Christmas

Hi, friends It’s a wrap for another year of Christmas cheer! Can you believe it’s all over already? I know that I can’t! After so many weeks of prepping and planning. As well as panicking a little (maybe a lot) about leaving some things until the last minute. BOOM! Christmas came and went. And today I’m back here in full holiday mode not knowing what time or day it is to recap our fun Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve Our family follows the South American tradition of celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. This year my lovely cousin hosted all of us and she did such a brilliant job! It’s not easy hosting so many people! Christmas Margaritas We kicked off the evening with some refreshing margaritas. My cousin’s husband played bartender for a while. Even though he broke his left hand a few weeks ago he still managed to shake up some spectacular margaritas for us. So Much Delicious Food! Everyone brought a dish or two and we had so much delicious Christmas food. One of my cousin’s brought this amazing cheese platter. My aunty supplied some empanadas and they were gone in a flash. We had so many yummy salads to go with the turkey, pork and ham. After weeks and weeks of cool to cold temps. Summer finally showed up this weekend in a big way! So the salads were perfect. I love a traditional roast with potatoes and veggies. But it’s just too hot here in December so we just do the salad thing. Karaoke After dinner, we pulled out the karaoke machine that I borrowed from preschool. It’s so fun to sing even when you can’t sing! Games! My cousin asked me to organise some games for our Christmas Eve festivities. A few years ago I introduced some minute to win it style party games for our Christmas Eve celebrations and they were such a big hit. Then for some reason or another, we didn’t do them last year. But this year they were back on and oh my goodness we had such a blast!! I didn’t realise how competitive my family is!! And I think that next year I might need to enlist a referee because there might have been a bit of cheating going on! So I wouldn’t get all confused I made up some cards with instructions for the games that we were playing. And I made sure to put all the props etc that I needed in individual bags. This way I could keep the games flowing along smoothly. We split up into two teams and each team chose a name which I won’t mention here because they may or may not have been slightly inappropriate hehe. I also used the karaoke machine to blast out some fun music after I called READY SET GO! We had the song by The Vengaboys ‘We Like To Party’ on full blast while the games were going on. Everyone was so pumped and my two youngest cousins who are 12 and 10 just about lost their minds with excitement! Here Is A List Of Some Of The Games That We Played 1. Shake That Box This is where you tie an empty tissue box filled with some jingle bells to your waist with a belt. Then you have to shake and wiggle until all the bells are out of the box. The first player to empty their box wins! 2. Don’t Look Back Each team has two players going head to head. One player holds a party hat while the other player throws cotton balls over their shoulder for their team member to catch. The team with the most cotton balls in their hat is the winner. 3. Hot Dog Challenge This game requires one player from each team. And it’s definitely not about how many hotdogs you can eat! You need a hotdog tied to a long piece of string and each player has to tie the string around their waist. The hotdog needs to be behind them and the string has to be long enough so that the hotdog dangles just above the player’s knees. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that you also need two rolls of toilet paper. The players need to spin around 4 or 5 times and then aim to crouch down and place their hotdog inside the toilet roll. The first player to do so wins! 4. Unwrapping Hershey Kisses Did you know that you can only find Hershey Kisses in specialty candy stores here in Australia? And I paid $9.00 for this bag! But I have to say that it was most definitely money well spent for this fun game. All you need to do is unwrap Hershey kisses ONLY using a toothpick. No fingers! Everyone played and the team with the most unwrapped Hershey Kisses after a minute won. There was so much cheating going on with this one that in the end both teams scored equally! Naughty naughty!!😂 5. Marshmellow Stack This one was nice and easy because all you need is a bag of big marshmallows. Then a player from each team has to try and stack a tower of marshmallows. The highest tower wins! It’s much harder than it sounds because they topple over so easily. 6. Ping Pong Santa Hat You need a lot of ping pong balls, a table and Santa hats. For this game, you have two teams and one person from each team will be at each end of a table. One person holds a Santa hat and the other player bounces a ping pong ball on a table and their team member needs to catch the ping pong ball in the hat. The team with the most balls wins 7. Tortilla Slap Another easy game that only requires a packet of tortillas. A player from each time has to battle it out by playing scissors, paper rock. The winner then gets to slap the loser with a tortilla! Best of

Hi friends it’s lovely to be back today linking up with Andrea and Erika. I thought that it would be fun to chat about a few of this week’s Christmas favourites. This is always such a fun time of the year! But if you guys have been reading along. You will probably know that I’ve really struggled to get into the Christmas spirit this year. But I ploughed on and this week I put up my tree, decorated the house (a bit), listened to Christmas music and watched a couple of old favourite movies and shows. And I think that this helped me enormously. Christmas Tree On Wednesday night when the three of us were home. We all pitched in and put up the tree. Well nearly all three of us pitched in. Sam mainly lay on the lounge! But it was really nice to be all together. I ended up finding more of the cute gingerbread men decorations at another Bed Bath N’ Table store in the city on the weekend. This time I didn’t hesitate and I snapped them up. I think they look cute on the tree. I bought these nice non-blinking white string lights years ago from Ikea and they are my favourite. My Favourite Christmas Show While we decorated the tree on Wednesday night. We watched The Vicar Of Dibley-Christmas Lunch Incident on Amazon Prime. I know that I went on and on about this last year. But I can’t help it. It’s my absolute favourite episode. The funny thing is. I haven’t ever really watched many of the other Vicar Of Dibley episodes. But watching this Christmas episode is a must in our family. Beautiful Ornaments As I was decorating I took a trip down memory lane. Looking at some of the beautiful ornaments that the children from preschool have given me as presents over the years. I like to date them and write the name of my little student on the back with a permanent marker. Here is an ornament that Sam made for me when he was at preschool……..sigh! This gorgeous handmade angel was given to me by a little girl called Amy. Amy is now in her early 20s and I was lucky enough to catch up with her and her lovely mum earlier this year! Egg Nog Another of this week’s Christmas favourites is this delicious egg nog. I’m determined to make my own this year because it’s on my December bucket list!! But this egg nog was very good and we all enjoyed a nice glass with some Walkers shortbread biscuits after we finished decorating the tree. Christmas Treats! I am always so overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of our lovely preschool parents. Earlier this week we received a huge box of decorated doughnuts. Another lovely parent also gave us some Christmas biscuits. We also received some chocolates, a box of cannolis and another box of pastries. I forgot to take any pics of these because I was too busy eating! A Lindt Chocolate Advent Calender I usually buy a simple Aldi advent calendar. But this year I splurged on a Lindt Chocolate Advent calendar (because it was half-price). I have banned Sam from eating them all in one day!! Community Christmas Events I’m sure that I took for granted all these fun Christmas community events in the past. But after two years of everything being cancelled, it’s so great that now they’re back! So last Saturday some friends and I went to the Carss Bush Park Magic Of Christmas Event. We had some food from the food trucks. Then we just hung around on a picnic blanket and had fun chatting and catching up. I was really happy to be with my lovely friends but sad that poor Steve missed out because he was at work. Christmas Candles I have loved burning lovely Christmas-scented candles like this one. It has honestly been so cold (here I go again with the weather report). I can’t remember summer ever being this cold and we are still wearing jumpers and jackets!! On the upside, it’s been really nice and cozy to have candles burning at this time of the year. Normally we are all sweltering in the unbearable Australian summer heat. So there we have it, eight Christmas favourites for this week! I’m excited that it’s the weekend because we have our staff Christmas lunch tomorrow. Then on Sunday, it’s Steve’s swim club Christmas BBQ. And Sunday afternoon I’m going Christmas shopping with my bestie. Another busy weekend and I’m totally up for it! I hope that you guys have the best weekend. We are really on a countdown now aren’t we!! Thanks so much for reading along. I’ll be back here on Monday. Take care friends and happy Friday!  

Hi, friends it’s great to be back today and linking up with Jennifer to talk about what we are currently loving, gifting, wrapping, hoping and attending in December. Currently In December Loving Currently, I have really been loving reading all the fun blogs about all things Christmas. And seeing everyone’s beautifully decorated homes! This year I have been struggling to get into the Christmas spirit as it has been one heck of a rough year. But as I have been reading so many inspiring blogs full of Christmas cheer. I am starting to feel a shift in my mood. Usually, by now our home would be completely decorated. And my lights would all be set up in the front garden. And I would most definitely be well and truly on top of my Christmas shopping. This year things are a whole lot different and I am so behind. But that’s ok, I’m learning to be kind to myself and let some things go. I won’t be setting up my lights in the front garden this year but I will set up our tree (soon). I may not decorate the house from top to bottom like I usually do. But I will do the best I can. So I guess I really want to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has shared their lovely decorated homes, recipes, gift ideas and list of Christmas movies. I also want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blog! And a huge thank you to everyone who kindly comments….gosh, you guys encourage me like there’s no tomorrow!! I have really loved reading the fun Christmas posts and I am so grateful to this most wonderful supportive blogging community. You guys have helped me enormously. I think that otherwise I would have been really tempted to just hide this Christmas. Yep, it’s been a rough year. Gifting To be honest I haven’t really started gifting anything yet. We are having our staff Christmas lunch this Saturday and I will be gifting then. But please don’t ask me what I’m gifting because I have no clue!! Sigh……I’m all over the place this Christmas time…ugh!! Anyway, we have a budget of $25.00 for our staff’s Kris Kringle gift and I haven’t bought anything yet. HELP!! Wrapping Again, if I was on top of things like a champ then I would be wrapping presents by now. I did go shopping on the weekend and I took advantage of David Jones’s free Christmas wrapping service. I was so stressed about being so behind. So I thought that if I could at least have a few presents ready to go then I would feel better. My lovely friend has said that she can come shopping with me this Sunday and this has lifted my spirits and given me a big dose of motivation!! So hopefully next week I will pull out all my ninja wrapping skills and get back on track with wrapping my presents while I watch Carols In The Domain. Hoping I am hoping that I can focus on the joy of being surrounded by my beautiful family this Christmas. Aaaaarghhhh!!! Grief is so hard all the time! But at Christmas time it is just ….what’s the word…..I can’t even think of a word! Unbearable, awful, blah! It just sucks!! Attending I am looking forward to attending our staff Christmas lunch this Saturday. We are going to a lovely fancy restaurant in the city. And I am very excited to be spending time with my lovely work colleagues in a grown-up environment and getting all dressed up. We spend the whole year up to our eyeballs in messy play, paint, glue, sandpit, waterplay and playdough. So our staff Christmas party is a huge highlight for us! I am also excited to hopefully attend my church’s Christmas eve carol service. It’s been a couple of years since we had a carol service because of covid. So I am really hoping to be able to attend this year. Carols really speak to my heart and I often find myself all choked up with emotion when I sing. As a family with South American roots, we always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. So I know that I will be cutting it fine trying to get to the carol service and be on time for my family event. But where there’s a will……there is always a South American family who thankfully doesn’t always run on time haha!!! Well lovely friends that wraps up this month’s edition of Currently! Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and read. I truly hope that you have the best day and I look forward to being back here on Friday.

It’s the 1st of December and the first day of Summer here in Australia so I thought that I would share my December 2022 bucket list today. I love bucket lists even though I might not always get to tick all the things off. That’s ok because it’s always nice to make plans and have something to look forward to. It seems that the days just fly by so fast and then before I know it. We’ve already hit a new month or a new season and then it’s time for a new bucket list. December Bucket List Visit A Christmas Market I love visiting a Christmas market in December so that’s why I have put this on the top of my list. We have quite a few Christmas markets in Sydney where you can find things like. Fresh produce for your Christmas gatherings or cute gift ideas for your workplace Secret Santa. Visiting a Christmas market is also a great way to support small businesses and fill up on some Christmas cheer as you wander around the stalls. Host A Holiday Dinner Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas day lunch is usually a day we spend with family members. So why not go ahead and host a holiday dinner with friends during the month of December? We have a fun tradition where we get together with a group of close friends and indulge in a big Christmas feast. Then we end the evening by watching a Christmas movie. Each year we have traditionally watched ‘A Muppet Christmas Carol’. After so many years we all seem to know the whole script by heart. Maybe it’s time for a new movie! Put Up The Christmas Tree And Decorate The House I wait until the first week of December to put my tree up and decorate the house for Christmas. We do this as a family and then when we are all finished. We will sit down to admire the lovely decorations and fairy lights over a cup of eggnog and a sweet treat. Play Christmas Music All December Once we hit the first day of December this is when I like to really crank up the Christmas music. I will listen to a variety of Christmas music depending on my mood. Some days I like soft Christmas jazz playing in the background. Other times I prefer listening to traditional Christmas carols and then there are days when I like to enjoy some of the more upbeat contemporary Christmas music. Go And See A Big Christmas Tree In Your City My December bucket list wouldn’t be complete without adding a visit to Martin Place to see the “tallest Christmas tree in NSW”. This beautiful Christmas tree is lit up with thousands of fairy lights and baubles as well as native Australian flowers. It is truly spectacular. Watch Christmas Movies There are just so many Christmas movies to choose from. I love rewatching my old favourites as well as some new ones too. I find that watching Christmas movies really gets me into the Christmas spirit. So this year I plan on making a list and ticking them off as I watch. Make A Gingerbread House You can find some really good gingerbread house kits in the shops. They have all the pieces that you need to put together a fantastic-looking gingerbread house. I like to add some of my own favourite lollies too. Enjoy A Holiday Drink At Starbucks Starbucks has some delicious festive favourites that will be sure to satisfy a sweet tooth. Next time you are busy Christmas shopping take a break and enjoy a gingerbread latte, frappucino or iced latte. Send Your Overseas Loved Ones A Christmas Card Send your loved ones a beautiful Christmas card with a handwritten message via good old-fashioned snail mail. I guarantee they will love this, I know that I love receiving cards in the mail. Spend An Evening Wrapping Christmas Presents I usually wait until I have bought all of the gifts and then I will spend an evening wrapping them while I watch the Carols In The Domain on TV. Every year around the middle of December a big lineup of Aussie stars perform carols in front of a huge audience in The Domain. It’s always televised live so I love to watch it in my comfy home as I wrap presents. Make Your Own Eggnog I have never made my own eggnog but this year this is something that I definitely plan on doing. I usually just buy eggnog from the grocery store. But my lovely co-worker has promised to give me a recipe which she says is THE BEST! I’m excited to try it. Make Some Christmas Cookies This year I want to set a day to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. I have to admit that I have wanted to do this every year but I have never managed to get around to it. One of the reasons is that it is usually so hot in December here in Australia. And the last thing I want to do is have the oven on. But having said that this year the temps have been unusually cooler. So thanks to La niña this might be the year for baking! Drive Around Your Neighbourhood To See The Christmas Lights Grab your family (yes even your reluctant teens) and drive around your neighbourhood to see the lights. I would love to fill a thermos with hot chocolate to enjoy. But in the past, we have just stopped off for ice cream because …..hello Summer! Go To Your Church Christmas Eve Carol Service This is one of my favourite December bucket list activities. Our church holds a Christmas Eve Carols service every year. Except for the last two years because of you know what. But this year they are back on again and I can hardly wait. There is something so special about singing those beautiful traditional carols that remind us about the birth of

I am someone who really gets excited about Christmas and can’t wait until the decorations hit the shops. But with that being said I know from experience that some years getting into the Christmas spirit may be harder than other years. Perhaps you might be going through a challenging emotional time. Or maybe you just feel plain tired and overwhelmed with so many things on the to-do list. Feeling jolly and bright might just feel a little too difficult. So here are some fun practical ways for you to get into the Christmas spirit this year! How To Get Into The Christmas Spirit WATCH CHRISTMAS MOVIES Put your pyjamas on and make Friday nights the night for your family to get together and watch some fun Christmas movies. Even if you don’t really feel like watching at first. I can guarantee that you won’t be able to resist laughing and enjoying a good fun Christmas movie. So if you’re having trouble deciding which one to watch, here is a list of some suggestions! LISTEN TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC Spotify has some great Christmas music or you could try iHeart radio’s Christmas stations. I love having Christmas music on during the day. Sometimes I enjoy singing along to the carols.  Other times I like the soft instrumental Christmas music and lately, I have really liked listening to Christmas saxophone music. Listening to some Christmas music can be a sure way to lift your spirits and get you into the mood for celebrating the holiday season. BURN SOME CHRISTMAS CANDLES There is no doubt that smells have a huge impact on us. Evidently, smells can trigger memories of happiness and excitement. Two feelings that can be clearly associated with the Christmas season. So why not go ahead and fill your home with the warm delicious smells of Christmas. Burn some candles that have scents like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and peppermint. BAKE AND DECORATE CHRISTMAS COOKIES Find a simple sugar cookie recipe and decorate them with icing and sprinkles. It’s such a fun and practical way to get creative. In addition, your house will smell like Christmas too. Get your friends and family involved. Nobody is too young or old to enjoy such a fun activity. Make it a yearly tradition and don’t forget to play that Christmas playlist while you are at it! GO SHOPPING Try and go Christmas shopping when you are not in a frantic last-minute rush to find a gift for someone. Instead, try going shopping just to enjoy the atmosphere. Big department stores like Myer or David Jones have beautiful Christmas decorations and displays. You won’t be able to resist feeling Christmassy when you are at the shops enjoying the Christmas music, decorations, and the general buzz of excitement in the air. DON’T FORGET SELF CARE Indeed there is always so much to do when you are getting ready for Christmas. Especially when you are the one hosting. It’s easy to forget to look after yourself when you are so busy trying to get all your preparations underway. You might even find yourself wishing you were planning on going on a cruise instead just like the Kranks. Remember to get adequate rest, drink water and do the things you would normally do as part of your self-care routine. Don’t be hard on yourself and become overwhelmed with trying to be the perfect Christmas host, just do your best and remember that you can’t always please everybody. REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON Yes, indeed Christmas is a lot about the decorations, food, music, and fun. But the real reason for the season is all about God’s plan of salvation for us and you can read all about this in the Bible. The Christmas story is found in the New Testament Luke 2:1-20. TAKE A DRIVE TO ENJOY SOME CHRISTMAS LIGHTS Take a drive or a walk around your neighborhood and appreciate the magical Christmas lights. If you go by car you can also enjoy some Christmas music. Maybe stop off somewhere for a sweet treat afterward. This is sure to lift your mood and help you get some Christmas spirit. GET A CHRISTMAS MANICURE Take some time out to enjoy a manicure and pick some festive colours like red. If that’s a little too bright for your taste then you could go for some clear nail polish with a touch of sparkles. But if you feel extra daring you could try shimmery gold! DELIGHT IN SOME SEASONAL TREATS There are many treats that you will only find during the Christmas season so make sure to take full advantage of these! Enjoy yummy treats like egg nog, panettone, peppermint bark and Ikea Vintersaga mulled fruit drink to name a few. BUILD A GINGERBREAD HOUSE This is such a fun activity to do. You can find many ready-made kits at the shops that will make this activity easy to organise. You can even sneak in a few lollies while you are at it! DONATE Remember those who are less fortunate and in the need of assistance. After all, Christmas is a time of giving. You could donate canned goods to churches or organisations that pack up hampers for the needy. Or buy toys to donate to your local wishing tree or places like Barnardos. Get your whole family involved and find a charity to support. Christmas spirit is found in giving!          

Christmas Home Tour 2021 Hi Friends and happy Monday, wow the weekend sure flew by! I finally managed to get my act together and I finished decorating the house. So I thought that it would be fun for me to open my door and welcome you into my home for a little Christmas home tour. Christmas Lights! Saturday afternoon I decorated my verandah with some solar-powered fairy lights. They are so easy to put up as I don’t have to muck around with any electricity. I don’t think they are as bright as the electric ones. But I’m happy with them and they have lasted quite a few years which is great These candy canes and Christmas trees are really cute and the little trees change colour! I wrapped the verandah with some multi-coloured fairy lights. I know I said that the solar-powered fairy lights were easy but even so I always manage to get myself in a tangle. Grrrrr! I am so impressed with houses that have a ton of lights. How do they do it?? I didn’t take a nighttime photo because the solar lights are still super faint. We’re back to cloudy rainy days and the little solar battery hasn’t had a chance to power up yet. I’ve had this festive sign for a long time too. Every year I stick it in my tall pot plant that’s just outside my front door. I bought his Christmas wreath from Ikea a few years ago, it’s simple and I really like the bright red baubles. I do think that it is starting to lose some of its shine so I might change this one soon. The Entry Way The first thing you will see when you come into my house are these two stars hanging on the wall. They are also from Ikea and they have a timer. Every night they turn on at 6 pm and then they turn off at 11 pm. How clever!! The garland over the door frame got a bit of a makeover, it was looking really dull. It had a sad-looking gold ribbon on it. I was so tempted to throw it out but in the end, I’m glad that I didn’t. To fix it up I cut off the ribbon then just added a few more small baubles and wrapped a string of tiny twinkle lights. I was happy with the end result, a much livelier-looking garland! This small entry table has a few Christmas knick-knacks. The nutcracker is from David Jones and I bought it about twenty years ago. Back then it was a bit of an extravagant purchase. Now it’s easy to find nutcrackers everywhere, but all those years ago you couldn’t. I picked up this sign from a two-dollar shop years ago. Dining Room I usually have some eggs made from stones in this bowl but for Christmas, I like to fill it up with some red and gold Christmas balls. These twigs have fairy lights on them all year round but for Christmas, I add some white decorations that I have collected over the years. Noel Noel! The Living Room When I put the tree skirt around the Christmas tree, my little cat instantly thinks it’s been laid out for her comfort! She’s so funny. The stocking holders in this next photo are from Pottery Barn and the stockings I had monogrammed from Vistaprint.   These two pillows are a new addition this year. These other two I bought from TK Maxx last year. When my husband saw them he asked me why I had bought a pillow that said falafel ??? Bahahahaha!! This gorgeous nativity is from Willow Tree, I love how simple it is. The shepherd’s staff is so delicate, I accidentally snapped it last year when I was putting it away. I was so mad at myself but I fixed it straightaway with super glue and you can’t even see where it was broken. phew! Look at this miniature Peruvian nativity. My aunty gave me this and I just love how cute it is! Kitchen There are only two things going on in the way of decorations in the kitchen. I wanted to keep things simple so all I did was place a few gold balls and a string of lights into a glass vase. I bought this new sign on Saturday. It sits nicely on these open shelves above our tiny breakfast bar. That’s it, friends, that wraps up my little Christmas home tour. I always like to see how other people decorate for Christmas, It’s a great way to get some ideas and inspiration. Plus I’ll be honest, I just love having a sneak peek inside people’s homes. I hope you all have a great week, Oh my goodness! I can’t believe how close we are getting to Christmas. Eeeeeeeks I have to get onto my Christmas shopping quick smart!!! Happy Monday!    

‘Tis the season to show appreciation and spread some holiday cheer! As a childcare educator myself, I know firsthand the joy that comes from receiving thoughtful gifts during the Christmas season. That’s why I am excited to share with you some amazing Christmas gift ideas for teachers that are sure to bring a big smile to their faces. Christmas Gift Ideas For Teachers 1. A Pretty Teacup and Saucer Quite a few years ago a lovely preschool mum gave me the most beautiful teacup and saucer from an Australian specialty tea shop called T2. If I have had a particularly busy or stressful day and feel like I need to do something special to treat myself and practice a bit of self-care. I will go ahead and use my teacup and saucer. And do you know what? Every time I do, I not only enjoy my tea more but also think of the beautiful mum and her lovely boys who gave me this gift. So special! 2. A Christmas Ornament I love receiving Christmas ornaments! Every time I do I make sure to use a permanent marker to write the name of the student who gave it to me and the year on the bottom of the ornament. I am so glad I do this because every year when I decorate my tree, I can also go down memory lane. Plus, I am sure I would have forgotten who gave me what if I didn’t do this. 3. Candles I just love candles! My home will usually have a soy candle burning in the evening. The sweet scent of a burning candle just makes everything feel cosy. Last year a lovely mum even made her own candles which she then gave to us as Christmas gifts. I don’t think you can ever go wrong when you give a teacher a candle. If you are not sure what scent to choose, I think vanilla is probably the safest. 4.  Homemade Granola A few years ago a very clever preschool parent gave the teachers at preschool some delicious homemade granola. She put the granola in a nice mason jar and decorated it with a cute Christmas ribbon and gift tag. I thought this was a really clever gift and I really enjoyed eating the granola. Speaking of granola I have a delicious and healthy granola recipe that you can find here! Maybe you might be inspired to do this for your child’s teacher this Christmas. 5. Wine Wine is a wonderful gift idea! I love getting a bottle of wine as a gift. I have also seen some very funny and clever tags that you can attach to the bottle. 6. Water Bottle Water bottles are a great and really useful gift. One year I was given an R2D2 water bottle with my name on it. Haha, this family knew how much I love Star Wars! I have had this bottle for quite a few years now and I probably need to replace it soon. Lucky Christmas is just around the corner! 7. Personalised Pencils Anything personalised is really cool in my book. I was given these cute pencils with my name on them quite a few years ago. They sit inside a nice wooden pencil holder on my desk and I use them all the time. 8. Bags Teachers always have so much stuff to carry and a bag comes in so handy. Last year a clever preschool mum made each of us a bag. All the love, care, and hard work that goes into homemade presents just amazes me. Not to mention how clever I think these sewing mums are! Of course, it doesn’t have to be handmade. There are many affordable and lovely-looking bags you can find in the shops. So trust me, teachers will always find any bag very useful! 9. Iced Coffee Tumbler I love using my Starbucks Iced coffee tumbler. This was a present from a little preschool friend who knows how much I enjoy going to Starbucks! Sometimes when I take it to work the kids beg me to show them what’s inside. They are convinced I am drinking a milkshake, sorry to disappoint them but I only use it for water or for cold-infused tea. 10. Gift Cards I have been generously given Westfields gift cards and bookstore gift cards, movie cards as well as Starbucks gift cards. Luckily you can’t tell when I am blushing because sometimes the amount on these cards is very blushworthy! So much kindness!! 11. Custom-Made Gifts These are so special too. A few years ago one of my little preschool friends gave me this beautiful custom-made picture that I really cherish. It’s got her name on it and the year she gave it to me. 12. Hand Cream Working in preschool means that I probably wash my hands 3645 times a day. Consequently, my hands are always dry. Moisturizing hand cream is such a great gift that I will always use. One year I received a cute set of little tubes of hand cream. These were great for carrying around in my handbag. 13. Chocolates Chocolates are always a firm favourite and my favourite chocolates are Ferrero Rocher. I usually receive a few gift boxes full of these and they always make me so happy. I always associate Ferrero Roche chocolates with Christmas because that is usually the only time I eat them. They also look so nice when I put them in my Christmas bowls on the coffee table. Happy Shopping! As I mentioned before, I am always thankful and touched by the generosity and kindness of the parents and children from preschool who give me Christmas presents. If you are currently thinking about what to give your child’s teachers this Christmas. I really hope that you find this list of Christmas gift ideas for teachers helpful!