Anyone started prep for 2018?

[cheesemumma]

I know I must be crazy but bought matching Xmas jumpers for the family in the next sale last week and booked our panto tickets.

Got to admit a little excited already.

What does anyone else do throughout the year?

I have all the stocking fillers bought in a super brilliant museum shop on nye.

What's the website @singadream

It was the Techniquest museum in Cardiff. We were there in person. Half was Christmas stuff on sale and half cool dinosaur type stuff.

Do any of you know how happy I am to see so many other Christmas lovers in one place. Rollercoaster gals always kill me if I bring up Christmas over there!

Lovely to read everyone’s plans and ideas. This year could be a very busy one for me so I’d like to get a good bit done in the next couple of months. I like to get the “chores” and shopping out of the way so that December can be a calm, fun month with the DC. I wrote most of my Christmas cards last January though I’ll probably still miss the last post date! I’ve loads of paper to use up, which is good because I can wrap as I buy and not have to do a huge wrapping-marathon. I’m also much better at planning than execution on the whole so spreading the work out over a few months helps!!

I had a gingerbread man Christmas decoration arrive yesterday. I collect Christmas decorations and couldn't resist him. Also the dh went away over the weekend and came back with gingerbread fudge which was amazing.

Today my mind turned to Xmas , not that unusual I tend to buy gifts as we go... But wondered why today my mind wandered...

We're moving and packing up the house, throwing huge amounts away, but we haven't even bought "our" house yet so we're moving in with my parents. So I can't buy or do any prep as we don't even know when we'll be in our new home.

But I'm just casually dropping in and not placemarking in the slightest to say these ideas are amazing and I hope I can recreate some of them for my boy (who will be just 2 come Christmas, so probably about young to understand yet!)

Hi ladies, lots of things arriving since I last posted here... a snowman nutcracker, a snowman basket for sweets, a huge wooden house I am going to paint like a gingerbread house, some beautiful hessian ribbon with Let it Snow printed in red and white, loads of christmassy cushion covers...
Yesterday DH ordered me a 70 cm tall plush snowman with jingle bell buttons and a robin on his shoulder, he is gorgeous.
We have also ordered another bigger Santa nutcracker that will arrive soon. DH is mad about them.
I am also expanding my collection of Southern Living Christmas cookbooks and have started menu planning from them. They are gorgeous.

Anyone else got anything new? Xx

Wow, you've been busy, Ski!

I was like that last year; I've left myself far too little to do this year now, sadly!

I’ve started saving for Christmas already. I like the idea from a pp about the envelopes.
I’ve bought some cards and wrapping in the sales last year.
If anyone wants a Rachel Ellon Christmas organiser let me know and I’ll post it to you. Was having a clear out and it’s too good to throw out🎅🏽🎅🏽

What is a Rachel Ellon organiser?!

It’s just a planner for Christmas with pages with lists for shopping, cards ideas etc. I’ve just googled it to see if there was a picture but the one on amazon is a newer version.

I'm new to quilting and I've been making small panels to eventually sew together into something. So far I've appliqued a robin, gingerbread man and the Sugar Plum Fairy, with words on each, i.e. "bob, bob, bobbin...", "sugar plum fairy", "you can't catch me...". I'm planning on "figgy pudding" for a Christmas pudding design, and "oh tannenbaum..." for a tree design. Plus "''twas the night before Christmas...", but I'm not sure what that might be. And any others I can think of. Hopefully it'll all work out. I'm really enjoying it as I'm making it up as I go along.

Oooh please post a picture when completed! I bet it will be gorgeous!

Ah thanks Ski, I think it'll take a while yet. It'll either be a quilt or a table cloth, depending on how it goes! x

A christmas planner sounds great, off to google it. Hoping to host Christmas in my new home this year (my house is yet to sell, grrr) so help being organised would be great!

Filthy if you are happy to Dm me an address I’ll post it to you

I've just bought my ds a personalised craft gift set of Etsy, it has some decorations to decorate, he's loving anything crafty and that can go on the Christmas tree so I splashed out on one of those. I'm obsessed, I'm really trying to curb the Christmas madness and treats but I just can't do it.

I’m planning on cutting back a lot this year. Last year I stocked up on gifts and food a bit at a time which spread the cost and I caught some great bargains. But! DH got lots of foodie gifts through work and we were overwhelmed with luxury food that no one wanted to eat after Jan 1st. The dc grew past a few of the gifts I had picked up early in the year and their preference is for bigger gifts that they choose and look forward to, rather than a bundle of smaller surprises. I really need to save up this year and buy later but I’m much better at budgeting by spending and I’m coming out in hives at the thought of not being finished shopping by September
I always do craft projects with the kids for decoration and gifts, and we’re trying to come up with environmentally friendly gifts so we’re thinking about plants. Hoping to harvest sunflower and pumpkin seeds for a foodie gift; make up some planter boxes with spring bulbs; catch some of our strawberry shoots in pots and decorate the pots; weave some lavender and ribbon to hang in wardrobes and try to get the timing right on our hyacinths this year. It brings a little Christmas discussion to our gardening now which is nice.
I’m planning on simplifying my garlands and just laying cuttings on the windowsills and mantle piece that can be added to the fire or compost heap, and replaced as they get dry, rather than faffing about with wire and clippers.
I’m toying with the idea of doing some etching on jamjars and adding beeswax candles and gingham ribbons or hessian or jute twine. It looks great in my head but wouldn’t be the first time the reality didn’t quite match.

@Annwithnoe I think your ideas are wonderful and I might copy some of them 😊
I need to do xmassy stuff all year round because it really de-stresses me and it gives me something to look forward to. I detest the late spring and summer months and only the prospect of autumn and then Christmas pulls me out of it. X

Started looking am going to be really skint around Christmas this year so wanting to plan in advance this year. We dont buy a lot of people but it soon adds up.

I'm on the look out for parent presents during the year more than anything else. I've got them a hamper the last two years, but think I'm going to do something else (cheaper!) this year. Not sure what though.

Hopefully I can get ideas on the bargain threads!

My very ‘Christmas belongs in December’ DH booked tickets to the Olympia Christmas horse show yesterday, and has now planned the entire run-up to Christmas, including proposed date for visiting his parents and doing a Santa train . I wonder if he’s coming down with something .

Ha ha, Equimum, that's funny. Clearly bitten by the Christmas bug!