Old Style Christmas Preparations for Christmas 2013

Pooky

My local @sda had a big selection of reduced underwear, mixed in among it was a black dressing gown, knee length made of a lovely soft fleece (they were in plastic hanging bags) reduced from £8 to £2! I picked Up one each for DDs.....and one for me!!

They'd be great in a pamper hamper.

Mrs-s_4

Joining in!
DS1s 4th birthday a week on Thursday and after that ill be putting my Christmas planning hat on.

zippychick

ALJA wrote: »

Hello, I hope you're all well?! I popped to the shops yesterday and managed to pick up some lovely toiletries in the M&S sale for my mum and a pink basket from asda to use as a pamper hamper basket for my mum. The basket was like this... http://direct.asda.com/ASDA-Weave-Storage-Basket---White/001796019,default,pd.html
The pink and blue ones were down from £4 to £2

Cute basket!!!!!! I got some great toiletries reduced. OH and these for best friend - can't excuse buying myself them as I have a good stainless steel set

heart measuring cups - £3-4?

Going to start thinking about making some cheeky fruity vodka I think very soon.

alja

Oh I love those measuring cups! They're lovely! I don't think our store had those, otherwise I may have grabbed those

Uniscots97

If you're wanting to get new decorations for your christmas tree then try your local charity shop for strings of beads (they usually have lots even if they aren't all on display). These are great as garlands. Also collect pine cones when the time comes, dry them out and spray with gold/silver/or any metallic colour paint.

CountingPennies

Picked up 3 pairs of PJs in the matalan sale for my kids for £2 each last week. These will do for their christmas eve hampers. All i need for the hampers now is the sweets i think!

hollycupcake

Christmas tree chocs (for next year!)

Save the kids' empty Advent Calendars after Christmas. Take out the plastic tray that the choccies sit in and use it as a mould. Using some melted cheapo chocolate (As*a SP are 30p a bar and actually quite nice) pour it into the mould. When they've set, take out all the chocs and wrap them in small pieces of foil and stick a Christmassy sticker and a piece of gift ribbon on. Tie them on your tree!

kboss2010

I've made a bag for my cousin (she's 5) - it's a cylinder shaped "gym style" made from felt, lined with a fat quarter of flowery cotton. There's a pocket on the side and felt flowers with buttons for the centres for decoration in the same style as http://www.polyvore.com/celebrity_babe_gym_bag_overnight/thing?id=31723444 It was surprisingly easy to make!

I've also made a little tote with a sunflower pattern (also from felt and using ribbon for the handles) similar to http://www.kidscraftykits.co.uk/item/felt-flower-bag.html - they're so easy to make and felt is great because it's bright, cheap, it doesn't fray at the edges and can be cut into so many shapes!

I also use old CS tartan scarves (easy to find in Scotland!) to make stockings for the family.

Things like jewellery wraps, draw-string travel bags (shoes/underwear/laundry), ipad bags, iphone/ipod covers and aprons are really simple too. Just cut fabric to size, leave a 1/2 inch edging for seam, place front sides together, stitch, turn inside out and voila! To do a simple drawstring, all you need to do is fold over an inch at the top of the bag on either side, stitch to make a "tunnel" for the ribbon and use two pieces of ribbon to make the drawstring
http://georginagiles.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/tutorial-drawstring-bag-2/

I have a mini janome sewing machine - best £50 I ever spent! I'm really lucky - my MIL has also just loaned me a fantastic sewing machine she had sitting around the house (she's a quilter so her machines are always fancy) so looking forward to doing more crafty things in the near future!


For any newbies to sewing gifts, "fat quarters" (18" x 22" rectangles of fabric) are a great way to build up your fabric collection. They're usually only a few pounds on ebay or sewing websites and are ideal for making small items. Quilters use them for patchwork.

btw if anyone is interested, Ikea has a fabulous cath kidston style flowery fabric in white/roses and pale blue/roses for £5 a metre! they also have pink/red and blue/red dotty fabric in a similar style. Great for lightweight bags, cushion covers and bunting.

Smoosh

Love this thread!

Last year me and my OH couldn't afford to buy anyone presents, but now that he has a better job I definitely want to (even though my parents will no doubt tell me off for "wasting money"!). We'll be on a budget though because we have 11 nieces and nephews between us! I'm thinking of making jam for all the adults and making the jars nice and festive

Smoosh

Whilst I'm posting in here if anyone has present ideas for children of the following ages, I'd be grateful!: 12 year old girl, 10 year old girl, 9 year old girl, 2 6 year old boys, 6 year old girl, 3 year old girl, 1 year old boy, 5 mo. old girl (not even born yet!).