Eglu cube or go up with 2m run

[craftyhunnypie]

Home Farmer magazine has some fab ideas for handmade gifts. There is anice Raspberry Gin recipe & some knitted welly boot cuffs, that I have got to knit ( for me) - as they have pigs on!

Some nice recipes for water biscuits & oatcakes for your cheese board. A gorgeous stollen too!

 

Emma.x

[Valkyrie]

Yep Sainsbury's has also joined the pudding parade. I said to the lady that I would scream if I saw decorations when I go on Thursday!

 

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH HUMBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

[bluekarin]

Yep Sainsbury's has also joined the pudding parade. I said to the lady that I would scream if I saw decorations when I go on Thursday!

 

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH HUMBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

 

[soapdragon]

The Newbury Show didn't come up trumps......tooooooooo busy and couldn't get near anything except the helter skelter (now that IS another story - or should that be storey!? )

 

Only managed to get one small thing for OH but that was Saturday and I have already forgotten where I have put it With a memory like a sieve and three inquisitive boys (inc OH) I just can't do more than a very few bits (plus paper and cards which don't matter if any of the boys see them) too far in advance as I am running out of hiding places - last year hid stuff in the boot of the car where the spare wheel is

[Valkyrie]

We put ours in the loft eventually. I know my neighbour does - oh, that's for chocolate treats as her husband raids the cupboards any time of the year.

[soapdragon]

Can't do the loft, sadly, as don't do heights -hence the helter skelter saga - so will have to get a bit more creative!!

[UKMARCH]

I don't normally do anything so early but saw some turron in M&S and bought it for my Spanish step dad I also will have to remember where I've put it too as it wouldn't be the first time I've bought something and put it away and never found it

[Hayleybug]

sorry to rub it in if you havent found any but i just wanted to report back after sampling the orange truffle baileys- it is LOVELY and tastes like a mixture of grand marnier and baileys, or a sort of alcoholic terrys choc orange but without the full choccy part. hard to describe but if you like baileys normally you are bound to love it! mine will never last until xmas!

 

Had a meeting in Cardiff this afternoon, so popped to the HUGE culver house cross Tesco and we have success

 

Can't wait until I get home to try some tonight now

hooray! have you sampled it yet? what did you think?

[Space Chick]

sorry to rub it in if you havent found any but i just wanted to report back after sampling the orange truffle baileys- it is LOVELY and tastes like a mixture of grand marnier and baileys, or a sort of alcoholic terrys choc orange but without the full choccy part. hard to describe but if you like baileys normally you are bound to love it! mine will never last until xmas!

 

Had a meeting in Cardiff this afternoon, so popped to the HUGE culver house cross Tesco and we have success

 

Can't wait until I get home to try some tonight now

hooray! have you sampled it yet? what did you think?

 

I have to say I was not a huge fan The orange tasted a bit artificial to me

 

One of my favourite cocktails is Cointreau and Baileys... And I think I'll stick to that for orangey goodness

 

Glad I found it though

[Seagazer]

I was clearing out my wardrobe yesterday (very late spring clean) and found 3 toys that I'd obviously stashed for my little nieces some time ago. Trouble is they are too old to appreciate the presents now so they've gone in the charity bag as well!

 

I want to try better with my kids (two in 20s and nearly 15 year old) stockings this year. They won't let me stop doing them but I really struggle. Not so much with my DD who is the eldest but the boys get harder. Anybody have any bright ideas? I usually do some toiletries, jokey bits but they tend to get left in the stocking when I put them away in January!

 

Other than that really looking forward to Christmas although hubby has said that the kids have to cook the dinner this year

[Christian]

How about miniature bottles of booze for the ones in their 20's? That would go down well? An itunes card each, say £5 - just little things.......sherbet dipdaps, lolly pop, retro sweets......plus the obvious - a walnut and satsuma?

[Valkyrie]

Mini bottles of booze would go down well with me too!

 

I have found in several hidey holes that were forgotten:

4 little wind up toys that swim in the bath

3 Water pistol squirty fishes

1 Magic Homer Simpson flannel

Books

2 Wooden child's Jigsaw puzzles

 

The water pistol fishies were given to grown ups, books sent to the charity shop, the wind up toys went to DD and the others came out of their packaging so ended up with her too (she passed them on to her friend's children). I still have the Homer magic flannel and for some unknown reason OH has kept the jigsaws. Luckily no sweets or chocolate were hidden as all those were accounted for. Every year they had:

A bag of coins

A chocolate Santa or Snowman

Toothbrushes

A book

A decoration for the Christmas tree - they could hang them in their rooms

And assorted funnies which in hindsight were totally useless as they never used them after that!

[Seagazer]

That's the trouble with the little bits - I usually go into Hawkins and buy bits & bobs which are then never used.

 

I think the mini bottles of booze would go down rather well! iTunes cards would be popular with all 3 of them. Brill idea.

[Looney]

I've got two stockings to sort out this year. I'm quite looking forward to getting bits to put in them. The Bogwoppits will be 4 1/2 and nearly 2 years old so plenty of scope to get some fun things for them.

 

I've also got loads of stuff stashed in the loft that I've bought in sales over the last year (or two ). From memory, there is a big tub of Lego, a play kitchen (bargain £65 down to £10!), Playmobil stuff, cars, colouring books, trains....erm, and maybe other things I've forgotten about!

 

Last year I bought my son a Playmobil advent calendar and he loved it so I bought another one in the January sales - that's also in the loft! Just need to find something equivalent for my daughter.

 

For the first few years after I'd left home, my parents used to give me a big jar of Marmite as a present!

 

My parents are planning to move house next year so it will be my last chance to spend Christmas in my childhood home. I'm feeling quite emotional about it

[Olly]

Ah, but Christmas is the people, not the place - you'll make new family memories in their new home.

 

I have an 'emergency present' box with bits and pieces, sale bargains etc ... and I too have kept things for so long that all the possible recipients have grown too old for them! I had a blitz a couple of years ago and put a lot in the charity bag, but it's probably time I reduced it again or at least gave some of the stuff away.

 

We stopped doing presents in my family a few years ago, except for under 18s/people you see regularly, it's a relief in some ways as we used to all end up with quite a lot of useless toot - I try and give people things that they can eat/drink/bath in, unless I know it's something they really want. A word of warning about iTunes cards, the smallest one you can buy is £15 - I've been caught out before on this! Amazon Vouchers start at £5 though.

[Looney]

Ah, but Christmas is the people, not the place - you'll make new family memories in their new home.

 

I know this really, and I completely understand why they are moving but I can't help feeling a bit sad about it! Saying that, we haven't had Christmas Day at my parents house for the last couple of years anyway (since my mum chucked us out on Boxing Day one year - long story ). We tend to go there for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year or they come to us.

 

We don't buy presents for grown-ups either. Unless there is something that someone really wants or needs and we can club together to get it. I found that people were getting stressed about what to buy and then worrying about whether what they had chosen was right or not so I suggested that adults just buy each other a drink or we go out for a meal at some point in the new year instead.

[Valkyrie]

Blimey! It only seems a short while ago the Bogwoppits arrived! Egads I'm getting old! But yes, those are the best times at Christmas. Now mine have grown and there are no little ones it all seems very flat without them. Worse if OH gets out Christmas games - like remember what's on the tray game. I always remember a rubber and a stamp and with 20 or 30 things left to get he will be heading for a close shave with his tray!

Have no idea as to what will happen this year - the in-laws came last time and my mum has had "alternative offers" so she won't be with us. I'd like a quiet on our own one again.

[Looney]

I've quite enjoyed having Christmas Day just the four of us. We can be flexible about meal times to suit Bogwoppits (and me ) without worrying about keeping timings for other people.

 

You should play the tray game with shots of alcohol and chocolates. Every item you remember you get to drink / eat. The game doesn't last very long mind you *hic*

 

My son has already started thinking about his Christmas list but it does give me the perfect excuse to start using the ol' 'if you don't behave you won't get any presents' line

[Valkyrie]

One year DD copied out a load of things from the Argos catalogue for Santa. One thing that I will never forget was a foot spa thing. We asked her why - because it looked nice apparently! I think she was about 8 at the time.

Now 22 and 20 it's still not too bad - the boy likes clothes and always needs socks - that's one thing he never complains about but asks for! He likes pretty much anything I get and the same with DD. Although she still likes daft things - just recently she bought herself a load of One Direction things - oh well makes a change from Justin Bieber I guess. But clothes, Claire's Accessories, Accessorize, bags etc are always liked.

[craftyhunnypie]

Ooo I like the idea of a Playmobil advent calender for my nephew. As he gets a lot of choccy ones. Would it be suitable for a 3 year old, going on 6?

Emma.x

[Looney]

There are a number of different ones available, not cheap at about £16 upwards but equivalent to the cost of Playmobil anyway.

 

Billy was 3 and a half last Christmas and loved it! You get a different bit / bits every day and it makes a play set when you've got all the bits. He had a dinosaur one (not very festive), there are more Christmassy themed ones though. Just bear in mind some of the bits are teeny so good to have a little Tupperware box to collect them in!

[bluekarin]

We have used a Playmobil advent calendar for the past 5 years I would say, so it was worth the £14 I paid for it. Mine is this one. I now set it up as a scene for my nieces and nephews to play with when they come over and we use the felt pocket calendar I have made

[Griffin]

A litre of Baileys is reduced to £12 in Sainsburys at the moment, I saw it this evening and in a rare moment of good behaviour, walked on by

[Space Chick]

Bargain

[Cinnamon]

I probably shouldn't mention that I get a bottle of Baileys Biscotti for £2.89 in staff shopping last week then?

The perks of working in a supermarket......................