Frosty the Snowman - it's the 2025 Christmas thread!

Coxy11

Good idea to wait and see where your Nan is living before purchasing for her @Spendless. Not easy for any of you x Good idea to get DS something for his home. 

Shame about the scrunchies @mandco. I confess I haven’t yet ordered for DD. I have ordered the book for Mum so once that’s received she will be done. I found a mug in a CS shaped like a ball of wool (she knits) It has a funny slogan on it and was 50p so that will also go with her cabin case. Ironic that she may not now need a cabin case if she doesn’t go to spend Christmas with my niece….

DS1 and DIL wanted some brass finger plates for their internal doors. I ordered those last night for their main joint gift. They also wanted some bath towels which DD will get them and some frames from IKEA which I’ll pick up on Friday for DS2 to gift them. They also said about a pair of curtains from IKEA for their spare room. They are only £19 so we will get those for them. I did a C&C so hope it works. They are staying here on CE which means stocking gifts, so I need to get my thinking cap on. 

I’m seeing Mum tomorrow evening as DSis has a fundraiser at her house. Haven’t spoken to her since a week last Sunday (she never calls me) so will see how she is with me. 

DS2 was successful getting a shelf filling role with Morrisons yesterday. He has struggled to find anything since leaving uni in June. I’m hoping this will give him a routine and hopefully some
local friends as he has no one here but us. 

mandco

@coxy11 I was quite disappointed with them for the cost tbh I think  you could buy off temu/shein ect for fraction of the cost and I don’t think there would be much difference in quality.
Well done to ds ok the job despite the government claims the job market is dire and it’s really hard to find anything - I know people who’ve applied for dozens of jobs and not even been offered a single interview despite having plenty of qualifications/experience. 

Fingers crossed tomorrow goes well

@spendless hope your nan is ok that’s a lot of infections at one time given her age though unfortunately it is very common -now they’ve realised she’s not been coping fingers crossed your parents get a meeting soon and they put some kind of care plan in place for her going forward. 

Great news dd should be home for xmas  

mandco

Found a Steve Madden mini backpack with 2 beanie hats in for dd on vint@d new/sealed with tags bargain £10ish including postage rrp £39.99 
Was debating getting dd a Steve Madden bag for Xmas as she’d mentioned a few she liked but her bf mum said they’re getting get her a pandora charm bracelet for xmas so think I’m going to get her a charm to go on that instead as pandora currently have 20% off then I think she’s pretty much finished. 

ordered the gamersupps for ds1 they are currently doing free worldwide shipping on any order with code which meant I was also able to get a us exclusive flavour rather than chose from the very limited eu options so that’s another thing ticked off my list - still struggling with ideas for stocking fillers & padding presents for him though

Have a good idea of what I’m getting the boys as their main gifts as they’d both like upgrades on parts for their pcs (unless they change their minds again) but waiting to see if there are any black Friday offers  -  update Black Friday deals have started and Taz’s item was 1/3rd off so that’s now ordered 

mandco

Primark have their Xmas section in only had a very Quick Look as I walked past but the biggest sections looked to be stitch, stranger things, wicked & grinch will have a proper look tomorrow.

Spendless

Pandora do do some good offers mandco. Last year I bought DD a ring for her 21st and we received either a free gift or a very discounted one (can't remember terms) and that became an extra Xmas present for my Mum.

Buying upgraded parts for a PC made me smile. At 16 DS bought himself a computer, combo of bday money and some childhood savings. It was in anticipation of him studying at FE and then HE level in computing. That computer has now had every part upgraded and changed but never a complete new one bought. We call it in the family 'Trigger's computer' - lol.

I have sweets (not loads) and a few unwanted but new/good condition make up/toiletry bags for the older kids calling. Lacl of Halloween decs up but hope I can still make it that the kids know they can call. 

Tomorrow I'm off to a wedding. I'm the MOG +1, and am so looking forward to it. Perfect antidote to what has been a stressful  fortnight. 

Coxy11

Hope you’ve enjoyed the wedding @Spendless xx

I’m staying with BFF this weekend and we went to St Albans today. I got some bits for DIL - a Molten Brown boxed gift set of shower gel, body lotion and fragrance plus a box of Hotel Chocolat hot chocolate sachets. I also got a joint present for DS1 and DIL in The White Company - a diffuser, scented candle and room fragrance in their Winter scent. I know I said no scented candles but they put this on their list!!  

mandco

Just a really quick one I saw a Sainsbury’s Xmas ad last night - they’ve gone with the bfg again 

Also seen today 
asda gone with the grinch 
argos pretty much the same not just toys ad just rethemed 
m&s - little girl dancing in cowboy boots - I think it’s one of many mini drop ads they are doing this year? 

Can’t say I really rated any of them they’re not bad just kinda meh though I’m sure some people will think they’re great.

some nice bits in the Primark Xmas section  
Asda have started putting out their Xmas gifts but no offers yet -last couple of years they’ve done 3 for 2 . did pick up a lynx set for my bil 1/2 price -  £15 for 5 shower gel/spray sets - £3 a set is actually pretty good anyway but it includes the cherry spritz fine fragrance version and the sprays alone rrp at £5,95
wicked looks set to be popular this year guessing due to the new film coming out lots of beauty/hair based bits around but did also see £land had a tote bag £1.75 & tkmaxx had a dr paw paw wicked collab 4 lip balm set which I’ve not seen elsewhere £10.
Found a pop up Xmas shop that has opened - some nice stuff and some of it was quite reasonable so will definitely pop back and pick up some bits - did pick up a roll of highland cow xmas wrap as it was the only one they had.
picked up a charm from Pandora for dd so she’s pretty much done.
£land had added some more bits to the 50p Xmas clearance section - picked up some extra gift labels & couple of large gift bags. they had ribbons & bows sets too but really don’t need any so didn’t bother,

@spendless hope the wedding went well 
@coxy11 hope you had a lovely weekend sounds like you managed to find quite a few presents

Spendless

Absolutely loved the wedding. Perfect antidote I needed after a rough fortnight where DD had to move accommodation due to a H&S issue. Nan was admitted to hospital. Shes still there. Dad ended up at urgent care/A & E, not kept in but has a bad virus and I crashed and wrote off my car (someone pulled out on me, I had right of way) and a work issue Im not best pleased about. At least yesterday took me away from it all.

It sounds to me like the shops havent got the budget this year for a better ad. Years ago when DD started drama classes, another student (younger than her) was in a Christmas ad and the same ad  then ran for a couple of Christmas's. Im.sure it was for Toys R Us and we know how that ended...! How to spot how the economy is doing - check out retailers Xmas ads - lol. 

PennysIntoPounds

Oh my goodness @Spendless, what a rough fortnight. Bet you're definitely ready for some festive cheer soon

Spendless

PennysIntoPounds said:

Oh my goodness @Spendless, what a rough fortnight. Bet you're definitely ready for some festive cheer soon

Yup and it was still on-going last night with DD havng no access to money with her phone not working and her only cashcard lost/stolen. Started putting some ideas into place to resolve last night. Parents visited Nan last night, Mum fetched up (again!) that they are struggling to mange, was told that another departmet will become involved in what happens next which will be up to the dept but I am going to remind parents that they need to stick to No is a sentence.

On the nice side, finally getting a work rota that gave me 2 weekdays off together when DH coud also join me he looked at his hotel loyalty points and had enough for a freebie night away next month. We could have gone further afield and if circs had been different would have done so, but I said to pick somewhere not too far as in the event I need to get home due to Nan/Dad we'd be back within an hour. We are going when a Christmas  market is on and I'm really hoping to get Dad a flat cap whilst there as loads of independant shops.