Well I’m one of those crazy people who just love Christmas! L-O-V-E! I love buying the presents, the baking, the crafting, the meal planning, the get togethers, the nativity play at church every Christmas Eve, the family and seeing my little ones faces as they open their presents on Christmas day. I also love hosting Christmas lunch at our house and this year is no exception. I always try to have the best Christmas ever and here are my top tips:
Subdued elegance is best for Christmas worship: your choice of outfit will be more suitable if you throw on a light weight jacket to cover your shoulders and upper arms. Probably best to leave those flashing Christmas badges and earrings at home – they’ll be wonderful to wear for the children when you are all at home together.
And now Westfield have just launched a really cool new online gift finder, just at the right time of year too! You put in your search criteria (gender, age, budget) and it generates a selection of gift suggestions for you. Too easy! Talk about saving time and energy walking around the shops searching – especially if you have 4 little people in tow! I’ll be using this for my mum and sister who have everything, mind you I’ve just heard that you can buy personlised style sessions at Westfield and I think that would be popular too! And if that still doesn’t work a trip to Westfield will sort it out with so many stores to choose from. I love WBJ best of all but am pretty excited now that the new Sydney city centre is open! I’ve been today and can tell you its huuuuuuge!
Corrie, one Christmas stands out in my mind in particular.
My husband gave me a deep fryer, an appliance I had already refused to buy several times before. Accompanying that was a weedwand and and a bottle of Zero weedkiller. That same Christmas his mother gave me a bingo prize from a club over your way. Packaged in cellophane with a bow on top was a packet of flour, a bottle of Worcestershire sauce and some soap powder. With it was a washed but stained teatowel with holes in it.
I still remember both those gifts and they have overpowered any memories of more pleasant gifts from that year.
My husband had a pet cockatiel that he adored. It tragically died one day and for his following birthday I decided to buy a new bird.Unfortunately we were young broke uni students and I could only afford the bird that was born deformed with one eye!…He was a little taken aback at first but He still loved it and has never let me forget it!
The Christmas that I was seven sticks out in my memory for one reason. All I wanted from Santa was a briefcase. Yes, aged seven and I wanted to be a business man. Bizarre. My parents bought the fake leather briefcase, wrapped and labelled from Father Christmas and put it under the tree. On Christmas morning I dived in, ripped off the paper, grabbed my beloved briefcase and tried to open it. Somehow when my Mum was wrapping it she had rolled the little number lock and had sealed the briefcase. Forever as it ended up. No one could break it open. I spent Christmas day weeping over a locked faux leather briefcase. Scarred for life.
My worst would be the year that my inlaws gave me salted nuts-I dont eat nuts to start with but due to a medical condition I cant have salt! Then my brother and SIL gave every family member (even my husband)-except me a present!
Email: brekki3@bigpond.com
I loved that last year my mum gave everyone in the family gift vouchers, then added a special gift she’d found at the op shop (she volunteers there)… just awesome!
The worst gift I received for xmas was definitely a little bottle of coloured sand which was made into an image of a sail boat. It was very sad.
Gee, I would have loved it if my mum was as into Christmas as you are. She’s a very practical person and doesn’t like waste or excess. She has given me no gift at times, or useful gifts at other times. Memorable ones include, a doorhandle…yes, really. Ours was busted. And ‘soap on tap’- as a ‘special treat’ when it first came out. And that would have been pretty hard for her to buy because well, why have liquid soap when you could just use a block of velvet soap!
Last year my husband gave me a little present, probably the most thoughtful, romantic one ever. I have a pandora bracelet and had a letter A charm for my name. He picked out a little heart and a letter B for his name. So now I have B ‘heart’ A. Aaawww, so sweet. Usually he visits the chemist because they do great wrapping but has found out that the jewellers wrap really well too!!
Cheers
Anne
My mother got me a cockie (cockroach) vacuum that has hardly any suck, but you’re supposed to suck up cockies and then let them out in your garden outside. You know so you’re cockie friendly and not killing them?
Best part, it looks like a big pink flower…
Weirdest gift i have EVER received!
My Grandma gave me brown undies for Christmas when I was a kid, I’ll never forget it!
My man gave me an inflatable Canoe that he bought from Chadstone and carried it home on the back of his Honda Blackbird Motor bike…the box was bigger than him. We sold it on ebay 5 years later unopened. BTW I am not the outdoor type…so dont know where I was to use it..in the lounge?
About seven years ago my father-in-law gave me a box which contained a chipped serving dish from a discount store. It still had the price tag on it for about $2.00! I couldn’t believe how much he loved me.
Hi Corrie
I also love Christmas and am thankful every year for my family and the lovely gifts they give me. My husband tries hard every year (gotta love him) and his gifts have included; a garden hose, a step ladder, a compost bin and an orbital sander (he does spend a lot of time at the hardware!) When I pointed out this list to him last year he surprised me with a pandora braclet and…a Yamaha trail bike! Do I look like the type of girl to jump on a mororbike I ask you?
Sorry, can’t possibly compete with Jan, surely Christmas is dead to her after those gifts??!!
My brother-in-law got a plastic boat one Christmas from our sister-in-law, completely unexplained, his 3 children got much better gifts than that. We still can’t work that one out??
I had a shocker from my mother-in-law one Christmas, after 5 YEARS of NOTHING but we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, so setting a good example, silence.
Good luck everyone, love Posie
My worst Xmas present ever was half a pack of size 20 granny undies. Ungrateful me perhaps??? I was only a size 14, the other half went to my ex sister in law (who was size 20), she got the pretty prints and I got the plain colours.
My worse Christmas gift was a gift from my SIL (My husbands family does secret santa – so you get on gift)
I was 38 weeks pregnant and I get a bottle of wine and these stack things that you wind into the ground to hold onto your win. Hello – Pregnant and dont drink. Humm
One year i got clingwrap.
yes cling wrap and told to make my own food at home so i dont have to buy it as its bad for your waistline.
I was 9
well it wasn’t me, but my brother who received a very special gift from my aunty one year (she’s notorious for ‘interesting’ gifts).
it was a gift pack of lynx – yes deodorant – wow we, his three sisters were speechless! (and had no complaints about what was inside our packages!
I too love christmas – am so looking forward to crafts, baking, wrapping, carols and then the celebrations at church and with my family…
When I was eight and my brother was fourteen he gave me for Xmas a VERY big box wrapped up. I was terribly excited and ripped into it. Only to find another box inside. So I opened that box expecting something great… and again another box. I think there were about 10 boxes inside each other and then crammed into the last one was a colouring in book aimed at three year olds. I was eight. Thanks big brother. I do remember him rolling around the lounge room floor in hysterics…..
My best Christmas gift was a charm bracelet from my favorite jeweler. With an engraved name and birthdate of each of my kids.
Hi Corrie, I’m aiming for a handmade Xmas this year with lots of handmade pressies! PS: How much would you charge to ship 2yds of fabric to the UK. I’m loving the Alice in Wonderland you’ve got in store!
My husband drives me nuts every year. He is all for surprises, and I like to write lists and get excited about receiving the things on that list! Makes life very difficult. If I don’t tell him what I want, he won’t know what to get… yet if I give him suggestions, he “can’t” get those things because then they won’t be a surprise!
Worst Christmas present ever – an ironing board. It was our first Christmas together, and he is lucky it wasn’t our last!
Best Christmas present ever – the giggles and excitement that comes from my 3 little ones when they wake up on Christmas morning and discover their presents. I’ve been spoilt rotten over the years by some of the loveliest material things (jewellery, clothing, spa vouchers, holidays), but those little faces are more precious than anything else!
My Mum bought me a sewing machine a few years ago and opened up so many possibilities to me. Not to mention the world of blogging, and the new friends that that includes.
I’ve been pretty lucky with bad gifts, though my husband does need a LOT of guidance. 😛
We love Christmas too and our tree & decors are already up since September. When I was 7 I wanted a pet dog desperately but because my family couldn’t afford it, I got a dog stuffy instead. I thought it was the worst gift ever as I was utterly disappointed but it turned out one of the most memorable one. I now have a 7 yr old daughter and I gave her THAT stuffie dog which unbelievably is still OK to play with now.
My best Christmas present ever was received about 5 years ago and wasn’t a ‘traditional’ present, but it was when my husband, who is in the Navy, came home from a long trip at sea just in time for Christmas. Hopefully he will make it home just in time this year! Spending Christmas with him was better than any gift that can be bought…although don’t get me wrong, a $100 gift voucher always comes in handy!
Just to balance it out, the worst present was received years ago from my boyfriend’s mum (who didn’t like me very much at all). She gave me a box of cheap chocolates that she had kept on the back seat of the car – it was a 35 degree day. The result was not pretty.
Hope you all get something lovely this year!
Ooh my husband who was my fiancee at the time gave me beautiful little shells he had found on a beach and wrote messages of love on them
Best christmas present ever!
The best christmas present is when we manage to get the whole family together… nothing makes me happier
Hi Corrie
Firstly, congrats on little Elodie. She is gorgeous and looks so much like Keira.
I love those little stockings – do you have a pattern for them and are they easy for the novice knitter?
Thanks
Lucy
I think the worst Christmas present I ever got was a Mr Frosty sno-cone maker. I actually really wanted it, but ‘Santa’ forgot she’s bought it and it languished in the linen cupboard until March the following year!
books79@y7mail.com
The worst present was actually give to my brother-in-law. One year Michael got his Aunt for his secret santa, who was known throughout the family for being really bad at giving out presents. As he started to open it, everyone crowded around to see what he got. It was…wait for it…a shower radio in the shape of a MY LITTLE PONY!!! He was 23yrs old… classic
You’ve got to give the prize to Jan. I can’t go anywhere near that. My lovely husband always buys beautiful gifts and the dodgy elements of the family give cash so I don’t remember ever getting a really bad present.
We did get some really ugly wedding presents. There was a platter with handpainted kittens on it. It looked like some sort of cat sacrificial offering.
My husband gave me two of the same book one year. I suppose I shouldn’t be ungrateful as it was a good read, but I dont think the lady at Dymocks believed me when I told her he had wrapped all my presents at once and still didn’t realise!
alnmum65@gmail.com.au
My ex MIL gave me the most revolting bowl which looked like it was made up from bright green cabbage leaves………
aaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkkk it was disgusting…….it accidentally got dropped when we moved…….
awwwwwwwww wot a shame…..
My birthday is the middle of December and my mother one year bought me Christmas baubels for a present. Then she keeps telling me that she never bought them for me and she never knows where they came from. Not a Christmas present I know, but being born in December, I always get my birthday and christmas presents lumped together.
After lots of hinting for a new camera my husband finally got me one for christmas. Only it was one of those tiny toy size cameras that come on a keyring. Thanks hubby!
email; sara.rosetta@bigpond.com
Sounds like we’re peas in a pod when it comes to Christmas. Just last night I started making some Christmas decorations from ribbon… putting together Handmade Living meant no crafting for me for most of the year and I’m now making up for it – big time! http://taniamccartney.blogspot.com/2010/10/ribbon-christmas-ornaments.html Tx
The best gift I can think of was from my husband, a gold bracelet, which wasn’t on the suggestions list. The worst was from my Mum, bathroom scales and not a nice set either.
The worst I can remember receiving was from an ex boyfriend. He gave me a couple of books, that coincidentally completed a series he was reading. Not the type of book I read, but I tried one of them, and it was really bad. When we split up, he took the books with him.
Best is harder, I’ve had so many lovely presents. One that comes to mind is the set of Sublime Stitching embroidery patterns that my husband found for me. I didn’t do that style of stitching, but he thought the patterns were quirky enough to appeal to me & I’ve used them heaps since then to embellish clothes for the kids.
Or the picnic basket my sister gave me once, basket, rug, plates, glasses, everything you’d normally find in a picnic basket, plus a bottle of wine & a selection of gourmet snacks, ready to take on a picnic. That was a lovely, thoughtful present.
Nice work Corrie! I will never forget the Christmas of 1981. I was six years old and had just finished Kindergarten. I had asked Santa for a set of Fashion Plates, which are these embossing templates that you mix and match and then colour over with crayon to make different designs with! What is most amazing though is that 29 years later that Christmas present still gets used!! I am a Primary School teacher, currently teaching a Yr1-2 multi-age class and the fashion plates are in the free play corner. My beloved Christmas present is the most played with item in my classroom. The girls in my class get them out all the time. Christmas 1981 lives on forever with me! xo
worst prestent was a nylon crocheted tissue box cover..we couldn’t work out what it was.. a beanie? a teapot cosy..my hubby worked it out! Ghastly..
The standout worst present I got one year was a bar of half used soap. True. Why would you even bother? Love the sound of the gift finder, am off to check it out.