Early Preperations

I know a lot of you are going to be cursing me now for saying this but already my thoughts are heading towards Christmas.  For years I have been saying how I would love to make more hand-made gifts and every year I fail to do.  I always end up leaving it to the last minute and run out of time or I don’t have a clue what to make.  Well this year that is going to change, why?  Well because I’m preparing already.

 

A couple of years back I made an advent calendar for James, last year I made another one for his niece.  This year I will be making more.  I have already received one request to make one so I am planning on making a few to sell, possibly a few more filled with presents to give to friends as their Christmas present. 

 

 For my first calendar, I made the numbers for each pocket using felt and a machine to cut the numbers out individually, it took ages.  So last year I thought I’d get a bit savvy with it and buy some ready-made numbers from eBay.  There were so many different sellers to choose from it was impossible to know what was going to be the best.  I opted for one seller and ordered 2 batches of numbers in 2 different colours, that way I could make 2 calendars and chop and change the number colours throughout. 

 

 I paid for the numbers along with 2 lots of postage fees.  The package was sent using eBay delivery with Royal Mail.  I know a lot of people have experienced problems with Royal Mail but I must say I have always found them to be reliable and am yet to experience any troubles (touch wood I’ve not jinxed that now)   I was expecting delays with it being in the run up to Christmas but I was wrong.  They arrived quickly, within a few days which I thought was very impressive, however it had all been sent in one envelope amounting to a lot less than the postage I paid – not so impressive.  I probably should have contacted the seller and complained but in all honesty I had a lot going on and just never got round to it.  It is something that I have become wise to though, it is a big bug bear of mine, charging people for something they are not using or not getting, it is a bit cheeky if you ask me and it is definitely something I will be more cautious of when buying on eBay and similar websites in the future.

 So for me now, it is off to get some more numbers and start sewing some advent calendars ready for the big event J

 Love Gem x x x x

 N.B. This is a sponsored blog post, however all wording and opinions are that of my own.