Every year I make Christmas eve boxes for my two nephews (who are brothers) and my niece. They arrived aged between 5 – 8 so still nice and easy to cater for this year.
So, I thought I would share with you the sorts of things that I have got to put into their boxes this year.
Let’s take a look!
We started off with Colouring/Colour by number/puzzle books…
Followed by some fun Christmas craft activities…
This year I go Christmas Scratch art, Christmas characters and a paint your own Santa ornament.
These ranged from £1 – £2 in Wilko so super affordable.
I also added in some funny little novelty ‘Elf Racers’ for them to play with, as well as some tasty treats including chocolate coins (Classic!) and a hot chocolate bomb.
Finally, I added a Christmassy book to each box…
The Works do 3 books for £5 which is awesome when there are three little ones to buy for haha!
Lots of fun and treats to keep them occupied during Christmas eve and the following days.
And a great way to get into the festive spirit and make Christmas eve special.
So on Thursday (15th Dec) we had our final book club meeting of 2022.
It was a smaller affair than usual as lots of the usual group were ill 🤒
The four of us carried on and I chaired the meeting on Sarah’s behalf.
Keepin’ it festive 🎄
We enjoyed discussing Novembers book… ‘The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas’
I thoroughly enjoyed this boom and it is up there with one of my favourites from the year.
It’s a Thriller about Olivia Rutherford and her friends who are involved in a car accident and when she wakes up they have disappeared and are still missing 20 years later.
I really enjoyed the twists, turns and audible gasps that escaped me as the story started to unfold. It was a very enjoyable and easy read and with lovely short chapters it took me just under two days to read.
I would give it ☆☆☆☆☆ out of 5!
‘The Christmas Murder Game’ by Alexandra Benedict has been chosen as our December Christmas read.
It’s not your usual festive fair but I am looking forward to this as its different to all of the ‘domestic fiction’ easy reader, festive books that I have to read over the next few weeks and January.
So at the weekend me, my husband, my twin sister, bestfriend and her husband did a little Christmas get together. We thought that this would be a nice idea instead of a gift, as it can often be hard to find time to all meet up together.
We started off by meeting for dinner at our local Wagamamas, which was delicious.
Me and my husband Tim both had the same.
We then moved on to our local Cosy Club for a drink and dessert.
After a good catch up it was finally time for our Escape Room slot.
The Escape room we chose to do was at a new franchise that has recently opened up, and to make things even better they did a Christmas themed one.
We knew we had to give that one a go. It’s called ‘Runaway Rudolph’ our mission: Find Rudolph and save Christmas!!
Team Cinnamon & Misery – Assemble!
The room was brilliant and super festive, as was our host.
We really enjoyed ourselves and I particularly liked that if you needed a hint you had to do a funny Elf task like sing ‘Jingle Bells’ which was hilarious.
We had a great time and we ESCAPED!!!
Our time was 50.02 – you get one hour to complete it so we had plenty of time left.
Escape rooms are really fun and I especially enjoyed this festive edition.
Stockings are one of my favourite parts of Christmas and it has been since I was a child.
I also think they are one of the most fun things to shop for too *to help Santa out obviously!
Let’s take a look at some Stocking filler ideas.
Instead of including specific information I have just included different options, in different categories, that you can pick up from wherever you like to shop.
[& don’t forget to shop local and support small buisnesses]
Games
Fun and easy for allages!
Edible Treats
All of the classics!
Books
You can get some amazing (and varied) festive reads for under £5
Handmade Gifts
Homemade is always appreciated whether it be a homemade deco, hot choc set or tasty festive treat.
So every year we have two Christmas trees (because why have one when you can have two!!)
I have already posted about our regular, lounge Christmas tree but, we also have a very special Christmas tree in our bedroom…
**Drum roll***
It’s a Harry Potter themed tree!
(What a suprise 🤣)
Originally I used bits of memorabilia to decorate my tree with a Sorting Hat topper, but as more and more Harry Potter stuff has become available (thanks Warner Bros and Primark!!) I have built up quite an extensive collection of baubles.
Most of them are from Primark sets but a couple are from the Studio Tour in Watford, as are the ribbons.
Without further ado, lets take a look at the different stages I went through to create my awesome Harry Potter themed tree.
First up…
Lights
They have had a little upgrade this year… but what could be more magical than star shaped fairy lights in the four house colours (nothing, exactly!)
After that…
Tinsel
I go for red and gold as although all Hogwarts Houses are represented on the tree anything like tinsel or bows are very much in a Gryffindor colour scheme.
Next…
Baubles
As I said, alot of the sets come with a bauble for each house, so all are represented… but more heavily represented are mine (Gryffindor) and my husbands (Hufflepuff) favourite houses.
I bought two new sets of baubles this year (from Primark)… the top one is from a set of four and each bauble is clear with cute, thin tinsel inside to correspond with its Hogwarts House… the tinsel also has lots of tiny little stars in it. The house emblem and name is also written on the front in the same colour font.
These are my favourites so far. They are so pretty.
I also picked up another set with four baubles. Each one says something from the series, eg: ‘Platform 9 3/4, Lumos, Forbidden Forest & Golden Snitch’
Then..
Ribbons
Gryffindor themed of course!
And Finally…
The topper
I bought this in the sale last Christmas time. I think I got it just after Christmas so it was a bargain.
This is the first year I will have used it. It looks great.
Here is the final tree! – Looking super magical if I do say so myself 😉
So most years I enjoy getting my nails done ready for the festivities of Christmas day etc, and this year is no exception.
Now I usually go out to get them done, in town but since Febuary last year my friend has been doing them for me.
This is super exciting as I have always wanted to get proper festive nails, I have only ever got full glitter nails… but this time, THERE IS NAIL ART!!!!
Super cute!!
We went for red glitter on the thumbs, gold glitter on the little nails, and then for the nails art there is a Santa Hat, a Reindeer and some cute Bauble style dots.
I would pick my favourite nail design but I can’t because they all just look amazing.
As a self confessed book lover I thought I would share my Christmas tbr (to be read) list…. I thought it might offer a little inspiration if you are looking for something good to read this festive season.
Let’s have a look…
(Synopsis are from Amazon)
‘Carmen has always worked in her local department store. So, when the gorgeous old building closes its doors for good, she is more than a little lost.
When her sister, Sofia, mentions an opportunity in Edinburgh – a cute little bookshop, the spare room in her house – Carmen is reluctant, she was never very good at accepting help. But, short on options, she soon finds herself pulling into the snowy city just a month before Christmas.
What Sofia didn’t say is that the shop is on its last legs and that if Carmen can’t help turn things around before Christmas, the owner will be forced to sell. Privately, Sofia is sure it will take more than a miracle to save the store, but maybe this Christmas, Carmen might surprise them all… ‘
‘She’s snowed in with the family. The only problem? They’re not her family.
A family gathering This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention.
An uninvited guest Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas.
A Christmas to remember When Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers… ‘
‘Elderly widow Sabine knows this will be her last Christmas in her beloved home, Mitras Castle. Determined to make it just like the ones she remembers from her childhood, she employs Dido Jones of Heavenly Houseparties to help with the big day.
Dido is enchanted by the castle as soon as she steps through the imposing front door. And as Christmas day approaches, her feeling of connection to the old house runs deeper than she first thought.
But when the snow begins to fall and Sabine’s family arrive at the house – including Dido’s teenage crush Xan – tensions rise around the castle’s future and long-buried mysteries begin to unravel…
As past secrets come to light, can this still be a magical Christmas to remember?’
‘Maggie hasn’t told this story in years. More than two decades ago, she fell in love. She was sixteen and far from home, waiting to give her baby up for adoption. Bryce showed Maggie how to take photographs and he didn’t judge her for the way her belly swelled under her jumper. They had the perfect first kiss. Theirs was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.
Now, as Maggie sits by the Christmas tree in her gallery telling her story, surrounded by the photographs that made her famous – the photographs Bryce never saw – her new gallery assistant asks her a question. If she had one wish, what would she wish for this Christmas?
Maggie always thought she knew the answer to that question. But before she can say ‘I’d go back to that winter with Bryce’, she stops herself. It is all she has ever wanted but suddenly here, on this dark night under the twinkling stars, there is something else she wants. She wants to find her baby.’
‘It was supposed to be Christy Sullivan’s perfect Christmas escape – a dream trip to Lapland with her family and best friend, Alix. But facing a make-or-break marriage crisis, Christy desperately needs time alone with her husband, Seb. Her solution? Alix, along with Seb’s oldest friend, Zac, can take Christy’s daughter on the planned Lapland trip, and they will all reunite there for Christmas Day. After all, what are friends for?
There’s nothing Alix won’t do for Christy, but Christy’s plan to save Christmas is testing their friendship. Especially as Alix and Zac have a difficult history of their own.
As long-held secrets unravel, and unexpected romance shines under the Northern Lights, can Christy and Alix find the courage to fight for the relationships they really want? And could this Christmas escape save the precious gift of each other’s friendship? ‘
‘The first fall of snow can be fatal… A year has passed since DI James Walker cracked his biggest case yet, and he’s hoping for peace and quiet this festive season.
But across the fells, a local farmer returns home on Christmas Eve to find footsteps in the fresh snow that lead down to his unused basement – and no footsteps leading away. Days later, his body is found, alongside those of his wife and daughter.
Without a neighbour for miles, there are no witnesses and little evidence. And the crime scene has strange echoes of another terrible murder committed at the farmhouse, twenty years earlier…
James knows that to catch this killer, he needs to solve a case that has long since gone cold…’
‘When Paige turns up unannounced at Wynthorpe Hall, she discovers the place she knew when she was growing up has changed beyond all recognition. She’s only planning to stay for a short time, but is quickly pulled into local life.
One night while driving home after delivering library books and shopping to residents she stumbles across an isolated cottage and meets Albert, its elderly and rather grumpy owner. She quickly realises there’s more to Albert than meets the eye and the same can be said for the other man she can’t seem to help running into, handsome but brooding Brodie.
All three of them have a secret and a desire to hide away from the world, but with Christmas on the horizon, is that really the best way to celebrate the season?’
The decorations are up! A little later than I would have liked but they are up now.
I especially love getting out our tree decorations, it’s so cool to see them again and all of the ones you’ve picked and the memories from over the years.
I thought I would share with you some of our special/significant decorations that go on our tree.
This is our souvenir decoration from our 2018 Holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. DisneyWorld was incredible.
From the same holiday, this is our Universal Studios souvenir decoration.
These decorations have been handmade by my Nephews and Niece so these are really special.
This one is a little homage to my childhood, of NEVER being able to find my name on any decoration/magnet/keyring – it was always ‘Rosie’ never ‘Roseanne’.
This pretty ‘Mr & Mrs’ decoration was given to us as a wedding gift, the year that we gor married (2016) so this is a nice momento of that significant year. Plus, the box was cute and had ‘Bestfriends for life, husband and wife’ written on it.
I bought this cute, personalised decoration at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London, in 2019. I got this as a suprise gift for my husband. It also reminds me of the day out. Me and my Uni friends were celebrating having met 10 years previously.
It was a strange time but also pretty standout in terms of years of our life, so I got these personalised ‘COVID’ decos because you’ve gotta make the best of a bad thing.
Roseanne Byford 