Thanks to millions of hit on the video site YouTube, one of the unexpected big hits of Christmas 2011 has been the My Keepon. My Keepon is based on the Keepon® Pro, a research robot created by two scientists. The original Keepon was developed to study social development and autism, but when the video went viral the two scientists teamed up with toy innovators Wow! Stuff. On Ebay, in the US, Keepon has been selling for 3 times the market value. At the moment in the UK it is only available for pre-order in a number of different retailers. The company admits that it has been taken aback by the number of pre-orders and it is going to struggle to meet demand this Christmas.
RipStiks have been taking the US by storm. They look a bit like a skateboard, but there are two seperate panels (one for each foot) and this is connected with a “torsion bar”. Although they look like a skateboard, they ride alot more like a snowboard or surfboard. The board is recommended for ages 8+ and as with any “extreme sport” it is advised that your child has the correct safety equipment. At the moment they are only available from a very small number of retailers. One of the best places to buy one is through Skate Hut uk. The number 1 online skate shop. Currently priced at £69.95, this would make a great gift for any outdoor loving adventure sports fan. You can currently get them in Blue, Red or Silver and there are premium versions of the product available.
Christmas can be a costly affair and some families may dread the Christmas period for this reason alone. Gifts, food, decorations and drink can cost a lot of money especially if you have a big family and are hosting Christmas. The key is to plan in advance so the financial burden is lessened as December creeps up on us.
Make a list and stick to it
Get organised like never before. Set a budget for each person who you need to buy for and stick to it. It may be worth drawing up a table or using Excel to keep track of what you’ve spent. Every time you buy a gift for someone, add it to your table so you can see how much you’ve spent on each person. If you’ve over spent, spend less on someone else so you stick within your budget.
Start ASAP
There is no time like the present. If you haven’t already started picking things up as you go along, start now. When you’re doing your weekly food shop keep an eye out for BOGOF and 2 for 1 offers, as supermarkets will be launching most Christmas products as special offers before the Christmas rush starts.
DIY gift ideas
Don’t think you have to pay over the odds for Christmas gifts; make your own! How about making your own Christmas cards? Buy some card, glitter pens and assorted coloured paper and get creative. This will not only save you some cash but will get you in the festive spirit.
We always seem to buy several boxes of chocolate around Christmas, so why not make your own truffles? These are great gifts with a really personal touch. What’s even better is that they only consist of a few ingredients and can be really cheap to produce. Buy or make some little truffle boxes and hand those out instead of splashing out at the shops.
Use vouchers NOW
When the Christmas period beckons, retailers aren’t likely to publish printable vouchers or discount codes. This is because this is their busiest time of the year and they make a large chunk of their profits in December. I’d recommend to start looking for Marks and Spencer discount codes, Debenhams vouchers and Argos promotions now, and buy any purchases you’re going to make from the retail giants sooner than later. This way you can still take advantage of their promotional offers and save some cash on your buys.
Keep a sale calendar
Note when your favourite Christmas retailers have sales in the run up to Christmas. For example, Debenhams usually run a Christmas Spectacular for a week/weekend in the run up to Christmas. Other retailers like BHS and various electronic stores so this too, so keep money aside for these events, which could really save you some money on your purchases.
Think of next Christmas, now
As soon as December 25th is over, you may not want to think about next Christmas for a good few months, but it’s smart to start thinking now. The January sales are packed with Christmas bargains. Think Christmas cards, decorations and even gifts. All three items are always heavily discounted, even to as much as 70%. It’s worth stocking up on these items as if you wait until next November and December the prices will be heavily inflated. Keep a box of these items safe for next year and you’ll save yourself some cash.
While you’re thinking of next year’s finances it may be worth considering signing up to a Christmas vouchers saving scheme. Each month an amount is taken from your bank account and is sent to you in high street vouchers in time for next Christmas. This means that your Christmas savings money comes out of your account each month and you won’t have the chance to spend it. This is great for people who aren’t very good at saving as the cash isn’t easily accessible. Another option, for those with more will power, is to set aside some money each month starting from January. Then, when the next festive season begins you won’t notice as much of a financial strain.
Letterbox.co.uk is a great place to buy your toys this Christmas. One of toy selling toy categories this year is the traditional toys section. People are looking back to their own childhood and the great toys that they used to play with and are wanting to offer their children the same experience. Not all toys need to be modern, noisy, and plastic. There is still a place to the traditional toy on wish lists this year. If you shop before the 13th of October then you can get a 15% discount on all the toys listed below. The this code at the checkout: FIFTEEN. Looking for more toy ideas? Then dont forget to check out the top ten toys for 2011.
“Super Thursday” is an important day to the book trade. This is when the top hardback books for Christmas are released. More than 200 titles will battle it out on the 29th of September with the aim of being top of the charts. In 2010 the top 10 books each made more than £1m in sales over the Christmas period. The standout winner was Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, 30-Minute Meals, which shifted more than 1.1 million units.
This year he has another new book, JAMIE OLIVER – Jamie’s Great Britain which is due to be released on the 29th of September. You can get it from amazon for just £14.50 (reduced from £30). “Celebrating Britain’s very best food. Jamie grew up in one of the first true British “gastropubs”, which his Mum and Dad still run today. For him, the heart and soul of real British cooking is food that puts a smile on your face. And that’s what he wants to share in the new book: the essence of British food, done properly.”
Here at Top Ten Christmas Presents we have come up with more lists than ever before to help you find the perfect gift this Christmas. New this year include the must have lists for dads, mums, grandparents, babies, toddlers, teenagers (boys and girls), travelers, gamers, students, and board game fans. And in the next week or so we will also be releasing our top 10 must have Christmas present ideas for pets and for foodies. No other website that we are aware of offers such a large range of different christmas gift ideas 2011.
Don’t forget that the Toy Retail Association releases their Top 12 Toys on the 27th of October. We will be updating out Top Toys list on this date if we have missed anything. Also, all of our lists are flexible in-case some really great gift ideas come in at the last minute.
Back in January, Toys “R” Us sent 100 employees to the Hong Kong Toys and Game Fair to research what the must have toys for 2011 are going to be. The company then took a huge list of toys home with them are started their research. In the end, the managed to narrow the list down to a “Fabulous 15″ for must have Toys for 2011. You can see the list below.
Air Hogs Hyper Actives (Spin Master)
Air Swimmers eXtreme (Animal Planet)
Lalaloopsy Silly Hair dolls (MGA Entertainment)
LeapPad Explorer (LeapFrog)
Monster High Fearleading 3-Pack (Mattel)
Moshi Monsters Moshling 3-Pack Mini-Figures (Spin Master)
My Keepon (WOW! Stuff)
NERF Vortex Vigilon (Hasbro)
Ninjago Lightning Dragon Battle (LEGO)
Poppin’ Park Elefun Busy Ball Popper (Playskool/Hasbro)
Power Wheels Dune Racer (Fisher-Price/Mattel)
Radica Fijit Friends (Mattel)
Sesame Street Let’s Rock! Elmo (Hasbro)
Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (Activision)
The Trash Pack Garbage Truck (Moose Toys)
Dont forget to stay tuned for when we release the official UK Top Ten Toys for 2011 list in the middle of October.
GoneDigging.co.uk have some great products this Christmas. We have featured a few of them in our lists. For example, personalised champagne has made into our Top 10 gifts for her, personalised wines and spirits into the Must Have Gifts for Him, and the ever popular Back Page Reprint getting into our top 10 gifts for sports fans.
Gone Digging have been kind enough to offer readers of Top 10 Christmas Gifts an exclusive 12% discount code. Just add the following code at the checkout to get your discount: CODE10
Every Christmas is full of rumours about the latest gadget release. Be it the newest Apple product, the latest games console, or as this year, the big rumour is all about Amazon launching a Kindle Tablet in time for Christmas. According to Techcrunch, the 7 inch tablet will run on Google Android and could be here as early as November. If all goes well a 10 inch version will also be launched. The best thing about all these rumours? The price. The price being talked about the moment is just $250 (roughly £155). If these stories turn out to be true, we will certainly be updating our Top 10 Christmas present lists.
Shopping early can sometimes save you a whole load on your Christmas bill. Once again iWoot are offering some great discounts if you shop this August. Save 15% on everything with the following code:
Thanks to millions of hit on the video site YouTube, one of the unexpected big hits of Christmas 2011 has been the My Keepon. My Keepon is based on the Keepon® Pro, a research robot created by two scientists. The original Keepon was developed to study social development and autism, but when the video went viral the two scientists teamed up with toy innovators Wow! Stuff. On Ebay, in the US, Keepon has been selling for 3 times the market value. At the moment in the UK it is only available for pre-order in a number of different retailers. The company admits that it has been taken aback by the number of pre-orders and it is going to struggle to meet demand this Christmas. 
RipStiks have been taking the US by storm. They look a bit like a skateboard, but there are two seperate panels (one for each foot) and this is connected with a “torsion bar”. Although they look like a skateboard, they ride alot more like a snowboard or surfboard. The board is recommended for ages 8+ and as with any “extreme sport” it is advised that your child has the correct safety equipment. At the moment they are only available from a very small number of retailers. One of the best places to buy one is through Skate Hut uk. The number 1 online skate shop. Currently priced at £69.95, this would make a great gift for any outdoor loving adventure sports fan. You can currently get them in Blue, Red or Silver and there are premium versions of the product available.
Letterbox.co.uk is a great place to buy your toys this Christmas. One of toy selling toy categories this year is the traditional toys section. People are looking back to their own childhood and the great toys that they used to play with and are wanting to offer their children the same experience. Not all toys need to be modern, noisy, and plastic. There is still a place to the traditional toy on wish lists this year. If you shop before the 13th of October then you can get a 15% discount on all the toys listed below. The this code at the checkout: FIFTEEN. Looking for more toy ideas? Then dont forget to check out the 
Back in January, Toys “R” Us sent 100 employees to the Hong Kong Toys and Game Fair to research what the must have toys for 2011 are going to be. The company then took a huge list of toys home with them are started their research. In the end, the managed to narrow the list down to a “Fabulous 15″ for must have Toys for 2011. You can see the list below.
Every Christmas is full of rumours about the latest gadget release. Be it the newest Apple product, the latest games console, or as this year, the big rumour is all about Amazon launching a Kindle Tablet in time for Christmas. According to Techcrunch, the 7 inch tablet will run on Google Android and could be here as early as November. If all goes well a 10 inch version will also be launched. The best thing about all these rumours? The price. The price being talked about the moment is just $250 (roughly £155). If these stories turn out to be true, we will certainly be updating our Top 10 Christmas present lists.