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

MsPawz

Hi again all & thanks everyone for the welcomes - very much appreciated. 😊
Still feeling poorly but my mind has started to wander to Christmas presents. 😍
I have already bought a couple of small presents for friends. My friends know our financial situation and so don't expect much. In other years I haven't been able to get them anything at all. But this year I really wanted to try. So far I have sourced a couple of little things each for my 3 "main" friends. I have one other friend/colleague and another couple of colleagues that I am friendly with who I would also like to buy a little something for....if the budget will stretch. But we'll see.
So my question is where's the best place (read: cheapest place) to get decent quality tissue paper and gift bags from? EBay? Amazon? The high street? I usually pick up rolls of wrapping paper reduced in January but didn't manage it this year.

Flowfy

Live so far:
Matalan http://www.matalan.co.uk/christmas/christmas-at-home
Lakeland http://www.lakeland.co.uk/Christmas
Marks and Spencer http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/christmas
John Lewis http://www.johnlewis.com/christmas/c5000025?rdr=1
The Range http://www.therange.co.uk/search?asug=&languageId=1&OWASP_CSRFTOKEN=9A76-CIZT-ORX8-KMTQ-1FBA-806G-ZU5E-YAB2&keywords=christmas
Debenhams: http://www.debenhams.com/content/christmas
Laura Ashley http://www.lauraashley.com/en/uk/icat/christmasshop#esp_viewall=y&esp_pg=1
Paperchase: http://www.paperchase.co.uk/christmas
Superdrug: http://www.superdrug.com/xmas/christmas
Next: http://www.next.co.uk/homeware/christmas-home
B&Q: http://www.diy.com/rooms/christmas/DIY908922.cat?icamp=christmas_SRD1&_requestid=2755 1
Lush: https://uk.lush.com/products/christmas
Very: http://www.very.co.uk/christmas/en/christmas.page
Dobbies: https://www.dobbies.com/christmas/
Boots http://www.boots.com/en/Christmas/
Dunelm http://www.dunelm.com/category/christmas
Pets at Home http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/christmas-shop

Added Pets at Home

mandco

freespirit gotta love some birthday freebies eps when they are something useful. I want to see girl on a train the trailers looked good haven't read the book so won't know whats missing a common problem when they turn books into films. Your not alone with the nudity thing I'm no prude but nudity for the sake of it when its not really needed seems to be so common now.

kaya sorry about the driving test seems such a silly thing to fail over

welcome mspawz

my xmas planning is still in the planning stage as waiting for my tax credits to get sorted which seems to be taking ages so a lack of funds means no real luxury spending for now plus I have a load of school extras stuff to pay for so waiting to hear back if they will allow me to pay some of it later than the cut off dates why do they assume parents have bottomless pockets? and at short notice :mad:

I had my boots vouchers in the post and oct 27th is the points event in my local store so hopefully I'll be able to pick up most of the bits I'm after then. The yankee candle polar bear is in the 3 for 2 but the advent calendar isn't so might give that a miss

sains have the xmas food book in not much difference from last year but at least that means the salted caramel choux wreath its back

M&S xmas food is online they are doing the early bird free wine/chocs for orders over £80 placed before nov 9th again

got some fab bargains on baking stuff in a sains local they were having a stock clearout and had assorted flours,brown sugar ,food colourings, cherries & mixed peel all at 20p so that's most of my xmas baking with the kids stock sorted for just a few £ :j

sammy_kaye18

Morning all

I am in the midst of catching up so bear with me.....yesterday wa sa horrid day.
Took my 12yo son to the doctors for a lump on his neck which I presumed was a swollen gland so I had left it a few weeks to see if it went down - so what turned into a 'ah its just a lump' turned into him having a full MOT, swollen glands in his groin and neck, a trip to the hospital, full blood works, a chest xray and a referral to a paediatrician! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: Our GP thinks he has a chest infection as well as she could hear a slight crackle on his left lung so Im hoping that is why his glands are up but I did my own investigating and he has cut his foot and finger (I knew about them) but Im hoping they are the cause too so I now have an anxious wait until Monday for results.

Also on a more positive note - I have been eyeing up an apple tree for the last few weeks on my way home from work and me, my son and a friend went to investigate yesterday to find it was full of eating apples now not so full since we shaked them all off and I now have 3 carrier bags of apples to use.....so Im looking into non alcoholic cider, a few pies/crumbles and maybe some puree - least I have freezing space so I can keep them all.

Also did a competition the other day about houseplants na dhave won myself a book - Im going to regift it on to my mother though and find a few pots for the kids to paint and put some bulbs in there for her so she can have a plant to grow with it

Also Mr Tax Man finally got in touch (last Christmas I was working two jobs to make ends meet) and when I went back to work in April it took it as I still had 2 jobs so my tax got overpaid. Que a nice £216 tax rebate......which I have practically already spent......DH wants a Go Pro camera as his one and only present and Ill admit to stressing about it - but with my discount and using my staff inspire card I get 17% off which makes it £248 :-) (if the GP is back to full price) so all is good in the hood here and Ill get that soon.


Kaya - sorry to hear about your driving test.

Ms Pawz - WELCOME - You sound like you are having a time of it like we did last year. It is hard but little things make a huge difference. For the other gifts you have to give, could you home make something like truffles or peppermint creams?

Free - Girl on a train looks good and even better that Luke Evans is in it! I have loved him since The Musketeer Days and cant wait to see him in Beauty And The Beast......and hes Welsh so even better!

Peppa - how is your Charity things coming along? The gifts look fab as well

Vulpix - hope your back is better

MsGiggleWick - well done on your Xmas prep - I always get stuck on the hubby too so Im glad this year he has told me something he wants!

Mrs M - my sister is painting an elf door this year for my nieces.....and last year was a mad dash for us because my sister forgot to do the santa letters that go with the Elf so I had to sit and write one on my computer - email it to my mother in work, who printed it and posted it through my sisters door on the way home! It had a stamp mark and everything......been enlisted to write another one this year so will start that ahead of time so it isnt such a mad rush!

Right off for today - I am doing the last room in the house that needs cleaning - my dudes bedroom....it may take a while as I have to move bunk beds by myself! But then my main pre Xmas clean is done, space is made and I can just keep on top of it between now and Xmas - landed!

but for now I am sat looking up border collie themed gifts for my mother in law! :eek:

MoneyMission2015

freespirit66 wrote: »

Evening everyone, i got another £10 survey payout today so i have ordered DS Guiness Book of World Records, he has one in his stocking every year I got my christmas planner out and there was nothing to update bar a couple of foodie bits i was most disappointed i was so up to date :rotfl:

NIC thanks i am going to definitely get one next time i go to HB, i have been burning a YC votive today spiced orange but you have to be on top of it to smell it!!! Like you say they are getting so expensive now

PEPPAPIG oh my lovely i hope the tiredness subsides very soon for you and you are back to your busy bee self x

TREASUREQUEEN yes it was good, i did enjoy it but as i had read the book i found there were bits missing or not mentioned, and i think i am turning into a prude because one scene was one of the girls running outside naked and i just didnt see why that had to be in there lol it must be my age!!

Ooh Free, you've just reminded me to get the Guinness book of records for my youngest and for my Dad :j


I have read Girl on the Train too, I enjoyed the book but I haven't seen the movie. I'm also one who doesn't see the point in nudity for the sake of it, I've always thought it even when I was in my teens though so I don't think it's an age thing


I can't wait for the new Beauty and the Beast movie to come out. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney princess movie and I really like Emma Watson too, so I have the date in my diary to get to the cinema as soon as it's out.


I bought some Molton Brown stuff the other day. I know it's not the cheapest stuff but my stepmum really likes the handwash so I always get her some for Christmas. When I was on the site, they had 2 offers. One was a free gift if you spend over £40 and the other was a bigger free gift if you spend £70. My basket actually came to £72 in the end because of the gifts I'd bought for people, so I put the code in for the bigger free gift. It's a box set of 10 x 30ml body washes etc, so I thought they would either make a nice gift for my friend or I can open it and then use the individual bottles as stocking fillers or I might even save them for birthdays etc throughout the year.


Sammy - I hope your son is ok and the results don't show up anything untoward.


mandco - great bargains on the baking stuff. I ordered some baking stuff to be delivered this weekend because my stocks are running a bit low & I want to start baking again because I enjoy it but haven't baked for a while but we're always buying cakes & biscuits so I thought I'd try and get some home baking goodies done instead.


Hello msPaws and any other new people that I've missed.


Sending Christmas wishes to everybody xx

mrsinvisible

hello, mrs paws, welcome to Christmas mania from the maniacs!
Still folding gravy with the DWP, they have sent DD a letter telling her she is going to stop getting DLA, and does she want to apply for its replacement PIP allowance? Please phone and we will send you a form. OK so far,? on hold with musak for 47 minutes, then a lady on a very bad line wanting to 'help' her. She asked for her full name 5 times, address twice, postcode at least 3 times, a list of questions some relevant and some to make you feel as if it wasn't important, oops, did l say that out loud? 25 minutes of questions and only now will they send her a form to fill in. It angers me, especially as l know thatstress accelerates the deterioration and she is well stressed by this.
She seems always to be in the first tranche of everything grrr.
Christmas, bought some items for the value hampers, and also for the M&S ones, and looked for-- and found-- the cards l bought earlier. l haven't started 'stocking' challenge yet as DN asked me to knit ajacket for DGN for Tuesday, so it has priority.
Now out into the garden, and major tidy up. xxx

Gwendolyn

Thank you all for the birthday wishes - very kind of you all.


Kaya - I am sorry to hear about the driving test. Keep going with it though.


Ms Pawz - Nice to meet you. In terms of wrapping, this year, I am wrapping in basic brown paper and using up my ribbons stash. I can make tags from last years' cards and I'm hoping to pick up some small Christmas decorations like bells on a string very cheaply and will tie one onto each present.


Sammy-kaye - I am so sorry to hear about your son. It sounds like a real worry but hopefully all will be ok when you get the results.


Peppa - those gifts look amazing - you've done a great job.


Free - the Guiness Book of Records is a must have and well done for in effect getting it free!


I have finished making the flags for my bunting gifts - just need to get the felt letters and the bias tape to finish them off. It's quite fun making things for others and these presents will certainly be a one off.


As I want to be mostly finished by the end of November, there's a bit more work for me to do.
My December plan is to buy the children's main presents as there is quite a chance they will change their minds by then. Get OH to buy something for his father. And then there are the last minute makes - bath bombs for teachers - does anyone know how long these keep when made? I will also make the food items like gingerbread and mince pies.


I am off to investigate bath bomb recipes. Any pointers gratefully received.

MsPawz

Afternoon all.

Still off work sick. Woke up with some lovely new symptoms this morning but I won't bore you with those. 🙂
Worst thing is I've had to cancel belated birthday plans with a friend. She was treating me to a birthday meal and cinema trip, on her. 😯 we have rearranged for later in the month so I suppose at least I have that to look forward to now.

We are having an x-files box set marathon. It's the first time I've watched the series and we're nearing the end of season 2. I'm loving it. 😊

Gwendolyn - I love the look of presents wrapped in brown paper. 😍 this year I will be saving my cards received to reuse as well I think. I have never done it before but there's a first for everything!

Sammy Kaye - I've never made truffles or peppermint creams but love the idea of it. Maybe I can fill my weekends with some practice baking - I'm pretty much a newbie to that - I've only ever really made rock cakes but they did turn out delicious. The good thing is they don't have to look pretty. This is may struggle with. 😂 once I'm better though that is on the to do list!

Thank you to everyone else for the kind welcomes too!

As tonight is Friday night it's our planned Pizza and Movie night. So I am going to have to venture to Mr T's to buy said pizza. I could ask MrPawz to go out and get this but I want to test how I'm doing in the outside world. And the fresh air will be a bonus. ☺ movie is "The Boy" which I've been wanting to see for aaages. So should hopefully be a nice night despite the fact that I feel so yucky and poorly and sorry for myself. 😷

Not sure what I have planned for the weekend yet. Depending how I handle a quick visit to the supermarket I may try to get out and about a bit more. I'm hoping to be well enough to go back to work on Monday though so mustn't overdo it. It's hard to do nothing though, isn't it?!

Do any of you lovely people have any plans?

Gettingtherequickly

Nipped into The Works after work & picked up 3 Christmas books, £5 or £2 each, spotted adult colouring book reduced to £1 with any purchase so had to pick one up

Have had hearing problems for few weeks, issue since I was a child with wax, so followed the normal procedure, was beyond excited this morning as getting it syringed. Imagine my shock to be told it was spotless:( She asked one of the doctors to have a look & he said same thing, but added, when I told him the symptoms, I need to have a hearing test:eek: Earliest appointment is not for another 2 weeks, so I am not a happy bunny. I do wonder if it has something to do with my shingles, seems coincidental that the 2 seem to have happened about same time. I don't really want to lose my hearing:o:

murie

Welcome newbies- Christmas is just around the corner and it all starts here!
I have been off my feet with another vertigo attack so haven't posted but I have read a little so apologies if I miss things out. peppa those presents look fab. give yourself a break and let the chemo work its magic- in other words STAY ON THE SOFA AND SHOUT at DH as much as you want/need for a few days- its will be water off a ducks back to him. You have been really busy with the paws appeal and presents etc you need to rest up x
Sammy kaye I hope Monday brings you relief and good news xx Kaya- theres always next time for your driving test.
GTQ - hope you are feeling a bit better shingles wise- it does seem a coincidence.
Pinksteps- everything ok?
Im sorry that im not really 'with it' at the mo- will try harder tomorrow! In the meantime hope everyone has a good weekend if I don't manage to get back on here.


Oh and princesskitty- are you all packed up and ready for the 14th?