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The countdown to Christmas has begun.....so it's time for a Christmas edition of Splutter (with tinsel round the edges and sparkly baubles and everything)

If you would like to contribute an article or pic about anything Christmassy, like present ideas, food, drink, decorations, Nativity pics, presents for kids, hangover cures (?), Christmas fashion, Top Ten Christmas Music etc....

then post your articles HERE:

have a cool yule....
td

From Freshliving.com....

There's no need to spend lots of money decorating your house this Christmas. Just take a look at our easy-to-make decorations that are as fashionable as they are pretty.

Decorations
Visit your local market and stock up on luxurious velvets. Most haberdasheries also have an off-cut bin that will contain everything that you need. Decide on a theme: this year it's all about rich, deep colours, such as purples, greens, wine red and fushcia. Cut the velvet into strips and trim the ends. Tie bows onto the tree in equal spacing, all the way around. Add some tree lights and dangling antique-looking crystals (see below).

Wrapping paper
If you want to be ecologically friendly, try wrapping your presents in thick white butcher's paper or brown paper. It's the finishing touches that make a difference. Write the recipient's favourite poem on the paper, or use raffia as a ribbon. Add crystals to a thin piece of string and tie around the raffia. You can buy a jar of crystals for hanging or tying, very cheaply, from a button shop.

The Christmas table
If your dining table looks good, hopefully nobody will notice the overdone turkey! The secret is in layering colours. If you want to keep with the trends, place a deep purple cloth on the table, overlaid with a smaller deep fushcia cloth. Then, place three shot glasses down the table, each with a rose, or your favourite flower in it. For an unusual candle decoration, take an old large wine glass and glue a bit of glitter along the upper rim. Fill the glasses with a mixture of water and food colouring, preferably red, green or purple. Place a floating tea light on top and light for a colourful glow.

Christmas cards
Personalise this year's cards for all the family. Take an A5 piece of thick white board and fold it evenly in half. With a glitter pen, write Merry Christmas on each card in neat script. Then, according to each person's taste, cut out a picture that will appeal to them, or paste your favourite picture of them on the card. It'll be the one card they definitely won't throw away.

Add a touch of vintage
For some old-fashioned glamour make a trip to your local antique or second-hand store. They'll undoubtedly have lots of old glassware and bottles that you will be able to buy cheaply. Buy as many as you can and place them all around the house. Fill some with sand, and place sandalwood or frankincense incense sticks in them for a truly festive smell, or place sprigs of holly in the bottles. Line up some empty coloured glassware on a window ledge. When they catch the light they'll cast a beautiful glow over the room.

HOW TO SURVIVE THE OFFICE PARTY (FROM MSN)

Christmas is nearly here and for most workers that heralds a key event: the office party. License to revel can end in disaster, however, and confessing your secret desires or showing your dirty dancing may not go down well with colleagues. Totaljobs advises how to enjoy yourself - and keep your job.

The Brits have the longest working hours in Europe so it's no surprise that we like to let our hair down and party hard. But the festive season is studded with land mines including colleagues' religious beliefs, alcohol overload and family obligations. Any of these can blow up in your face if you overstep the mark.

Christmas revels
Staying within the limits of decorum is hard when the riotous office party has become an institution: restaurants and bars are no strangers to semi clad workers doing a song and a dance at this time of year.

Staying within the four walls of the office doesn't dampen spirits either. According to a recent survey, 4% of workers have photocopied part of their body at an office party.

Pure pantomime
All this can be innocent fun and a necessary part of letting off steam. In fact the more conservative the industry, or the shyer the person, the more they may go wild. One Totaljobs user recounts the antics of a colleague, known in the office for being 'a bit of a grump'.

"At the Christmas party last year, boy did he let his hair down." His pantomime endeared him to his colleagues however. "He may have looked like a medallion man but he wasn't afraid to make people laugh and it really changed our perspective of him."

Party etiquette
Lots of workplaces recognise the value of a spot of revelry to lighten the mood and make the office party a protected zone. One retail manager who contacted Totaljobs has made it a rule: 'what happens at the party, stays at the party.'

This stood her in good stead last Christmas: "With my umpteenth glass of fizz held high in the air... I declared my undying hatred for the worst employee I could ever have inherited, who also just happened to be the best friend of the previous manager."

Get a grip
Other offices are not so lenient. Unless you're with close colleagues it's wiser to err on the side of caution. Stray beyond professional boundaries and offend a customer or colleague and it could cost you your job.

One president of an advertising and public relations firm issues this advice to his staff at the onset of the Christmas season. "Consider yourselves jobless at the beginning of the office party: if you behave, you'll be rehired on Monday." Certainly focuses the mind.

Tricks of the trade
Holiday reps have to quickly learn how to manage themselves when the drink is flowing and Clare Last, 2wentys Overseas Manager with First Choice provides this advice to reps:

Ensure that you eat to line your stomach before you have a drink
For every alcoholic drink that you have, make sure that you drink a glass of water
Before going to bed, take some Berrocca (this replaces lost fluids), which will ensure that you make it in to the office on the morning after

The firm I work for cures the annual Xmas party problem by having a sit down meal at lunchtime. Over the years I've seen no trouble or heard no stories at all, which is a good thing I suppose but cuts down on the gossip .

God I wonder what gossip is circling around the office after ours... I'm thinking I might be an object to some of them this year

Not very Christmassy, but.....

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget aspirins, hairs of dogs and hot baths, the only sure way of avoiding a hangover is not to drink in the first place, according to a new study.

Researchers led by Max Pittler of the Peninsular Medical School at Exeter University, surfed the Internet and combed medical databases to study a range of hangover cures from the traditional to the novel.

Their research roamed from the humble aspirin to fructose, artichokes and even prickly pears but found no silver bullet.

However, they did hold out some hope for the potential of borage, a bright blue herb with star-shaped flowers used traditionally to decorate gin-based summer cocktails.

But their conclusions were sobering.

"No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any complementary or conventional intervention is effective for treating or preventing alcohol hangover," they wrote in the British Medical Journal on Friday.

"The most effective way to avoid the symptoms of alcohol-induced hangover is thus to practise abstinence or moderation," the added.

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne are the celebrities most people would like to join them for Christmas dinner, according to a survey.

The veteran heavy metal star topped a poll of shoppers in his native Birmingham.

Of the festive shoppers questioned, 22% of voted for the rocker, while his TV star wife was the choice of 29%.

David Beckham (21%) was the second most popular choice of male guest.

Robbie Williams (17%) would be the third most popular male at the festive feast.

Prime Minister Tony Blair was way ahead in the poll to find the least welcome male diner.

Victoria Beckham was the least popular woman, matched only by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The poll of 500 people in the Pavilions Shopping Centre found that the least-wanted Christmas gift was socks (33%).

The survey also discovered more women would like to receive jewellery (22%) than sexy underwear (17%).

Scotsman