Yes, I said it. 11 shopping months 'til Christmas Eve, and I am starting this thread!!!
Some people (like me) feel a little better having some idea of a plan wayyyyy in advance, and it is fun to see how those plans change and evolve. Others won't pop on until November (assuming the world and the internet still exist by then...)
So for those who are willing, with last Christmas now a month behind us, what were your take-aways? Is there something you want to do different this year? Any plans already in mind?
I'll go first. I have created my Christmas22 secret amazon shopping list and added my first item.I have a niece who enjoys wine, but is the black sheep of her (religious) tea-totaler family... She'll think it is hilarious, and the rest of the family all says we're going to hell anyway...
I may ask a friend's wife if she can make one for me (local artisan and all) that says "blessed" instead of "touched."
I love it....I have always shopped year round and then forgotten what I've gotten....I will be shopping for great grandson but that is about it this year....all grandkids are grown and on their own and they are pretty set and not needing anything and if they do they ask me if I have it or can get it and I usually do.....on sale of course....I do online auctions and use to get some really great buys but now everyone has jumped on the wagon and deals are few and far behind.....
One thing we saw from this past Christmas is we spent way too much on dgds. This year we will probably spend less and get them less. I may try the 5 gift rule:
Want
Need
Wear
Read
Experience
We do start shopping early. We are usually done in October. I get stocking stuffers closer to Christmas, but I may get some of them early this year.
love it! Funny if Jesus turned water into wine ..where do the tee totalers come in lol
since rest of the family has fall birthdays stuff is for that or xmas. got 2 wood model puzzles, a jigzag puzzle so far. some body shop stuff on clearance.
Buying even less than before. No longer doing gift exchanges with anyone so I'm not creating a stash of presents in the closet. Tried to give away what I had already. So much covid going around I still have a couple bags of gifts left over. Bought a few gift bags after the holiday this year, didn't stock up on wrap or anything. Except for DH I'm going to wait until the last minute so I don't get stuck buying gifts that will sit in the closet another year.
OH MAN!!!! So soon. Just a month out. Well, I guess I better get on it.
I need to go through the "gift bin" again and start the list of who is already covered and then pare down the overall list of who gets gifts. My mom convinced another portion of adult relatives to draw names rather than the overwhelming gifting.
I'm glad that Christmas is only 11 months away. I don't buy presents yet. If I buy any gifts at all, I won't do so until November at the earliest. Then I can see if someone needs something or has a wish. Let's see.
I have fabric to make a quilt for our daughter for Christmas. I found some fabric to make pj pants for my granddaughters. They have snowflakes on them which glow in the dark. They’ll get a big kick out of those.
I always make photo calendars for my Dad, my brother and my sister. I don’t usually do those up though until the end of November. That way I have pictures from over the course of the year to put in the calendar and I include the Christmas from the year before.
I know people talk about "Christmas in July," but technically today is the 6-month mark, not July...
Currently it looks like we will be travelling to the in-laws (NC/SC border) for Thanksgiving, then doing Christmas up here-- however I will probably be working that day, so the big family meal might end up being on Christmas eve or something... no way to know if even that will work out yet...
I have my secret list on Amazon that I have added a couple of things to, both things I might buy for the family and 2 things I might want for myself if the in-laws ask for ideas. I also have list on my phone, but no real ideas yet...
I gave 2 of my local nieces (old/used) kitchen-aid mixers last year and we discussed possibly getting together and using all three of our mixers with my attachments to make a bunch of homemade pastas for homemade gifts/gifts in a jar, and today I picked up 3 Christmas-y baskets from the "free" bin at a local thrift that I thought one of my nieces might want for packaging her jar-gifts. (I am proud to say that I did NOT pick up any of the gift wrap/cutesy decorations I saw today.)
But overall, I haven't had any brilliant ideas yet,,,
I’ve tossed some ideas around in my head but the only one I plan on at this point is for our DD. I found a pattern for a carrier that you put your tea cup in and places for some packets for tea. Stoves tea so I am currently growing chamomile and mint and thought I’d give her some of those and the carrier with a new cup etc that she can take to work with her.
found some harry potter tshirts on clearance at walmart so picked that up for dd for xmas or bday only a few weeks apart. plus a sweatshirt style dress
I picked up a few things but decided to not have DH and I exchange gifts. My sis and me will just buy for kids too. I got DS2 a set of winter base layers under clothes and 2 collector cards (but he already owns them. oops) and a collector pokemon ball.
I'm saving up to get DS2 and his gf a massage gc.
I have started thinking up ideas for a couple of close friends. I saw a couple things on Etsy I could probably do myself and customize for each person. No idea what to get DH, except snacks.
One of our daughter’s favorite musicians as a child has a book coming out set to her favorite song that he sang. I couldn’t resist! I ordered a copy for her and for each of my grandchildren.
Ordered the game of Clue but it’s the Grinch version. We are all fans of the old animated special and I just couldn’t resist. That’ll be a whole family gift.
Only 3 months to go. Hard to believe it with the beautiful sunny day we have today. DH and I talked about getting some small gifts for close friends, but we've no idea what. I'll keep an eye out. Maybe small food/treat baskets. Likewise for DH, no idea, he has everything, but some beef jerky or chocolate are usually eaten.
Saw a “Dogman” game and picked that up yesterday for my great nephew. He loved the Dogman book series and they don’t have this game so I checked another gift off my list.
Just got another 7 relatives signed up for a gift exchange drawing instead of individual gifts to all! That helps. I am letting people kind of pick someone secretly if they already have a gift for someone.
Found cute blank cards at thrift, 14 for 99cents! Most will work for solstice or Christmas with little mice in winter scenes. Need to reinventory my gift bin. I might be close to done now that we have the drawing in place. Will pick up a few more local craft items at the farmers market today
I got a couple vintage things a tray etc for xmas for family
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