Twitter Secret Santa

UPDATE! - The names have been drawn and I have sent you all direct messages with details of who you're buying for. Everyone's likes and dislikes are at the end of this blog. You do not have to buy something they have listed, the information is only there to give you an idea of the kind of things they like. The price guide is £5 excluding P&P. As somebody has already asked, if you want to spend more than £5 then you can but only if you're happy to.

What do people want to do about opening their presents? Do you want to open them as and when they arrive, do we want to wait until everyone is in receipt of their gifts and allocate a date to open them or do we want to wait until Christmas Day?

I will be organising a Twitter Secret Santa. This has come about after having the same discussion with three separate people and getting a bit caught up in the moment. Eek!

I will collate all the names of the participants by Thursday 15th November and will make the draw on Friday 16th November. I'm going to do it manually because I'm using an online draw for the Secret Santa I'm doing at work and it's proving to be a nightmare. You have to put in an email address for everyone and they have to click on a link to confirm they are joining. If even one person forgets to confirm then nobody can draw a name. Since I can't even get folk who sit three desks away from me to confirm I don't hold out much hope for hassling someone on the other side of the country. 

If you sign up you will have to give me a mailing address. This will be passed to one other person so they can post your present. It can be a home, work or PO Box address - whatever you prefer but if you're not comfortable with having 2 strangers knowing your address then please don't feel obliged to sign up. Your name would good to have as well although the postie will no doubt get a chuckle out of delivering a package to @MrsJustinBieberOMG.

The price limit on presents is £5 excluding P&P. Let's all try to be as creative as possible with the gifts - no cliched Dove and Lynx shower sets. Each person can give me a short list of particular likes and dislikes to aid their Santa if they wish. The post in December is erratic so I'm going to recommend we all post our gifts by Friday 14th December just to ensure it arrives safely. I would suggest getting proof of postage from the Post Office because if your gift doesn't show up to your intended recipient you will be named, shamed and *gasp* unfollowed. It's been suggested that in order to save on postage, if you're buying something online you could get it delivered directly to your assigned name rather than paying the P&P to your house and then reposting it to via Royal Mail. 

This is just a bit of fun, nothing to be taken too seriously. If you want to join in I will need you to do the following:

• Let me know you want to take part by tweeting me @romanyscarlett by midnight on Thursday 14th November. If you're a private account I won't see your tweet so I apologise if I don't pick up your participation request. I will be following everyone taking part (see the next point below) but I will also be listing all Santas in this blog so if you don't see your name, give me a nudge!
• You'll need to DM me your address so we'll have to be following each other. I will let you have your drawn name on Friday 15th November by DM. After that you're free to unfollow me if you wish - I won't take it personally!
• Tell me of any likes/dislikes you want your Santa to consider. This is optional, if you want a complete surprise then don't specify anything. The likes and dislikes are purely for information only, you don't have to buy somebody an item from their likes list - it's just to give you an idea about who you're buying for. 

I will send out a reminder to anyone who still needs to give me their address on Tuesday 12th November. If I don't have it by midnight on Thursday 14th then I will assume that you've changed your mind about participating. Listed below are all the participants, their likes/dislikes and confirmation of whether I've got their address. If you want to take part but your name is not on this list then please let me know. 

Any questions, leave a comment below or tweet me. Feel free to repost this or tell your followers. I'm using the hashtag #TwitterSecretSanta if you want to have a nosey at what other people are saying as the days go on. Since we started this project another group of people in America have attempted to hijack our hashtag (scandalous!) so try not to get confused. 

Current participants are as follows:

@scooshmeister - likes Spider-Man, comics, gadgets, gizmos, Lego - dislikes chocolate, small monkeys - address received

@lilliesandlove - likes cows, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis - dislikes nuts, spiders, shellfish - address received

@ogormless - likes true crime and cute boys, dislikes the Kardashians - address received

@rachel_2407 - likes girly stuff, animals, chocolates - dislikes sprouts, alcohol and nuts - address received

@phwoffy - likes cats, anything else with 4 legs, cake, chocolate, books, weird things that nobody can identify - dislikes peas - address received

@sophnina - likes owls and nail art - dislikes hair stuff - address received

@kerrieout - not an animal person - address received

@ianyorke - likes art, design, strange, quirky - dislikes pink, fluffy, common stuff - address received

@chellington24 - no dislikes, address received

@sammyislost - likes chocolate, useful things, photos, things for the house, about to have a baby boy - dislikes alcohol, sweets, books - address received

@romanyscarlett - likes Discworld, crafting and nail art - address received

@mitch_uk - likes geeky toys, gaming, comics - dislikes eggs, bananas, nuts - address received
@charleynew - likes sparkles, leopard print, dachshunds, owls, milk choc, nail stuff - dislikes orange flavour choc, jigsaws, cats - address received
@amyjayne - likes socks, Star Wars, dancing, gin, Downton Abbey, surprises - address received
@missliquorice - likes guinea pigs, yoga, home stuff, reading, nail art - dislikes liquorice, pink - address received
@xmjox - likes MMA, comics, gaming and gadgets - dislikes alcohol - address received
@sazzlejay - likes creatures (esp foxes & hedgehogs), cowboys/cowgirls, glitter, gloomy iconoclastic guitar based rock, poetry and Patagonia - address received
@beckycheeks - likes crafting, knitting, sewing, beads, nail art, food - address received
@ladykrw - likes milk/white choc, nuts, mint, owls, jewellery, accessories, Japanese, reading - dislikes, choc orange, liquorice, twilight, marmite - address received
@_MissH_x - likes green things, bracelets, scarves, stationery - address received
@___amy - likes tea, cake, anything cutesy and fun - address received
@jacquiesce - likes most things, dislikes nuts - address received