Christmas 2018 - Mega index and Christmas chat!!!!

SIRENS

I love this thread I'm sure there is one on the os board each year as this is my most frequented board.
I have a couple of bits bought for extended family and a book each the kids so far, I'm planning to make a little baking box for dd as she loves to bake, going to get some muffin cases, icing colouring, pipping nozzles to go with her book etc. Bought ds advent calendar this week I got him an eraser one for a change.

monnagran

As far as the 'foot of our stairs' goes, its always been a saying in our family who have always lived about as south as you can get without be ing in France. And in a bungalow!

I love Christmas as long as it is simple and meaningful. However this year I will probably be moving just before Christmas so who knows what will happen.

One good thing is I will be able to combine my Christmas cards with Change of Address cards. Big saving on postage. Other than that I'm opting out this year.

nannywindow

I had a chat with my DD about the grown-ups presents ( for the past few years we have given each other a themed hamper ) but she would like some cash this year, as she wants some new Ugg boots. I have asked for a vacuum sealer :rotfl:.

I have squirreled away a Xmas pud and a bottle of wine. I am determined not to buy as much food as in the past, because we were still eating stuff well into January :eek:. Watch this space to see if I can keep to my word .

Monna I don't envy your moving just before Christmas, but I hope it goes well.

freyasmum

I'm all sorted for cards and wap (bought in the sales last year... I've been banned from buying more until it's all used up :rotfl: )

firebubble wrote: »

Has anyone started their Christmas shopping yet? Got the first of mine on Tuesday - I like it done before December so I can relax.:beer:

Yes, I've got a few bits and pieces.

Superdry have a sale on at the moment, so I got a few pieces for my daughter. I have a list of ideas written for her as well.

I also got some 'filler' gifts from the boots sale earlier this year. I don't know if I'll do that this year though, certainly not to the extent that I did this year. If I'm honest, I'm tempted to move from physical gifts to more days out and treats like that - there's really nothing that I can get my nephews that they don't already have It's the same when you get older; generally if there's something that you really want, you can get it for yourself.

I'm trying to teach my daughter (who has recently started to receive what I consider to be a substantial amount of pocket money) that it' more important to have a smaller gift with lots of thought behind it

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Christmas? Haha, the last few days have been near-tropical!! Which has been handy for me in resisting the Lidl Christmas goodies strategically placed by the store entrance.

That has not been lost on me! :rotfl: It has been lovely! But I was thinking about it then and if I hadn't done it then, I'd have forgotten :A

Nannywidow - if you have an aldi nearby, they have some really nice mince pies and Christmas treats. And, as VfM4 says, Lidl have lots of tasty bits in.

freyasmum

Also, we're hosting Christmas dinner for the first time this year... :eek:

We're bringing together two families... one person doesn't like Turkey (so we're having beef), one can't have Christmas without Turkey (also having Turkey), one wants particular veg and Yorkshires. I feel quite stressed at the thought

Nargleblast

Our DS has announced he is going to Austria for Christmas and New Year to stay with a friend who he met through school trips a few years ago. This friend's family have kindly invited him to join them for the celebrations. We will miss him, but feel if he has this opportunity to travel and experience life in other countries then he should grab it while he can. We will sort out a family Christmas do before he goes, once I know what my shifts are.

Main foods will be from Sainsburys Christmas food selection (only the two of us, so won't need much, and I already have £20 in Nectar points to put towards it). I will try and persuade OH that we don't need to buy expensive presents for each other - there is nothing we really need, and it would all come from the same bank account so seems daft buying expensive gifts.
Just token bits and pieces and nice food.

thriftwizard

Well. My dear darling daughters, 23 & 26, both still living at home, have decided that we're going for the simple, natural Christmas this year. Part of me wants to cheer, because I love the look too, but part of me wants to scream, "Do you realise just how much work that is?!" looking at the "inspirational" pics in the "How to do the Perfect Christmas" glossy magazines!

But at the end of the day, if they're willing to get stuck in & do their fair share - and they are - then simple & natural it shall be. But the old plastic glittery bits will stay handy by the loft hatch - just in case! And a few old favourites will definitely sneak out...

To be fair, we've never gone overboard, and I've put a lot of thought into simplifying Christmas over the last five years or so. The present-buying's been under way for some time, but I'm perfectly happy to do most of it online anyway. As the "kids" are now all twenty- & thirty-something, stockings are now a thing of the past, but we've borrowed the Icelandic book & chocolate idea instead, and a foray to the local bookshop will be my one actual shopping expedition.

Oh dear - DD2 is currently trying out festive baking ideas - this could be a bit disastrous, her chocolate-dipped Viennese biscuits smell wonderful!

ETA: sorry, have repeated myself! Lost track - got interrupted posting something by a boiler engineer, assumed it was this one so wrote it all out again... it wasn't!

nannywindow

Thanks for the heads up about Al*i but I am trying not to buy stuff. It's so tempting to eat it rather than keep it and I have very little willpower when it comes to sweet things. I have already bought a box of mince pies and somehow they have been eaten :whistle:........ it wasn't me, honest . ( but I haven't opened the xmas pud ! ) There were not many boxes of mince pies left in Al*i this week, but I did manage to get some for my Dad.

wort

Haha nannywindow, I bought gfree mince pies in tesc@ a couple of weeks ago, and this week got some normal ald! Ones for dgson which we had last Friday . I had mine with cream , need to get the nice thick cream with amaretto in !!:j
A couple of years ago I did a scandi style tree with just wooden Dec's snd lights which looked lovely. It was done as we had a kitten in the house!!! In case it toppled over!
However last year I went back to my bronze and gold Dec's for the tree.

C_J

The rain is chucking it down out there today, so I am going to spend some time in the spare bedroom sorting out all the Christmas stuff which has been stowed in there during by the year. I need to do an inventory of what I have bought to go in the advent calendars for my two daughters and their other halves, so I know what is still needed. I have a feeling I am going to find them almost complete, as I have been squirrelling tiny treasures away in there since the Boxing Day sales! I am really looking forward to having a rummage.