HHO Secret Santa 2023

Lots of Gift Bags

HHOSS Wonder Woman
Joined
21 May 2002
Messages
18,321
Location
West Sussex
Visit site
Time to start getting excited about Christmas ??

For those of you who know and those of you who don't, every year around about this time we HHO Secret Santa Participants turn from above average online stalkers into supercharged, super excited, MI5 ain't got nothing on us baby - supercharged sleuthing stalking elves and Santa's. Bah humbugs turn from scrooge into the Christmas fairy, already excitable childlike Christmas fanatics need putting in a straitjacket. Merriment and warm fuzziness ensues. We all end up covered in glitter and drowning in Christmas cheer. Forget your chocolate advent calendars, forget decking the halls with boughs of holly. Dressing the Christmas tree with tinsel and glittery baubles then placing the star on the top whilst sipping sherry in front of a warm fire with the family singing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" pales by comparison. In short Horse and Hound Secret Santa is the best thing that ever came out of Christmas and it is my great honour and pleasure to welcome you all to HHO Secret Santa 2023!

Here's the rules. Read them before entering:
  • The deadline is 31/10/2023
  • You must be over 16
  • You must agree to me retaining the personal information you provide until such time as SS is over and all gifts are sent and received.
  • You must agree to me passing on your personal information to your Secret Santa.
  • You must have been a member for 12 months as of today (30/09/2023), or have at least 1 other forum member that you know in real life who can vouch for you.
  • Minimum spend is £10 - no you don't have to spend more and don't feel this is a competition it most definitely is not, it's fun and it's the thought that really truly counts.
  • You must send your SS gift by tracked, signed for post and send the tracking number to me.
  • If you receive an overseas recipient to buy for you must send your parcel no later than 28th November for Australia, New Zealand and China; 1st December for Africa, Cyprus, Malta, Asia, Far and Middle East, Caribbean, Central and South America. 5th December for Greece, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden and USA; 8th December for Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg
  • If you're recipient is UK based you must send no later than 12th December
  • If you do not wish to post overseas you must state this clearly on your entry.
  • Stalking is allowed, heck its mandatory, you will get the real name of your recipient but not their online name, trying to work out who is who on here is part of the fun and if you are stuck, ask for help.
  • Help a fellow forum member out, give some decent tips and hints on your likes and dislikes - I mean, if you are allergic to latex and don't say, you wont have much use for the gimp outfit they send you.
  • You must be active in the run up to Christmas, post at least once on the tips and tricks thread that will go live in November.
  • You must post on the SS received thread
  • You must commit to checking your inbox and responding to any message I leave you.
  • If for whatever reason you can not send a present on time or at all (because hey, life happens) you must let me know. This is why the HHO SS postage dates are not the same as the Royal Mail to allow time to ensure that alternative arrangements can be made so no one misses out.
  • Failure to send a present without giving notice to me results in an instant ban from future HHOSS
  • Yes, if you are that way inclined you can get creative, be artsy if you like.
  • Finally, you are not the only ones that enjoy Christmas, it takes a hell of a lot of work and organising right up until Christmas to pull this off and ensure everyone is happy and has a gift, I don't rest until I know everyone has a present under their tree or at the very least has a card to collect their gift from the post office. Please be respectful of this and do your bit to ensure all runs as smoothly as possible.
Important note - Participation!!!!! Read First!!!!!!!
Did you see the bit in the rules above stating that: You must be active in the run up to Christmas, post at least once (preferably a lot more!) on the tips and tricks thread that will go live in November? This is really important, people get so much enjoyment from choosing personalised and unique gifts and if you don't join in, it really sucks the fun out of it for your SS.
Please check your HHO User settings: your location, if set, should be accurate.

How do I enter?
Firstly, read all of the rules above!

Rather than corresponding via PMs, I'm going to do it via email as there are fewer restrictions, so I will be asking for your email address. Please don't PM your details to me.
In order to enter, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/TaxLixhcHdaXkBAo7

Enter, and HAVE FUN!
creative-banner-card-design-traditional-anonymous-gift-exchange-christmas-secret-santa-illustr...jpg
 

Rosemary28

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 July 2012
Messages
1,417
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
Have fun guys, I’m giving it a miss this year. Combination of no funds due to shite maternity pay, no time due to baby and not really enjoying last year as I found it very stressful instead of enjoyable.
 

Lots of Gift Bags

HHOSS Wonder Woman
Joined
21 May 2002
Messages
18,321
Location
West Sussex
Visit site
Still prevaricating? Sitting on the fence?

Don't miss out on the BEST part of Christmas. HHO Secret Santa is so much fun, from the initial stalking, to the things and tips, to choosing really fun and fab gifts for your recipient, wrapping them and packaging them up, receiving and opening your gifts, seeing the joy from your recipient and lastly, the reverse stalking 😁

Still plenty of time to sign up, so get filling in that form and join in the excitement.
 

MagicMelon

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 November 2004
Messages
16,334
Location
North East Scotland
Visit site
Still prevaricating? Sitting on the fence?

Don't miss out on the BEST part of Christmas. HHO Secret Santa is so much fun, from the initial stalking, to the things and tips, to choosing really fun and fab gifts for your recipient, wrapping them and packaging them up, receiving and opening your gifts, seeing the joy from your recipient and lastly, the reverse stalking 😁

Still plenty of time to sign up, so get filling in that form and join in the excitement.
Agree, its super fun and if Im honest its normally the present I look forward to most! Cant wait to get my recipient
 

ponynutz

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 December 2018
Messages
1,765
Location
UK
Visit site
Still prevaricating? Sitting on the fence?

Don't miss out on the BEST part of Christmas. HHO Secret Santa is so much fun, from the initial stalking, to the things and tips, to choosing really fun and fab gifts for your recipient, wrapping them and packaging them up, receiving and opening your gifts, seeing the joy from your recipient and lastly, the reverse stalking 😁

Still plenty of time to sign up, so get filling in that form and join in the excitement.
I did it for the first time last year and it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done - my presents were lovely and I really liked buying something thoughtful for someone new! Deffo recommend if you haven’t done it before and are on the fence.
 

FinnishLapphund

There's no cow on the ice
Joined
28 June 2008
Messages
11,743
Location
w(b)est coast of Sweden
Visit site
Haven't filled out the form, yet, but thought I'd give this thread a bump.

82mp66.jpg
 

MickeyFinn22

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 December 2020
Messages
168
Location
W. Yorks
Visit site
Time to start getting excited about Christmas ??

For those of you who know and those of you who don't, every year around about this time we HHO Secret Santa Participants turn from above average online stalkers into supercharged, super excited, MI5 ain't got nothing on us baby - supercharged sleuthing stalking elves and Santa's. Bah humbugs turn from scrooge into the Christmas fairy, already excitable childlike Christmas fanatics need putting in a straitjacket. Merriment and warm fuzziness ensues. We all end up covered in glitter and drowning in Christmas cheer. Forget your chocolate advent calendars, forget decking the halls with boughs of holly. Dressing the Christmas tree with tinsel and glittery baubles then placing the star on the top whilst sipping sherry in front of a warm fire with the family singing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" pales by comparison. In short Horse and Hound Secret Santa is the best thing that ever came out of Christmas and it is my great honour and pleasure to welcome you all to HHO Secret Santa 2023!

Here's the rules. Read them before entering:
  • The deadline is 31/10/2023
  • You must be over 16
  • You must agree to me retaining the personal information you provide until such time as SS is over and all gifts are sent and received.
  • You must agree to me passing on your personal information to your Secret Santa.
  • You must have been a member for 12 months as of today (30/09/2023), or have at least 1 other forum member that you know in real life who can vouch for you.
  • Minimum spend is £10 - no you don't have to spend more and don't feel this is a competition it most definitely is not, it's fun and it's the thought that really truly counts.
  • You must send your SS gift by tracked, signed for post and send the tracking number to me.
  • If you receive an overseas recipient to buy for you must send your parcel no later than 28th November for Australia, New Zealand and China; 1st December for Africa, Cyprus, Malta, Asia, Far and Middle East, Caribbean, Central and South America. 5th December for Greece, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden and USA; 8th December for Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg
  • If you're recipient is UK based you must send no later than 12th December
  • If you do not wish to post overseas you must state this clearly on your entry.
  • Stalking is allowed, heck its mandatory, you will get the real name of your recipient but not their online name, trying to work out who is who on here is part of the fun and if you are stuck, ask for help.
  • Help a fellow forum member out, give some decent tips and hints on your likes and dislikes - I mean, if you are allergic to latex and don't say, you wont have much use for the gimp outfit they send you.
  • You must be active in the run up to Christmas, post at least once on the tips and tricks thread that will go live in November.
  • You must post on the SS received thread
  • You must commit to checking your inbox and responding to any message I leave you.
  • If for whatever reason you can not send a present on time or at all (because hey, life happens) you must let me know. This is why the HHO SS postage dates are not the same as the Royal Mail to allow time to ensure that alternative arrangements can be made so no one misses out.
  • Failure to send a present without giving notice to me results in an instant ban from future HHOSS
  • Yes, if you are that way inclined you can get creative, be artsy if you like.
  • Finally, you are not the only ones that enjoy Christmas, it takes a hell of a lot of work and organising right up until Christmas to pull this off and ensure everyone is happy and has a gift, I don't rest until I know everyone has a present under their tree or at the very least has a card to collect their gift from the post office. Please be respectful of this and do your bit to ensure all runs as smoothly as possible.
Important note - Participation!!!!! Read First!!!!!!!
Did you see the bit in the rules above stating that: You must be active in the run up to Christmas, post at least once (preferably a lot more!) on the tips and tricks thread that will go live in November? This is really important, people get so much enjoyment from choosing personalised and unique gifts and if you don't join in, it really sucks the fun out of it for your SS.
Please check your HHO User settings: your location, if set, should be accurate.

How do I enter?
Firstly, read all of the rules above!

Rather than corresponding via PMs, I'm going to do it via email as there are fewer restrictions, so I will be asking for your email address. Please don't PM your details to me.
In order to enter, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/TaxLixhcHdaXkBAo7

Enter, and HAVE FUN!
View attachment 124210
Oh this looks exciting! I haven't done this before- I think I may join in this year! :D
 

MereChristmas

riding reluctantly into the sunset
Joined
21 February 2013
Messages
13,066
Location
the sat-nav is wrong, go farther up the hill
Visit site
I am still dithering. I know I have no chance to go proper shopping before Christmas. The nearest town is 30 miles away and I would have to drive in the dark which I hate. Mr M would have to take me and it is his least favourite thing to do so I don’t ask. All family stuff will be bought by my daughter or daughter in law. Anything I buy will have to be online which I hate as you can’t see/ feel the product.
I know you will all say go for it but I am so nervous of getting it completely wrong.
 
Top