Ho ho ho...here we go round again! Countdown to Christmas 2025, thread 1

[NoWordForFluffy]

365

Evening!

I'm tired after today, but the buffet was a success. Tomorrow it's dinner!

Everyone seems to love their gifts, which is always good. 😊 Bed soon as it's all go again from the morning!

Morning!

Dry here. Think it may have rained overnight, but not much. We have washing on the line.

You iron before you pack, Magnolia? Doesn't it get wrinkled in the case? Have a lovely trip!

I agree that potty training is awful! Ours took ages to get it totally cracked for poo! 😩

whoo we've had lots of answers to 'do you need a wee?' being essentially a crying no before having a wee quickly afterwards 🙄

Hairspray I think the issue with potty training here is that LO isn't so little so is very late to it (understandable given the circs but it's making it harder).
We've invested in a lot of pants and about a quarter have been binned already

Is the hot wheels set a garage/ramp thing? We've got one that lives behind a chair in the living room and ILs bought a bloody giant one that we insisted lives at their house 😂

magnolia similar for us here as we're off on holiday on the weekend too!

Fluffy I iron before I pack, but I roll my clothes and we take a little steamer with us just in case (and if anything looks too crinkly I hang it in the bathroom and run a hot steamy shower). Bloody hate ironing though.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget where did you get the gift bags? Have you used that before instead of gift wrap? Pondering it myself for ease but not sure if it changes the "unwrapping experience" . Feel safe asking that here 😂

@NoCheesesForUsMeeces I do agree younger makes things easier for potty training but life doesn't always work that way, keep with the consistency is all you can do, they will crack it eventually - even if you have to take out shares in childrens pants!

I am going to be totally honest and admit I have barely even looked at the hot wheels thing, DH found it online, and he checked it all and put it in the garage while I distracted the kids, it's one big box and one giant tarp bag thing it's a mountain volcano thingy - bloody huge is all I know, fantastic for free but god know where it will live!

I've ordered another Xmas gift today! Sephora have a sale on so dd2 has a dermatalogica skincare set coming her way:)
I like to spend Advent relaxing, seeing friends, watching trashy Christmas films, going for frosty walks...so I try and get all gifts sorted by end of November latest.
I'm assuming aged p and pils will be coming for lunch.
Any tips for decent, eco friendly gift wrap?

I found some on Amazon Pumpkin they're little satin drawstring bags like those ones for Wedding Favours (but opaque so she cannot spy) .

GiftWrap is nice for big presents though , the ripping off the paper is part of the experience .
DS has money (transferred ) and his Dec !st in a big reusable bag that he's had for years .
Gift bags are for DD Dec 1st things

I do aim to get things wrapped before the 20th (barring last minute The Twitch )
One year I bought her a last minute Superdry coat so had to look for paper , ended up with some rubbishy stuff that creased , ripped , didn't stick and was see through
I bought myself a good quality tape dispenser and rolls of Scotch tape - pair of good scissors , use the ironing board as a table and good quality paper .
Add wine/Baileys/hot chocolate and some CCF -Cheesy Christmas Films .
Job Done !

Ooh I love a ccf @70isaLimitNotaTarget

And I have to vouch for the good quality tape dispenser recommended by Fluffy and 70, think it was rapesco or something, literally life changing (well at christmas anyway).

146

Pinch Punch
Enjoy France Magnolia

It's a bit meh here , I'm wondering "What should I wear"? ( I usually start at Comfy Shoes and work upwards.

Morning!

Yes, Magnolia, the tape dispenser is a godsend!

How is it August?! Strictly starts next month, and that's when shit gets serious about Christmas!

I have heartbreakingly LOST my tape dispenser - it will be in the midden of my back office, under the vinted pile I'm still trying to shift

August is a busy one for us DS is 5 DH is 36 we have some extended family birthdays too

I don't know what Christmas "event" we are doing this year to meet FC the place we used to go to was a little play village with actors it was SO good but they closed - I might try for polar express/santa train tickets instead
I've booked tickets to a Christmas play on the 21st and I think we will go to the winterfunland funfair too - I'd like to do a light trail too the kids love those

I am deeply excited for my first nativity play experience - I'm getting the tissues ready well in advance!

We are going to see a Christmas carol goes wrong (in January)
Very excited 😊

Thanks for the reminder about A Christmas Carol that goes wrong - just booked. My kids absolutely love it and there weren't tonnes of tickets left for December so I would have been gutted if I'd missed out.

Quite shocked at how much tickets have gone up though.

Yes, the prices are crazy, really.
But we really love the goes wrong shows.
We do spend a fair bit on theatre tickets over the year - its our extravagance 😃
I recommend And Juliet if its near you, and Sarah milican was funny

Ah Hairspray , my tape dispenser lives in the utility room , if it isn;t there it will be in my DS room !

Love Love Love the Goes Wrong plays , we saw the Spies one a couple of weeks ago and are booked to see the Christmas Carol one before Christmas .

Also going to see Inside Number 9 Stage/Fright ........soooooo excited

Steve Pemberton ........

😂 at Hairspray, you sound like me. DH and FIL bought the garage things we have - I didn't even look at them first and they're both ridiculously sized 🙄

I'm with you on the nativity thing too. LO will do his first one this year and I'm 100% going to cry. Oh dear!

Nothing really booked yet for LO. We have a Santa who drives around the end of our road and a house that is crazily decorated 2 mins away so we tend to tie those together. And we did a basic 'meet Santa' at harvester last year but LO was terrified.
We do have a fantastic Christmas factory shop that opens for a month or 2 a few minutes away and they've had an amazing Santa there the last few years (and when I say amazing, he made my nieces day by chatting away and holding her hand but read my nephew enough to just wave but not approach (nephew is autistic and terrified of Santa up close but loves him at a distance),and he did a few circuits last year getting closer and closer to us until LO finally said hi then spent quite a while singing with him). He’s actually a man in his 60s with a read white beard and reminds me of Richard Attenborough in Miracle on 34th street. If I wasn't so old he'd make me a believer.

whoo for the last few years I've intended to make reusable gift bags out of the many many pieces of Christmas fabric I have. I think it would be a great eco way to do it - but I have failed to actually find the time each year so far

I'm more of a musicals fan but I haven't seen a proper play in years. Last one was the HP one and that was amazing though so maybe I should.

I'm exhausted right now. We've done the big 'going on holiday' house clean, argued, packed, been to town to pick up a few bits and went to SILs for a family birthday tea. I could sink a few drinks but no time - I have to iron and pack the stuff I realised I had forgotten when we were out 🙄

There's a house near us Meeces that does the most amazing and OTT decorations for Hallowe'en and Christmas - I think they have professionals in , the decorations are different every year and no-one has the storage or time to maintain them.
But ,,,,they are EPIC you can see them from space I reckon.

Always do a couple of drive pasts with the words "prepare to be dazzled" (like Bart Simpson )

This weekend I have to clean the bathroom and downstairs loo then I;ll cattle-prod DS to steam the kitchen floor .

Two bags to the Charity Shop and one to recycling .

@NoCheesesForUsMeeces
Big fans of musical theatre here too :)
Dd is in an amateur group and they are amazing.
Have a good holiday

@70isaLimitNotaTarget
I've just sorted some stuff for the charity bag...dd assures me she's going to add to it.
Tomorrow is a cleaning day 😑
Dh is here so can help shift heavy stuff 😀
I'll strip all the beds, too. Ugh.

@Whoooo ·

There's a Christmas Clean-A-Long thread that was launched last year ( IIRC about Sept) really good for inspiration and keeping the momentum going

I need to pack away my poncey cruise clothes ( as I;m not going away till next August ) they take up room and I need to protect them .

I've got some days booked off in Sept but I've got things planned ( visiting family and appointments for me ) but I can make my Lists

@70isaLimitNotaTarget
Oooohhh...I think I might need that! 😀

145

I;ve bumped the Clean-a-Long thread @Whoooo it;s a fun thread (for a Cleaning Thread ) as it keeps you ticking along when you think "S*d It, I'm throwing the towel in " You feel like you've accomplished things .
I di like writing lists , even though it might take me less time to empty the bin than it would to write "Empty Bin" ........!

I had kitchenware last year that sat in the cupboards , waiting sullenly for me to use them , but I recycled them once I found out where the best place was .

Actually I have some old kitchen knives to go , I can out them in the waste bin if they;re wrapped well (they aren't charity shop worthy and it is miles to our nearest Recycling Centre )

Afternoon!

I've not really done that much today, it has to be said! Dog run / walk, popped to see the parents and went to the shop then back home to drink beer on the balcony, watching real life Clarkson's Farm from the balcony, as they're harvesting the wheat today, before it rains in the early hours. Not sure we will get much sleep tonight! 😴

The photo is them in the distance. They're getting closer now though!

I'll wash up and clean the kitchen when DH walks the dog. Little bit warm right now, and el doggo is asleep at my feet!

Thanks for bumping the cleanalong thread @70isaLimitNotaTarget . I missed it last year, and I definitely need help with not getting side tracked when I’m meant to be cleaning

I'm shattered 😴
Lots of washing of skirting boards...bluergh