Tacky tinsil and shop bought chutney, we love Christmas too thread.

[VoldemortsNipple]

For those like me who love Christmas and are slighty envious of the homemade Christmas threads, here's one for us.

A place to share the best bargains the internet has to offer. Confess our sins of being onto the third copy of Boots gift guide. Shout how much we love Aldi three bird roast with paxo stuffing. You get the idea.

oh, voldermort - I liked the look of that Christmas tree biscuit thingy, considered giving it a go but on second thoughts!!!

I attempted to make my Christmas cake on Sunday but our stupid
,rubbish ,old ,almost dead oven burned it to a cinder!! however it has forced me to finally admit defeat and order a new oven - now very excitedly awaiting delivery of fab new oven on Saturday, and will re-attempt the Christmas cake.

However now means funds are dwindled this month so just as well I only have few more pressies to get as will have to wait till next pay day now lol

DC are getting into the spirit nicely - DD4 is updating me regularly on progress of school nativity, and DS2 is going round singing "jingle bells" having been signing it at nursery!

47 days to go

Oh I wish my Dcs were still that little. I was asking DD (15) to concider a teen pregnancy so we could do elf on the shelf. Thankfully she has more sense than me and firmly told me no!

On the plus side Ds2 has been cast as an 80s band member in the school panto, so that should be a laugh.

In our nursery we are not allowed to have Christmas music until December, but sombody usually cracks before that.

I can't believe its only 47 days!

I'm doing my best to revive this thread. :)

How is everybody getting on with Christmas shopping. I've had a lovely day shopping with dh. I'm sooo excited about seeing the dcs faces Christmas morning. Still got quite a bit to get but we have the main presents in. That's about it for dh, the rest will be left to me. Not that I mind, I could Christmas shop every day if the purse strings would allow it.

I have two days off at the beginning of December. One day for decorating the tree . The other day I will spend shopping with my mum and we will go somewhere nice for lunch. The plan is, if the weather stays mild, we will go to Liverpool One and if not, the Trafford centre. Ds2 is in after school, so no need to rush back. We do this every year, its a lovely day.

I'm still here!!! I just got sidetracked honestly.

Xmas shopping is pretty much done, dh still needs to get my present but other than that there's only little bits to get now.

Planning on going to Manchester to all some of the Christmas markets there.

Without wishing to out you Voldemort (or do you prefer Nipple ), are you close to Liverpool? I'm going Christmas shopping with my sister to Liverpool One next week.

I'm still here too. I'm so unorganised this year. For one reason and another i have just forked out for NINE pairs of shoes between the kids so Christmas shopping took a back seat.
I am also going into Manchester as soon as I have someone to watch DD for me. I'm excited because we need all new decorations and tree too. I love starting a fresh. Got DSs IPod and an xbox game so far and a list as long as my arm for the rest.

I'm here too!!

All done but no wrapping yet. Got the brown paper (ikea), ribbon (costco) and candy canes so ready really but waiting for the Christmas music countdown on vh1.

Are we all northeners then?

I'm 15 mins north of Manchester.

Oh Norma I love the Countdown on VH1. Then it's really Christmas.

Ha. The tacky tinsel thread is full of Northeners. Wonder if that says something?
I'm in Bolton.

Me too!!

Ooh, intriguing. Anyone else?

I'm on the Wirral.

If all the tacky tinsel people are up North then it must be really really boring and "classy" daarn saarf musn't it?

Who needs classy right?

Secretly wondering if I know Norma

Hee hee, yep Liverpool lass here. I wonder if all the homemade Christmas people are southerners.

Hello ok if I join in? I love Christmas, tried and failed the home-made thread! My baking skills are not as good as I thought!!

This is my first day of maternity leave so have plenty of time to get organised. I think I have most of dd's presents, but looked last night and doesn't seem much - will need to stay out of toy section of tesco or will go over the top! DC 2 is due in early January so trying not to overload on toys for dd as we will not have the space.

How is everyone getting on with the rest of shopping? Need to get stuff for mum, sisters and in laws -'oh and dh!

I cant wait so excited for it all, I actually really enjoy the build up more than the day sometimes! Dd is 3 so hoping she'll get into it, although she thinks that Santa is called Thomas! Not sure how she came up with that.

I'm wondering if I know you too fooffy

welcome buzz

Mind if I join to??
I'm definitely not a home-made person and I be in the south west!

I have a most of my shopping done for ds, and most of my wrapping (bloody good for me)!
Just got to finish my shop bought hamper for dparents and sort out a pressie for Mil.

Ive been getting so exited this year! Ds will be 4 so it will be his first year where he 'gets it'. Been secretly stocking up on decorations and have bought a lovely stocking for ds with his name embroidered on!

Also bought some tinsel for ds today! He was desperate for some!

Hey I am still here too. I am from Wales so not a Northerner. I too am so more suited to this thread than the home made one! My cooking skills are useless!

Hi buzzgirl and batgirl jump on the bus :)

My shopping is coming along alright. I wish people would give me some ideas though. My mum usually gives me a list of 5 of 6 things she would like and I choose from that. She wouldn't ask for specific brand so I still get to have fun shopping. And she usually forgets shes asked for it so its a nice surprise. Dh on the other hand hates surprises and doesn't understand why everybody can't swap $20s about!

Yesterday I picked up a John Lewis gift guide. I actually squeeled with excitement when I saw it. :o Now that's a good quality gift guide Super thick pages and smells like new books. I couldn't wait to get home on the couch with a big mug of hot chocolate and study browse through it. :)

Anybody got their tacky chocolate advent calendars in yet? The past two years we've had Thornton ones but this year I've promised Ds2 a lego one if he is good getting ready for school. So far so good.

Welcome batgirl too

I am off to work shortly, my Christmas shifts should be done!

I've only got one advent calendar, a Milky Bar one for ds, who despite my best efforts to feed him a healthy diet, as the only grandchild on both sides and with 10 aunts and uncles, he now has a huuge sweet tooth so I'm going to eat the majority of it share it with him

I can't wait to start wrapping!!! Dh won't even entertain the idea of wrapping stocking presents though spoilsport

Dhs idea of wrapping is adding parcels to the pile when I'm doing it. I swear if I wasn't here he would be rummaging around the loft on Christmas morning and passing the dcs their presents out in the carrier bags they came in.

A clue of years ago, DD asked me not to wrap presents on Christmas eve because ds1 would be lying in bed saying "listen, she's cutting paper, I can hear the cellotape blah blah. I think I may have burst his fc bubble with last minute wrapping.

Ds has 2 chocolate advents calenders (one from each set of gparents) and a playmobil one from dh and I!

Voldemort I have to say thats what did it for me in the end! I could hear my mum wrapping christmas eve one year and it clicked! I was so sad! :(

I'm a southern Thames Valley girl

When I first got married we home made most of the trimmings and food, I'm making less and less effort over the years. I couldn't even me bothered to buy the Good Food Christmas mags this year. Last year`all the nibbles were from the freezer. Stuffing, gravy, yorkshire puds (we had beef), puddings, cakes were not made by me.

I took the kids out for some exercise in the morning. Got home and turned on all the multicoloured fairy lights. Put some party food in the oven, opened the wine whilst we opened pressies. Ate party food. Put the beef in and watched xmas telly. Threw in the bought roasties and yorkies. Ate around 5pm. Spent the evening slobbing. It was perfect.

can i join to please? should probably confess that i haven't started thinking much about christmas yet and definately no shopping done as it is my DD's 5th birthday next week and i cant get my christmas head on until after that

the only thing remotely christmassy that i have done is break open a tub of celebrations which i had been given and decided to put away for christmas, had a feeling it wasn't going to make it!!

oh and i have booked our christmas eve lunch out as there is no way i am cooking christmas dinner for 10 people again for about the 6th year running!

not sure what side of the north/south issue i fall into as originally from devon but now live in hull?!!

Welcome Soups and twinmummy. It really doesn't matter where you live, everybody is welcome.

I must admit one year I forgot to put the turkey on the oven before we went to my Mums in the morning. We ended up having popcorn chicken and chips. :o The dcs think it was the best Christmas dinner they ever had. :o

Magneto, Thanks to your tip on snowman soup, ive got everybody wanting to make it :)

I'm pleased this is back. I'm going to have a catch-up.

Not long to go now...