Christmas Presents

Are you all set for Christmas? I spent this weekend wrapping gifts, so I've been well prepared. I really have to pace myself during the festivities or else I'll end up ill in bed and miss it all! So I've had to write cards and package up parcels and wrap presents in stages. I'm not a fan of doing any of it to be honest, it's quite the chore (despite me spending years wrapping perfumes and the like when I worked on the beauty counter as a youngster). My wrapping skills this year have been pretty shocking and I was glad to finish it all on Sunday.
Obviously all my presents that have to be posted were done first, then I tackled my nephews (large) gifts on Saturday and then the rest of the family. With work being done on our house, we sent our dining table to storage, so it's been a real struggle this year, wrapping on the floor (especially when my back is so dodgy just now). However it's all done and they're all sitting under the tree, ready for tomorrow.
I thought you might like to see some of the gifts I got for my family. I've only had one shopping day and literally went to three shops and that's all I could manage. It's really difficult when you can't just pop out to get that little something extra or suddenly remember there's something you forgot. I'm never in the vicinity of shops as most of my time is spent in my house/street, so I've had to rely on shopping online and on others to buy for me. I've managed to snag some bargains and unfortunately my 'one for you, one (or two) for me' shopping mentality has never left me!
Starting with a complete disaster. I wanted to get this Bratz Holiday Jade for my sister as she collects the Jade dolls and this one never came out in the UK and is harder to find. Combining her love of Christmas and dolls in one package, I was very excited to find it on eBay (and even more so, when my Dad produced a £10 voucher to use on it with his eBay account). I ordered it on November 24th and obviously thought I had no worries about it arriving on time. Weeks past and still no parcel, so I began to panic. I checked their feedback and found some others were now leaving negative or neutral saying it hadn't turned up, took ages to arrive or wasn't what they were expecting. The item was located in Germany but shipping within the UK was free... it all seemed a bit strange to me. They did say in the listing delivery would take a while and so I wasn't sure when to contact them. In the end, I went to message them and instead it led to me opening an 'item not received' case (it said I could if I hadn't received by the 14th and this was the 18th). So lo and behold, two days later the item turns up with a return address of Swansea (which last time I checked wasn't in Germany). This isn't the worst of it.
My sister raced to the door before me and I wasn't expecting it anyway and the package was OBVIOUSLY shaped like a Bratz doll (tapered box). I knew she knew, but I kept up the pretence. Then I noticed the address label was covering the label beneath which read 'EBAY Bratz Holiday Jade' and I just knew she would've seen that. So in the end, I just had to give it to her early. I was so disappointed, the best laid plans and all that!  Never again will I purchase from that seller. Anyway, she absolutely loved it, but I was furious at the blunders along the way. I already ordered her this other Bratz Holiday Jade, again it's one that is hard to find here.
Yes, we're really going to need that extension once she receives all these dolls, because I bought a vintage Sindy for her as a replacement for the 'lost' Jade. Sindy is where the doll obsession began for us both as children (although I was definitely more obsessed than her) and I thought this very rare Festive one (from 1996) would be a nice collector item for her. There's another variation ('Noel' with gold top), but I knew she would prefer this one with the furry hood.
 I just adore that cute image on the back of the box.
Oh and I've had this Kawaii Crush sleepover set for her, for ages. We just got her the complete set of individual figures the other week in Home Bargains as she's been wanting to buy these for a while and we quite literally emptied the shelves of them! I managed to get this online from Debenhams when they had a promotion on and I also had a free £10 gift card they'd given me, so in the end it cost £4 instead of £20. She'll love it.
For my dad (definitely the hardest to buy for), I got a man-bag. He has one just now that is on it's last legs and so Mum and I trawled ASOS when I had a generous discount code and found this Esprit messenger bag. It's not very exciting but hey ho.
Mum also wanted a bag. A tote, large enough for shopping and that would go on her shoulder. She's terribly fussy, so I let her pick one she liked and she chose this teal Liquorish one.
It comes with a rather large pouch thing...not sure what for, but I'm sure she'll put it to use.
I also got her this Paul & Joe Moisture Lip Treatment.
And may have done so, to keep this adorable cat makeup bag (which was free) for myself.   
These three new prints of my beloved wiggle dress may also have fallen into my basket with these orders!  I've had mixed experiences with these fitting despite owning two of the 'original' prints. The brown floral one is in the same thick cotton with slight stretch, like my other two. The jacquard one feels really stiff which I'm not too keen on and fits slightly smaller than the others. I actually sent it back, then decided to re-order it once I'd thought about it some more! The other one is a 'floaty' poly fabric which hangs really nicely (although isn't really required on such a tailored dress) and it fits ok-ish too. Despite being almost identical patterns/shapes, none are as comfortable or as generous fitting as my originals. However having ordered a few in the summer that didn't fit at all-I was thankful these did (might not after Christmas dinner).
There's some makeup items I purchased for myself too, but I haven't had time to photograph them for you yet. Naughty girl. I have my other sister, my brother in law and my three nephews, but I thought these gifts here would be of most interest to you. All of my friends have now had babies (four girls and two boys to buy for), so I was like Santa when I came home with all the toys for them! It's difficult when you're trying to buy something lightish and small for posting, safe for posting too (so many restrictions on batteries etc), suitable for their age and something you hope they don't already have. Anyway, I hope you're all snuggled up at home ready for Santa. I'm away to get ready for my second church service of the day (the midnight carol service), so I have to keep my peepers open for some time yet. Then it's off to my sisters tomorrow for our meal.  Merry Christmas to you all when it comes x x x