In Preparation For Christmas Today I Will.....

[onlyhereforthechristmaschat]

...clean out the freezer and make a meal plan to use everything up before December.

I hope you don't mind me starting this thread this year @beautifulsunflowers I absolutely loved this last year. I watched from afar and followed along doing one thing everyday to spread the cost, time, energy and Christmas cheer throughout November and December.

What is one thing you plan to do today to get organised?

Today I sorted out the airing cupboard (part of my sorting the house out for Christmas).

I ordered a couple of Christmas presents for my DM (a diamond tester, and a jasmine silk pillowcase).

Also ordered numbered stickers for the advent calendars for my DNiece and DNephew - they are only toddlers, but have allergies, so I have striped paper bags which I will fill with suitable snacks, and seal with the numbered sticker.

I also filled the advent calendar for my DM, with a combo of sheet face masks, hand cream, flavoured coffee pods and little chocolate treats!

I shattered now!

Today I went to Sainsbury’s for a look and actually bought a couple of things. Tonight’s plan is to send my list to my mum and DH to give them some ideas if they want to buy me anything. I’m easily overwhelmed by ‘stuff’ and would much rather practical gifts than something that has been bought just for the sake of it.

Yesterday I picked up some lovely edible cake decorations in lidl. It's our turn to host the wider family for desserts this year so these will be useful. Yesterday I also realised that I bought older DS the wrong Jersey. He asked for one but accidentally sent me a link for a different one and I bought it 🤦‍♀️

Today I have ordered a good few stocking fillers with my food delivery which is arriving tomorrow.

Hi hope it’s ok to join 😀

Today I’m hoping to

1. Finalise the list of presents still to buy
2. Do a list for who I’m sending Christmas cards to
3. Clean out the sideboard drawers so I have somewhere to store the Christmas cards

And lots of cleaning!

Welcome @SnowJamz the more the merrier! I am decluttering today. I've brought down all the clothes from the loft that don't fit. I've been saving them for when I lose weight but that's not happening anytime soon so I'm going through them all and will put some bits on Vinted.
This morning I booked and paid for a massage as a wee treat for myself in December.
Every year DH and I chose a new bauble for the tree. We try to make it a memory of the year. This year we got married so I think we'll have a look on Etsy tonight for a special bauble.

Today I have cleaned out another kitchen cupboard. Am working my way round the kitchen a bit at a time. Fruit for Christmas cake is macerating in rum and orange juice, and spiced red cabbage is in the slow cooker. 4 presents wrapped.

Advent calendar fillers wrapped today - apart from 2. Dd1 was on the bus earlier than expected so I packed up rather than risk being caught wrapping them.

Living room deep clean tomorrow...will report back.

I've cleaned the shelves in the booze cupboard and done a stock check. I've also made a batch of simple syrup for festive cocktails.

Priorities 😂

🤣 @TheWoollybacksWife my booze shelf is sadly lacking at the moment - a handful of 3/4 empty bottles on there 😥. Lidl had some tasty looking liquers in their last magazine I saw but payday isn't until 24th 🙄 so will probably miss them by then.

My whistlefish Christmas cArds were delivered yesterday. Absolutely lovely.
Have just bought some adult stocking fillers in oxfam. They have some lovely fair trade stuff.

Ask DS to research the laptop he wants so I'm ready to pounce on Black Friday. Spend half an hour tidying my bedroom.

Today I am making the gravy stock base.
Roasted beef bones and onions and they are simmering away.
Will finish it tomorrow as needs refrigerating to remove the fat from it.
Did freezer stock take last week and getting through the meal plan to reduce amounts.
Will do tomorrow the brown butter and honey glaze for parsnips and carrots for the freezer tomorrow.
Any recommendation for a good red cabbage recipe to stash in the freezer? Is only me that will eat it but I will want some.

@Lalanbaba that glaze sounds tasty - would you mind sharing instructions?

Living room deep cleaned here - furniture is just being moved about to fit tree and cat tree 🤔. Quite a bit decluttered too 🥳

@lucysmam is very simple.
Brown 250g of butter to a nice hazelnut colour.
Sieve the milk solids. Add 200gr of honey. I use a local one 😀
Let it cool. I freeze it in small container of 100 g mixture.
To use it, from frozen in a pan. Once bubbly add the baked parsnips and carrots. Yummiest veggies ever

Sorted secret santa with the inlaws today. I'm pretty pleased with who I got so I'll be able to get that sorted soon. I'm feeling quite organised just now but I know things will get more hectic from next week as I work in a children's home so as well as organising my own stuff I'll get involved with everything going on there.

Yesterday I chose the presents I will buy for a charity in need of gifts for some children they are currently helping. Today I haven't managed to do anything but will try to catch up by doing two things tomorrow!

Living room done & decluttered - freed up an entire shelf 😱. Furniture & giant cat tree moved. Sofa & chair stripped & covers washed.

Plus oven pride-ed the inside of the oven, since I was up early with dd1.

Oh, and I decluttered the airing cupboard. Not strictly Christmas but I did want to go round the entire house before the Christmas hols!

I also put some thought into stocking fillers for my dad. Only thought atm - but I'll make a list tomorrow 😊

Hello!!

I have done a fair bit of Christmas prep so far. I have posted gifts to friends and their children who I won't see over the Christmas period.

Tomorrow I am going to

• work out what gifts are missing.
• find some low cost ways of making our home a little more chrostmasy I don't want to go OTT on it but maybe a few splashes.
• see if I can buy the sosteen Greene to do list ... Kind of think it'll be nice to use it to look back on in years to come!

What recipe are you using for Christmas cake and/or pudding? I've never made it before and I've got the last of the apples off the tree to use up.

3 ingredients Christmas cake - 1kg of mixed fruit, 700ml of ginger ale or other liquid, leave the fruit to soak in it overnight, add 2 cups of flour and mix well into a batter. Bake for 65-70 mins till a clean skewer comes out.

I've used Tesco mixed fruit with cranberry and apricots with good results. I made mine the end of July and I've been feeding it weekly with about 10ml of booze injected with a syringe in various locations on the cake.

Go through the parcels that arrived today 😂

Yesterday I went real life shopping and crossed a few items off my list. Today I’m working but when I get home I may taste test my sloe gin to see if it’s ready to strain and put into bottles.

I'm hoping to have a quiet day at home today so I'll look around on line and try to decide what to get for 4 nephews, 2 siblings, 2 siblings in law and parents. I've bought lovely new personalised santa sacks for my 2 DC.

Third and final Christmas cake is currently baking.

Plan to clean chair & sofa arms next (again, not strictly Christmas, but Christmas = guests and they get a bit grubby looking through use).

Only other plan is a vague one to write a list of stocking fillers for my dad if anyone has any ideas 🎅

I am a terrible saver so this year I have been buying gift vouchers every couple of weeks for Christmas spends. Today I've gone through them all and have got over £400. I'm so proud of myself for finding a way to take the stress of Christmas spending off myself. This is definitely something I'll be doing again next year but I'll start in January and hopefully next year I'll have saved even more.