Even though I give you all a helping hand every year with gifts for your friends and family (as long as they’re not on the Naughty list) we all know Christmas can be an expensive time of year! Buying presents, decorations, food, drink and other treats, it all adds up…come January you’re feeling a little worse for wear and your bank balance looks slightly unhealthier than it did in October…but let’s not get all “Bah-Humbug” about it, I’ve always taught you that the joy of Christmas is in the giving, right? But we all like a bit of “getting” too….which is the joy of Christmas competitions!
In the run up to Christmas there are giveaways and competitions galore from companies vying for your affections; the opportunity to win something which you can either give as a gift to another person or reward yourself as a treat for being such a good person this year is always appealing; we all like a freebie, and at Christmas it’s that bit more helpful!
Here are my top five competitions online this year:
(1) Toshiba’s “Help Santa” Competition
The premise of this competition is that I’ve lost one of my reindeer in Lapland, and all you have to do is pick a point on the map of Lapland where you think the reindeer will be found and register your name and email. Simple! No real thought required, it’s all down to chance but is a fun idea. Every week Toshiba will be awarding the winner who finds the reindeer a 42” HD REGZA XV LCD flat screen TV. All those who enter but don’t find the reindeer are put into a draw to win an XDE600 Upscaling DVD Player. To help me find my reindeer click here
(2) Arsenal’s “Junior Gunners Christmas Party” Competition
If your grandchild, child or sibling is a gunners fan, wouldn’t it be great to treat them to a Christmas party invite at their favourite football club? In this competition you have to name the four players who appear in the baubles of the Arsenal Christmas tree and email or post your answer to the junior Gunners team. For full competition details click here
(3) Taste of Christmas competition to win a trip to Swedish Lapland
This Taste of Christmas/Timeout competition offers entrants the chance of winning a 3 night break for two people in the famous Ice Hotel in Swedish Lapland. You just need to answer a question relating to Sweden to enter. For more info click here , and if you win, make sure you swing by my grotto for a cup of tea and a mince pie.
(4) TCM’s Christmas competition to win an 80G PS3, “Batman Begins” Blu ray disc and “Buzz” games
Put your batman knowledge to the test, and you could win yourself entertainment for your family Christmas. In this competition you could win a Playstation 3, “Batman Begins” Blu Ray disc and bestselling family entertainment quiz “Buzz”. You have to register on the TCM website and answer a question a Batman related question. To have a go enter here .
(5) Jamie Oliver’s Family Christmas competition
Enter photographs of your favourite Christmas moments into this competition and you could win a £100 Jme hamper full of yummy Christmas food and drink. What’s even better about this competition is that every entrant receives a £40 wine voucher from Naked Wines, which will help with the Christmas booze budget! To enter and claim your Wine voucher, click here .
I do like a competition with a twist, rather than just answering a question; the Toshiba, Arsenal and Jamie Oliver competitions are that bit more fun to enter. I look forward to seeing what will be on offer next festive season with all this wonderful new technology!
Right, I’m off to find my reindeer…..
Santa x
Thursday, 10 December 2009
10 things to Love about Christmas
It’s that festive time of year, when the winter chills set in and you can sup on mulled wine and indulge in many a mince pie. Many people seem to be getting more disillusioned with Christmas each year and bemoan that it’s becoming too commercial and stressful, so for all those Christmas sceptics and Scrooges out there I am outlining 10 things you should love about Christmas, in the hopes that I can win back their Christmas spirit! Christmas cheer and spirit, as you will know if you have seen Elf, is what powers my sleigh, so it’s vital that I win over those sceptics!
Christmas markets
I love a good market at the best of times, but one filled with Christmas treats is that bit more magical! With novelty gifts, yummy food and the odd mulled wine on offer, who can resist a Christmas market ? Especially if the weather is clear, crisp and cold!
Cheese boards and mulled wine
Blue cheese, brie, Wensleydale with cranberries, Camembert, Port Salut, Mature Cheddar, altogether with crackers, biscuits and chutneys….and a lovely cup of mulled wine. Yummy! Best enjoyed in front of a nice fireplace in the company of friends and family with good conversation….followed by falling into what I have dubbed a “Cheese coma”. For those who like to over-indulge I’ve heard you can even buy a Cheese Christmas cake !
Catching up with Friends
If you’re like me and the elves, when it gets to December you suddenly have a very full diary, full of appointments for catch up drinks and dinner engagements with friends who you might not see very often, or those you might see more often. Either way, Christmas is another excuse to gather all your mates together and have a good old drink, feed-up, chinwag and dance.
Christmas competitions and give-aways
Let’s face it, its can get a bit expensive around Christmas, buying gifts for your friends and family and spending money on making the day as fun and entertaining as possible. A little help can be appreciated, so I like to enter a few Christmas promotions and competitions like Toshiba’s Help find Santa competition (you can win a TV to watch E.T and It’s a Wonderful Life on!), or Waitrose and Classic FM’s competition to win Waitrose vouchers or a Christmas meal for 10.
Time off work
Not having to go into the office/toy factory for a week (or two if you’re lucky!)…..*sigh of content*, enjoying a lie-in and not having to deal with those pesky emails. Hoorah!
Ethical Gifts
There’s a new wave of alternative gifts for the ethically minded and those disillusioned with the commercialisation of Christmas. Charities such as Oxfam offer gifts such as schoolbooks for poorer countries, clean water supplies and goats for families via Oxfam Unwrapped . This way you are buying a specific “present” which feels more gift-like than a standard donation. Alternatively, to give someone a material gift you can buy fairly traded products from the Amnesty International online shop or from Traidcraft Traidcraft .
Watching Muppet Christmas Carol
Christmas would not be complete without certain films, and for me the Muppet Christmas carol is one of them! Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy bring probably one of the most touching, and funny, versions of this classic Dickens tail to life. But for me, the character that really makes the film has to be the tale’s narrator, Rizzo the Rat, genius.
Pigs in blankets
That yummy Christmas dinner favourite of everyone (apart from vegetarians of course!), pigs in blankets, pig wrapped in more pig….yummy. The one thing guaranteed to cause a bit of a row at the Christmas dinner table….who gets the last one?!
Watching the kids open their pressies
Christmas just aint the same without children. I know some of the strongest skeptics of Christmas might think that kids can be demanding and all “I want”, but I really don’t think that’s the case. To see your son/daughter/grandchild/younger sibling/cousin etc open their presents with such wild anticipation and fervor really is a heart warmer, especially if it’s a surprise gift or something they’ve been eagerly anticipating.
Getting all the family together and not fighting for 1 day of the year…
Finally, that last point which we all hope will be true of our families….getting everyone together and not arguing for one day of the year… unless you live in Walford that is…. .
And with that, I hope I have managed to get even the most sceptical of scrooges filled with Christmas spirit! Spread the Christmas cheer, one and all….and make sure you leave me an extra mince pie out this year ;)
Santa x
Christmas markets
I love a good market at the best of times, but one filled with Christmas treats is that bit more magical! With novelty gifts, yummy food and the odd mulled wine on offer, who can resist a Christmas market ? Especially if the weather is clear, crisp and cold!
Cheese boards and mulled wine
Blue cheese, brie, Wensleydale with cranberries, Camembert, Port Salut, Mature Cheddar, altogether with crackers, biscuits and chutneys….and a lovely cup of mulled wine. Yummy! Best enjoyed in front of a nice fireplace in the company of friends and family with good conversation….followed by falling into what I have dubbed a “Cheese coma”. For those who like to over-indulge I’ve heard you can even buy a Cheese Christmas cake !
Catching up with Friends
If you’re like me and the elves, when it gets to December you suddenly have a very full diary, full of appointments for catch up drinks and dinner engagements with friends who you might not see very often, or those you might see more often. Either way, Christmas is another excuse to gather all your mates together and have a good old drink, feed-up, chinwag and dance.
Christmas competitions and give-aways
Let’s face it, its can get a bit expensive around Christmas, buying gifts for your friends and family and spending money on making the day as fun and entertaining as possible. A little help can be appreciated, so I like to enter a few Christmas promotions and competitions like Toshiba’s Help find Santa competition (you can win a TV to watch E.T and It’s a Wonderful Life on!), or Waitrose and Classic FM’s competition to win Waitrose vouchers or a Christmas meal for 10.
Time off work
Not having to go into the office/toy factory for a week (or two if you’re lucky!)…..*sigh of content*, enjoying a lie-in and not having to deal with those pesky emails. Hoorah!
Ethical Gifts
There’s a new wave of alternative gifts for the ethically minded and those disillusioned with the commercialisation of Christmas. Charities such as Oxfam offer gifts such as schoolbooks for poorer countries, clean water supplies and goats for families via Oxfam Unwrapped . This way you are buying a specific “present” which feels more gift-like than a standard donation. Alternatively, to give someone a material gift you can buy fairly traded products from the Amnesty International online shop or from Traidcraft Traidcraft .
Watching Muppet Christmas Carol
Christmas would not be complete without certain films, and for me the Muppet Christmas carol is one of them! Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy bring probably one of the most touching, and funny, versions of this classic Dickens tail to life. But for me, the character that really makes the film has to be the tale’s narrator, Rizzo the Rat, genius.
Pigs in blankets
That yummy Christmas dinner favourite of everyone (apart from vegetarians of course!), pigs in blankets, pig wrapped in more pig….yummy. The one thing guaranteed to cause a bit of a row at the Christmas dinner table….who gets the last one?!
Watching the kids open their pressies
Christmas just aint the same without children. I know some of the strongest skeptics of Christmas might think that kids can be demanding and all “I want”, but I really don’t think that’s the case. To see your son/daughter/grandchild/younger sibling/cousin etc open their presents with such wild anticipation and fervor really is a heart warmer, especially if it’s a surprise gift or something they’ve been eagerly anticipating.
Getting all the family together and not fighting for 1 day of the year…
Finally, that last point which we all hope will be true of our families….getting everyone together and not arguing for one day of the year… unless you live in Walford that is…. .
And with that, I hope I have managed to get even the most sceptical of scrooges filled with Christmas spirit! Spread the Christmas cheer, one and all….and make sure you leave me an extra mince pie out this year ;)
Santa x
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