* It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year * - It's the 2016 Christmas Chatter Thread

Treasurequeen

Mrs Ryan I hope you have had a nice time looking in the Harrods Christmas shop. Thanks for the heads up regarding the Clintons reduced gift wrap.

ChRISSYG the coca cola snow globe looks great.

Free I think its a good idea to get food items for Christmas especially if they are on offer, and put it by (as long as you don't eat it in the meantime).

I got an email from boots this morning telling me that their Christmas shop will be on their website from September 2016. They will have a new range of gifts available this year along with their 3 for 2 offer on gifts. A date I have put in my diary so I can have a nose on what they have got in this year.

mandco

Really do mean to pop in more but been super busy
SDD finally made it home after 3 days stuck in hospital and they are both doing great dgd is gorgeous but still un named as what they had chosen they now aren't sure about.

Free sorry your fibro is bad at the mo I find some days I really struggle with even the basics when mine flares up and over doing it can wipe me out for days so take it easy. On the Xmas food front I do think stocking up early is a great idea but its not easy keeping it away from prying eyes and bottomless pits here.

Peppa fingers crossed your bloods come back ok for next week

chrissy well done to dd its a huge achievement and you must be really proud -

Fiesty sorry to hear dh is having such a tough time but little miss fiesty is beautiful.

Not much happening on the xmas front as birthdays and back to school are swallowing up all the spends lately August is a mega expensive month for me.

The card factory have xmas cards and gift bags in so won't be long now before other stores start getting stock in.

hope every ones keeping ok tc

FeistyFidget

Peppapig wrote: »

Welcome home FEISTY, glad you and gorgeous mini Feisty are ok and hope DH soon feels stronger and able to face the op again. You'll manage the reduction in your finances somehow, having time with your two most precious people is worth the sacrifices. I'm sure with your crafty background you'll be able to come up with low cost pressies that everyone will love.

MURIE going straight to the fruit sounds like a great plan Sleep well, sweet dreams.

A big thank you for the crafty present suggestion. It may be sleep deprivation, but it hadn't actually occurred to me lol. The business is being expanded currently and we are getting a heat press with possible attachments to decorate mugs, caps, plates, coasters, phone cases, ipad cases etc so I may just keep costs down by making lots of people gifts with these I also want to do some PYO strawberries with little My over the next week or so and jam could possibly be another gift

MoneyMission2015 wrote: »

Hi Feisty, good to see you. She's a real cutie. I love the 'being nakie' comment, I still say that to our youngest when she strips off. It seems the love of 'being nakie' sometimes lasts beyond the baby/toddler years :rotfl:


Some traditions we have,


New PJ's on Christmas Eve. Also a few other small presents to open on Christmas Eve, usually a book & cuddly toy. Santa sneaks into our bedrooms while the girls are having their baths/showers and leaves their Christmas Eve presents on the beds. All these years and I've never even seen him, he is very sneaky & clever to never get caught out in our hallway or one of the bedrooms


Watch a Christmas movie on Christmas Eve (when I was younger we would always watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, but now we just choose whichever one we fancy watching. Last year it was Arthur Christmas, if you haven't seen it you must watch it )


The obvious one - milk, cookies & carrot left out.


Christmas stocking left in bedrooms so Santa can fill it overnight. Stockings are brought into our room on Christmas morning to open, before going downstairs to see if Santa has left anything else.


A silly tradition from when I was young is, when going down the stairs on Christmas morning it has to be Dad, Mum, then kids from oldest to youngest. Kids then stand in front of living room door & Dad opens it to see the magic.


We also get our girls a Build a Bear cuddly every year. It's much easier now you can buy them online, when they were only sold in store we would queue for AGES to get them made & then have to pick an outfit and queue to pay!


That's just a few I have thought of at the moment. I'm pretty sure I'm missing something so might be back, but I think a lot of them are traditions that most people have anyway, so I'm sure you'll have some good ones to choose from.

I LOVE reading about everyones traditions, they make me feel really festive and excited to start ours, thank you for sharing x

vulpix wrote: »

Fiesty,nice to hear from you.Lovely photo of a gorgeous girl.Extremely neat chalking btw.Respect.What is nakie?no clothes?

I think it is the right decision to be with your family.you cut your cloth no matter how much money you have.Miss Fiesty wont remember being hard up.When my kids were young I was incredibly hard up and all our stuff came from charity shops and car boot sales (mine too).They were always beautifully turned out and remember their childhood with great fondness.Lots of walks,digging in the garden,bikes and picnics and stuff.

I think my Christmas traditions were just the same as as from my childhood.Mince pie and carrot,stocking on the bed which was opened on my bed and presents under the tree.Oh we always had bacon butties and hot tea for breakfast.

New traditions I will start if I have grandchildren is advent Christmas stories.A new book every night at bed time.Only 24 to find! I'm not sure if elf on a shelf would be my thing,I think it would get a bit like hard work.I like the new Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve idea.

Gotta go,plasterer is here.

Vx

You're spot on V, nakie = being naked. It's a term I coined from a favourite TV program when I was a wee lass called rugrats lol. I wish my chalk lettering was that neat, but I cheated and made it on the computer

Thank you for sharing your traditions!

mrs-moneypenny wrote: »

Money mission, we have the same no one in the lounge till we all queue up ready with dad first then me an kids in age order, stocking are brought into our room first, we only have the lads at home now so have a 16 and 21 yo to make room for now with stocking which is quite amusing.

Ours always feel the stocking gifts and try to guess what they are before opening and have to have a new toothbrush from Santa in them.

Jingle all the way is our Christmas Eve film and we always go to the local church christingle service, even the kiss who've left home try and meet up with us there, then we walk to a local pub for a Christmas drink and walk home looking at the fairy lights - In younger times we played spot Santa who could sometimes be seen high in the sky as a red flashing light-obviously rudolphs nose (any other night of the year it's clearly a plane, but there's magic in the air that night)


Hope everyone is well
I haven't done a lot of Christmas prep but did pick up some marvel toiletries while on holiday.

I originally read your post a few days back and I've kept thinking about you all spotting rudolph's nose and each time it's made me all goose bumpy and a bit emotional imagining doing that with little My, thank you x

04624181 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Hope everyone is ok. We are busy helping my mum move house this week. One of my monsoon orders arrived yesterday, the dress is lovely but has a security tag on!! Telephoned online customer services they have reimbursed my delivery charge and are sending me a £15 voucher card. I have to go to the trafford centre to collect 2 orders on monday so will get the tag taken off instore. Has anybody had any experience with hats with headphones built in?
am thinking of ordering one for ds stocking.
Murie- if you get peckish whilst you are in bed you have pretty much got everything you need to make a midnight snack at the side of your bed (except ingredients) LOL
Treasurequeen- what a lovely idea, do you have any pics to share for us. I bet they are lovely
Vulpix-glad to hear MIL is ok and has received new meds, sounds like you are doing great with your christmas stash.
moneymission201-Fantastic news that you have got more gifts than you thought but can still use them extra for birthday gifts. That is good gift buying. Hope your bit has eased.
peppapig-Wow 24 charms to be soldered. What amazing gifts for your grandchildren though. How are you doing? Good luck on thursday at the bank.
Feisty- Hi and welcome back. What a lovely gift you have given us by sharing a gorgeous picture of your little angel xx SHe is super cute. Fantastic way of building memories. You have all been through so much but I am glad to hear you are all together at home again. If hubbys hospital stay is on either special occasion you could always have the event early for just the 3 of you. Take pics etc and make the event special still. Just an idea xx Praying for you all xx our traditions are new pjs for all of us on christmas eve(matching if possible) we also try to have a themed christmas outfit. Last year it was reindeers, hubby and ds had reindeer tshirts and DD and I had reindeer dresses. year before it was father christmas themed outfits. It was so popular that my dad did it this year too. we read night before christmas every christmas eve, watch a christmas film all snuggled up on our 4 seater couch. We also do a new christmas bauble every year that has a special meaning. it can be a shape, a character. building memories. Even photo baubles are great.
CHrissyg I laughed so much when I read your post about the dog. Bet you dont get any leaflets now lol
Mrsmoneypenny- I absolutely love jingle all the way! we watched home alone on monday lol

We will definitely celebrate in style either earlier or later Thank you for sharing your traditions and I hope you've managed to get the security tag off!

Karrie1uk wrote: »

I have been sipping in and out over the months and love to hear what everyone is at but with a now one year old eek life is hectic.

Feisty we are trying to make traditions this year as well and I have seen so many of the wooden Christmas Eve boxes that I decided to go down that route but didn't want to pay the prices so decided to decorate my own box. However I ordered a plain wooden box but a larger size than you would normally see and by the time I'm finished it will probably work out the same price. So after paying all that money I have decided that I can't possibly use it just for Christmas Eve so I'm using it as a family advent box. So each day will be a new activity so some examples I have is go to library and get Christmas books, go for wintery walk, make Christmas cards (amazing the creations with just a handprint), decorate cookies (not sure this will work) treats and a movie (just a Netflix one), make a Christmas decoration (Pinterest toddlers crafts) go puddle jumping, go find the best best decorated house etc etc. I have printed these all out and mounted onto card. Trying to get away without always having to buy things to put into the box for example the puddle jumping I can just put the wellies he already has in the box with the activity card and some of the craft stuff will be recycled goods. Let's face it is an expensive time of the year and the activities will change the older they get but I wanted to add some family time in a hectic month which didn't cost the earth. There will be treats etc as on the first day as I am putting in Christmas bedding (which will be used over the coming years) and jammies and then will make up Christmas Eve bits and bobs. Oh I have make reindeer food as an activity. So thought I would share what I hope will be our family tradition.

I hope the rest of you are all keeping well and I look forward to reading all your Christmas build up stories xx

Oh Karrie, you absolute angel! The idea of a traditional wooden advent calendar with the drawers filled with special activities to do each day has got me so excited!!!!! It will be a magical way to make memories and once little My is older it will tie in beautifully with Elf on the shelf too, thank you lovely xxx

CHRISSYG wrote: »

Shopping went well although at first she didnt think so. 2 of the items on her list weren't available so she saw that as a failure until i pointed out that she found suitable alternatives so i though it was more of a sucess than i had hoped for. They are also refitting the store so everything is moved around.
The only thing i need to go through is looking at prices as she bought a pack of 4 apples for £2.19 :eek: .

One very proud mum .

:T A huge well done to your DD. I hope she was proud of herself too x

Peppapig wrote: »

CHRISSEY that's a huge achievement for your DD and for you, you must have been so nervous for her.

Welcome back CARRIE, just drop in whenever you can or when you need a Christmas fix.

MRSINVISIBLE that's so sweet that she loved choosing her room. I hope DGS2 is ok with it, my DGD classes our spare room as her bedroom and gets quite upset if anyone else sleeps in there so I'm a bit sneaky and don't tell her

NEWTHRIFT it must be hard to be saying goodbye to your brother but at least with all the advances in communication you'll be able to keep in touch. I too find having my weekly shop delivered cheaper because I'm not tempted to pick up 'bargains' as I go round the supermarket. Unfortunately our Asda delivery was hopeless (4 substitutions and five items just not delivered at all) so I use tesco and they've been great. I also pick the £1 delivery slots so it doesn't cost any more than the petrol to get to the shop.

FREE sorry to hear that your fibro is playing up and hope it soon calms down. MURIE's suggestion about Freecycle is a good one, will keep fingers crossed for you.

Unfortunately couldn't have my chemo yesterday as platelets are too low which is to do with blood clotting. It does explain the random bruises and nose bleeds over the past week though. I have more bloods on Monday so all being well it'll be chemo Tuesday. This will be 7 of 12so I'm on the home straight.

Off to bank this afternoon so hopefully will be able to get everything streamlined and as I want it. It's going to be irritating though, partly because they'll want to sell me financial products I don't need but mainly because the girl I'm meeting with says 'myself' when it should be 'me' and that's one of my pet hates. :mad: I'll have to bite my tongue not to correct her.

Sorry you couldn't have your chemo done
I did chuckle to myself (or should that be me ) when I pictured you biting your tongue in the bank! Glad she didn't drive you too mad

freespirit66 wrote: »

Evening everyone, i got a couple of bits for the christmas food cupboard in my shop this week :rotfl::rotfl:nothing like starting early eh?? I promised myself that i wouldnt do it this year and have mountains of food but they were on offer and my winter food gatherer in me kicked in!

NEWTHRIFT aww i know its not the same but hopefully you can skype regularly and visit them or they come home. Its hard to explain it just puts order in different areas of your life but in a colourful, chart, kiddy sort of way its best to look on pinterest like i did, as i didnt understand it at first i thought it wasnt for me but it is really cathartic filling it in, see what you think

CHRISSYG aww well done to DD that was fab thinking of alternatives and not just panicking, you should be a proud mama! I love the coca cola christmas lorry snowglobe its fab!

MURIE i do keep looking on freecycle but it is a trellis one so not a lot out there, its the little gits playing football out there and they kick it against the fence, why they cant play outside their own house i dont know :mad: they have kicked a hole right through it now, but im too scared to go and complain to their parents he has a right old temper on him and i dont want to get on the wrong side of that!

PEPPAPIG sorry you didnt get your chemo this week, but yayyy to being over half way now, well done you, you have done so well with this treatment you are an inspiration to me and im sure everyone else on this thread. Glad you got your finances sorted out that is always a weight off of your shoulders knowing everything is in order

Oh Free, sorry you're in such pain! That makes me so mad about your fence :mad: I'm the same as you though and would be scared to go and complain as I'd worry about the abuse I'd be sure to get. I really hope you manage to sort it cheaply lovely.

Right I'm going to be trawling the internet for a beautiful advent calendar and thinking up some ideas to fill it with!

freespirit66

Evening everyone, i think i am going insane i have just been doing my planner on the tv and the word christmas jumped out at me and i thought i would see what it is and lo and behold channel 5 are showing christmas films and programmes all day on sunday:eek::eek: just think of all those people moaning when they turn the tv on in the middle of august :rotfl::rotfl:

MURIE i wasnt much better i used to use wundaweb and iron their trousers that needed turning up haha

TREASUREQUEEN i have hidden the items behind the cereals right at the back of the christmas food cupboard, they cant see further than their nose so im alright! I always get excited about Boots and then i am massively disappointed, i hope this year they have some different things in there

MANDCO it was only a few days from doing the garden but now i think my mattress isnt helping, i shall just have to suck it up atm glad DSD and baby are doing fine. I heard today that Card Factory have christmas cards on sale

FEISTY i would hurry if you are thinking of pyo strawberries everyone round this area are complaining because they have all gone, theres no strawberries left to pick!

nic2075

Evening ladies. Ive been MIA for the last wee while, I cleared my internet history at one point and kept forgetting to log in. Usually I always have MSE open in a browser.

Missed you all, so def need to catch up.

Ive had a busy summer with the kids. It's been great being off with them, but now we are back to school and work. It's been hard going back as our school kitchen is being demolished and rebuilt. So we are sharing a kitchen with a local high school and serving from out school foyer. Serving had been chaos, but the ladies at the high school don't want us there and have been pretty nasty. We have only been there 4 days and it's 18 months til our new kitchen is ready :-( so the job I love had become hard and horrible feeling.

Ive been good in regards to christmas stuff. Ive picked up Star Wars kits for my nephew, a hoodie for ,y Neice and lots of little bits for stockings.
Ive also switched my TEsco clubcard vouchers to come just before xmas. I won't get the boost anymore, but at least I know I will have plenty for Christmas dinner or presents.

Otherwise all is good. I am Single but loving being so. I enjoy having no one to answer to or worry Im not home in time. The kids seem more relaxed now too. X

Treasurequeen

Don't know if anyone is interested but whistlefish have this years Christmas cards now on sale,15 for £7.00 along with their wrap and tags. Some nice new designs along with a few designs from last year. https://www.whistlefish.com/search?keywords=christmas&perPage=24&page=1&sort=displayorder

Treasurequeen

The works have personalised Christmas money box tree decorations in online not sure if they are in store yet. They are £2.00 each which is the cheapest I have found. They have the same ones on eBay for £4.99 plus postage:eek:

Karrie1uk

So today I went shopping and realised that I'm not as organised as for Christmas as I maybe thought I was. I was very organised but have dipped into my stockpile during the year for presents or for me 🙄😳. something I don't usually do.

I have my granny's birthday in a couple of weeks she is tuning 89 and have no idea what to get her. I think there is only so many clothes I can buy her. So thinking maybe just flowers, crossword book, chocolates and taking her out for a meal. Anyone have any brain waves?

Ohh thank you for the tip on bullet journals I have been researching for days and ordered a journal which I hope to be here on Monday. I am ridiculously excited about it and have been practicing in an old notebook my page layouts. I can't wait to get a new Christmas list drawn up as my spreadsheet doesn't seem to be working for me this year in terms of motivation. I used to really struggle with being organised and now o have lists of lists so hoping this journal will be a good place to keep everything in one place.

I think grocery online shopping is the way forward. I brought tescos annual grocery pass and it comes with a guarantee that if you don't spend the £60 on delivery you get a refund so thought I wouldn't lose anything and it covers tesco direct orders as well (main reason I took it out). Save a fortune not going into the shop but then I, one of those sad people who love to go have a nosy around supermarkets if I'm bored.

Mrs_Ryan

Hi all
Harrods Xmas shop was amazing! I was shocked at how reasonably priced everything was compared to Selfridges. I bought- 2 x baubles with 'Harrods 2016' in glitter on them, one for my mum and one for my friend's mum that she asked me to get; a classic green vinyl Harrods shopping bag also for friend's mum; a teddy bear tree decoration (for me! ), a cream and gold cup for my mum, and some Christmas biscuits for my other friend. While I was there I got OH some teabags as a refill for the caddy I've bought him and I bought mum a caddy with some teabags just as a souvenir of London. I spent £75 (although really only £45 as I got £30 back from my friend) so I think I did pretty well!

mrsinvisible

Well done, Mrs Ryan, what a lot of presents covered, and a little Christmas treat for yourself for under £50.
Treasure Queen, l must look into the postboxes, the works often have good items.
This has been an expensive week, l put in a Halfcost order yesterday, and an Approved foods one on Friday. Yesterday l rang Bee Tea about my contract, suddenly my bill went from £12.10 PM to £48 this month. I know some of it was line rental as the yearly one had run out, anyway l got it back down to £16 pm, and also took on their £5 mobile tarrif sim only, braved o2 and got my pac code, now l need a phone!! (Mine is 5 years old and unreliable, and also without the bits modern ones have) so that is more again. The 2 kids have said they will give me money towards one for my birthday, as they never know what to get me. I just don't like taking money off them.
I knitted my first jingle bell yesterday, and l think l might do DGN a Christmas cardi and sew bells and holly onto it. Or do a border of bells.
Need the Caffeine to get me up and running (and ironing).