I found some presents to fill a bag from Charity shops instead of doing two hampers with home made chutneys etc this year.(With no homegrown fruit and veg to use and not needing many myself. I just didn't make much)
Some Baylis and Harding bubble bath balls - found two of these. A box with 4 mini gins for Sister in law came from a car boot sale and a set of three pots for herbs for the kitchen windowsill from a yard sale for my sister. It's OK to blog about them as neither sister and husband or sister in law and her husband read the blog (their loss!) so they won't see this! I added a bottle of wine to each bag, one won sometime ago and another won in the tombola from the church Christmas fair. Plus the two food things got from Dobbies using the voucher.
But here is a whole youtube thing about everything one family have found this year from charity shops to use for Christmas presents............ if you can cope with several minutes of build-up before she gets to the nub of the matter! and so much arm waving!
( I've tried to watch more of this ladies vlogs but she does wave arms a lot which is really off putting!)
Normally I can find things for two penfriends from car-boot sales during the year but didn't have much luck this year, ending up buying gifts from the craft fairs. But I'm a bit reluctant to buy games etc for grandchildren from charity shops or car-boots as you can never be 100% sure that they are complete.
There are 3 adult children, 2 partners, 5 grandchildren, sister and husband, sister-in-law and husband and BiL to buy for.............maybe I should start looking in charity shops now!
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The Doctor Who spin off with Russell Tovey that started on TV last night was quite dramatic I thought. Amazing what can be done with CGI and special effects - especially the plastic falling from the sky. Clever script too.
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Day 7 of the coffee advent calendar was chocolate/almond flavour which was good.
I have often got some lovely things from Sainsbury's homeware section for anything from 50p to £3 when they reduce the Christmas things before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI do pick bits up through the year too when we visit places...I think the charity shops can be quite expensive now. Some are better than others. I bought a Christmas jigsaw from the cancer one but it was in their new range so I am confident all 500 pieces will be there.
So far I've been lucky with 2nd hand jigsaws - touch wood, but finding gifts isn't always easy
DeleteI watched the war between the land and sea, I found when the dramatic music st the start was playing it was so loud I struggled to hear what was said, I did watch both and will keep watching.
ReplyDeleteI didn't hear when the next parts of the programme are on so will investigate.
DeleteI'm enjoying hearing about your coffee advent calendar. I've bought one for my husband for after Christmas; awkward moment when he opened the delivery thinking it was is usual coffee order and nearly found his way into the door for Christmas day! Luckily he checked with me...
ReplyDeleteHope there is a good variety in your calendar for your husband
DeleteI find that a lot of tv presenters seem to wave their arms around now. It is very distracting and annoying. The worse culprits are certain weather girls who seem to be doing some sort of interpretive dance routine!
ReplyDeleteOh yes - the weather ladies do lots of waving!
DeleteI’ll watch the video when I stop for coffee-thanks. I’m still making some things for friends for Christmas as I seem to have be uninspired this year. Daughter and her husband get money transferred as they are usually somewhere sunny and warm at Christmas. Catriona
ReplyDeleteWish I was clever enough to produce Christmas gifts - other than food things.
DeleteThere are some really good gifts to be found in charity shops I totally agree. I'm fascinated by the idea of a coffee Advent calendar! What a good idea.
ReplyDeleteThere are advent calendars for everything but coffee is the only one with a use for me - it's interesting to see what they are.
DeleteInteresting video, but she is quite annoying and rather smug!
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteYes very - made me smile how she says how many square foot her house is!
DeleteSome of these videos are hilarious aren't they, with the wannabe famous presenters waving their arms around like windmills 😀
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying your coffee advent calendar x
Alison in Devon x
I have huge problems with you tube vloggers - I'm usually saying 'Come on, get on with it!'
DeleteI love supporting charity shops. We don't have many in our area but I was so impressed in England!
ReplyDeleteSadly we are losing some charity shops - several have closed recently locally
DeleteYou found some great buys in charity shops and boot sales. I enjoy the hunt for suitable gifts all year round, I'm often amazed at the lovely brand new things which are available. Easier to buy for women than men though.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's work Secret Santa has to be recycled,/ secondhand (Vinted is allowed) homemade or charity shopped for a certain money limit. Such a sensible idea.
Penny
That's a clever idea for secret santa for work colleagues - it could get expensive otherwise.
DeleteI agree about YouTube, the wannabe channels, that is. Blathering on for ages picking things up, putting them down, then finally getting to the point! They don't seem to realize they could edit out all the first part and end with a better video! I think good presenters make it look easy!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I don't watch vloggers very often- it would drive me nuts!
DeleteMy siblings and I don't exchange gifts anymore. We agreed years ago that we don't need more stuff and we just enjoy getting together and sharing laughs and memories I get gift ideas from my children and grandkids but they all know that I do not spend a lot so I appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteWe stopped birthday gifts for us oldies a while ago but I like doing Christmas so will carry on
DeleteKezia is a bit windmill like isn't she. I find a lot of what she says makes perfect sense ... she could just say it all once, without the dramatics and while sitting still. I watch YouTube on television and have my finger on the fast forward button for a lot of the channels. :-)
ReplyDeleteSadly most of my family would be dead against anything second-hand ... so I just compromised ... and stopped buying them presents.
Neither sister or sister in law use charity shops or go to car boots. I don't know if they know some of the things I give them are new but second-hand!
DeleteWhen the family come to us, which means staying for a week at least due to the distance,we all go to the charity to buy gifts for each other. The limit is $15 each which is roughly 7 pounds. The children buy one thing for each adult and there is lots of discussion about the merits of their purchases. It is a fun outing. The next day more fun as grandma is called upon to help the children wrap the presents, all done with excitement and anticipation.The children still get new presents on Christmas day but the adults just get charity shop things.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely event for your family. Good fun for the children
DeleteYour gift boxes for relatives are always lovely and a nice mix of carefully selected items. Fortunately for you, there seem to be many charity shops and church sales all year around.
ReplyDeleteOur second hand/thrift/charity/consignment shops have changed quite a bit. Many price things and show markdowns by date for things that do not sell. It used to be a price tag was often a starting point and a customer could make an offer and purchase or walk away. Under the new system, prices start very high and there are no bargains. Many of the shops have closed or reduced their shop size dramatically.
Estate sales price items very high as well. If you go to the sale the last day of selling, bargains are available but most of the best items are gone.
Charity shops are gradually closing here - even though they don't pay full business taxes they don't seem able to afford to keep shops running.
DeleteBuying from charity shops is a good idea. I tend to just not buy many gifts at all, but you have a bigger family than I do!
ReplyDeleteThe 'problem' with having 3 children!
DeleteYou always seem to find lovely second hand things and I have always liked the look of your hampers in the past. We dont buy many presents at all now so I'm done! Thank Heavens!
ReplyDeleteAngie
How wonderful that you are finding such lovely gifts at the charity shops. Here most of the items in ours are kind of tatty. I often think the workers take the best stuff for themselves.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.