How can I get through xmas this year? Ideas?

[Lysal]

Check out Asda and poundland. Last year I managed. to get a smartprice tree tor £4 it wasn't huge but once it was decorated it looked ok.

 

[satine51]

Thanks tiggerpony for starting ths thread, some great ideas here that I may also be using! I was thinking something to do with LO's pics. If you join photobox I think you get some free prints so you could use photos to make a collage and put it in a cheap frame from ikea/poundland? I am not very crafty unfortunately, but if you have a printer there is a lot you can do on the computer! Even doing some vouchers for personalised favours are quite cute. I haven't explored car boot sales but my friend swears by them.

 

[Maman]

get a cardboard box (free from most shops, or a shoebox) cover with wrapping paper and put some things in it... like one idea is a pack of doritos or some popping corn, a couple of cans/bottles of drink, some sweeties and either cinema tickets or a couple of cheesy dvds (even if theyre proper old school and from a charity shop) and thats a movie night in hamper.

or a couple of cheap bath bombs, a couple of cheap candles from poundland, a shower cap and one of those inflatable bath pillows (also poundland!) for a girly bathtime relax hamper.

check out mse for ideas for hampers, some of the people on there are geniuses.

another one is to collect as many of those freebies/samples as you can and use them in the hampers too. Remember ebay.

we got an xmas tree from wilko last year it was like 15 quid, 5 foot, and had lights and decs on it. charity shops do good decs and salt dough decs look amazing, as do felt ones, another is glue dry pasta shapes together and paint silver or white and they look like snowflakes.

 

[kerrie24]

Take some nice pics of your baby,buy frames from the pound shop,voila!
Everyone likes a nice pic.
Have you tried getting a studio account?You can pay minimum payments per month and they have some nice stuff,you can get a lot of personalised stuff too.

 

[satine51]

We couldn't afford much for presents this year either, we told all our friends that we are not buying for each other, cut down massively on family, we have 9 nephews and a niece between us! We are only buying something small for each other and I used my boots advantage card points and tesco club card voucher exchange for LOs presents, we got £40 worth of elc toys for him from boots and £30 using the double up thing on tesco, to be honest I don't think he'll notice either, he'll be 10 months old, I already know he will enjoying crunching the wrapping paper more!! I've bought most of lo's things so far from car boots, charity shops and gratefully received donations from friends who all had babies a year before me, we have saved a fortune and he hasn't missed out at all because it hasn't been new, oddly enough, his favourite toys are anything he's not 'supposed' have such as my plastic kitchen bowls, wooden spoon etc. I've also made him a treasure basket for Xmas, google it, babies love them as they are full of interesting textures and don't look like the usual toys, hope you have a fantastic Christmas, I know it's easier said than done but just cherish your first Christmas together, whatever you do or spend, it doesn't matter xxxxx

Thank you for a great idea about treasure basket! I am excited to do it for my LO now

 

[shel030785]

I always think photo's of LO are a perfect gift. It costs pence to get them printed out and you can get some lovely/cheap photo frames from home bargains/instore now. Good luck xxx

 

[ginny]

Thank you for a great idea about treasure basket! I am excited to do it for my LO now [/QUOTE]

That's ok! Hope you have fun making it xx

 

[satine51]

We couldn't afford much for presents this year either, we told all our friends that we are not buying for each other, cut down massively on family, we have 9 nephews and a niece between us! We are only buying something small for each other and I used my boots advantage card points and tesco club card voucher exchange for LOs presents, we got £40 worth of elc toys for him from boots and £30 using the double up thing on tesco, to be honest I don't think he'll notice either, he'll be 10 months old, I already know he will enjoying crunching the wrapping paper more!! I've bought most of lo's things so far from car boots, charity shops and gratefully received donations from friends who all had babies a year before me, we have saved a fortune and he hasn't missed out at all because it hasn't been new, oddly enough, his favourite toys are anything he's not 'supposed' have such as my plastic kitchen bowls, wooden spoon etc. I've also made him a treasure basket for Xmas, google it, babies love them as they are full of interesting textures and don't look like the usual toys, hope you have a fantastic Christmas, I know it's easier said than done but just cherish your first Christmas together, whatever you do or spend, it doesn't matter xxxxx

Thank you for a great idea about treasure basket! I am excited to do it for my LO now

 

[lenamar2010]

Here, I've found a website you might like about xmas deco...https://www.reutilizar.com/en/tag/recycled-christmas-decorations/

 

[bellablue]

would you use a fake tree? ebay has a ton fairly cheap!

or maybe the last couple days the real trees will be very cheap

if you do have a dollar store i would go there they have really cute things the ones here do and i like what some one else said you could buy the christmas containers and make cookies!

even buy picture frames and put little ones photos in them and put them in a nice gift bag and give as gifts

 

[TattiesMum]

sometimes the trees go on sale before xmas too if they are overstocked or not selling...

also ebay, freecycle, gumtree etc worth trying

I got my tree for £10 last year, fully decorated and set up (it was a display model), from Argos 3 days before xmas

I often make a lot of xmas presents myself ... last year I did chocolate bark in cellophane (asda smart price milk and white chocolate and peanuts so it worked out really cheap), sock monkeys for the children, and skittle vodka (which was too much faffing to bother with again!)

This year I'm making a couple of sock monkeys for new LO's, plus some 'bandana' bibs, a cot quilt for my great nephew plus sweeties.

Can I also recommend https://www.cccs.co.uk/ for helping with the debts Hon? They are a not for profit organisation who will help you to find the best way to help with the debts and creditors. It's all anonymous and they provide form letters for sending to creditors etc