* Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas * - It's the 2019 Christmas Chatter Thread

angel_nicx

humptydumptybits wrote: »

Last Christmas didn't go well for me, not sure why either except new DIL and other DIL don't like each other, they tolerate but it doesn't make for a nice atmosphere. Don't know what to do about it. Maybe it would be better if one did go to their own family but of course that means son would be missing.

I've not even thought about how I'll feel when the kids go elsewhere for Xmas :eek: Still can't cope that I'm not the child :rotfl:

Sancti

Hi All!

New here and to the board! I'm expecting my first baby in January and I'm a single Mum (not by choice!) so this xmas will be a tight budget for me. I'm also on a debt clearing mission and have 101 baby things to buy, so I'm already pre-planning Christmas (as if I'm not this early every year anyway...) so I'm not completely swamped in Dec when I'm 9 months pregnant. Glad I have found my people :rotfl:

The links I checked out on the first page don't work (homemade gift baskets, 101 homemade holiday ideas) so I'm not sure how many others have died in the last 9 months! Just a heads up.

My immediate family is huge (4 parents, 5 siblings, 1 grandmother) and we all buy for each other, plus there are a few other family members and friends I do gifts with. Started a few cross stitches, but otherwise compleeeeeetely stumped for ideas. Going to probably steal loads from you guys. Sorry in advance.

Also, we have a posh dinner with friends on Christmas Day (our family and theirs) - Anyone know where to get nice maternity festive dresses???

LMG1305

Welcome Sancti, you have definitely found your people here! We all love Christmas I'm not sure where to suggest for nice maternity festive dresses, maybe Dorothy Perkins or Matalan? My sister shopped a lot in H&M while she was pregnant (her baby was born just after Christmas, so not far off your due date). Feel free to steal as many ideas as you want to & if you're struggling with anything in particular, just ask. Usually somebody can either point you in the right direction to what you're looking for, or can come up with alternatives.

I've made a small start on Christmas. I bought the lovely tin of Quality Street from Costco, I couldn't resist the gorgeous tin, reminded me of the tins my Nan used to get at Christmas. I'll keep the tin though for years & just refill it with the refill bags or the tubs from the supermarkets when they go on offer. Speaking of which, I managed to get to Tesco to get the 2 for £7. I bought 2 tubs of Heroes because I already have the Quality Street & Heroes are the other ones we eat the majority of. I find when I buy the other options, a lot of them don't get eaten so it feels like a waste.

Me & my sisters are trying to keep our budgets low for each other. We have set a budget of £10 per person. So far I have made a Christmassy print myself on a design website that I use in work, which I got printed & I'm going to buy a picture frame to put it in. I was really pleased with how the print turned out so one day I might be brave enough to try selling them. With the print & the picture frame it works out I will have spent £5.10 per person, so I've got another £4.90 to get them something else. We've been doing this for a few years now & gradually bringing the budget down a bit more every year, so I'm getting quite good at coming up with ideas for them.

The only other thing I've done for Christmas is order 2 stationery advent calendars for both my daughters. They both love stationery (I do too) & I came across a company on Facebook that does monthly stationery subscription boxes. I'm not going to get them the monthly subscription because when I looked at some of the previous boxes they've put together, they all have pretty much the same stuff, just in different colours/themes. So I thought the advent calendar would just be a nice treat but I wouldn't end up with loads of notebooks for the next 12 months.

freespirit66

Morning everyone, I hope everyone is well and doing good on the Christmas prep. I have started my Christmas food stash with the Matchmakers and pringles offers in Tesco, I’d like to get the tubs of chocs this week. I’ve started DS stocking with his Christmas must have - Guinness Book of Records :rotfl: he is 28! I also got my stag candle holder and some rose gold heart decs.

Thumper started school this week :eek:the school are pleased with how it’s gone, he has a SN one to one lady, to help him. We’ve been dreading what would happen with all the changes for him but he seems to be adjusting, although he won’t talk about it to DD2. Atm he is doing reduced hours and I think it has really helped him. Other than that there’s not been much going on here, I am waiting for blood test results as I’m struggling to walk without a stick, my legs and arms won’t stop shaking and I feel like my legs are going to buckle, and I am so tired all the time, I’m right fed up with it!! Congratulations to the ladies who have won competitions/bingo!! Hello to the newbies/returners, look forward to reading about your Christmas prep.

mandco

Xmas scratch cards are out they had £1 ones and a £5 advent calendar one

murie

Thanks for the heads up about the scratch cards mandco,

Home Bargains have the large gingerbread candles in! They sell out really quickly so if you are interested its probably best to pay HB a visit. I have mine burning as I type- mmn lovely!

nic2075

Morning. Everyone seems so organised. As usual I have no money, so I haven’t bought much I’ve picked up some stocking fillers from home bargains. Little lip balms that look like cupcakes and those animal face masks. I got one for DS too, I’m sure he will enjoy joining in with the girls lol.

I’ve just bought a new car. The payments are £50 more a month than I was paying for my last car. But the tax is £20 a year instead of £13 odd a month. The mpg is way less than I was getting and my insurance is £7 a month cheaper. I also cancelled my national trust membership and another little box I subscribe to every month. That makes me a bit sad as it was my only treat to myself. But it means I have clawed back enough to cover the extra £50.

I did buy the matchmakers in Tesco. I just got a few boxes this year. Last year I got 7 and my DD (13) found my stash and had eaten them all by Xmas eve! If they do the same as last year, the chocolate orange will be 75p soon too.
I haven’t bought the big tubs of sweets. I usually get gifted some at work. Although I did consider buying them to give out at Halloween. Probably cheaper than the bags of sweets I would buy.

VintageHistorian

I sat down last night to work out a good weekend for mine and DH's Christmas trip to the British Museum and realised that the only Saturday I now have free in December is the 21st, which is far too late to be going Christmas shopping! So I've now got to make sure I have as much as possible done in November.

Brother and his girlfriend are relatively easy. I did an ice cream sundae hamper last year, with various toppings and a giftcard for Tesco so they could buy the ice cream. This year I've spotted ice cream sundae glasses in Wilko for £1.50 each so I'm going to buy two of those to go in, and then the same bits as last year. I'll check the dates on things when I've next got time for a supermarket stroll and if there's a long BB date on things then I'll get them then and there.

Everyone else will be more difficult to buy for as I currently have no real ideas for them. I'm determined to get less stuff off Amazon this year and try to support places like my local bookshop. Since I'm normally rushing a bit in December and ordering from Amazon "because it's so convenient" I'm hoping being organised earlier this year will mean I can actually go ahead with my more careful plans.

Might all fall down at the last minute though :rotfl:

Barny1979

murie wrote: »

Home Bargains have the large gingerbread candles in! They sell out really quickly so if you are interested its probably best to pay HB a visit. I have mine burning as I type- mmn lovely!

Went in Savers earlier, which is HB under a different label and they have a different new Christmas candle, Spiced Plum, smells good pre-lit! Always get a few Gingerbread ones, as apart from Yankee, they smell and last the best.

nic2075

Barny1979 wrote: »

Went in Savers earlier, which is HB under a different label and they have a different new Christmas candle, Spiced Plum, smells good pre-lit! Always get a few Gingerbread ones, as apart from Yankee, they smell and last the best.

I got the frosted sugar plum one from HB this week. I love it. I always get the gingerbread one for December. But the frosted plum one is a close second now.