Misc Getting concerned about Christmas

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seraphima

Veteran Member
I've been doing some shopping for Christmas and noticing big holes in toy inventories. Walmart had not a single Nerf toy! Decided to start poking around on th internet and met up with some Columbus Day sales, so did pick up a few items..

Also have been looking for a black cardigan sweater and a lightweight fleece zip jacket for quite some time, but my go-to places like LLBean don't have the kinds of things they used to anymore and are more focussed on city and suburb clothes- cotton- that aren't warm enough for Alaska. Even this early in the season sizes are out in what items various sites do have. It took a long time to find size 2T 2-piece pajamas for my grandson because the 2T and 3T are sold out in many lines even on Amazon.

The other thing that concerns me is likely shipping delays. Sure is a lot in the news about trucking, shipboard, and plane cancellations.

Then there are travel delays- I had hoped to fly to Anchorage this week to visit family and to do my shopping, but it has had to be delayed due to illness there (and this is the third delay of this trip for various reasons), so who knows if I will actually get there and be able to shop?!
 
F

Faroe

Un-spun
Yep, LL Bean is not what it used to be! Sad, I grew up in New England, and have a nostalgia for the business. Last thing I ordered, I returned - skimpy and poor quality. Haven't bothered to go back since. The best of old Bean is on e-Bay.
 
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Jeff B.

Jeff B.

Don’t let the Piss Ants get you down…
I’ve switched to Orvis. I think they’re picking up a lot of the old traditional business Bean had.

Also, Costco has some things available online and I recently found out that they do men’s talls online and not in the store. If you find what you want on their offerings, which change frequently you can get a decent deal.

Jeff B.
 
Tundra Gypsy

Tundra Gypsy

Veteran Member
I bought my hubby a couple of things and I'm done. I used to send the grandkids gift cards; but they never thanked me; so I stopped doing that. We keep Christmas simple. My hubby only gives me gifts at Christmas; but, he has such bad taste, that I have to buy what I really want and give them to him to wrap and give me at Christmas. You have no idea the kind of crap he used to give me. He's cheap and bought me terrible clothing in the past. Ugh!!!
 
packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Tundra Gypsy said:
My hubby only gives me gifts at Christmas; but, he has such bad taste, that I have to buy what I really want and give them to him to wrap and give me at Christmas. You have no idea the kind of crap he used to give me. He's cheap and bought me terrible clothing in the past. Ugh!!!
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Sounds like my dad! :lol:
 
R

ReneeT

Veteran Member
My grandkids are getting cash - they'll be out west over the Christmas break and can use it for ski passes.

The hospital I work for has an annual pj drive for kids in need in the nearby communities. I usually take the boys to the local WM to pick out pjs in their sizes to donate but there are almost NO pjs at that WM, and very few at the one in my work town. We're also being asked to donate kid size underclothes - that area is skimpy too. I guess I'm going to try a bigger town once I pick them up today; I'd just order from Amazon, but there selection is minimal (for them), especially after you unclick the 'include out of stock' box.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
I don't do much Christmas shopping anymore, just get something for my autistic youngest daughter who still lives with me. I was in the feed store the other day, and they still have a few little play sets with plastic animals (fairly nice ones -- she kind of collects their horse figures, but they aren't the quality of Breyer, which have gotten far too expensive for us). So I picked up two of them to hide until Christmas. I'll probably get a good 'adult' (Christian ladies) coloring book for her, too.

Kathleen
 
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FireDance

TB Fanatic
Freeholder said:
I don't do much Christmas shopping anymore, just get something for my autistic youngest daughter who still lives with me. I was in the feed store the other day, and they still have a few little play sets with plastic animals (fairly nice ones -- she kind of collects their horse figures, but they aren't the quality of Breyer, which have gotten far too expensive for us). So I picked up two of them to hide until Christmas. I'll probably get a good 'adult' (Christian ladies) coloring book for her, too.

Kathleen
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I always pick up my Breyer stuff after Christmas for the next year. Usually Tractor Supply has a decent sale. Selection is not as good of course, but the price comes way down.

Meanwhile, I’m working on my meager list. I am totally at a loss as to what to buy. I’ve got several things done, but I’m not going to go hog wild this year.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
FireDance said:
I always pick up my Breyer stuff after Christmas for the next year. Usually Tractor Supply has a decent sale. Selection is not as good of course, but the price comes way down.

Meanwhile, I’m working on my meager list. I am totally at a loss as to what to buy. I’ve got several things done, but I’m not going to go hog wild this year.
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I had four Breyer horses when I was in high school -- I think they cost less than ten dollars each, which was still a lot for my mom to spend on a Christmas present for one of us at the time. I unfortunately gave them to my young sister-in-law after I married her brother, thinking I was too old for 'toys' by then. Several years later, I figured she was all grown up and maybe my children would like to have those horses, but she wouldn't give them back. Which, okay, I did give them to her, but she wasn't very nice about it. Anyway, I don't want to spend forty-five dollars or more on toy horses; also, the Schleich horses I've been getting for my daughter are a lot smaller and easier to store in a small bedroom. But I'll do some checking after Christmas and see if I can find one or two small ones for her.

ETA: I just did some looking and there *are* Breyer horses that are lower priced than the ones I've seen in the feed store -- I'll watch and see if those go on sale after the holidays!

Kathleen
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Marseydoats said:
As Sherree said in another thread, Blair still has some nice women's clothing. I don't know if what they have would be warm enough for Alaska though.
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My mom loves Blair's clothing. I give her money every year for Christmas, and she spends it at Blair. She usually waits for a sale or when they have free shipping. I was looking for a fleece hooded jacket, and found just what I wanted at Blair, so I ordered it. The shipping cost was pretty steep, but I really needed the jacket, and couldn't find what I wanted in the size or color anywhere else. I like Blair's quality, too. I'm still wearing lounge dresses I ordered 10 yrs ago! They're still in good shape, and haven't faded at all.

Since I never have a clue as to what to get anyone for Christmas, we always just give cash. We have no little ones in our small family. Saves a lot of stress, too.
 
J

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
I'm done with my shopping and have been for a while. I have been known to start buying presents as early as a day or two after Christmas. I've found some great deals by doing so.
 
H

hd5574

Veteran Member
Jeff B. said:
I’ve switched to Orvis. I think they’re picking up a lot of the old traditional business Bean had.

Also, Costco has some things available online and I recently found out that they do men’s talls online and not in the store. If you find what you want on their offerings, which change frequently you can get a decent deal.

Jeff B.
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I have some Orvis items.....beware read very carefully...lots of their very expensive clothes are no longer real cotton...or real fiber.
Their real cotton shirts are very thin..too thin for the money they charge.
I am out in the country so I collected flannel shirts for about 20 years....lots have fallen by the side.....have beautiful old woolrich shirts..now owned by Europe. ..to nothing to even look at
A year ago we at rural king...found some nice reasonable shirts their..store
Haven't been this year so I have no idea if they if they got stock this year.

Our Christmas is new robes, long underwear, boots jeans, gloves, socks
We got several years worth just in case the supply chain remains a mess....plus stopped inflation.for our family
 
A

armadillogray

Inactive
Tundra Gypsy said:
I bought my hubby a couple of things and I'm done. I used to send the grandkids gift cards; but they never thanked me; so I stopped doing that. We keep Christmas simple. My hubby only gives me gifts at Christmas; but, he has such bad taste, that I have to buy what I really want and give them to him to wrap and give me at Christmas. You have no idea the kind of crap he used to give me. He's cheap and bought me terrible clothing in the past. Ugh!!!
Click to expand...
I got a deer salt lick for Christmas and he doesn't even hunt....
 
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