A few of my favourite things for Christmas

Listen, it’s the most wonderful time of the year for a lot of us (ME INCLUDEDDDDDDDDD) but I do get it’s a bit shit for heaps of folk. That’s a real bummer, and I hope you’re looking after yourself.

I can totally see how it would blow out of all proportion, the end of year obligations and places to be with clean clothes on and employing your Company Manners and remembering the tulle for somebody’s something on Tuesday at 10, and then on top of it all you have to find money where there wasn’t any last month or the month before so where is all this extra going to come from?

And then, bless your hearts, some of you are even doing that Elf thing. My hat goes off to you, I couldn’t think of a week’s worth of cheeky shenanigans, let alone an entire festive season. I see he’s even farting in jars now.

I like to keep the Christmas season chill most years for a hundred reasons, but I do tend to go all out when it comes to food. I specifically keep a cap on gifts (a reasonable-sized cap let’s be honest, the kids don’t get heaps of stuff throughout the year), my calendar is usually wide open because I like staying home in my slippers, and I tend to be a purchase-here-and-there kind of gal because I am not at your shopping mall on Christmas eve wrestling a Furby out of someone else’s wild-eyed grasp.

But this year the purse has somehow shrunk in the wash and there doesn’t seem to be the usual bounty with which to Christmas with gay abandon, so that’s been at the forefront of my mind as I go about December.

This year for lady family gifts I bought everyone a little something from Honey and Glow (and smugly had it sent to where I’ll actually be for Christmas rather than my home, it’s the most organised I think I’ve ever felt). Erin does an amazing job and has been a VM reader since way back, so it’s really nice to be able to shop where it means something, and have lovely candles and soaps and balms and things to give at the same time.

I literally couldn’t organise getting this Sylvanian Families tree house and log cabin bundle fast enough for the girls, because at participating Toyworld stores just for the next little while, it’s half price at $99. If you know Sylvanian Families, you’ll know that’s a BLOODY BARGAIN. My kids will love it and actually play with it for years to come (if the rest of our collection is anything to go by) and in one fell swoop I had the main gift sorted.

Each Christmas eve, everyone gets a new set of PJs and a book to read, which I usually purchase from Brotherhood Books. It’s like an op shop for books, but online! Buy three books and shipping is free… once I even purchased in the morning and it was in my letterbox by that afternoon. They usually have a great selection, and it gets turned over fast so there’s always something new coming in.

Yes, I absolutely bought myself a book Prince Charles wrote about organic gardening and I’m not sorry.

And as for food… I’m going to do a post about that in the coming days because I’ve got a lot to say on the matter! If you’re looking for veggie Christmas inspiration, you might want to check out Vegetarian Christmas Meal Ideas, or A Very Veggie Christmas, there’s definitely a few of my favourite things in there. And for my general Christmas yearly non-negotiables, why they’re right here in Christmas Favourites.

I can’t look at these because my baby is going to school next year and I’m in a glass case of emotion, but when they were little they made cute Christmas Collage Wreaths which is a great toddler activity, and Terracotta Tree Decorations, all of which we bring out every year and I remember their dimpled little hands making.

So that’s what’s happening in my hood this year. Ho ho ho and a possibly a bottle of rum. How have you found the festive season so far? Spotted a bloody bargain too?