planned that level of expenditure anyway; which I possibly wouldn't all in one go, because I would have been getting bits and bobs throughout the year.

Lillibet - did you check out Delia's Christmas Online? Likewise, her book "Delia Smiths Christmas" is available at our local library and may possibly be available at yours too.

The point I'm trying to make really is, with a bit of lateral thinking, you don't need to spend £2/3/4/5 on magazine's to inspire you, supply craft ideas, hm gift ideas or whatever the lure was. All the information you find in mags exist online/in your library. Took me a few years and going over my stash of back issues to learn that hard [STRIKE]expensive[/STRIKE] way and that was at a time when I was bringing up 3 small children alone and could ill afford it The power of advertising, aye :whistle:

Queenie

linda-ann wrote:

The Good Food magazine usually has got lots of xmas recipes in by top chefs

(Sorry, my edit button isn't working) Did you check out the BBC Food Website? There are loads of Christmas recipes from the "top chefs" available there

Roz_V

Thanks Queenie - this is my first Christmas in my own flat and what I'm doing is when I have read the magazine, I cut out or photocopy the pages/ideas that inspire/interest me and pop them into the "Occasions" section of my household manual for safe/future keeping, and then the magazine either gets passed on to someone else or recycled.

Later in the year (or do I mean early next year?!) I will borrow the Christmas books from my library and do what Queenie does - however they all seem to be constantly on loan round here at the minute :think:

In terms of the coupons, I was planning a trip to Hobbycraft in order to spend about £15 anyway, so the £3 off coupon is useful to me... I mentioned the other in case someone was planning a larger haul Same for the Paperchase coupon - I had seen some goodies in there that were perfect for someone I know, but just beyond my budget, the 15% off coupon just drops them neatly into my affordability range

So, although I understand what Queenie is saying - it is still my "first season" so I'm allowed to buy the mags this year - and I want to make sure I only buy the good ones :rotfl:

Benmollymoo

Last year I got the BBC Good Food "Christmas Made Easy" book from the Book People for (I think £3.99) - they did it the year before too. I haven't seen it this year though. It has some good receipes (nothing tooo way out!) and a good guide to cooking turkey. Otherwise I would have to agree with Queenie - they're ususally full of the latest fads and fashions and often I've not used any ideas from any of them!

Just make sure that you have a look through before you buy them really. I hate the way they are now packaged in plastic bags so you can't have a quick flick to see whther or not it is worth you buying them!

Have fun!

Queenie

Roz_V wrote:

Thanks Queenie - this is my first Christmas in my own flat and what I'm doing is when I have read the magazine, I cut out or photocopy the pages/ideas that inspire/interest me and pop them into the "Occasions" section of my household manual for safe/future keeping, and then the magazine either gets passed on to someone else or recycled.

Later in the year (or do I mean early next year?!) I will borrow the Christmas books from my library and do what Queenie does - however they all seem to be constantly on loan round here at the minute :think:

In terms of the coupons, I was planning a trip to Hobbycraft in order to spend about £15 anyway, so the £3 off coupon is useful to me... I mentioned the other in case someone was planning a larger haul Same for the Paperchase coupon - I had seen some goodies in there that were perfect for someone I know, but just beyond my budget, the 15% off coupon just drops them neatly into my affordability range

So, although I understand what Queenie is saying - it is still my "first season" so I'm allowed to buy the mags this year - and I want to make sure I only buy the good ones :rotfl:

:T :T :rotfl: :T Forgiven as it's your first "season" I also have a notebook ... well a few binders now :laugh: .. of different articles/ideas that I have kept over the years. Still love a good browse through

BTW, on the library book issue/debate/idea ... if there is a particular book you wish to borrow/would like them to order, they will do so for a small fee - but - if you have a niece/nephew/neighbour's child who also has a library card ... get them to order it *for* you and then there will be no nominal fee to pay :whistle: :shhh:

As for next year .... :think: .... I'll keep you on yer toes :rotfl:

Queenie

Benmollymoo wrote:

Last year I got the BBC Good Food "Christmas Made Easy" book from the Book People for (I think £3.99) - they did it the year before too. I haven't seen it this year though. It has some good receipes (nothing tooo way out!) and a good guide to cooking turkey. Otherwise I would have to agree with Queenie - they're ususally full of the latest fads and fashions and often I've not used any ideas from any of them!

Just make sure that you have a look through before you buy them really. I hate the way they are now packaged in plastic bags so you can't have a quick flick to see whther or not it is worth you buying them!

Have fun!

Top Tip: Prize the gluey bit open, slip the mag out, have a quick flik ... then replace and reseal :whistle: :silenced:

linda-ann

Queenie wrote:

(Sorry, my edit button isn't working) Did you check out the BBC Food Website? There are loads of Christmas recipes from the "top chefs" available there

Getting the xmas Good Food mag is more to do with my mam who died last november she bought it all the time and it just feels right gettting the festive on as she would have done.I have piles of old one that she had.