* Walking in a Winter Wonderland * - It's the 2015 Christmas Chatter Thread

Karrie1uk

Hello everyone, so my darling son (baby Oscar) arrived 10 days ago and has really changed our lives for the better. Hubby took annual leave last week and this week so he is on holiday mode and wanting to do things which means I have to leave the house :-( on the plus side we have started santa shopping. This year santa is more a token gesture but we still want to get pictures of presents on the day. Hubby normally isn't one to be organised so this a big step for him buying presents so early. We also sorted my bro in law out just need a smelly set like Lynx etc to put in with it. Really love crossing people off my spreadsheet

Thinking I am going to love christmas this year and will have plenty of time to plan with me being at home. Also hoping to pick up more bargains as I will be about the town more.

Fiesty sorry to hear about your nan. Although I love her going out song definitely one to remember.

Kaya hope the rabbit settles in well.

3forholidays

Karrie1uk Congratulations on the new arrival!

pinknfluffy28

Karrie1uk Welcome to baby Oscar, congratulations to you and dh. Babys first Christmas is always such a wonderful time for making memories, enjoy! xx

freespirit66

Evening everyone, i actually went out shopping today in the real world i did my HB monthly run to stock up on cleaning essentials, TRoll, etc they had Chocolate Santas and bags of mini chocolate santas (not sure if they are last years tbh ) then i popped into Sainsburys, Argos (no stock of stairgate i needed) then HobbyCraft DD1 has treated me to a Tim Holtz creation box that is like a book but when you open it, it is all small boxes you decorate, we have done a mini one before and really enjoyed it so DD1 thought we could do this as a christmas decoration (we have one each) and she bought some gorgeous christmas card making bits to stick in there then hopefully we can find a christmassy decoupage paper to cover the front with, i am so excited to start it. Also while i have been browsing my 400 pages of christmas on Amazon i kept seeing little christmas outfits to put your cutlery in on the christmas table and just thought i could make them with felt and make them look like santas red suit with a black belt and some kind of buckle, well they had the most gorgeous red and black glittery felt for 80p a sheet which would be perfect, so another christmas craft project :T

GETTINGTHEREQUICKLY oh what a lovely story about your nan, bless her!

KAYA i have to be organised otherwise i just stress over the stupidest, littlest thing oh im very sorry about your poor bunny, i love all their names they are so cute. Hope you have a lovely relaxing couple of days off

MONEYMISSION ooh i know where i will be browsing next on the internet thankyou. I will keep an eye out for the Benefit calendar details and let you know if i see or hear anything

KARRIE1UK oh congratulations on the birth of Oscar, the first christmas is always so special

Peppapig

Congratulations on the arrival of baby Oscar Karrie.

Sorry to hear about Truffles Kaya - hope Binky and Fifi will be very happy together.

Pink, DH's idea sounds like a very sensible one. Tell everyone early then forget it and look forward to a really special Christmas day with the people you love most.

Free, I too am impressed at the quick turnaround. I thought of you today when I was putting the final bits of my sister's pressie with her other bit and I actually thought 'I should really be wrapping these like Freespirit'. I didn't do it though lol.

Welcome back MrsI - so glad you had such a fabulous time.

My Studio Christmas book came yesterday - not much there to be honest but they do have some really nice single quilt cover and pillowcase sets that can be personalised. Am thinking of getting a couple for littlest DGSs and one for DGD, one of them says '(name) believes in the magic of Christmas'. I thought they were good for £9.99.

I also got a couple more pug bits so have finished off my sister's Christmas pressie now (£10 limit) and also finished another pressie so feeling quite pleased tonight.

MoneyMission2015

Congratulations on the new arrival Karrie x

Hanley25

Hello everybody. I've not posted in a very long time but I've tried my best to keep up with the thread as much as possible. Started shopping for Xmas last week and things have started arriving it's all very exciting. I have them delivered to work so I know that I'm definitely there to accept them, everytime a parcel arrives I can see my colleagues rolling their eyes. They think I'm mad! :rotfl:

I've written my plan for the elves just have a few more bits to get for them, and I've got my spreadsheet set up and ready. Decided we're getting the kiddies a new tv each this year. Either ones with dvd players built in or ones with freeview. Both if we can find them at a reasonable price. They won't be getting much else other than token pressies.

Got a huge family on both sides to buy for so I'm on the look out for cheap pressies for a wide range of ages! My mum and sisters love beauty hamper style pressies so will be picking bits up for those.

On a tight budget this year as hubby has started uni. He did his foundation year last year and will be starting the 3 year degree next month. He has a part time weekend job but we're mainly living on my wage which has been hard going at times but we've managed! Plus we've barely needed child care all summer which has been great.

I'm hoping to be more active on here in the coming months, I know I've always felt really welcome in the past. So sorry to hear about your Nan Feisty, and your bunny Kaya big hugs for both of you.

Sorry for rambling on so much!

FeistyFidget

Karrie huge congratulations! Well done on being so organised too

Free spirit, this would be really easy to replicate in felt


I have a confession to make to you all and I hope you won't be mad for me not sharing sooner, but I had my reasons.



Meet Junior, s/he is due on 25th January 2016, the ultimate Christmas present!

Do you remember the horrible tests I was having and the traveling backwards and forwards to London for ultrasounds? Well technically they weren't for me, but junior. My 12 week blood test revealed baba is high risk for a scary chromosome defect called T13/T18. We were told by our midwife that in all cases it is fatal, it just depends on whether junior will make it to term, be stillborn or survive for a few days. It is very rare for T13/T18 sufferers to live to a year. The way she was talking we had to plan for the worst as the baby would be severely handicapped and in constant pain. Because of how poorly the IVF made me back in May, this is our last chance at being biological parents as they won't let me have IVF again as I may not be lucky enough to survive a second time and sadly I would almost certainly have the OHSS any time I had IVF.

The london clinic were not able to confirm 100% by blood that baby is fine BUT we had two detailed scans and the second sonographer we saw said that in his opinion baby definitely does not have T13/T18 as there are no physical markers showing on ultrasound (and apparently they always find some). We know that it is not a definite that baby will be okay, but in my heart I think s/he is a little fighter and they are so wriggly I can't see them having T13/T18 so we have finally been brave enough to come out of the pregnancy closet.

PS sorry for the huge photos, no idea how to re-size!

MoneyMission2015

Congratulations Feisty, exciting news! I hope all goes well xx

betterlife

Hi all :hello:
I was wondering if i can join this group please?
I have 4 children (14,11,9&7) so need to be organised for christmas, but it does`nt always plan out lol.
I`ve been self employed for the last 2 years, and have come to realise that sept-Dec are pretty quiet for me (wedding stationery designer/maker) so this year im trying to be more organised for that quiet period.
I will be buying for my 4 children (usually about £200-£300 each if full price but hopefully buy discounted)
I will also be doing a stocking for my parents and the inlaws, normally with small wrapped gifts in, including, socks, xmas novelty hats, gloves, books, chocs etc. My husband and I dont usually buy for each other, but we may do stockings for each other this year like we do the parents, the stockings will prob be a budget of £25 each, will buy bits and bobs in sales etc and make stockings/mini sacs about half pillow case size.
I started buying bits in the jan sales so hopefully have all my cards and gift wrap, i did the boots 70% off sale and gots lots of smelly for teen/preteen, and have been getting loads of stocking fillers from home bargains (the best) and pound shop, mother inlaw gets the sweets.
food wise, im already stocking up for the winter, mainly essentials for when money is tight, but means i shouldn`t have too much extra to buy for xmas its self, i like stocking up only basic gravy granules as i use these with joints of meat in my slow cooker as the juices make it taste great i also love tesco`s bsic pickled onions 30p jar, and find come nov/dec the supermarkets remove all the basic p/o and the cheapest jar is a £1:eek: i also make some myself for xmas using edes pickling vinegar as husband likes them.
I do elf on the shelf for the kids so will start planning that, ive booked us all on the polar express production train ride on the 19th of Dec soooo excited about that, as couldnt afford it last year, so have saved and booked early this year sorry for long post, ive been holding my xmas excitement in too long lol :rotfl: ps even bough Michael Buble xmas cd yesterday :rotfl: