*The Holly and the Ivy* and the You Know What 2013 Chatter Thread.

Trendyjenny

Hope everything ok sugar spin x
Another jelly bean to look forward to meeting x

Suz24 what you planning on making ?

caitlyn22

Hey everyone, hope you're all doing OK. Glad we have an update on OMO - thanks for that Ameyturtle !

Sounds like a cosy night watching The Holiday freespirit, I love a sneaky mid-year Christmas film!

mrsinvisible, how was diggerland?!? The old TV advert for the Durham one is a bit of a running joke up here, it made it look very 'Phoenix Nights' if you ever watched that and saw the one with the fundraiser event?! Anyway, I hear good things about it in spite of that awful advert and wondered if my nephew might like it when he's a bit bigger.

Icemice, biscotti is on my Christmas 'to make' list EVERY year (you know, the one you write in June ) and EVERY year it gets bumped off in the week before Christmas when I realise I've run out of oven time and have to prioritise my baking! Going to make sure I give it a go this year, for definite!

Well done on the hats Jenny but we NEEEEEDDDD pictures! How else can we ooh and aah and covet (/pinch) your creative ideas?! Good news about the boiler. :j

Exciting times SugarSpun, hope all OK and that you're looking after yourself/being looked after!

OH's grandma's funeral today and we had a good few hours of the crazy SiL at the wake, but it wasn't too bad. Anyway service was nice and lots of family there. There were ongoing fights and battles between everyone (nothing to do with OH and I, they all have ancient fueds!) but in spite of all that it made me think life is very worth living and I hope one day I get to be a much-loved great-grandmother.

Expecting a tricky decision this week, my mum is having trouble with a difficult tooth and the regular remedy would be extraction but the dentist is cautious because of the dementia and the fact she's heavily medicated. I can't see it getting better so the question is when do we put her through the trauma of a hospital stay.

Trying to avoid online shopping at the moment. By this time I've usually made a good dent in my Christmas shopping but so far only picked up a few bits in the sales. OH and I have had an expensive few months and one thing I've learned is that shopping early doesn't stop me spending nearer the time so I'm going to pace myself. We really need to start building our savings back up so my relentless future-proofing/prepping/we-might-need-that-one-day syndrome might have to take a back seat! I bought 3 packs of napkins for £1 each yesterday in bright neon colours thinking they'd be lovely for a future summer party/event and when I went to put them in the drawer I said: "Hmm, I might have to move things around a bit as my napkin drawer is full" to which OH replied "It's really time to think about our spending habits when you have a NAPKIN DRAWER that's FULL".

I see his point

dropsofjupiter

caitlyn22 wrote: »

I bought 3 packs of napkins for £1 each yesterday in bright neon colours thinking they'd be lovely for a future summer party/event and when I went to put them in the drawer I said: "Hmm, I might have to move things around a bit as my napkin drawer is full" to which OH replied "It's really time to think about our spending habits when you have a NAPKIN DRAWER that's FULL".

I see his point

:rotfl::rotfl::D! That has made me chuckle.

chirpychick

Hiya
I have managed to get a few bits and bobs for the baby for Christmas so far, am eagerly awaiting carboot season (well better weather anyway) to pick up some toys.
But I am completely lost for ideas for other people this year!
My niece and nephew I don't think would appreciate much other than money so need to think of something appropriate - I was thinking of doing jars of 10p's or something because it would seem quite fun and is a way of doing their presents throughout the year, they are obviously male and female and 11 and 13 years old. Does this sound like a nice idea or not?
I thought of finding clear jars, collect 10p's or 20p's fill them to the top and wrap a bow around the top? Then do a little jar with some sweets in like jelly beans or something. Could I have your opinions on this?

My MIL & FIL and Step Dad & Step Mum I thought of doing a book of spuds pictures from his first year.

or perhaps a canvas with his hand & foot prints.

This year we are going to have so much less than ever before and I admit I am stressing a little as I have no talents really at all. But I can bake a good cake.

Anyone have any cheap easy present suggestions?

People I need to buy for:

Hubby (48) - £25
Baby boy (1yr) - £30
Dad & Step Mum (50's) - £10
MIL & FIL (late 70's) - £10 but would stretch to £15
Mum & her BF (40's)- £10
Niece (13) - £10 (less if poss)
Nephew (11)- £10 (less if poss)
Best friends little girl (6)- £5
Best friends new baby (due dec) - £5 (thinking of just saving some of our baby's things to give)
Friends daughter (10) - £5
Friends daughter (6) - £5
BIL & SIL (50's)- tempted to suggest only buying for the children
Godparents 1 couple (30's) - £5
Godparent 2 single (40's) - £5

I think that's the minimum we can't get away with buying for this year

Any suggestions greatly received as I would really like to get a list sorted. If I could lessen the spend any further that would also be great.

FeistyFidget

Chirpychick, grandparents love anything to do with family (in my experience anyway) I know I'm biased, but have you thought about making your own family tree papercut? It is a fairly cheap set up (scalpel, ruler, mat and card) just really time consuming. I would be happy to email you across some templates that you could use to print and cut

Caitlyn, biscotti sounds amazing! Maybe when OMO is back we could ask her to set up a 6 weeks of Christmas thing where we all contribute things to do in the lead up to Christmas? That way, we 'should' have time to do it

chirpychick

FeistyFidget wrote: »

Chirpychick, grandparents love anything to do with family (in my experience anyway) I know I'm biased, but have you thought about making your own family tree papercut? It is a fairly cheap set up (scalpel, ruler, mat and card) just really time consuming. I would be happy to email you across some templates that you could use to print and cut

what a lovely idea, thank you for the suggestion, id love to do something like this for my little boy, is this the kind of thing i could frame for the nursery wall?

caitlyn22

Hi Chirpy (good to hear from you by the way, hope you're all enjoying life together as a new family!) Just my ideas, not very original I'm afraid!

Hubby (48) - £25
Do I recall you saying something about him liking coffee? (I might be completely wrong?!?) If he does, you could do:

- A small cafetiere, like this one from Argos, or perhaps this mug version from Amazon (£7/8)
- Some ground coffee - I usually pick up a £1 bag from B&M or pound shop, it's generally good coffee but in a smaller pouch, which is actually what I want (£1)
- Something nice like some fancy biscuits or after-dinner chocolates all things I've bought cheaply from pound shops in run up to Christmas. (I bought Italian mint-chocolate wafers last year, a little tin for £1, and they do small boxes of after eights too) Or a small box of chocolate coffee beans from Caffe Nero/Starbucks (only a little box, £1/2) It's just something to finish the gift off. If you had time/access to a printer, you could mock him up a front page of a newspaper (assuming he might be the type to read a paper with his coffee!) that covered your year in highlights. Did this once and it was really easy, nothing flash just headlines, some pics, some mocked-up ads and a few 'in' jokes! I'd then do a stocking as we think they're way more fun than 'big' presents and much less pressure. They're silly but two of the presents I've bought for my OH in recent years that have been most appreciated have been really little things - this key light (totally practical where we live!) and this clever little amplifier which let's OH play his music on this iphone when he's in the shower. I normally spend about £12-15 on a stocking.

Baby boy (1yr) - £30
I'm sure there'll be toys and practical things you want to get but how about a really lovely book? I buy all babies a lovely copy of The Night Before Christmas and write in the cover that it's for their first/second Christmas, with the year. I generally start looking in September/October and pick up lovely hardback copies, with beuatiful illustrations for £3-5 on Amazon/Book Depository. Or away from the Christmas theme, I think a nice copy of Peter Pan is a lovely book for a little boy - something to enjoy throughout childhood and then treasure when older too.

Dad & Step Mum (50's) - £10
MIL & FIL (late 70's) - £10 but would stretch to £15
Do they like the cinema/films? I've done old-fashioned movie night hampers for slightly older couples before with Fentimans pop and some penny sweets (old fashioned sweet cigarettes etc) One time it was with a cinema card, but also done it with a classic film on DVD too, think I did To Kill A Mockingbird which I got for £3 in a supermarket. If film is not their thing, then using something like Vistaprint or Snapfish is good to make little calendars. I did one for my sister of my nephew's first year in pictures and it was only £1.99 with free P&P!

Niece (13) - £10 (less if poss)
Nephew (11)- £10 (less if poss)
I think the jar of coins is a great idea. Maybe see if you can get some very cheap pocket-money toys (just things like bouncy balls/those little parachute men) or little lipsticks/nail polish that you could hide amongst the coins. Mix the jars up with (wrapped) sweets and it'd be like a little tombola for them?! I made little gift bags with silly things in for my nieces and nephews for the wedding and included my older ones as I didn't want them to feel left out - they probably loved them the most! (I recommend this site)

Best friends little girl (6)- £5
I would check The Works if there's one near you, or online. I always great book deals and often little stationery sets that my nieces love.

Best friends new baby (due dec) - £5 (thinking of just saving some of our baby's things to give)
Is it her first? If so you could do something really nice and personal, passing on some of your things with maybe your top tips in a nice card or printed out?

Friends daughter (10) - £5
Friends daughter (6) - £5
Last year I bought themed items from various pound stores and made my nieces pink Disney Princess hampers. I spent £10 on each but could easily get plenty for £5 - I got fairy cake mix, pens, colouring books, cups, straws etc.

BIL & SIL (50's)- tempted to suggest only buying for the children
Definitely, everyone will know you're struggling time and money-wise with a new baby and will understand. What about, for them and for your Mum & her BF, you say to them you'll bake them something for their Christmas store-cupboard and maybe they could do the same for you? (Or buy you something) For some friends I'll just offer to make them some fudge or cupcakes, and they'll make some biscuits or similar for us.

Godparents 1 couple (30's) - £5
Godparent 2 single (40's) - £5
Just a nice picture of the baby in a cheap frame? Have to say though - we get these every year and at first I felt obliged to keep adding them to the shelf but now I keep the latest one up and pop the other pictures in the album and recycle/re-gift the frame.No-one has mentioned anything when they visit but I couldn't possibly have kept them all up, they soon mount up!!

chirpychick

caitlyn22 wrote: »

Hi Chirpy (good to hear from you by the way, hope you're all enjoying life together as a new family!) Just my ideas, not very original I'm afraid!Hey yes loving every second of being a Mummy - though it is a challenge bigger than I even anticipated I just love it and him more than anything in the whole world! He is such an amazingly smiley and happy little boy! How are you??

Hubby (48) - £25
Do I recall you saying something about him liking coffee? (I might be completely wrong?!?) If he does, you could do:

- A small cafetiere, like this one from Argos, or perhaps this mug version from Amazon (£7/8)
- Some ground coffee - I usually pick up a £1 bag from B&M or pound shop, it's generally good coffee but in a smaller pouch, which is actually what I want (£1)
- Something nice like some fancy biscuits or after-dinner chocolates all things I've bought cheaply from pound shops in run up to Christmas. (I bought Italian mint-chocolate wafers last year, a little tin for £1, and they do small boxes of after eights too) Or a small box of chocolate coffee beans from Caffe Nero/Starbucks (only a little box, £1/2) It's just something to finish the gift off. If you had time/access to a printer, you could mock him up a front page of a newspaper (assuming he might be the type to read a paper with his coffee!) that covered your year in highlights. Did this once and it was really easy, nothing flash just headlines, some pics, some mocked-up ads and a few 'in' jokes! I'd then do a stocking as we think they're way more fun than 'big' presents and much less pressure. They're silly but two of the presents I've bought for my OH in recent years that have been most appreciated have been really little things - this key light (totally practical where we live!) and this clever little amplifier which let's OH play his music on this iphone when he's in the shower. I normally spend about £12-15 on a stocking.
I am loving this idea, I really wanted to get him a coffee machine but I just don't think even second hand I will find one within budget! So your idea is great!
Baby boy (1yr) - £30
I'm sure there'll be toys and practical things you want to get but how about a really lovely book? I buy all babies a lovely copy of The Night Before Christmas and write in the cover that it's for their first/second Christmas, with the year. I generally start looking in September/October and pick up lovely hardback copies, with beuatiful illustrations for £3-5 on Amazon/Book Depository. Or away from the Christmas theme, I think a nice copy of Peter Pan is a lovely book for a little boy - something to enjoy throughout childhood and then treasure when older too.

We go through so many books and I had completely forgotten about Peter Pan! I am doing an advent of books instead of chocolate as he is lactose intollerant and allergic to milk so I will definitely add this story to the list. Thank you for the reminder!

Niece (13) - £10 (less if poss)
Nephew (11)- £10 (less if poss)
I think the jar of coins is a great idea. Maybe see if you can get some very cheap pocket-money toys (just things like bouncy balls/those little parachute men) or little lipsticks/nail polish that you could hide amongst the coins. Mix the jars up with (wrapped) sweets and it'd be like a little tombola for them?! I made little gift bags with silly things in for my nieces and nephews for the wedding and included my older ones as I didn't want them to feel left out - they probably loved them the most! (I recommend this site)

THIS IS AN AMAZING IDEA!! I THINK I WILL DO THIS FOR ALL THE CHILDREN BUT WITH VARYING AMOUNTS OF MONEY OBVIOUSLY


Best friends new baby (due dec) - £5 (thinking of just saving some of our baby's things to give)
Is it her first? If so you could do something really nice and personal, passing on some of your things with maybe your top tips in a nice card or printed out?
it's her second i think i will keep a couple of toys or something to pass on


Godparents 1 couple (30's) - £5
Godparent 2 single (40's) - £5
Just a nice picture of the baby in a cheap frame? Have to say though - we get these every year and at first I felt obliged to keep adding them to the shelf but now I keep the latest one up and pop the other pictures in the album and recycle/re-gift the frame.No-one has mentioned anything when they visit but I couldn't possibly have kept them all up, they soon mount up!!

I think I will bear in mind the getting them every year scenario, perhaps do it this year and think of something else the next?


thank you so much for all your wonderful idea that has been such a massive help!

caitlyn22

Sorry, I meant to add that I think 'hampers' can be expensive but some of the nicest gifts I've got have just been one or two small items on a theme. For a birthday (where we have an £10 limit), one friend bought me some really simple salad servers and a fancy bottle of salad dressing. She wrapped them beautifully with just some simple ribbon. It sounds like such a little thing but was so lovely to get! Likewise my Secret Santa last year got me some measuring spoons and some vanilla pods. Just a few pounds but it felt a perfect little present.

caitlyn22

chirpychick wrote: »

yes loving every second of being a Mummy - though it is a challenge bigger than I even anticipated I just love it and him more than anything in the whole world! He is such an amazingly smiley and happy little boy!

Aw I'm so pleased for you and your OH, sounds wonderful and like much deserved happiness for you both. And just think of all the fun Christmas-times to come! :j