Christmas is coming! 2007 - merged thread

knithappens

i got some great bargains this week from the amazon sale lots of books for the kids for £1, i also pickd this up for my niece from boots bargainhttp://www.boots.com/brandtreatment/product_details_brand_treatment.jsp?productid=1073179&classificationid=1031586 at £5 i was real lucky as it has just sold out.

so not doing too badly going to sit down and make a list of who i am buying for.

Lara44

Helloo! Glad I'm not the only once whose OH thinks I have ocd for having half the xmas shopping done already :rolleyes:

I have managed to get so much stuff in my birthday/xmas box for free I feel a little guilty. Anyone else? I used to search and search to find the 'right' thing and now its just token smellies or vouchers. But then I used to spend half December's wage! It was great last year - the first time I actually spent my xmas money on myself rather than refilling the hole in my o/d.

So far I have got nephews and nieces great wool hoodies from vertbaudet £3.50 from around £12 each, 2 free polo shirts from John Lewis.

A few nice Sanctuary goodies from the latest Boots vouchers - I just did my usual £10 phone top ups for April and May and got £10 worth of smellies and 80p back from points - great!

Also have been given swarovski crystal pendants in work so have got some nice necklaces for these from ebay, £2.50 each job lot.

Dad's a magazine subscription from clubcard points, plus the usual vouchers £55 a mix of book tokens, boots and arcadia.

Sounds like you lots are all very well prepared!

spendingmad

Not normally organised for christmas but this year I will be!!! Just been looking for ideas on homeman gifts a found an idea - buy china tea cups from charity shop add wick and wax and make into candle http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=8707d0f19132f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Hosting christmas this year 12 adults and 2 kids and all sleeping here too!!! I most be mad - I came see costs spiralling some must stay in control!

save-a-lot

Hi

I always keep a close eye on what Tchibo [ https://www.tchibo.co.uk ] has in, and also what goes in their sales. I did very well last Christmas with gifts from Tchibo, their electricals are really good value and they guarantee everything electrical for 3 years. The childrens clothes are good too and the garments do last well.

This year I have not yet purchased from there, but I am sure I will be paying more regular visits.

Liz33

Just finished off buying my friends kids presents now until the end of the year and bought my first proper xmas present ( I had bought some stuff in the sale to give to whoever). M&S CC sent me loads of vouchers in the post so ordered something from there to kick things off.

1 down 15 to go!:eek:

MrsTinks

Well I have loads of goodies from the Boots jan sales still (although used one for an emergency birthday pressie as I only found out the day before! :eek:) But I will also be trying to top up my "haul" with home made presents this year. So for example I am working on a few scarves and I'll be trying my hands at making shawls too with the old trusty crochet needle. Spent a minor fortune on cotton yarn at the weekend... not sure how I managed that but I did... OK so it's actually to make myself a top and I think it will be gorgeous when it's done so it'll be my little treat to myself...
Main pressie I can't make will be for OH... but time will tell what he'll want for christmas this year - no doubt he'll only decide just before christmas making it twice as expensive lol

Herbaholic

Tine, you're a star!!! :A As a child I used to be able to crochet a chain, my Mum showed me but lost patience because I never could get the hand of doing anything else and never got further than that, we won't go in to what happened when she tried to teach me to play the recorder :eek: I can't pick her brains now as she passed away 5 years ago, another reason people on here are worth their weight in gold, I stopped doing a lot of things because I couldn't ask Mum's advice, but now I've found the MSE OS threads and threads like these I can get advice and do stuff again, so thanks to everyone that has given useful advice, hints and tips even if not directly to me, it's made a world of difference to our household.

But I digress, back to crochet and DIY gifts, as time passed I've forgotten how to even make a chain, but I followed the links you posted and I can make a chain again :j :T I'm hoping that I can learn how to crochet from the instructional videos and info on that site and finally make a throw for our bed one day

I do know how to knit though and I've been collecting pressies for Xmas 2007 in sales and offers since just after Xmas 2006 lol! Yesterday a baby Annabel doll arrived for my niece which I got in the current Boots sale for £9.99 instead of £39.99!!! I decided to get some clothes for her (the doll not my neice lol) as well and couldn't believe how much they cost, almost the same as I paid for the doll!! Last night I started to knit a little blanket to go with the doll and with other wool I have in, I thought I could knit a few bits like a hat but what size? Does anybody know of any free knitting patterns for clothes for the likes of B Annabel??? I'd actually prefer to knit something myself as its a little more personal than buying ready done ones.

I'm also making hampers for most of the adults in mine and DH's families, these are some ideas I've had and begun getting the items together for:-

Curry lovers hamper - Free balti dishes from some chutneys we bought, a curry cookbook, free apron and oven glove from nescafe beans, various 'curry' spices and a jar of mango chutney!

Homemade wine bucket - For one of the reli's that want to try their hand at making their own homemade wine after tasting ours, I got a book, wine yeast, campden tablets and various other bits and bobs really cheaply and will package the 'kit' in a bucket.

Gardeners basket - Seeds, handcream, tools, gloves, bath soak, and various other garden goodies which includes a subscription to Gardeners World mag courtesy Tesco clubcard vouchers for my sister.

Retro football hamper - For my Dad, so far I have a couple of bags of his favourite football munchies, a mug with his fav team on (Man U) for his half time cuppa, some retro Man U DVD's I got cheap in the sales, a whistle and a red and yellow card so he can be the ref (because the ref is always blind and Dad knows better lol), I've also knitted a red and white scarf for it.

After years of paying through the nose at Xmas and ending up overspending or extremely stressed out at Xmas I don't think it's too early to start planning, anything that takes the sting out of it and makes the actual holiday be a joyful event is surely worth pre planning?

rosieben

Herbaholic, your hamper ideas are fabulous! I love the whistle in your dad's hamper :rotfl:

I lost all my old and precious doll knitting patterns in a move some years ago but if you google free knitting patterns you should come up with a few options. you'll need to measure Annabel and look for patterns in her size; it would be nice if we could see some pics of what you make?; hardly anyone makes dolls clothes anymore. My mum knitted loads for my kids' Sindy and Action Man - some fab army sweaters! wish I still had those patterns.

MrsTinks

If google doesn't turn anything up then ask on the crochetville forums someone there is BOUND to have a pattern or 50 just hanging about
Quick and easy christmas present idea to crochet... scarves! Either really simple ones or slightly more complex looking can be deceptively easy! I managed to make a VERY pretty one in about 2-3 hours total and I'd never followed that pattern before...

GreenNinja

Since reading this thread it has definitely given me that kick up the backside to get started thinking about Christmas pressies!

Was looking in sale at Kookai and they had 2 beautiful grey angora scarves with clear sequins, really funky and gorgeous quality, reduced from 25 quid each to a fiver each. I thought I would try and get a bit more off and ended up getting the 2 for 9 quid!

Also got a plate shaped basket for a hamper from car boot for a pound, looked brand new and a lovely ceramic decorated bottle with pourer for olive oil. I thought I would add some dried pasta and bits and do an "italian style hamper" for my brother and his wife.

I also last week converted a lovely white linen dress I had but never wore as it was a bit see through! into a top and the remainder of the linen I am going to make into hankies for my Mum for Xmas. Am going to trim with some ribbon and beads I found in my sewing basket.

Cheers all for all the great ideas!!