Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - it's the 2024 Christmas chatter thread!

Spendless

DH got an offer through from pandora, valid for 24 hours, spend £100 get a free gift. DD had mentioned wanting a  ring for her 21st . I decided to also buy myself 2 charms for my bracelet, qualified for the free gift, which we decided to save till Christmas for DD. Items arrived yesterday only the free gift isn't a bracelet as DH described it's a bangle and if I'd realised I would have gone for a larger size as I doubt this one will fit DD. Kicking myself for not keeping a closer eye on what the offer was, DH can barely tell the difference between a lipstick and ear-rings! No way would he have distinguished between a bracelet and a bangle. It is possibly heading Mum's way instead, either as a part present for Christmas or for next Mother's day. The items were all put into one box as we didn't pay for additional ones, so the bangle has it's own box, the charms are for myself so doesn't matter but the ring didn't have one but amongst my stash of 'good' packaging is both a pandora box that I can put the ring in and also  a small pandora bag. 

DD also claims that she 'doesn't have any perfume left' This isn't strictly correct, she has some left at home but 2 (inc her fav) have the spray bit missing meaning you can't get the fragrance. I have had these before to solve this problem.

 https://www.thefragranceshop.co.uk/twist-and-spritz/b?Sort=1&PageNumber=1&slug=twist-and-spritz/b

Suggested it as an idea for DS and DiL to get, otherwise I will get them. 

In HB I bought 2 x Easter gift bags for 59p each to put in the girls goodie bags for the ferry for DD's trip (she is taking someone else with her and for £10 we were able to change passenger details). I come in at under £5 each for them which was my aim. I stumbled on sheet face masks for 49p each so replaced the Soap and Glory ones with them (S&G now put away for another time) which means gift bag contains lindor choc egs £2.70 (Mr T CC deal), slippers £1 (Primark clearance)  - friend has same size feet as me and I tried them on so I know they'll fit, plus the face masks £49p and the gift bag 59p. I intend adding a bottled water from an Aldi multi-pack which nets to 15p and then Mum is going to add a cup cake she's making (so no cost to me)  Which means 2.70+1.00+.0.49+0.59+0.15 = £4.93

Also in Mr T I bought 2 reduced paper table cloths for 88p each and 2 paper plates for 75p each  all in DD's fav colour pink. When she returns home on Good Friday (DH will be collecting) we are going to do a small buffet for her birthday as she won't be here for the actual day

mandco

Princesskitty hope you managed to enjoy your lie in and lunch wasn't too stressful

spendless great deal on the hoodies
glad to hear you were able to change dd's booking so she's still able to go - the gift bags sound lovely and bargain at under £5 each
shame about the pandora bracelet - have you asked if you can exchange it for a larger size? they are usually pretty good about that especially if you brought online.
those refill bottles are a great idea - have you tried the bottle shaped ones?

we had a lovely weekend away - dd took taz off to do some pottery painting on sunday so I had a couple of hours peace which was great. it was little frustrating as it should have been glazed but they said if they wanted it done it wouldn't be ready till tuesday as they needed 48 hours?which is a bit naughty as they should have said prior to doing it if that was the case -normally you can collect later the same day and most people would have been leaving monday anyway.
. 
managed to find a few bargains while shopping - we had to go back to the car twice to drop off bags .
The works had weighted blankets reduced to £5 and a whole load of books/craft sets reduced then 1/2 price again so picked up a selection of items.
Dd spent a small fortune in tkmaxx - she picked up some lovely work outfits. they had some great deals and a huge clearance section. I got the grandkids a scratch and colour book reduced to £1.49 each to add to their easter baskets. 
The range also had some really good reductions - I picked up a couple of puzzles reduced to £2 each and and some adult colouring book complete with a tin of pencil sets for 99p to add to my xmas donations/gift stash box. 
found a little gift shop that sold lots of anime and character merch so picked up a couple of bits in there for ds though not sure if they'll go towards his birthday or xmas yet.
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Spendless

mandco said:

spendless great deal on the hoodies
glad to hear you were able to change dd's booking so she's still able to go - the gift bags sound lovely and bargain at under £5 each
shame about the pandora bracelet - have you asked if you can exchange it for a larger size? they are usually pretty good about that especially if you brought online.
those refill bottles are a great idea - have you tried the bottle shaped ones?

@mandco - I haven't seen any bottle shaped ones before. Don't suppose you have a link? 

DD attended a funeral yesterday of someone her own age. It was in a different part of the country to where DD studies. It meant a long day of travel and several train changes. Another friend also attended the funeral with DD and afterwards they made their way back here. Today they are travelling on to Scotland and staying overnight before both return to London tomorrow.

As I realised it was going to be a long and emotional day for them both, I thought I'd put some 'treats' by their beds .I had 2 sheet  facemasks, so  gave 1 each plus a mini bag of chocolate  buttons and a small can of sparkling apple juice.

The other week in TK Maxx I bought a set of 3 Easter cloth gift bags (can't remember price but maybe £3-4) thinking they'd do for the 21st trip but they were too small. I'd been wondering how to re-purpose them and decided to do a little gift  each for today's train journey. I bought 5 mini cans of pop (where the apple juice came from) 5 for £2 (40p each) a multi pack of 5 mini buttons £1.39 (28p) and a mini vodka £2.49 all from co-op/local shops.

The rest of the items I had at home. Each gift bag is like a rabbits face at the front and decorated with flowers and then at the back has long ears that stand up at the back, you fill inbetween. Both gifts bags have a little label saying to and from but have decided not to fill in as that way the girls get to decide whether they keep the bags for themselves or re-gift them. They are small and cloth so once contents consumed it won't take any space in their overnight bags.  

Gift bag 1  has mini gin, mini tonic, 2 shot glasses and a pack of choc buttons
Gift bag 2 has mini vodka, mini coke, 2 shot glasses and a pack of choc buttons    


I stumbled on the plastic shot glasses by chance at home looking for something suitable to drink from that also fit in the bags. I'm sure the girls will fathom out the best way to have the booze!  


Gift bag 1 cost just the choc buttons 28p cos everything else was found at home
Gift bag 2 cost 2.49 (vodka) coke (40p) and choc buttons (28p) = £3.17
Total cost = 3.45 (or £1.73 each) 

mandco

spendless I saw some on amazon but not a lot of reviews. you do have to check sizes as alot are bigger 30/50/100ml but there are some 5-15ml ones. dd sent me the link for this one as she was after something a bit fancier looking to keep at her boyfriends the one she likes is a dropper style but the seller also has 4/5 packs of spray type ones - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01760RBMG/ref=twister_B0BJJTWQDT?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

wow that is a lot of travel in a short space of time I'm sure your gift bags were much appreciated. funerals are tough at any age but they are so young to have to deal with the loss of someone their own age.

Spendless

That's a beautiful looking bottle mandco. My only concern would be it getting broken in DD's bag on travels as it's glass/crystal. I'll look to get her one for some perfume she keeps at home though.

We had thought about getting her a laptop as her 'main' present as hers has a cracked screen but then someone DH works with says he can possibly fix it, so he's going to have a look at it. The other thing we are looking at is DD has an instant camera but it's not working. Whether it's broken or just needs new film I'm unsure. Unfortunately we can't see anyway round this to find out than to buy some film and try it. If it works great, if it doesn't we've wasted £15.

Heads up if anyone is buying chocolate eggs and deciding whether to buy med or large. I saw this on my SM feed recently.  The chocolate egg bit is the same size regardless though the packaging makes it seem bigger. The difference is the contents.  Taking Cadbury's creme eggs as an example, the large egg contains 2 small creme eggs with a weight of 235g

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/cadbury-creme-egg-235g

The medium egg is 195g and contains 1  small creme egg

https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/cadbury-creme-egg-chocolate-easter-egg-602524011

A weight difference of 40g, which lo and behold is the weight of a single creme egg.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/small-chocolate-bars-bags/cadbury-creme-egg-single/1000000439977

It isn't worth buying the larger eggs unless the additional 'choc item' costs less than just buying that separately would. That would currently be the case in Mr T with clubcard as med are £3, large £3.50 and a single creme egg approx 60p https://groceries.asda.com/product/small-chocolate-bars-bags/cadbury-creme-egg-single/1000000439977 

(apologies for the various supermarket links it was a struggle to find one that was stocking all sizes!) 

I've illustrated with creme eggs but I believe the same is true of other eggs too and their contents. As it happens I've only bought 2 large eggs, one each for DS and DiL  but I'd have bought differently if I'd been aware.

I've decided to fill the remaining cloth bunny ears  Easter gift bag for DIL as DD doesn't need another. DiL saw me recently create something for DD and said a bit wistfully she would have loved to have had something done like that as she grew up. It's easier for me  to do this sort of thing, DiL grew up in a town where there's no 'mainstream'  chain stores other than a co-op to buy groceries at.  

Unsure what I'm putting in but thinking one of the mini shower gels I recently bought half price from the bodyshop and a face mask, I already have both in so it's not going to cost me anything additional.

For DD's 21st I've also come across 2 sample perfumes, ones in the little tube that's carded. Both never used so am going to add them to the ferry gift bags too. Gifting and de-cluttering at the same time - my fav things lol

DiL asked me if I'd find something on their behalf for DD's 21st as she was stuck. I bought this in an independent shop before Xmas as one of Mum's presents and thought DD would like one too. It's a zipped sunglasses (or glasses) case and at the back also has a zipped compartment for coins. Ideal for hols. Really unusual. Come in diff colours. DD loves sunglasses and travel and can never find anything so thought it ticked a lot of boxes. I've found them online https://www.amazon.co.uk/ili-New-York-Colourful-Specticles/dp/B0764699MK

Looby_-_Lou_2

@Spendless have you tried replacing the battery in the camera? My dds both have one and we have thought they were broken at different times to find it was the battery.

Spendless

Looby_-_Lou_2 said:

@Spendless have you tried replacing the battery in the camera? My dds both have one and we have thought they were broken at different times to find it was the battery.

Ooooo, no. Never even thought about that. Going to look now. Thank you. @Looby_-_Lou_2

ETA - I've changed the batteries, watched youtube to make sure I was doing it correctly and then read some online comments  about it. Seems the cameras only likes certain batteries. I will buy 'decent' ones later and see if that changes the camera which is showing static red. The comments say some had to take theirs back. This was bought in Edinburgh 2 years ago so that's not an option! If the new batteries don't work, then they will always come in for something else and instead of buying a new film will put the money towards a new camera instead. 

Ahhh read some more including a troubleshooting page and though it's about a different model, it could mean that the camera has been dropped (now why doesn't that surprise me!) and it's messed with the insides that need taking apart and putting back. I think then we see outcome of whether laptop came be repaired first. If not then a new one is Dd's 'main' present and will see if we can just buy a cheap disposable camera. If laptop can be fixed then we will buy a new instant  camera as the main present.

Thanks for your help Looby-Lou cos I'd never have thought to look if you hadn't commented. 

Spendless

For the past couple of weeks I've been finding sheet face masks in Home Bargains for anywhere between 49p-89p. Brands have been Simple, Nivea, Garnier. These have been a really good buy. Usually you're looking at £2 per mask minimum. I was excited when the soap and Glory pack reduced in Boots 70% sale netted down to £1 each and didn't think I'd beat it but I have. I've picked up 1-2 up each time I've been in. I will half them and some will be for DD's birthday some saved for Christmas. 

No news yet on whether the laptop can be repaired and if so what cost, but if it can then we will do that and replace the instax camera. If it can't be, we will buy a brand new laptop but only a cheap disposable camera. In addition DD has from us a pandora ring, some self tan stuff and an oversized hoodie. She also has her trip plus money/gifts from other relatives. 

princesskitty29

Gosh time seems to fly in-between coming on here, I never mean to leave it so long but it seems to happen anyway! Mothers Day was lovely in the end and DH did well with the roast dinner, I just had to help him plate it up – always the most stressful bit! Not much has been going on here, just the daily humdrum of life and getting ready for Easter, we’re going to have the in laws over for Sunday lunch. I’m doing a roast beef dinner, mini eggs cheesecake for pudding and I’ve got some mini After Eight eggs to have with tea/coffee afterwards. I also made some hot cross buns the other day which I make with chocolate chips as I don’t like dried fruit, they’re just lovely with a cup of tea. Normally the school Easter holidays starts the week before Easter so I spend the first week doing Easter themed activities, but here Easter is at the beginning of the holidays, mine don’t break up until the 28th, I know a lot of the country is starting theirs now. We did do an Easter trail yesterday in the local woods though which was nice and the boys loved getting a chocolate egg at the end!

I had to buy some kraft paper for something recently so I bought a large roll and intend to use it for Christmas wrapping, I have lots of ribbons, bows, washi tape etc that I have collected over the years that will jazz it up. I recently took the wooden stars and pine cones off of my Christmas wreath which will work nicely. I’ve been slowly decluttering the house and popping things on Vinted, I’ve been selling quite well so that will all go into the Christmas fund.

I’m off to watch my eldest play in a football match this morning then I will come home and make a minced beef plate pie for tea, it’s a Hairy Bikers recipe and really delicious. I was so sad when I heard about Dave, I just love the Hairy Bikers!

Spendless you’re doing well using up your packaging, I really need to do the same. I love the goody bags you make for DD, I love to do things like that but I have two boys so not sure it will be the same? Time will tell when they get older. That must have been difficult for your DD to attend a funeral of someone her own age, it’s hard enough attending a funeral of someone who has had a long life. Wow I didn’t know that about the Easter eggs, I just assumed the eggs would be bigger too. Cheeky!

madnco glad to hear you had a lovely time away but that is annoying about the pottery, you would think they would let everyone know the time it actually takes to complete it. It sounds like you got some fab bargains though, well done!

Spendless

Boys can definitely be more difficult to buy for especially as they grow older. Lost count of the amount of Christmas Eves I was trying to reduce the amount in DD's stocking cos it wouldn't all fit and looking desperately around for something to fill DS!

Depends on the boy though, they'll likely always be keen on drinks and chocolates. Some might like mini grooming products that you can get, though my DS wasn't bothered until DiL took a hand in making him!

How the goodie bags started, I went to my friend's 50th which was a meal and a show in another city. We met at the train station and the birthday girl gave all her guests a 'party bag' Can't remember all the contents but there was party poppers for the meal, there might have been a drink for the train journey and my fav that I still have a little bit left was a mini roller ball perfume (just a Next one I think). I really loved receiving one.  Around 10 months later DD finishes school after GCSEs after having an horrendous year. I decided she needs friends other than school related ones and invite some from her drama group for a sleepover. We arrange bedrooms to give the girls one giant sleeping area and  set another bedroom up as a TV and  pampering area for which I make all the girls related goodie bags, which they love. 3 years later DD is due to go on her first girly holiday with new friends  when a train strike means they can't all meet at the airport as planned but need to make their way  to our house instead and DH would run them to the airport the following day.  DD gets quiet excited about another group sleepover (inbetween the sleepovers had been 3 lockdowns) and talking about it said '.....and the goody bags you'll do'  So I made them and put some travel stuff in theirs. Being away on a trip as you turn  21 is special I think  so that's why I decided to do bags for it again. The recent  train trip one really came about  because I had items I wanted using up. 

As DS was more difficult to buy for as he grew up but had always liked coins, I started saving the picture 50p ones. I still gift him any I've found each year at Christmas. When he went to Uni he said he was missing some but we looked in his prev bedroom and they were never found - until last week. We moved some files that are on a shelf in a corner of a room, there was a small lidded ceramic container. It's mine from years ago that I'd given no thought to. The shelf is high up - taller than me and the container must have been pushed to the back, I think it's heavy and open it and there's the missing 50pences (no kew gardens unfortunately but several Olympic ones). DS doesn't know they've been found. I have bought this leather pouch  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leather-Drawstring-Holder-Unisex-Ladies/dp/B074F4XPCP
have put the coins in there and intend giving them back to him for Easter, along with his egg. DiL will also receive an egg along with the cloth Easter bunny gift bag filled with bits. Going to have a look now at what I have in the present cupboard.