To tell you that it is only

[RabidEchidna]

307 days till Christmas

Do I have the record for the first Christmas thread of 2012?

BBF it is obligatory when in the States to buy Reeces peanut butter cups and send them to me

Rabid you can get reeses stuff (inc PB cups) in Sainsburys! In fact I have some reeses pieces in my bag right now :o

(that's given me an idea though, we have a fancy/import sweet shoppe in town so I could get some stocking fillers in there!)

174

Good morning!

My new dining table is arriving today, I will finally rest easy knowing everyone will have a seat this Christmas.

I'm overjoyed to find out I'll be snuggling up this Christmas with my DP and our 3 DSs.

This pregnancy is really taking it out of me already, I might have to abandon home made gifts and just source and buy lovely things for people instead.

Aww congratulations, how exciting! (I mean the baby boy, not the dining table, although I'm sure that's exciting too...)

173

I was late getting in to work this morning, so the shops were already open. So being a bold girl, I popped into Accessorize's sale, and managed to pick up not only a chunky bracelet that I need anyway, but a few packs of stickers for card making, a jewellery making set, a Cake pop making set, a "Hello Kitty" nice pen with a phone charm on it and a plain but nice royal blue top for DD - all half price!! The pen and the Moshi Monsters stickers are for DD's stocking, and I will keep the top for a Christmas/birthday present for her too. So that's me properly started on that part!!

The jewellery set and cake pop set are both for my stash bag - for presents for friends' birthdays, emergency "keep you occupied on a rainy day" ideas or things to add to Christmas/birthday stash - depending on when it may be needed.

Although I had to deplete my stash last week, as I had bought 2 nice notebooks with vintage cars on the front, for my Bro @ Christmas and DH for his birthday or Christmas. DH needed a new notebook going abroad again and asked if I had something he could use - and as he specifically mentioned the previous version I'd given him (had nice geometric designs on the front in silver - apparently lots of the other engineers have commented on it admiringly), I gave it to him as an early birthday present. I will admit he was chuffed!! (He is a traffic engineer, so eminently suitable!! )

I was very bold this morning too - I was updating the timeclocks for my staff and making sure I had all my own planned requests in for the summer hols - so having added up my days, I put in my request for the whole of Christmas off . I will go in Christmas Eve morning (or else I lose the whole day - I only need to show up for an hour or so) and we will be in town then for a couple of hours (my office is city centre). And then I will be off (assuming boss approves it) until the Monday the kids go back to school (7th Jan).

I haven't read the thread yet. Is it too early to wrap? I have a maxi micro scooter for dd1 and most of her stocking stuff. I'm going to shove it all up in the loft but do I wrap first? Would be nice to but will it last?

Titsalina, I hope your table did arrive and now you CAN rest easy and put your feet up!!

What I like to do is have a wish list of things to make, but also a practicalities list of things to buy - I usually buy things with specific people in mind, in the sales as much as possible, but that I can put away and use for a different occasion if need be. So I have something to hand if I don't get the time to make, but I can enjoy any crafting time I do get, knowing I am not under pressure to complete things for THIS Christmas. (For example, I am knitting a lap blanket for my grandaunt for the past 3 years, which I know will be useful once it gets done, but she has gotten lovely presents that are meaningfull in the meantime and I still have a "long road trips project" that I can just tip away at when I do have time). I am also renowned for having about 5-10 different projects on the go at any one time (a small and a big knitting thing, attempts at crochet, cross stitch, various sewing things, cards, and kitchen crafts too), that I can pick up and put down as I get time and the inclination for each item. And most things do get finished eventually!!

Watery (LOVE the name BTW :o) for me it's too early to wrap. When I've wrapped in advance it always gets really tatty (admittedly made worse by the fact I often use really cheap paper, but still, even thicker stuff would get caught). I want to make the presents look a lot nicer this year so I'm going to put more thought into it and especially storage!

I have got a big Really Useful Box that I will stash the pressies in for now. I do need to clean up a lot so I have somewhere to put everything

172

I save my wrapathon for a night close to Christmas with mince pies, Christmas film and mulled wine :o

My table did arrive! Then the inlaws promptly invited themselves which brings our total to 17 I cannot feed 17 people a couple of weeks after giving birth, we are going to offer them a big boxing day buffet instead and they can take it or leave it, we'll alternate next year.
I have a password protected list on my iPad that I keep and note down everything I think of for each family member, otherwise I'll forget and be at a loss what to buy come closer to Christmas.

As for actual buying, my hands are tied until this darn house is in some order! We have much furniture to shift around, lots to de clutter and several tip runs of old stuff to get rid of.
I am still very much looking forward to this Christmas though! :)

I save my wrapping for December too. I tend to do it in a couple of batches - the presents to travel (tend to be needed first), the presents for nearby, and the ones for this house (which have sometimes involved a quick dash upstairs once we are home from visits and while others are distracted pouring drinks to finish off). But I mostly do them on the nights that DH has social events on (he has a couple between work and professional organisation) - with a carols CD playing and some mince pies to nibble - with the promise of a mulled wine or french coffee once I reach a decent milestone to keep me going.

I think I will enjoy wrapping much more now that both DCs go to bed at a decent hour! :o in the past I've done it in our bedroom while DH is downstairs with the DCs but I really want to make more of an occasion of it. I don't enjoy the actual shopping (well I love shopping I just hate the crowds as I get panicky) so may as well enjoy some of it!

Question is dare I let DH in on the act, he's rubbish at wrapping :o

I tend to make sure DH is NOT involved by doing it on his nights out. But he could also be a very useful fetcher and carrier, and topper-up of tasty hot drinks. Does he have a neat hand for the labels, or an engineers mind for cutting lots of exact lengths of sticky tape to have ready on a chair-back? Just a few ideas to keep him involved while you get on with the important parts....

:o

I've been a bit unfair really, he actually is quite neat (neater than me if I'm slapdash like last Xmas!) I just want it to all look the same.

I am determined to cut back on presents this year, it's all about quality not quantity and that includes wrapping! I've only ever done basic paper before but this year I'm thinking curly ribbon, nice gift tags etc.

BTW I saw another thread where somebody posted that you can currently get a free £5 if you buy a £10 gift card in WHSmith! Not sure if it's online or in store but will be checking it out even if I just spend it on sweets

Is it sad that I really like wrapping presents? I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from having all the presents sitting prettily in piles for everyone. So I wouldn't let DH help anyway! I do like doing it whilst watching a nice cheesy Xmas film. This year for the first time I'm going to have a colour theme, usually just buy cheapest paper but have been inspired by mumsnet again! Really there should be an ultimate mumsnet Christmas guide with everyone's great traditions in it!

171

I'm getting a notebook for work today... WIBU to get one especially for Xmas too? :o

YWNBU - get a pretty one

I printed out the pages to add to my Christmas folder yesterday, for the 2012 Holiday Grand Plan calendar (a cleaning and organising plan which starts on 27th August this year and hits pretty much every room in the house and all the main organising aspects).

So a Christmas notebook is absolutely NOT a bad idea - it's a GREAT idea!!

27th august?!? That is very organised... If I started cleaning that early the house would be messed up again by Xmas. Mind you it's always messy.

I'm upset it's raining really hard so I'm not going to nip out (on lunch break) to get my notebooks yet :(

Well, the idea is to give each room a deep clean once (1 room per week) and do any little mending or touch up decorating jobs when there is time, and to get the organisation parts done in advance too (so your storecupboard is stocked, crockery checked, recipes found and tested, gifts bought, cards done.....) so that you can then enjoy the party/familiy/religious aspects once it rolls around.

I never manage the whole HGP, and there is always regular cleaning to do weekly anyway. But it does help to clear out clutter spots and do a good going over each room - and then the maintenance of that clean room is a lot easier. (It can also help to clear out toyboxes and wardrobes to make space, and to give things on to charity shops or wherever when they might be useful to them before the season).

Have a look at Organised Christmas christmas.organizedhome.com/holiday-grand-plan-2012
(Although, there is a mistake on the calendar, as it is Monday 27th August rather than Sunday. I tend to start my weeks on Mondays anyway so I can work around it, or the site people may fix the calendar now that it's been pointed out).