Keeping Christmas affordable.

Stacy - posted on 11/11/2009

Kylee,
Torch? is that a flashlight? Loved the calendar idea, will keep that in mind for next year. My family loves homemade practical things. Last year for the secret santa thing, i went and bought 6 different 2-3 dollars gifts for each grandparent... then set up a "store" at home and let each child pick from each g parent pile and we wrapped them together. the g parents loved them. I bought silly little things i knew they would use. ex. my mothers color and brand of mascara, grandpa got new razors that he likes and new basic gloves for extras.. things like that. silly...but the kids were so excited that they each had there own set of gifts to give.
Thank you for the ideas. The twilight series- my boss loves them and I have heard great things about them. I prob would pass on those particular books, but my children do enjoy reading. We go to library weekly. At 7pm when the babies go to bed, the house become "quiet". The older children have there own different bedtimes according to age, but there is a limit on activities after seven. They can read a book(they have to get an hour in a day). play a quiet board game together.. or go on there facebook. (sounds crazy that this is an option huh?). But it gives my daughter a chance to use spelling and punct. which my husband constantly is telling her on her posts.. sorta of amusing.
Ahh today is a holiday here and I better get going or the day will be wasted. My husband works for a bank, so he is home..... i have quiet a list to complete!
Take care and have a wonderful Christmas with you family if I don't hear from you sooner!
Stacy Warwick

Kylee - posted on 11/11/2009

Hi Stacey,



You guys really do have some great ideas. Our secret Santa cost is around the $30 mark. In saying that, you can often find fantastic gifts that you know someone would appreciate for a lot less. I had to purchase for my father-in-law one year. Everyone hates getting him because he's so impossible to buy for. He has everything he needs and he's a very practical man so he only appreciates things that he needs. I ended up asking mum-in-law and she said he needed a torch. I went to Bunnings (a huge hardware department store) and found a pack of three different torches for every occasion for $10. It was the best present he had ever received.



Right now I am attempting to buy for all the kids. I wish we didn't have to because there are 10 cousins I have to buy for. My partner was also 1 of 5 so heaps of neices and nephews. For my girls, there are certain books they love. They love the Twilight series ans also a few more. I have found some of these books on sale at the moment and as I would not normally buy these things for them, they make great gifts and keeps them reading. I see you are a very Christian family so I'm not sure if you approve of the supernatural for your kids but you get the idea. Boys aged 3 and 6 I think I will just get some matchbox cars or something. They are very cheap and with all the toys they have, they only play with their cars.



A few years ago, before 4 and 5, things were very tight for me so my children and I made calendars for our family. They did all the art work. I asked them to draw 12 pictures each and we made one month per page. I drew it all up but you could do it on a computer. I have a laminator so we laminated everthing and tied it together with nice ribbons and gave these things to grandparents etc. It was a personal thing that way and it cost me almost nothing. I do like the paper plane idea however as my 6 year old has a sudden obsession with paper planes. He makes them at school in art and throws them at me in the car while I'm driving. Not the best but it might be a good idea for him. I've also noticed jigsaw puzzles seem to be popular with my boys at the moment. You could even make them.



Keep coming with the ideas Stacey. You are a big help. Thanks.

Stacy - posted on 11/03/2009

Kylee, Thanks for sharing! What kind of price range do you have for the secret santa? The trampoline is a great idea. Our is on its last year I think. I am kind of the neighborhood prude when it comes to that thing anyway, only my children and cousins are allowed to use it. I just don't want any lawsuits (crazy thinking I know... but I have heard some horror stories).lol The funny thing is, the four houses near by with children all have them anyhow. We do have video game systems (but not the cool ones - as I am often reminded..lol) With a 1 and 2 year old around, my son has to unhook and put it away each time he uses it, too much work in his eyes.... so it does not get used very often. (maybe once a week).
3 and 6 year old. Ahh not really sure. My 2.5 year old is getting something from the "box" upstairs. My sister in law dropped of some hand me down toys this summer and they went straight upstairs! So, I am sure there is something that will put a smile on his face. He is into the wiggles big time! He has one shirt his sister bought him on a trip and he wears it at least three times a week (this is not an exaggeration) I think I may buy iron on stuff at walmart and make him one or two more shirts in different "wiggle" colors with the logo on them. I know.. clothing. But, this is a special exception. lol
The six year old. My son is six and really enjoys his legos. An idea I wanted to do last year and never got around too... was. Getting a small board 2x4 that is about 2 feet long. And drilling several holes in it with different screws I have at the bottom of my tool box. I did give him the set of screw drivers (free online with a coupon from google-but surely they can not be worth more than 4 dollars..lol). He has the screwdrivers and loves that he has "tools". But I have to get around to getting something he can use them on. He is itching to take apart his bike.. ahh! or anything else he can think of! A girlfriend of mine bought a package of computer paper for about three dollars and printed 10 or so different paper plane instructions off the internet and put them in a box and gave that to her son for christmas. I thought that was a really neat idea and very inexpensive. Surely coloring and folding kept him busy for an awful long time before he used up the entire package.
Thats all for now!
Stacy

Kylee - posted on 11/02/2009

Hi Stacey,



I'm thinking that with a 10 month old baby around, she will be happy with the paper and boxes from everyone else. The grandparents will more than likely buy her things anyway. As for the other kids, they love to read. My eldest girls are getting books and I haven't quite sorted out the boys yet. We have so many toys it's not funny so I don't want to go down that line. At the same time, I agree with you. Why give them clothing. The girls appreciate clothing but boys certainly don't. Perhaps a pair of shoes (really flash) that you may not normally buy them. We also like sporting equipment to get them outside. We don't have computer games or anything else in the house. I'm still struggling with this. I need somehting little put under the tree for them because we thought of buying a new trampoline as one large gift for all of them. Our other one broke. They really do get too much at Xmas and my children don't expect it. They are really quite happy with anything. If you have ideas for boys aged 3 and 6, please let me know. We have no idea.



One thing we do with the extended family is secret santa. My partner comes from such a large family also and Xmas day is always spent together so there are 12 adults. We choose not to buy for each other but to put names in a hat and draw out only one for someone else to buy for. We are then given the name drawn for us and we buy only for that person. That way we only get one gift but the children can still see that Xmas is not all about them. I have always thought this to be very important. My partner says he doesn't want anything but I will always at least get something in order that the children have something to give to him. They should always experience the giving and not just the receiving.



Food is a non issue because it's always at my mother-in-laws and she refuses to let anyone have to pay for anything. Even if we help by picking things up, she gives us the money (no matter what we say).



I do like the idea of recycling toys. I should go through them more often and get them out whilst they are still in good condition instead of waiting until they are completely trashed.



Thanks Stacey

Talk soon and Merry Xmas