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

VintageHistorian

I've made my first Christmas purchase! I spotted a Nails Inc deal included in last weeks MSE Newsletter. 9 nail polishes for £25. I've kept the silver one for myself, the two most neutral shades will go to my first sister, and the other six (including a very interesting shimmery gold/pink colour) will go to my second sister.

I've also started to look through Etsy and "Favourite" things I like for my Mum and sisters, including some handmade soaps and a few "Make your own.." kits.

Spotted some Disney "Grumpy" (the dwarf) slippers in Tesco reduced to £6. Wanted to get them for DH but he insisted that his current slippers are in perfect working order. I think he might be getting a bit grumpy with the Grumpy theme XD (I bought him a mug with him on in Disneyland Paris and then bought a second one in a charity shop).

Once I've got past the next pay day I'll sit down and actually start purchasing more things!

aimeemum

Hi all, I'm in awe of how organised everyone is. I always wait until the kids go back to school to start my shopping so here I am, starting my mammoth task!

I tried to be super ahead of myself this year and did actually buy some bargain cards and paper in January that has been waiting under the bed ever since. I also have a couple of things to re-gift on that have been stashed nicely, as well as a couple of little bits I've squirrelled away, but really it doesn't make a dent in the list!

I have put together my 'master' list....and if I buy everything it's going to cost over £1000! :eek: I never do buy EVERYTHING though, and if I do I bargain hunt so it wont cost that much....better not anyway. I've just ordered my first lot of stuff for the December box...always my first thing to check off.

And I still need to finalise DS1s 10th birthday for the end of October.....his birthday, halloween and then bonifire night all in a week so that's when we really start to get into the festive spirit, and it's only 6 weeks away!!! :j

noodles86

princesskitty29 - noodles can you get any kind of kindle voucher or book voucher? I agree if she stays with the horse riding, boots and gloves are good idea. Does she like watching films? Maybe a cinema or movie night hamper? I’m not very good at this kind of thing and it’s early so I’ll have to have a better think as the day goes on!

No, we did this before and then she had a meltdown because she didn't want to 'waste' it on the wrong books, even though we kept trying to explain to her that it's not a waste and it was a gift from Santa he wouldn't mind wha it was spent on etc. In the end she refused to use it. She quite happily likes free kindle books though. We go through library and school library books like water. She watches whatever she wants via Netflix (generally something naff about horses!) we also need to be really careful with food as she has no stop function, if there's a whole bag or multipack of something she has to eat it all. So selection boxes, tubs of chocs etc are a no go here because they won't last a day. We can't even buy a box of ice lollies etc. Your booked Father Christmas visit sounds amazing!!

mandco - Its so hard with asd kids I find with ds that I can not buy too far in advance as what he likes now he may not like next week the only thing that stays consistent is his obsession with the ipad. I do make him a couple of mini hampers - one with his favourite snacks in and another with some stationary stuff as he loves to draw not expensive but practical and looks more substantial. Are there any activities she likes or places she likes going to that you could make up voucher for? A cinema trip, bowling, trampoline park, animal park ect

That made me smile, yes I often find that we have an obsession for a short period. We are on tenterhooks that say if she falls or something happens that she doesn't like horseriding then that will be that. She has that much stationery, everyone ends up buying it but she just likes to have it rather than use it. I did find a horse sewing kit on eBay, which i'm watching. If she had it and went well it would be a triumph but if she struggled at all, it would lead to a meltdown. Unfortunately she wouldn't see a trip out as a gift, though I did think of maybe sponsoring a horse with redwings and she can go and visit the horse and the other horse and donkeys - but not sure if that was a bit naff!? I only work term time and we have twin lakes passes, blue Peter badges, always check what's on at the cinema during holiday periods so we do quite a lot out. I absolutely love your idea of the weekly Christmas movie nights, definitely going to try and do that.

Mrs_Ryan - I once rang Harrods - to order four custard apples (they're fruit) that he had seen in store and told me how he had had them once and they were amazing etc so I decided to buy some for our anniversary almost fainted when they cost me £45! They were lovely on the phone but I can't decide if they usually get odd requests or if they thought I was a bit strange. Any way, said apples were disgusting but my husband still says it was the best present he has ever received!

Sancti - How about eBay? You might get a complete bargain! Both my girls are November babies and I found a lot of the stores didn't have anything on the shop floor (boots mainly) as they had to make space for the Christmas stock, so if there's anything you want to see in real life before buying, maybe do it sooner rather than later?

Well thanks to the Smyths toy catalog arriving this week, my seven year old has her list completed and I have nearly finished her for birthday and Christmas and have some ideas for other people who ask what she would like.

I bought a copy of 'The Christmas magazine' - the one with wine glass charms and coasters on the front. Really enjoyed reading it, lots of Christmas facts I didn't know!

I'm going to Chatsworth House Christmas market in November - has anyone ever been? And I've booked an overnight stay so me and the husband can do the Birmingham Markets in December. Booked Father Christmas on Christmas Eve and Twinlakes. Hoping the soft play will wear them out, but well, it never does really! Will make a change from going to play360 though. That's all the festive things I can think of that we have planned.

Would love some family Christmas pjs, so keeping an eye out for those. Oooh I did buy a 1.5m wreath from Costco to go on the outside of my house! That was quite a big gift to myself!

Peppapig

NOODLES I think sponsoring a horse is a lovely idea and not naff at all. I usually do the Hillside Animal Sanctuary thing of buying a bale of hay or straw or a barrow of carrots, I know you’re not buying the actual thing but it makes donating fun and means you can give the ‘donation’ as a pressie. I sponsored a donkey for a year once for BIL’s Christmas pressie and gave him a photo of the donkey and he had it in a frame on display

Redredrobin

We sponsored a horse and a donkey at Bransby sanctuary , if its close enough you can visit its lovely day out .



I'm loving reading all your plans , we are completely finished here and while im relieved im also missing the buzz a little .


Anyone looking for a new Christmas tree Argos have them online , we decided to downsize from the beautiful monster we had to a lovely slimline pre lit 6ft frosted tree [£35] that i had seen in one of the Christmas magazines . So the old tree and a shed load of decorations went to the charity shop so obviously that left room for a new sloth , llama and blue velocoraptor [don't ask !] decorations from John Lewis .


I used to use Amazon a lot but after a recent issue I've closed my account and i am enjoying going to actual shops again .


Sweets wise i am having to be very careful as they need to be Gluten free .

princesskitty29

I’ve managed to get a few more Christmas presents, I went to a local garden centre with The Works in it and picked up some Fortnite stamp figures for my Godson, a puzzle for Squeak and a little toy digger for Squeak’s stocking as he loves them – let’s hope it stays that way! I bought two chocolate oranges, one for the store cupboard for Christmas and one for a friend's stocking i'm making her.

Hi again junior! Wow it sounds like you’ve been busy! I’m so glad you have a good job with a supportive boss, that’s just what you need. Sorry to hear you’ve had more surgery, I’m not surprised you haven’t started on Christmas!

Peppa every year I say I’m going to go to the mill by myself so I can look around the Christmas shop properly but I never do!

GTQ sorry to hear about your uncle. x

Vintage that made me laugh, DH getting grumpy about grumpy theme!

noodles oh dear I can see how it can be a struggle. Sponsoring a horde that she can visit sounds great if she stays into horse riding. I imagine Harrods being Harrods they get all sorts of requests – who knows what the mega rich ask them for on a whim!

Redrobin well done on being finished! :beer:

mandco

GTQ sorry to hear about your uncle

Freespirit sorry to hear your struggling with your health it really can get you down so please take care of yourself.
Glad thumper is adjusting to school and they have sorted some one to one for him. Not talking about their day is totally normal in fact taz will often shut me down if I even try to ask him about his day. I would suggest to dd to try leaving asking till later in the day rather than immediately after school as sometimes it just too much for them to process. Oh and to maybe ask more specific questions -what did you like at school today rather than the usual how was your day.

Picked up the 75p choc oranges for the kids stockings just need to find an offer on a plain choc one now.

M&S have the stag shortbread tins down to £5
Tesco have shloer for £1 so that's a couple more things off my list

Lots of xmas food appearing in the shops

Poundland had fortnite & minecraft 2020 annuals

I have enough nectar points to pay for the computer game ds has asked for even if they don't do the double up this year. I'm hoping they will but anyone else noticed that with a lot of companies most of the usual offers from previous years haven't happened this year and there haven't really been any decent offers on pretty much anything lately??

How soon is too soon to put up the tree :think: Now the xmas stock is in the shops taz keeps asking when can we put up the tree :eek: I have said he can put the small one up in his room if he really wants to but I'm sure that won't keep him quiet for long

StokieBecks

Mandco - if you have one near you our Morrisons have the dark chocolate oranges in. They are £1 same as the milk.

princesskitty29

It looks as though Boots have their 3 for 2 Christmas gifts on sale, I didn't realise and just stumbled across it!

Clumsy42

Just popping on to say Dunelm have a Christmas section online now (as do a few places actually). Plus the Boots gift guide is coming out the end of this week! :T