Hello lovely blog readers! Do you get as excited about Christmas as I do? Every year as soon as September rolls around my mind starts to fill with present ideas, a list of things to bake and home decorating inspiration. I’ve even already started to pick up Christmas presents! And in the next few months, I’ll be bringing you a series of posts on how to have a great, but extremely thrifty, Christmas.
Milo in the Christmas tree!
While thinking about this post, I realised once again that I have the worst memory in the history of memories in the universe…. ever. I can recall some fantastic presents from my childhood, a Nintendo 64 being the bestest ever (although that was a getting-our-tonsils-out present for me and my brother)… but I find it hard to remember specific Christmas’s (Christmases? Christmasi?) and what presents I received. Can you? Am I just the worst person alive?
I can recall fairly vividly the Secret Santa presents that I received during my 6 Christmas’s at Boots…. I LOVE the tradition of doing a secret santa, although some people clearly put more thought/effort into it than others, and some put zero thought into it. Here are some of the presents I got from worst to best –
- A bottle of wine (I don’t drink wine, but handy to give away again)
- A microwavable teddy hot water bottle (could never bring myself to microwave it, hopefully found a new owner in the charity shop I sent him to)
- A girly cocktail glass covered in hearts – after languishing in my cupboard for a year or two, it made its way to a charity shop to join the teddy.
- A lovely pair of earrings that I still wear years later – thanks John!
- A pair of party feet and a box of malteasers. Stereotypical? yes. Useful and delicious? Yes!
and gave –
- Homemade Christmas biscuits in a gift wrapped tin
- Wine (to someone who likes wine, I think!)
- A Lego annual (to a Lego superfan)
- A pretty necklace and bracelet set (I did later see the recipient wearing them so…. success?)
- Homemade twix stuffed cookies in a gift wrapped tin
Clearly secret santa’s are much better if you know the people involved well, and they’re becoming increasingly popular amongst groups of families and friends in these lean times.
Oh, and I’ve come up with (hopefully) a solution to my memory problem – I’ve decided to repurpose one of my many notebooks (stationery, yay!) as a diary of sorts, recording the bigger than the stuff of everyday life stuff, including birthdays and Christmas’s, what I did, what presents I got etc. Wish me luck!
What’s the best/worst secret santa present you’ve ever received, and what’s the best/worst (if you’re willing to admit it!) one you’ve given to someone else?
Check out my Pinterest for more Christmas inspiration for home and gifts, and homemade treats!
x Kerry
heather says
November 20, 2012 at 10:20 pmmy best xmas gift just had to be when my mum bought me my drum kit last year its awsome this year i just want small stocking fillers like scented hand sanitiser and mist spray and lady gaga perfume 35 days i cant wait
bakearama says
September 30, 2012 at 8:52 pmI absolutely love Christmas too – less than 3 months to go! Can’t honestly remember my best and worst presents but some lovely memories of being with the family in a nice toasty house in front of the tree. Speaking of trees, is it time to put it yet?!
Pam McIlroy (@Pamreader) says
September 28, 2012 at 4:00 pmGreat post. I don’t like being given alcohol as a gift either. The worst gift I received was a microwave cookery book when I didn’t have a microwave. As I’m sensitive to smells, other things that fall into the worst gift brackets are smellies (perfume, scented bath products and scented candles).
The best gift I ever received was a handmade pine bookcase with my first name at the top.
The best gift I ever gave was a copy of the Odyssey to a friend who had out it on his wish lift for years and never received it. The look on his face when he opened it was a joy.
kerrycooks says
September 28, 2012 at 4:04 pmThanks Pam! That’s so sweet, I think its definitely more satisfying to give the perfect gift to someone else than to get one yourself.