Christmas 2023

[CrystalWench]

Joining you all! I hate summer so it's never too early to think about Christmas in my book. I absolutely love Christmas. Mostly the baking and the cooking and eating all the food. I have 3 kids so I really should start planning soon. Eldest is almost a teen and is only really interested in gaming. He's always happy to receive gaming vouchers but it would be nice for him to have something more exciting to open.

What's your must have Christmas snacks? I always buy those Elizabeth Shaw mint crisps and Toffifees, although they usually need replacing a couple of times

I am all about the snacks! I get matchmakers both mint and orange, ferrero rocher, Pringles especially sour cream, plain and Texas bbq, dips, toffifee, Cadbury heroes, celebrations, chocolate orange, mince pies, cadburys Christmas log, Christmas puddings, brandy cream. We also have cauliflower cheese and cold roast meats a lot for lunch, we do a lot of buffets too. I love December and Christmas for the food mainly. It’s also my sons birthday so we pretty much send the whole month celebrating with snacks and foods!

 

[kelly123]

Merry Christmas everyone, today is my Christmas in August day I was wondering 'what do I normally eat for breakfast on Christmas day?' then I remembered chocolate obviously, so chocolate for breakfast it is!

I have a Terry’s chocolate orange for Christmas breakfast then something from my selection pack for breakfast dessert

 

[hmc1203]

I have a new favourite thread !! I love Christmas, winter, the cold ,the snow ( if we get any!!)

I've normally started by now but my daughters 18th birthday is in September so currently buying for that

I save with park and variety all year round so come November I have a decent amount in vouchers to go on a huge spree!! Although I'm finding it harder this year as I will have a 19 year old boy and 18 year old girl ! I've also saved my clubcard vouchers towards my Christmas food shopping !

I'm also a earlier decorator!! The tree and Dec's go up in November much to my neighbours dismay !

I just love the whole build up of it . Christmas eve is my favourite day !

 

[Meg78]

The 6ft is now at £70 too, I reckon they must have been priced up wrong after the habitat and tu merge and hadn’t noticed because no one else is insane enough to buy a Christmas tree in the summer

 

[coconochanel]

Bought my first Christmas present today (not for myself may I add ) also Boots have got their Xmas advent calenders on the website.

 

[Happy Lady]

I always used to put our tree up on December 20th (my son's birthday is the 19th, sod came 5 weeks early so we had to spend his first Christmas in hospital) and then take it down the evening of boxing day (we always went to my nans boxing day and once that was done for me Christmas was over). COVID made me change my ways. Tree now goes up around the 1st December and comes down once I've had enough and want my house straight, which is usually a day or two after boxing day. My nan used to put her tree up Christmas Eve, once my mum and her 3 brothers were asleep, and take it down the day after boxing day

Yes, I agree with you. Since COVID there seems to be a lot of people (includind me) who put their decorations up earlier than before.

Ours now go up no later than 1st December. I love Xmas, I'm 67 and it just gets better every year. My grandson will be 18 months this Xmas and I can't wait to see his little face light up.

 

[bongsandstuff]

love this kind of pettiness

Just told my partner I don’t want to cook on Christmas and he said I’ll help I’ll do the yorkshires god I’m living my mums life all over again shoot me please

 

[Shesaidwhat?]

I’m hoping they’ve left the whole Candyland / Whoville theme in 2022! It was god awful and I never saw one tree or scene that looked nice!

I have a horrible feeling Barbie will be the replacement theme this year.

 

[coconochanel]

Bought a stocking filler prezzie for a family member today and somehow a gift for myself ended up in my basket!

 

[bongsandstuff]

Worried about Christmas this year as I’ve just finished uni and I’m struggling to find a job… rejection after rejection and I’m running out of money🥲 I hope that it’ll work out for me soon as I LOVE autumn and winter and can’t resist buying seasonal things and going all out for presents!

 

[HoGi]

Did you also order a little something for yourself?

Haha not yet. But there is always something under the tree with a label "To HoGi love HoGi" done it since my first full time job

 

[mrs.darcy]

last year i kept a list of
gift / price / where i'd hidden it / was it wrapped
for each person so i could keep track and not over buy and it was so helpful! definitely doing the same this year

I'm a list person, I have lists for everything.
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I keep a list on my notes page on my phone with a price. Luckily I can leave stepdaughter presents at my parents house so I don't have to hide them, wish I figured that out when she was 5 and she nearly saw her unwrapped dream house fall out of her dads wardrobe

I'm a paper person so have a physical planner, which is all decorated with Christmas stuff, all the dividers are Christmassy and it looks like an explosion in a Christmas factory

 

[Meg78]

Of all the things I thought I’d ever go viral for bargain Christmas trees was not it

 

[rainbowlemon]

I played Christmas songs this morning whilst getting ready, apologies to my neighbours.

"All I want for Christmas is youuuuuuu"

 

[Megansnarkle]

I just remembered we were supposed to be going to France this week on the train (Eurostar and then domestic trains) but cancelled a while ago, didn't move the Eurostar tickets at the time so have just done so (that would have been a costly error or a very last minute trip to Paris) and so it looks like we're off to Strasbourg in December for the Christmas markets! Just need to book a train to and from Paris once they become bookable (I have set up an alert). Woohoo. Feeling very Christmassy now.

 

[Wellthisisinteresting]

Nothing major just watching some Christmas films, having a cheese board and eating some festive treats (so far Quality St's)

I am LOVING this idea

 

[Jwren]

I was thinking of getting bingo equipment for Christmas Eve

We normally get something we can all do together. One year we got some animal balloon modelling kits. All I can say is not one of them turned out looking like the animal they were suppose to be, even after a few drinks.
Although that may have been the problem, alcohol and balloon modelling aren’t perhaps the best combo.

 

[Em_]

Has anyone been Disneyland Paris in December? We go this year for my sons birthday mid December and I’ve heard it’s not as special for Christmas as people make out

I'e been to disneyworld in Orlando in December and that was great, once you get used to it be sunny, it is magical there.
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I collected my two trees earlier on. The girl serving me said "2 Christmas trees" in a very patronising way and gave me a snigger, so that wound me up. Once she brought them out and gave me another look, I said "they were only £1.50 each" and she looked at me like I was a nutter. I don't know why I said they were £1.50 and why I felt the need to explain myself.
Here's a photo of one of them, I've not put the stand on or fluffed it out as I wanted to get it back in the box.

 

[hannah123]

Girl, life is too short to not use “best” things. Light that damn candle.

hahaha I’m gonna get the autumn scent first to get me in the mood

For anyone who likes Xmas scents and hasn’t smelt the white company winter scent, I would 100% recommend. Smelt it for the first time yesterday and it’s unreal, it’ll be the first time getting a fancy candle but Iove autumn and Xmas scents and I just got a new job so it’ll be a treat to myself

 

[Chocolategoggler]

Yesss I found my people ahhh it’s so nice to be here
I love Christmas planning
I have my 3 kids and brother to get for and I am done the rest can have a card if lucky lol
I’m going to do a hamper as well for them all so looking for small gifts and munch bits to put in them

I was watching an influencer video and last Christmas she made an "experience" for her children - a wooden tray that she painted up and a popcorn carton etc as though they were at the cinema having a hotdog, milkshake and sweets, but they were watching a film at home. Her children loved it.
I think I've seen the wooden tray and stripy popcorn boxes in B and M or Home Bargains. She brought it out again recently as it was the school holidays but rainy.
I think things like this spark children's imagination and creativity and really appeal to them. They become a family thing to do and are never forgotten.
I dread to think how much all this would have cost them at the cinema.
She also seemed a bit overcome recently that her eldest child had baked some flapjacks off his own back for the family.
Most influencers tend to do the cinema outing costing a bomb or buying packet mixes to bake which gets a bit samey after a while.