Thread 5 - show us your haul

[RoastieToastieReastie]

See message two for links etc

unicorn hobby horse at Argos was £10 now £3

summer I do think they're odd! But yes, this is some sprout like one...

RJ that'd be amazing, if you could

Slippers - I had the same thing so could order first flashlight friend at £4.99 and any after were £3.99.

Gerrard Pinterest have a home made advent calendar where you tie the parcels in brown paper with red and white string. You can use little pegs as well. I got an Xmas Playmobil nativity and split it into separate packages.

It should be easy enough if I can find a knitted or crocheted ball pattern - I even have the right colour of purple wool.

Place marking

Gerrard I did advent trees last year. Small Christmas tree in the kids bedrooms with tinsel and 24 gifts wrapped and hanging on it. Most are toys but a few are Christmas sweets. Kids loved it and the tree undecorates daily so easy to pack away afterwards!!! I did it and put it in their bedrooms whilst they were asleep on November 30th. They were so excited when they woke up

By toys I mean small items - yo yo, cards, playmobil figure etc. Also things like nail polish, erasers etc

Oooooh thanks, I will leave another 2 in my basket and see what happens.

I'm also doing my own advent for my sister this year so if you see any bits pls let me know.

LittleReindeer I am so stealing that idea - I have spent more time than is healthy perusing Pinterest for advent calendar ideas but they've either been too fiddly or too expensive to make. My DCs will love it - so will DH who is probably sick to death of discussing advent calendars, especially when he doesn't understand why a simple dairy milk one from Tesco won't do

For ideas for things to put in the advent calendar things I've done before;

Shopkins, hair slides, collecting cards (previously football but probably Pokemon), nail polish, bouncy balls, wind up animals, fidget toys, tickets for Christmas panto or film at cinema, note to say stuff is in kitchen (eg ingredients for Xmas baking)...

Thank you for the SMIGGLE code. My dd is obsessed with it so I've bought a few bits with the discount.

Mine didn't understand either Serendipity but he liked the finished product!
We will probably do the same this year as it worked so well. Thinking of putting some activities amongst the toys on there as well - theatre tickets, bowling "voucher" or similar would go down very well!

I'm going mad.... I could swear I'd ordered a load of stuff from claires the other day when someone posted a code but it hasn't tracked on top cashback, I haven't got a confirmation email and it says I've placed no orders on my account!!! I don't remember how I paid for it either does anyone know how long they usually take to dispatch??

If anyone has primary aged boys (or girls!) that are into Match Attax cards, I've made advent calendars for my dc in the past by buying a tin with loads of cards in and splitting them up into numbered envelopes. Often have had a chocolate advent calendar too, and a post it note appears on the back, daily, after school, with a clue on it to find where the envelope is hidden. Could tie in with Elf on the Shelf if it's moving around too. I have a ds that loves treasure hunts so it's a month of small ones!

At the end I did the personalised Match Attax card - which went down really well. Have put the link although it seems to be to last season's personalised card, I'm guessing they will update to the new season ones soon.

I'm thinking of doing it with pokemon cards (and maybe a few badges and cheap bits from here!) for ds2 this year as he loves pokemon but hates football.

Littlereindeer where did you get your little boxes from? I love that idea but im also thinking they would mess around with and sneeky open all of them. Theyre 5 and almost 3.

Secret sales have beats mixr as their deal of the day for £80, very good price and a reliable company that they won't be fakes. Only in pink though. I've ordered a pair but I don't know if dd1 will want them as they're pink 😕

littlereindeer love that idea too!! May have to store that one for next year as planning to wrap up a different Christmas book each day for advent this year- saw that on Pinterest

Gorgeous thread baby Silver.

specialk I'd just try putting the code in- it won't be single use

Girl I've ordered from pottery barn in USA before and they've added heavy amounts of tax to get it to the uk so maybe amazon USA will do the same thing?

Re advent calendars and getting small things to fit in tiny spaces for special calendars, I just wrap up 24 presents and number them and put them under the tree in a special box. DD has great excitement finding the right number on the right day and guessing what might be in them. I get things during the year and some days it might be a chocolate or sweet, others it might be a Christmas book or Christmas activity book and once she's broken up from school or on week ends I out in Christmas craft stuff to keep her busy with. It saves faffing with tiny things.

Ok if you're sure then thanks RJ let me know how much you'll need for wool and time etc?

I just wrapped them Noonewilleverknow. I did tell them that if they opened any they shouldn't then the rest would all disappear! You could always get small bags and hang them on instead but they looked very pretty hung in there in coordinated different coloured wrapping paper

Aldi sewing special buys available this Thurs

Oh... And some of them I put inside crackers on the tree. Cheap pack of 10 mini ones from pound land. Opened the end, took the cheap plastic out and put small gift in. Tied back up and it took seconds to do. Hair clips, finger lights etc were perfect size for that and they loved pulling them