I'm keeping it simple with the Christmas wrapping this year, well I do every year but I used to have a shop and then a Farmers Market stall so I could always pilfer bits and bobs for wrapping from my craft supplies. Now in our efforts to keep it simple I've sold all my crafting things, (well they weren't going to be used any more by me and there are lots of crafters out there who threw good money at me for them and I had decided I would rather buy myself a house!!) so I decided to spend a little to 'tart up' my presents.
This lot cost me just £4, wrappings are currently 'Buy To Get One Free' in T*sco at the moment AND I spotted that they have a box of Value Range 12 Christmas crackers for just £1. Nice shiny glossy crackers, with a motto, a hat and the naffest of naff little plastic gifts in each one. But what's to stop you carefully opening one end of each cracker and removing the plastic gift and inserting one of your own or even just a couple of Quality Street sweeties instead. These crackers do not seem to be available online, maybe they want your money by only having the glassy £10 a box packs on there, so do look out in store for them. (It would actually cost you more to buy a kit to make your own crackers than buy these.)
But this year I don't think I'll bother with crackers at all, if anyone really wants a paper hat I'll make them one 'a la The Good Life' .... from the newspaper pile near the log basket.
I toyed with the idea of wrapping the pressies in newspaper or glossy magazine pages, but on finding a large roll of brown paper it seems a shame to waste it, and as we have virtually no decorations to put up the little gifts we have bought for our Christmas Day visitors will sit under the teeny Christmas tree from last year (it's survived wonderfully outside in it's pot all year and will move house next week) and make our living room look suitable festive.
The sticky tape and the bows were £1.50 each, so I got all three for £3 and the sticker book just £1, not bad at 1p per sticker and as the presents I've bought are quite small these will cheer them up no end.
Our only other expenditure this year has been another £1.50 on a pack of mini baubles for our little tree, he's still too small to be able to bear the weight of our normal baubles which will be piled into a couple of bowls and dotted around the place.
The main decorations for the house will be cut from our woodland just before the big day, there are lots of bushes laden with berries but we will only be taking a few sprigs of these as really I consider them wild bird food, and we have a wonderfully big Holly bush directly opposite the kitchen window which will be tidied up just in time for Christmas Day as will some of the ivy.
What have you got planned up to now?
Sue xx
Absolutely nothing! We are on our own for the Christmas period and generally, when that happens, treat it like any other time with the exception of gifts and drinks! New Year we have visitors and that will be our Christmas as we will have held back their presents and theirs to us.
ReplyDeleteI don't do a lot of decorating /'triming up' as Mum use to call it. Not really a Christmassy person .. but I will cut a bit of greenery from the garden a day or two before .. it always looks inviting and freshens the house. I too have used brown paper, tissue and string to wrap little presents.
ReplyDeleteVicky x
How wonderful to be able to cut your own decorations from your very own woodland. In a few years time I hope to be able to pilfer some of my own holly, still a bit small at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI'm like AA on this too. I have an artificial garland that goes on the wooden fire surround and it has various bits and bobs that go on it and I will get some fresh greenery and place around the home too.
ReplyDeleteAs for christmas presents, I buy/make for close family and a few friends but, thats' it really.
I have used old sheet music wrapped with red ribbon for presents before and it looks so pretty. I had planned to make reusable Christmas fabric bags for presents this year but have been ill shingles and a chest infection :( We aren't having a tree this year am going to bring in some branches place in a vase and decorate with natural things
ReplyDeleteOne year i put a scratchcard in everyone's crackers :) we collectively won £73 so well worth the £6 investment
DD2 will be joining us for Christmas lunch, DD1 brought me back some of the old decs I had given to her, I will return them. and I will decorate the week before Christmas, they will be gone after boxing day.
ReplyDeleteWe have a tiny tree, not real one, mind you there is a huge one in the garden which I hope is going to get cut down shortly......I certainly had no plans to decorate it!!
Will you be in your new Welsh home by Christmas??????
Not much really. No presents this year - we don't need anything and we have expensive building work to begin in the new year. I'm not feeling Grinchy at all, but I just don't fancy the domestic upheaval of a tree this year so the decorations can stay in the loft and I've just got my usual 'midwinter gloom averting' fairylights about the place. We've just completed 5 months of very messy indoor building work - with all the disruption that entails - so we're simply looking forward to putting our feet up in a clean, tidy, brightly lit house, with some nice food and drink. Lovely! :-)
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ReplyDeleteHalf the pressies are bought, have got some gift baskets to put together for the ladies (Plan A had to be aborted as the Paperwhite daffs I had planted up for them STANK!, so am using the ceramic pots they were in and making them up as gift baskets full of little bits and bobs), gift wrapping kept simple with brown paper hand stamped. We have Xmas day next door with OH's Mum and the rest of her children, but we still trim up. Xmas in OHs family is a BIG deal. We have full dinner on Xmas day and then again on Boxing day (usually about 13 or so of us each day, as they dont all come on Xmas day). Im working in between Xmas and New Year, but I dont mind as OH's family can be a bit full on.
ReplyDeleteAm looking forward to celebrating Xmas's in New Zealand (when we get there) as its all very laid back and nice and warm, water skiiing, camping out,etc and Xmas ham instead of Turkey and fresh fruit and pavlova for dessert .I know OH will find it a bit strange, but I Love it. :o)
I bought two rolls of wrapping paper for £1 around the end of October in Poundland. I've dug out the Christmas cards I bought last year, and my stock of labels made from past Christmas cards. I've bought a few presents, but still got a few to go. I love getting into the spirit of Christmas, it's my favourite time of the year :)
ReplyDeletePlan A this year was to take Mum & Dad out for Christmas meal as Mum does not really enjoy cooking that much anymore and Dad likes a meal out (as long as it is accompanied by a pint or real ale!) My daughter was not joining us so we thought it would be a treat and there is not enough room in the motorhome for four of us for Christmas Day. However, plans have changed, daughter is now joining us with her two young children, so we now have to plan a family Christmas - actually I am really quite pleased. We were away last year, and although it was lovely being able to self-indulge in France, I did miss not being with the family. Overnight change to Plan B, but we have today gone to the storage unit and brought back the christmas decorations for the motorhome - an 18" tree complete with lights and mini baubles, 'flying' Santa and fairy lights to go under the cupboards. Might even treat ourselves to some window transfers this year! Have to convince Mum to get her decorations out though, she is a bit of a Bah Humbug (although at 81 I guess she has done it for a lot of years).
ReplyDeleteNothing. Nowt. Zilch. Chuff all. :o))
ReplyDeleteI bought some v.cheap wrapping paper from home bargains, Twiglet has a dr who advent calendar he got free with his comic, the advent candle will be lit tomorrow. We'll trim up in a couple of weeks, we have a lot of old decos and lots of homemade ones, it's like seeing old friends again :)
ReplyDeleteTwiggy
My neighbours' boys are making Christmas wreaths so I shall order one - not the biggest for a gate at £ 45 ! They have one displayed on their gate .. it's HUGE ! I shall buy a modest one for about £ 6
ReplyDeleteA few years ago the husband came home with a few rolls of plain gold coloured paper someone had given him. That's what I've been using ever since for wrapping presents, plus as it's plain I can then add any crafty bits and bobs as embellishments (crochet motifs, etc.), for gift tags I use old Christmas cards. Last year's Christmas cards were made from the card I saved from the previous years crackers :-)
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