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Old Style preparations for Christmas 2012!!!!!
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Thanks for this just bought four presents from dotcomgiftshop! XDebt Free Date [STRIKE]December[/STRIKE] June 2019
GC January £0/£1800 -
Nat21 I would love to get my mil that mat but she would be offended hahaha!! I knwo what u mean about kids and keeping it real, my youngest (10yr old ) wasnt sure, so we told him we could tell him the secret,,,he said that santa isnt real? NO I said that ur mum and dad buy your main present and that santa only brings stocking stuff, he went with it!! Have told all 3 of mine the same when they are not sure, I say that anyone at school who says its all ur mum and dad obviously dont know the truth, and that santa wont bring them such great stocking stuff! It worked for us, my eldest now 16, his teacher suggested I tell him when he left primary school as he was in IT searching for 'is santa real' !
We had the 'elf' come and stay last year, before xmas, and that helped !! I bought one from fleabay, got elf type dvds,toilet santa cover and other xmas bits in the summer when they were cheaper, we had fun after kids went to bed making the elf do naughty stuff! He wrapped up their school shoes one night, oh my goodness their poor faces in the morning when they opened them! OOps, my youngest wasnt impressed! He also wrote kids names in weetos, snowball fights with cotton wool and fake snow,wrote elf on a sealed pizzaall sorts ! its so much fun even one little thing a night makes it magical!
Good luck xLife happens when you are busy making other plans
Sealed Pot Member #1149 (£340 saved 2011)0 -
Possession wrote: »Just found my Mary Berry cake mixes in the garage. (That isn't as odd as it sounds.) I have 4 and I will be making mini cakes for my hampers. I'll make the cakes in September probably, and I'll be making a cake for my parents and the in-laws too.
Are those the ones we got at such a good price last year? I have 4 and just never got around to using them. I'm guessing they will still be ok?0 -
Are those the ones we got at such a good price last year? I have 4 and just never got around to using them. I'm guessing they will still be ok?
Yes they are and I'm sure they will be OK. TBH I'm not actually sure what's in 'em anyway! I suspect royal icing mix which will be fine, will do my mini cakes with fluffy peaks.0 -
Thanks Possession, I remember last year every time I spotted one I bought it! Full of good intentions, but still, will make the effort. Do you use bean tins or the like for the smaller cakes?0
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Possession wrote: »Why not make a Christmas budget plan specifically spreading the cost over the remaining months in so far as you can (ie. you won't want to buy the turkey now!) - then you won't feel guilty about it.
I rarely feel guilty about spending money, maybe that's my problem!
What a splendid idea! It may seem obvious to many people but we are terrible budgeters. We are willing to learn, but we just don't know how to start.Tips like this are so helpful, thank you.
I am going to apply this for birthdays as well as we have quite a lot coming up.0 -
Thanks Possession, I remember last year every time I spotted one I bought it! Full of good intentions, but still, will make the effort. Do you use bean tins or the like for the smaller cakes?
I have used bean tins in the past, and they do look more special particularly if you are covering the whole cake in fondant, but these days I suffer more from can't be bothered syndrome (to put it politely!) so tend to make a big square cake and cut into quarters. I then only ice the top but hide the sides in folded greaseproof and a nice ribbon.0 -
Possession wrote: »I have used bean tins in the past, and they do look more special particularly if you are covering the whole cake in fondant, but these days I suffer more from can't be bothered syndrome (to put it politely!) so tend to make a big square cake and cut into quarters. I then only ice the top but hide the sides in folded greaseproof and a nice ribbon.
Thanks Possession, I remember now someone, and it might have been you, said about baking a large square. I have a small oven so might try the bean tins as I don't think it will work too well with a big cake. I've never cooked a fruit cake in it.0 -
Byatt, you can also use the He*nz steamed pudding tins - I found they are a great size for 2 people. The ones with the ring pull lids are better, as then you can open them as normal, throw the pulled lid away, turn the tin upside down and use a tin opener to cut the bottom out (making sure you cut through the top, inside the rim, if that makes sense?). The bottom you've just cut out will fall down and sit on the rim that the ring pull lid left. Et voila - mini loose bottomed cake tins!
I can't take credit for this, I got it from MSE a few years ago. But it does work beautifully.
Stupidly, when we emigrated I chucked my original set out and then have had to start again but my brother got me the non-ring pull tins this time and I'm yet to use them. I'm a bit worried I'm going to get the cakes stuck inside!
HTH
Chaos:j0 -
Just to add, I have started with preparations for this year - I started a couple of months ago when I picked up a few things in the sales that will be for presents. Ideally I need to be done and dusted with present shopping and wrapping (and cards!) by early Sept as then I can put them on the slow boat back to the UK and saving about half the postage costs of AirMail.
Oh, and I'm saving all the cash we get for recycling the pop cans and beer bottles (10cents per can/bottle) for stuff for the Christmas BBQ, or the trimmings. Not counted up how much we have so far, but it's not too shabbyHave been doing the same with any money left over from the weekly shopping - that goes into a jar in the pantry. Otherwise it would just disappear on nothing.
Starting to think about making the cakes soon, but might leave that until August when it will be colder as the oven will help heat the kitchen up!
I should make a proper list, all the things I have planned/plan to make are in my head and not much of it is getting done.
Just remembered I want to get 2 sock monkeys made for the 'shoe box of love' that my craft group sends overseas (PNG, East Timor etc) to the kids who have nothing. Will need to keep my eyes peeled for paper pads and pencils etc to go in them, too.
Right, I'm off to make a list!
Chaos:j0
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