Cant afford christmas

System

Just a story to tell you what my sis in law did one christmas. They were always strapped for cash and always struggled at christmas. I had never pressured her into buying us anything for christmas as to be honest i have always thought the sentiment of buying a nice card was enough to tell people that you care.

Anyway, she told me she couldnt afford christmas that year and all the gifts she has bought her own two children were out of catalogues but she did say that she was holding a bit of a party on new years night. We were welcome to come but if we wanted to drink something 'posh' we would have to bring our own.

There was plenty of pop for the kids and nibbles, lager for MrJudi (not good stuff but who cares when your half gone anyway). I took a bottle of sherry. Everybody remembers that night with fondness even the kids. I remembered it 9 months later to the date i produced child number 4. I guess MrJudi wasnt that smashed after all.

jessicamb

Hi there

Just an opinion from me - but I often think about how many presents are given/received just for the sake of it. I mean, some gifts are lovely but they dont in any way enhance the life of the receiver - its just stuff - so as others have said maybe offering a service would be as/more welcome than a 'material' gift.

Personally if someone said they would do a weeks ironing as one of my xmas presents I would bite their hand off (hint hint dad!)

ginger

Sorry haven't had time to read all thread so apologies if this has been covered. What about "promises" - ie a promise to do something for someone in the future eg. act as a taxi service, babysitting for free, bake a cake for birthday/wedding/etc, - it may not seem much but these things do not come for free and will be appreciated.
G

ikkleosu

Just want to say, met up wit my cousin today. She has a 5 month old baby and her hubby has just been made redundant. Cousin has 4 siblings, 10 nieces and nephews plus all the ususal parents, grandparents, friends to buy for. She said no diea how she is going to afford Christmas this year. i directed her to this thread so hopefully she shall come and read and get some ideas to make her feel she can give people a little something without putting herself in debt.

Queenie

jillie1974 wrote:

am i right in thinking them that u pop it in microwave for a couple of minutes to warm up?
think i'm going to make one for his grandma( she's 82!! and odnt know what else to get her) so i'll need to tell her what to do with it
Thanks sammy!!:T

Yes. Here are the instructions, taken from the Sewing.Org website:-

Rice Bags

Rice bags can be made from novelty or decorative fabrics of from muslin and a cover. What size should a rice bag be? Well, that depends on what it will be used for.
Possible uses are as:

• warmer for knees, ankles, backs and hands
• bed warmers
• lovies
• bread basket warmer to keep food warm or cool

To wrap a joint or arms or legs, try the dimensions 5 x 30. For a back warmer, make the dimension 10 x 12. If the recipient would use the rice bag for a back warmer, consider making a vest with a big pocket on the back to insert the rice bag in.
Want to make a gift for someone with arthritis in the hands? Make the rice bag in the shape of a glove.
For a bed warmer or a lovie on those cold winter nights, make the rice bag in the shape of an animal.
For a bread or bun warmer, make a basket liner with a pocket in the bottom in which to insert a rice bag shaped to fit the basket bottom.
Rice bags cannot be washed. If you need a washable bag, make the rice bag out of muslin and then add a removable (washable) cover. This a good way to use fun, novelty prints. Or better yet, make a quilted cover using a pattern such as bargello.

Things To Know When Planning Your Rice Bag

• Use white, long grain rice. Do not use instant rice.
• Do not wash rice bags.
• To help the rice stay evenly spread, sew channels in the bag before inserting the rice. Sew three sides, press a hem on the open side, then sew channels from the sewn side to the open side. Add the rice using a funnel (don't overstuff the channels...fill one-half to three-quarters full) and sew shut across the open end.

Hot or Cold
When you are ready to use your new rice bag, place it in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on high (the time will depend on the size of the bag). Do not heat the rice bag too long-you could burn yourself. If you want a cold pack, place the rice bag in the freezer until cold (a couple of hours).
Note from Candace: Rice doesn't hold the cold very well. For a cold pack, fill the bag with gel crystals from a garden center (the kind used to keep houseplants from drying out). Never heat a gel pack in the microwave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note from Queenie:

If you heat the rice for too long or you reheat it too often, the rice will dry out. This can lead to it giving off a yukky "burnt" smell rather than a lovely comforting scent. I have a little plastic squirty bottle (from Boots) which I keep a mix of water and lavender essential oil in. Whenever I'm heating up the rice bags, I give the bag a spritz with the lavender water first. Just a couple of squirts really.

I've been using these for several years and the original one's are still going strong with just a periodic wash of the covers and spritzing before using.

When deciding how long to microwave the bag for, start with 45 secs and work up in 15 sec bursts because when hot, they really can be HOT!!

millymoomoo_2

Hello everybody, I'm another newbie to MSE. I just wanted to say thanks to all for some really great ideas!

nicki_2

We are skint this Christmas and since I want DD to have a decent one, I've set a limit of £5 per person for gifts (£15 for OH and I on account of buying gifts for each other from DD as well as stocking fillers!).

My IL's have an open fire so this weekend we're going out with a carrier bag to collect fir cones from the local park (while finding the location of the free fireworks display ) and we're going to make up a "Fire starter" kit for them - container I already have (or I may even go and get a small cardboard box from the Co-op to cover/decorate then it can be burnt as well) all I need to pay out for is a big box of long matches (<£1) and they'll be done :money:

I got a freebie baseball cap for a SIL's boyfriend, some freebies from through the year to make up into a giftbox/bag for my aunty, a home-made compilation CD for my grandad-in-law, and some very cheap ideas for other people (have to be careful what I put as I know at least 2 people I buy for read these boards!!!) :rotfl: I'm hoping I can manage to get sorted for less than £50 for every one, then spend the next £50 I will have out of next months wages on DD's pressies.

jjef

Thanks to all for their great ideas, I wish i had known about this site last year as it would have saved alot of stress and worrying. Any way got through last year and I have found this year that i started picking up freebies for hampers, offers from shops and kept all nice packaging from any parcels which were delivered, i am on track to cover all the family (approx 14 to buy for) for £85 which i have never managed before. The main tip i can pass on is to start early and look at all the freebie posts and use them towards hampers.

Frogling

millymoomoo wrote:

Hello everybody, I'm another newbie to MSE. I just wanted to say thanks to all for some really great ideas!

Welcome to MSE millmoomoo - I hope that you will become a lifelong MSE'er

Blairweech

Nicki - there's a thread on here somewhere about the different things you can add to pinecones to makes the flames coloured - can't bloomin' find it now! I'll post the link if I find it (unless you already know what I'm talking about?)

Edit: Couldn't find it, but I did save the info on my compy:

Multi coloured pine cones / logs (found this in an old magazine)

Mix any/ each of the following chemicals with shellac (which you can get from DIY stores) to make a paste then paint small patches onto a log or pine cones. When burnt on a fire the flame will be different colours:

Violet flame - Potassium Nitrate (from a chemistry set)
Apple Green flame - Barium Nitrate (from a chemistry set)
Vivid green flame - Borax (from MSOS kitchen cupboards!)
Blue - Copper Sulphate (Garden centres)
Yellow - Table salt