Christmas Greetings

Christmas is almost upon us!
Despite not getting a bonus, I am quite pleased with myself this year. Christmas on a budget has made me think a bit differently. Just because money is not in abundance, does not mean that you cannot make it fun with a little bit of thought and effort.

You will remember my post HERE where I mentioned the gifts wrapped in brown paper and my post HERE where I mentioned the DIY crackers.
Well... I am all done!

Here are the gifts before being prettied up:

Before

Here are some of them after:

Ho Ho Ho

Joy

Noel

This is how the crackers turned out:

Love Father Christmas

Crackers complete

The hardest part of making these crackers was trying not to get glue all over my fingers from sticking ribbons and tags on. I failed miserably, but I am happy with the result. I am pleased that I have finally completed a project the family has been wanting to do ever since I was a little girl. Now we get quality presents instead of the usual junk found in crackers.

To all my readers, I want to say a massive thank you for your blog love over the past year. I love reading every single comment you write!
I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas filled with love and laughter.

I will be taking a break from blogging - I sure it will only be for the holiday season, but I am not too sure. I am sure I will be back soon.

I will however, still post a weekly round up of my Project 365 (especially for you Kate - so that you don't give up!)

See you all on the other side!

Love Love Love

Christmas on a Budget

December already? Where has the time gone!?

The age old question now gets asked; What do you want for Christmas?

I've said it countless times before - Christmas is my favourite time of the year.

However, Christmas is going to be on a tight budget this year.
No bonuses and an overseas trip pending, I am pre-planning this year's bash in advance and not leaving it until the last minute, which I did last year!

Once again we are continuing the tradition where all the the adults buy a nice gift for 1 person - max R300 and the rest get a stocking filler gift - limit R50.
With just the immediate family, we are potentially only looking at R500ea spend on gifts (excluding my 2.5 year old nephew who gets a nice present from all of us)

In the spirit of keeping within the R300 limit, these are on my Christmas wishlist.

For my home

For Me

>> The Docking Station was a "wishful thinking" which seems impossible to find anywhere!

When you have the less fortunate asking for Deodorant and school supplies, it kind of puts things into perspective a little bit, doesn't it?

Thanks to Tee, I have my DIY Cracker Kits on their way.

It has been tradition that I always buy the Crackers.
To get anything that doesn't contain cheap plastic bits of uselessness, I usually spend around R300 for 6 crackers. The contents are better - but still not worth the money.
This year I am determined to make my own.

6 x DIY Crackers with snap: R25
Contents:

• Candy Cane Sweet: R30
• Corny Jokes: Free

Gifts: 

• Dad: Magnifying Card (when he can't find glasses in a restaurant) R20
• Mom: Lip Balm R40
• Nephew: Spiderman facecloth R27.50
• Brother: Also a Spiderman facecloth (he is the worst to decide on something for) R27.50
• Sister-in-law: 30 x Hair bands R25
• Myself: 30 x Hairbands  R25

Total for 6 quality crackers: R220 SCORE!

What are you doing to save money over Christmas?