Christmas 2017 thread

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Originally Posted by jasperandchar

What types of things do you put in your childrens/teens Christmas stockings? Do you have a set budget for the stockings. Do you accompany the stocking with a small or large gift from Santa?

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If your profile is up to date, I see your boys are 11 and 13. Here are some ideas I've used for doing stockings for males, but are fairly gender-neutral, as I usually hint to 'santa' that I'd like most of these things as well:

-Face wash, bodywash, razors, etc. Your kids are right on the brink of puberty, so this is a great time to gift the gift of hygiene lol. If they style their hair, adding hair wax or whatever they use is an option too. You can find lots of stuff at Dollarama that is brand name and branded in a hyper-masculine way, lol.

-Candy and junk food. You could leave each child a 'movie night' pack from Santa with their stocking including: A movie, candy, pop, chips, microwave popcorn, etc. Gum and tic tacs are also great, as is beef jerky, but whatever treat your child loves but only rarely gets is great. I'm asking Santa for some Costco antipasto this year ;)

-Socks and underwear. If your kids are wearing boxers or boxer briefs and you can find a few in a cool design at walmart or something, that's a great idea. But nobody wants to pull out tighty-whities in front of the family :P

-Ear buds, phone or ipod cases, thumb drives, battery backup, batteries, charging cords etc.

-A wallet, lanyard for keys, a toque with a band he likes on it (HMV is great for stuff like that, or Hot Topic if you have one nearby).

-Calendar

-Anything small related to one of their interests. If they like minecraft, for example, google 'minecraft gift ideas' and you'll see a lot of what is available. There are often neat things like books, toys, clothing, etc. that go along with just about everything there is that's popular right now and could open up a lot of possibilities for you :)

The Lego Minifigure bags are a big hit here, young and old.

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Originally Posted by jasperandchar

I picked up each of the boys a $10 gc for McDonalds for their stockings. For my eldest I have a xbox1 remote which will come in handy to skip forward dvds etc.

I'm still hoping to have most of my stocking stuffers done by Halloween.

What types of things do you put in your childrens/teens Christmas stockings? Do you have a set budget for the stockings. Do you accompany the stocking with a small or large gift from Santa?

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I find most kids like blind bag-type toys, you just need to find one the lines up with their interest (trading cards, mine craft, shopkins, adventure time, etc.). Mine likes My Little Pony so I hunt down small toys relating to that. Also, dollar stores are good for some things (craft-y stuff, candy, stickers). Chapters will have a whole list of sticking stuffer stuff online in a couple weeks, some of it is expensive but there's some good ideas there and you can see if it can be bought elsewhere.

I don't have a set budget, I just try to be sensible and buy until I feel it's "done". We always do one Santa gift (usually one of the bigger items) plus the stocking, and all other items are from us.

DDs big gifts I buy long in advance (they're sitting in the closet waiting) but for some reason her stocking takes longer to accumulate but I usually will finish by her birthday (November).

Spent 2 days shopping at the eaton centre in toronto. Bought one crappy lousy gift,a bottle of ink for dh's fountain pen. Bummed, maybe because we usually go in November, somehow I just am not finding anything interesting, and no great deals. Usually I do quite well and come home with tons of things. Bummed!

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Originally Posted by Chantel

If your profile is up to date, I see your boys are 11 and 13. Here are some ideas I've used for doing stockings for males, but are fairly gender-neutral, as I usually hint to 'santa' that I'd like most of these things as well:

-Face wash, bodywash, razors, etc. Your kids are right on the brink of puberty, so this is a great time to gift the gift of hygiene lol. If they style their hair, adding hair wax or whatever they use is an option too. You can find lots of stuff at Dollarama that is brand name and branded in a hyper-masculine way, lol.

-Candy and junk food. You could leave each child a 'movie night' pack from Santa with their stocking including: A movie, candy, pop, chips, microwave popcorn, etc. Gum and tic tacs are also great, as is beef jerky, but whatever treat your child loves but only rarely gets is great. I'm asking Santa for some Costco antipasto this year ;)

-Socks and underwear. If your kids are wearing boxers or boxer briefs and you can find a few in a cool design at walmart or something, that's a great idea. But nobody wants to pull out tighty-whities in front of the family :P

-Ear buds, phone or ipod cases, thumb drives, battery backup, batteries, charging cords etc.

-A wallet, lanyard for keys, a toque with a band he likes on it (HMV is great for stuff like that, or Hot Topic if you have one nearby).

-Calendar

-Anything small related to one of their interests. If they like minecraft, for example, google 'minecraft gift ideas' and you'll see a lot of what is available. There are often neat things like books, toys, clothing, etc. that go along with just about everything there is that's popular right now and could open up a lot of possibilities for you :)

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You're a genius thanks so very much. I should update my profile :shock:as the boys are now 12 and other lad will be 15 by Christmas.

Eldest is already shaving so great tips about the razors etc.

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Originally Posted by scouponer

Spent 2 days shopping at the eaton centre in toronto. Bought one crappy lousy gift,a bottle of ink for dh's fountain pen. Bummed, maybe because we usually go in November, somehow I just am not finding anything interesting, and no great deals. Usually I do quite well and come home with tons of things. Bummed!

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oh that's disappointing but nothing worse than buying something and second guessing your purchase wishing you hadn't purchased it.

While at SDM today the Civitan was selling fruitcake I purchase a box of 3 for my dad, I give him this every year as he loves the stuff. So my dad's gifts are almost done as I purchased him a foot pedi (grinder thingy) haha from the shopping channel and only needed to pay the taxes as I had a free $50 promo code. So 1 more gift for my dad and he's done.

Now my mother on the other hand is so hard to shop for last year I purchased a bottle of Poison perfume at SDM and it's still not opened as she is still trying to use up her current bottle. So I'm thinking movie passes to the theatre near her home and that's all I can come up with.

Rooster Brand sweetened condensed milk on sale this week for $1.88 at superstore. Cheapest I've seen SCM aside from random clearance sales. Now I have lots for Christmas baking :)

I found a plastic tool set at Dollarama for $3. I had all of our children with me at the time so I quickly took a picture to show dh. He agreed that we are going to buy it for our 3yr old son for Christmas. I would also like to buy him plastic jumping frogs. He was given one for his birthday, but he wore it out the next day. I found them on Amazon.ca, but I don't want to get it if I have to pay for the shipping. I'm ordering a $25 Amazon.ca with my Superpoints.

67 days until the big day

https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/Bq...funny-pics.jpg

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Originally Posted by Chantel

Update, they did not work as I had hoped. An ACTUAL vintage ornament that touched bleach water had all its' paint come off in a matter of seconds. These new ornaments took a ton of elbow grease and a steel wool pad. Probably not worth the time for most people, but if you have old ornaments that the paint is coming off already, they would probably give you better success than just cheap new ornaments.

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@Chantel : Are these ornaments glass? If they are, you can use nail polish remover. Just don't use it on plastic surfaces or it will eat into the plastic, leaving many scratches. You could also try Varsol or paint thinner.

Getting some ideas. Youngest DS has been asking for a camera so that is on my list! Will get him a proper bag for it too.

Fun thread! I really do love Christmas. I wasn't ready for it in March though when this thread started.
Tagging along for the merry ride :)

March? it took us that long? Normally we start talking December 26.

Ordered a bunch of Christmas Yves Rocher stuff online yesterday.I think I will make some basckets gifts with products and hope for good prices or clearance in the stuff I want for Christmas.