Secret Santa 2016

SillyMangoX

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…. My PM box has been cleared, spreadsheets sorted and a large bottle of wine is chilling in the fridge..

Yes, you guessed it, Boards Secret Santa is back once again! I’ve decided I haven’t had enough punishment over the past couple of years so we’re back.

So, step up with all creatures furry, feathered, scaled, spined and anything else in between!

Most of you are familiar with how this works, but as we always welcome newbies with open arms – here’s how it works.

The rules are simple, this is a Secret Santa for your pets. You can enter as many pets as you like, and you will buy presents for an equal number of pets.

Any type of pet can enter – cat, dog, rabbit, rats, fish, chickens, horses, reptiles – you get the idea. We will *especially* welcome entries from stick insects!

You can buy or create your presents however you like but the limit for spending is €10. You can be surprised how much you can do with that small amount!

You must have 100 posts or over on boards to enter to ensure all entries are genuine posters.

Unfortunately, due to this being a very time consuming process and my recent attainment of a life, the entries are will be reduced to 30 this year. So, get those entries in quick! :P

Closing date for entries: November 18th. This is closing a week earlier this year to allow time for packages to arrive if any problems are encountered.

Posting dates: November 25th to December 2nd. (Keep in mind especially if ordering presents online). You are of course more than welcome to post before this date if you have presents sorted!

Opening date: December 22nd

For those of you wishing to enter, PM me with the following:

Your Details
-Your Name – Make sure that the package will reach you, you can use your full name or initials.
-Your Address – this will be treated with the strictest confidence. This can be your home address, or a c/o address/ work address!
-EirCode – if applicable!

Your pet’s details
-Species:
-Pet’s name (optional):
-Gender:
-Breed/size:
-Is food allowed: (note that some animals may suffer from allergies)
-Likes/Dislikes:


NB: When posting your package, please use the owners name as postal address to avoid confusion. It would be nice if you could include the pets name elsewhere on the package, for example: Patch C/O John Smith, as some users enter multiple pets!

This thread is going to be a happy fun place to discuss all things Secret Santa related and post pictures so if there are any problems don’t hesitate to PM me.

Also, hat tip to my wonderful OH who isn’t on boards for designing the beautiful cover picture. I asked for a couple of Santa hats to be thrown on some animal stock images and she came up with this with my own babies slotted in!!

Can’t believe this is the 7th year already! You can find links to the previous threads here: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010.

Let the madness commence!

tk123

Hmmm I dunno - I've been burned the last couple of years with non-standard pets! :pac:

Knine

tk123 wrote: »

Hmmm I dunno - I've been burned the last couple of years with non-standard pets! :pac:

PM on the way to SM with those non standard pets

baby and crumble

I'm in for 2! Will PM now.

LOVE THIS EVERY YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

SillyMangoX

tk123 wrote: »

Hmmm I dunno - I've been burned the last couple of years with non-standard pets! :pac:

I'm always open to accepting bribes

DBB

Stick insect for tk!

Broken Hearted Road

I'm relatively new to posting on the animal and pet issues forum. Started posting since the dogs diagnosis of arthritis. I'm very tempted to enter the secret santa. I think it would be nice to receive a present in the post for the dog especially considering she's getting old and it might be her last Christmas. I don't know how I would be buying for creatures that are not cats, dogs, rabbits, fish. The thought of reptiles, horses, chickens, etc I'm not to sure about. I'll have a think about this and confirm later.

Knine

Maybe I should get a pet Stick insect.

Kajemo

Deffo in for my two furbabies..

pm to follow! :-)

sooo excited!!!!

jellybear

PM sent Also, hope it's okay to mention pet bliss have 25% off Christmas stock so you could buy a few things in the hope that you get a certain animal!!:) Milo will have everything crossed that I don't get a dog in the Secret Santa draw so he can have all of the toys!!:)

ShaShaBear

PM sent, I've added in my 17 new additions to the mix this year :P

Choc Chip

I finally have 100 posts! PM for my 2 to follow!

ene

I AM SO EXCITED!! I was thinking about this last week and wondering when it would appear again!

SillyMangoX

ene wrote: »

I AM SO EXCITED!! I was thinking about this last week and wondering when it would appear again!

For as long as it's me doing it - as soon as I can get away with talking about Christmas. Which in my head is the day after Halloween

Great response again this year, places are filling fast

ene

SillyMangoX wrote: »

For as long as it's me doing it - as soon as I can get away with talking about Christmas. Which in my head is the day after Halloween

Great response again this year, places are filling fast

I am the exact same! I was singing along with fairytale of new york whilst having my breakfast this morning!

honerbright

Yaaaay, my favourite time of year!
I'll send in my lads tomorrow because boards is kind of wonky on my phone lately.

SillyMangoX

I may or may not have been scoping out all the various zoo plus sites all evening to see which has the best Christmas offerings... (for the record, it's the German one :P ). I may need to do some pre SS shopping just to get an advent calendar for the babies!

Jen Pigs Fly

Yes!! Finally! Waiting all year!

Entered in the horse and the dogs this year. Left the dragons out as they hardly used what they got the last two years! Silly dragons although they do love the hammock they got ....

SillyMangoX

Looking like a good bunch again this year, not as many unusual pets as before so you may be safe TK :P

Can I also ask that all boardies who enter make sure that they have room in their PM box to receive messages, otherwise I will be unable to send on your details when the time comes

Kajemo

SillyMango I sent you a pm I had to correct my address had a wrong number in the original oops sorry x

Pm sent!

SillyMangoX

Just 7 spots left this year so for anyone humming and hawing about entering, now is the time to do it!!

tk123

Ah go on then! I'm just going to enter one of them because they have too much stuff as it is! We still have all our brilliant presents from last year

Last year Hiro got a pack of little green hard chew toys from his secret santa and both he and my other dog loved them. Such a simple thing but he got endless entertainment from them. We only threw out the last little nub of one recently so he almost got a full year out of them! I've never seen them in shops since but they were super durable. If his secret Santa is reading this.. thanks for keeping him quiet and happy many an evening over the last year!
All his other presents were great too, as were Khalis. It's such a fun experience. Have entered my cat this year!

ene

Lotso is still enjoying a toy that i bought to send to HIS secret santa that he stole. Hopefully i will be better at hiding it this year!

SillyMangoX

Had a very quiet PM box over the weekend! There's still 6 spots up for grabs

SillyMangoX

And then there was 3.. Filling fast this year!

SillyMangoX

A week left to enter and 3 spots to go! Sooner it fillls, the sooner I can get the details sent out - give ye an extra bit of time shopping :P

SillyMangoX

Last spot left!!!

Somebody enter! I'm dying to know my animal!

ShaShaBear

Deleted User wrote: »

Somebody enter! I'm dying to know my animal!

Eh, hi. I'm ShaShaWolf... and I'd totally like to put forward my cat... eh... Popie..

ShaShaBear

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Eh, hi. I'm ShaShaWolf... and I'd totally like to put forward my cat... eh... Popie..

LOL Silly Mango will never see through that sophisticated ruse!

tk123

Awww I didn't enter Bailey and there's 1 space!!!!!!!!! There's only one toy he likes which our wonderful SS got for him last year and he still has it - but I felt bad being so restrictive like that I don't think it's fair to do it again lol!!

Knine

Poor Bailey. He will be very upset if Santa does not pay him a visit

Jen Pigs Fly

tk123 wrote: »

Awww I didn't enter Bailey and there's 1 space!!!!!!!!! There's only one toy he likes which our wonderful SS got for him last year and he still has it - but I felt bad being so restrictive like that I don't think it's fair to do it again lol!!

I'm glad bailey is still getting great use from his toy! Can never have too many stuffed footballs I suppose ...

DBB

Oh gwan tk... Gwan! Gwan, gwan, gwan!
Do it for Bailey.
You know he's worth it

ShaShaBear

YES GO ON WE WANT TO KNOW WHO WE GOT!!!!

Disclaimer: I've been doing this for three years now and value SS shopping higher than sourcing Christmas presents for my family or planning my daughter's first birthday in three weeks.

Latatian

This is my first time doing it and reading back over the threads I am terrified by the pressure. People get such great gifts. I was going to be like 'something to eat,something to play with, done'.

Also the sad moment of realizing I can't really sign up with my elderly dog 'cos she will probably not live that long.

angeldaisy

Oh go on so, if there's a space left I'll enter my goldfish!
Dogs are not being entered this year as they are both way too uncivilised to receive any presents from Santa this year😀.
Let me know before I pm you sillymango.

ene

i am way too excited, but slightly scared in case i get the stick insect!

Knine

angeldaisy wrote: »

Oh go on so, if there's a space left I'll enter my goldfish!
Dogs are not being entered this year as they are both way too uncivilised to receive any presents from Santa this year😀.
Let me know before I pm you sillymango.

No dogs entered from me as the breed might give me away.

Jen Pigs Fly

Latatian wrote: »

This is my first time doing it and reading back over the threads I am terrified by the pressure. People get such great gifts. I was going to be like 'something to eat,something to play with, done'.

Also the sad moment of realizing I can't really sign up with my elderly dog 'cos she will probably not live that long.

I signed up my soon to be 15 year old staffyXlurcher

Jen Pigs Fly

ene wrote: »

i am way too excited, but slightly scared in case i get the stick insect!

Reptile keeper here! Stick insect would be handy enough for me

SillyMangoX

I've still had no last entry, and still no stick insect either :P

tk123

Can I suggest that we put the pets name on the outside of the package somewhere for people who've entered multiple pets? Just so we don't have to open the parcel to find out who it's for - ripping the boxes open is a treat for my two lol!

tk123

tk123 wrote: »

Can I suggest that we put the pets name on the outside of the package somewhere for people who've entered multiple pets? Just so we don't have to open the parcel to find out who it's for - ripping the boxes open is a treat for my two lol!

I suspect my cat will enjoy that too. And then sitting in the box!

tk123

Deleted User wrote: »

I suspect my cat will enjoy that too. And then sitting in the box!

Me and my mum were on hols one time and when we came back there was a fruit box on the table that my dad used to carry some stuff in Lidl - the cat had moved into it while we were away lol! :pac::pac:

SillyMangoX

I think I put in the rules this year to have the pets name on it!

And folks, we are closed! All entries have been received

I'll start sorting things tonight and will hopefully have some pms coming your way tomorrow night!

Please make sure there's room in your private messages

SillyMangoX

Cream is taking his role of Draw Supervisor very seriously!
(Sorry, as long as I've been on boards I still haven't figured how to embed pictures from my phone!)

SillyMangoX

According to my records, all PM's have now been sent! If you have entered and have not received a PM, please let me know ASAP

...I'm already searching all over the internet for presents

ShaShaBear

SUPER excited about my SS, already looking into it! :D