Preparing for Christmas 2011

deb68_2

hubby an were talking about this today decided on eldest bro and partner will be having few bottles of home made wine a home made cake and im doing a photo album of us all as kids and our parents that are not with us anymore
other bro dong a food hamper as well as the photo album,
last xmas we got most of our 3 sons pressies from chairty shops, same this yr our eldest son who is 22 also got a big food hamper and got his girlfriend perfume that was a freeby,
we will be doing mostly the same this yr
except im starting in beg of june to get thm clothes and maybe sheets n stuff for son and gf as the have moved intogether

want to be on the ball this yr wasnt last due to deaths in family and me being really ill
oh and we have 2 dogs and 1 cat that we get pressies for
hubby and i didnt get each other anything but we got each other warm bots and thick shirts after xmas wasnt keen on that so i will be getting him a pressie this yr befor xmas even if its something small

youngmummy

how can i subscribe too this thread. as i keep loosing it and research for it. is there any way i can get it to show up under my profile?? many thanks x

jcr16

i'm going to try and be organised for xmas this yr. AS this xmas i'm gonna be the proud mummy of 4 little ones. although our youngest will only be 4 months so he proberly won't be getting much, but it is his first xmas.

our older 3 have already started telling us what they would like,lol.

i'm planning on making more xmas decorations. i really enjoy working with felt and sequins and last yr i loved making bits. i'm gonna make a babies 1st xmas decoration.

present wise, we have alot of birthday's still to come up but the last is our eldest dd in oct. so it is generally after then when i start to collect bit's. having said that i have got a fireman sam boat house already for ds2, as he is made on fireman sam. but the neptune boat was darn near impossible to get as out of stock everywhere. on ebay they were going for around £40 :eek: so i waited and waited and i recived an email from the company who is a big supplier of them saying they were in stock for £9.99. so i bought one along witht he boat house for £14.99. i was sooooo chuffed.

The neptune was a pressie for ds2 as an incentive to use the potty etc and it worked within a week he'd cracked it and hes been dry and and night now for ages. but the boat house we thoguht we'd stash away for him for xmas.

i am also a list person. i sometimes feel i make lists of lists i have to make,lol.:D. but it does help me keep organised. and although i don't have a big family , just the 5 of us soon to be 6. it does help having lists to keep organised and on track . as i'm so forgetful lately.

diddly74

I followed the myriad of threads last year for Christmas 2010 and we had a lovely time (even tho I only got into it about October). My girls 8 and 12 loved the Christmas Eve hamper I made and as the little one still believes in Santa it made it special (gotta hold on to that as long as possible!)

So having followed said threads - I have had my list of who to buy for since January, along with a spreadsheet on any monies spent towards birthdays and Christmas and any monies made/vouchers used towards presents. Christmas cards bought in sales along with paper and that is in a sealed box on top of wardrobe so protected from the dust!!!! (don't know where all that comes from!!)

The one thing I did last year that made my Christmas was use the tips for making Christmas Day dinner in advance as best I could. Totally took the stress out of the day and as I will be working this Christmas (Student Nurse on Final Placement :eek:) I shall certainly doing it again this year - and the roasties were Splendorific!!!!

I have 3 weeks holiday/reading weeks in November mapped out to do my Christmas Shopping - that is as long as I pass all my exams and assignments first time!!!! My daughters haven't started thinking about what they want yet but no doubt that will happen once we have our seaside holiday out of the way at the beginning of July. Also youngest's birthday is in October so she doesn't tend to make her preliminary list until after then.

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

can anyone please give me any ideas for a present for my dad and step mum.

They have just started keeping chickens in their small garden and I always joke to my dad that I will start calling him and his wife 'tom and barbara' soon so I was thinking of a 'good life' inspired hamper for them both.

Can anyone give me any suggestions as what I could put in it? I have found a BEWARE OF THE CHICKENS sign for them though already.

Sammy there is this new book out http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giles-Sue-Live-Good-Life/dp/1849900590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306911442&sr=8-1 you may want to add that to your hamper of gloves, kneeling pad, tool belt, etc. Look out at the "end of Season" sales for things for the gardener etc as places sell off seeds, planters and books cheaply then - I shall be attending as I got an allotment this year!!!!

I have also been saving with Park Hampers and in November I shall receive my £500 in vouchers so that I can happily visit Arg*s and other such High Street shops to fulfill the wishes of my family. I do it every year (since I was 9 infact) and it helps me a lot. I did have over £100 saved in the sealed pot - then I had to unseal it because we had a car tradegy!!!! So I will start that again after the holibobs - and that will help! i hope!

aplaceinthesun

youngmummy wrote: »

how can i subscribe too this thread. as i keep loosing it and research for it. is there any way i can get it to show up under my profile?? many thanks x

Go to thread tools in the green bar above these posts and you can subscribe from there. HTH!

monkeysallsayboo

i would like to join in! i worked out how much we could put away each month. then worked out how much to spend on everyones birthdays/christmas. I have been buying little bits here and there. my daughter is 3 and her changes and tastes change ALL the time! but there are some constants and things I know she will always like. So I have tried to buy things I know will go down well! I bought a few things in the sales and when on offer. I am plaaning on making some homemade sugar scrubs. I tried some out the other week and I like it! So definitely making it for xmas/birthdays! Last year, I also made some sock cupcakes, which take 2 mins to put together. I also gave my SIL some baby sitting vouchers, two overnights and two evenings (not to be used all at once lol) and she loved them!
I also intend on making some homemade vodka (toffee flavour). I have bought about 8 of these in the last few months for various birthdays http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gift-House-International-GH-YM255-Massager/dp/B000XSVGJ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1306964901&sr=1-1 they are those cool head massagers, but for £2 ish inc delivery.
I made some washing up kebabs last year. and this year want to make some festive gloves. So rubber gloves with tinsel round the ends, simple but different lol!

[Deleted User]

monkeysallsayboo wrote: »

i would like to join in! i worked out how much we could put away each month. then worked out how much to spend on everyones birthdays/christmas. I have been buying little bits here and there. my daughter is 3 and her changes and tastes change ALL the time! but there are some constants and things I know she will always like. So I have tried to buy things I know will go down well! I bought a few things in the sales and when on offer. I am plaaning on making some homemade sugar scrubs. I tried some out the other week and I like it! So definitely making it for xmas/birthdays! Last year, I also made some sock cupcakes, which take 2 mins to put together. I also gave my SIL some baby sitting vouchers, two overnights and two evenings (not to be used all at once lol) and she loved them!
I also intend on making some homemade vodka (toffee flavour). I have bought about 8 of these in the last few months for various birthdays http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gift-House-International-GH-YM255-Massager/dp/B000XSVGJ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1306964901&sr=1-1 they are those cool head massagers, but for £2 ish inc delivery.
I made some washing up kebabs last year. and this year want to make some festive gloves. So rubber gloves with tinsel round the ends, simple but different lol!

You've got some great ideas there:T

jayward

hi ,just popped in to say i was in superdrug and they had novelty childrens christmas soaps for 10p and 20p .hope this helps someone

sammy_kaye18

jayward wrote: »

hi ,just popped in to say i was in superdrug and they had novelty childrens christmas soaps for 10p and 20p .hope this helps someone

I was thinking of making my nieces a Christmas eve stocking each with a pair of pyjamas so a little soap that they could put in their stocking would be good too.

So far my thinking for my nieces is
- a Christmas DVD
- a few sweeties to nibble on too
- a soap/smellies of some sort
- santa flannel
- a pack of crayons
- a colour yourself 'santa stop here' sign
- a santa key
- reindeer food

then wrapped seperately
- Xmas teddy
- twas the night before Xmas book
- pyjamas as a gift for after her bath
and a little note to remind her to hang the stocking on her bed

I figure I could give them to them to be opened on Xmas eve instead of Xmas morning to help with the Christmas build up

euripidesralph

I left things far too late last year and so when MIL broke her arm and DM got food poisoning both the week before christmas it was basically a disaster:eek:. So this year I am determined to be organised.

Im building up clubcard vouchers and nectar points to spend in the autumn, but need to do an inventory of presents I bought in the sales and then get to the homemade gifts and any shopping left to do - not to mention planning the days food as well as the card list (as I made my own last year but it nearly killed me - plan to do the same this year but without the related breakdown).

All of a sudden writing that I may still have left it too late:rotfl:
Still better than November

Got to admit though I luuuurrrrve christmas so am more than happy to think about it in the height of summer, will be following this thread avidly!!