Toys for grown-ups pushing kids’ toys out of Christmas most wanted list.

Christmas used to be a time for the kids but now the adults appear to be taking over. The top twelve toys this Christmas as identified by the Toy Retailers Association contain a suspiciously high number of toys aimed at bigger kids. This apparent paradigm shift in the toy market should come as no surprise – a brief look around the internet reveals an entire market devoted to the taller toy consumer.

As UK toy stores prepare for the inevitable Christmas rush, their shelves are stocked not only with gifts for children, but of stock on the wish list of an ever growing adult market. A brief look at the most wanted list for this Christmas shows toys such as Robosapien V2, Roboraptor and the Doctor Who Remote Control Dalek. It does not take an industry expert to surmise that these toys are aimed at a demographic with full time jobs and high disposable income rather than a demographic that watches Saturday morning television.

The rise of toys for grown ups has been an increasing trend in recent years and coincides with an increase in retro culture that dominates the film and television industries. Remakes of films and television series that appeal to an older audience mean that subsequent merchandising appeal to a grown up audience who were fans of the series and films first time round – the conspicuous presence of Star Wars toys and Doctor Who toys in UK toy store both online and offline reflect this.

The emergence of a two tier market catering for real kids and “big kids” is apparent and will be particularly evident in the busiest period for the toy market. The market for the older demographic has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years and had led to the specific targeting of the segment particularly through the marketing of technology based toys such as the Robosapien V2 and Roboraptor – toys with a limited appeal to those in short trousers. Increasingly, these toys permeate the marketplace and toy stores looking to capitalise on the big kids market.

It seems that this market is set to grow over the forthcoming years, representative of a wider cultural shift and impacting significantly on the toy market. Whilst the toy market is still dominated by kids toys, it seems that Christmas toys are no longer just for the kids.

Everyone loves Christmas, but the biggest complaint I hear is, “It gets too hectic.” It’s still the favorite season for most of us, but we do get tired. We still have to make a living; we still have to maintain our daily lives and then we add shopping for gifts, wrapping the gifts, decorating, entertaining or attending parties and possibly baking. It’s fun and festive, but we get tired.

Take some of the stress out of Christmas. Don’t wait until the Christmas season begins to start thinking about it. Plan ahead and you’ll enjoy it even more. Here are seven stress-relieving tips to make your favorite holiday relaxed and worry-free.

Decide Who You Want To Buy For

Make a list of the people you want to buy gifts for: Recipients. Keep it with you as a reminder, or at the least, keep it in your head. Open your eyes and window shop. When you see something you know you like, go ahead and buy it. And think outside the box. When you shop all year, you have the opportunity to do this. Every Christmas gift doesn’t have to be a sweater or winter-type gift.

Shop From Home

Shop on the Internet. Have fun and explore. Many gift sites run promotionals off-and-on year round. When you’re not under pressure to buy immediately, you have time to “window shop”. And don’t forget to keep your gift list in front of you.

Record What You Buy

Make a list of the gifts that you buy: Gifts Purchased. Each time you make a gift purchase, whether it’s on the Internet or in the store, put it on the list. If you know specifically to whom you are giving it, put his or her name next to it. Go back to your Recipients list and write the name of the gift next to the person you are giving it to. You now have a cross-reference. Sound too complicated and organized? It’s not. It’s really easy. If you don’t make some kind of notes, you’ll get real confused when it comes time to wrap. You won’t remember who was supposed to get what.

Buy Decorations In The Off-Season

Buy Christmas decorations year-round on the Internet. And in the off-season you can get them at reduced prices. Buy your decorations all year and when the Christmas season arrives, you’ll be ready.

Wrap Sooner Not Later

As soon as Christmas wrapping paper is placed on the shelves, start selecting and buying. By this time, you should have a shelf full of presents to wrap. Wrap at your leisure; a few at a time or all at once. Just enjoy it. You have time to make the presents look outstanding. Give them that added decorative touch that will make the recipient feel special and give you the opportunity to be creative.

Record What You Wrap

You have two lists to cross-reference. Check off or make changes as necessary. If you didn’t make a list, you should make one now. Don’t make the mistake I made one year. I got all my wrapping done early, and by the time Christmas came, I couldn’t remember what I was giving everyone or exactly what it looked like. I remember wishing I had a digital camera. I could have taken pictures of the presents before wrapping them. I don’t have to worry about that now. I have a list and a digital camera.

Collect Recipes

Don’t wait until you have to prepare a dish for a party to decide what you want to make. Start collecting recipes from magazines and friends. But don’t stop there. You have plenty of times to try them out. Put stars beside the ones you especially like and will be proud to serve. When the time comes, it will be fast and easy to make choices.

Christmas can be a pleasure, even before the season begins. Enjoy your window-shopping whether it’s in the stores or on the Internet. But be ready to buy when you see something you like. Make your choices wisely and keep up with your lists. Following this plan will be a great stress reliever come Christmas time. Have fun and keep on enjoying Christmas.

This Christmas season promises to be one filled with exceptional sales and across the board bargains for eager shoppers. With fuel prices running high, interest rates climbing, and consumer sentiment mixed, merchants know that they must slash prices in order to move merchandise. Let’s take a look at some of the types of sales certain to greet price conscious shoppers this holiday season.

Early Bird/Late Night Bargains – Well before Thanksgiving some retailers are already opening early or staying open late in order to accommodate shoppers. A big lure: Get ten percent back/off of select purchases over $50. Depending on the details of the offer, you can either apply savings to your current purchase or as credit toward future purchases. Variations of this lure include incremental rewards, i.e. $15 off of purchases of $75 or more, $20 off of purchases of $100 or more, etc. Read the fine print as exceptions do apply!

Friends and Family Sales – One big retailer is offering to their employees a way in which they can pass on their employee discount to select family members and friends. By offering the same discounts that the employee receives, the employee will then mail directly to select people a discount card allowing the customer to get the same discount as the employee. For example, if the employee receives a 20% discount, the family member or a friend will get a card allowing them to get that discount too [for a limited time only]. Many times this discount can be applied alongside of sale prices for exceptional savings. Let’s just hope that an employee selects you to be part of this plan!

Secret Sales. Okay, they really aren’t all that secret. However, if you are a holder of a certain particular retailers’ charge card, you will be invited to a special cardholders only shopping event. Usually this event coincides with an existing sale and essentially allows “secret sale” participants the opportunity to shop one or two hours before the store opens for business on a particular day [usually a Saturday]. You get a “private” time to shop, at least 10 percent off of sale prices, and the opportunity to delay paying on purchases until well after the new year if you use the store’s charge card.

Certainly, not all merchant enticements are worth the bother, especially if you are unable to pay off your charge card purchases immediately. A 21.6% APR can eat up any savings you gain in no time. So, shop with wisdom to reap the greatest benefits.

Christmas parties are something that most people look forward to all year long because they are a joyful gathering of friends, family, great food, and shared memories. There are lots of things that probably go into your Christmas parties such as preparing food, having a good music selection, sending out beautiful invitations, creating or buying Christmas table arrangements, or preparing your home for overnight guests. The great thing is that you can make your home look very festive without spending a lot of time or money on it, so that you can spend more time visiting with your guests and catching up with many people that you may not have spent much time with since your party last year.

Christmas crackers

Christmas crackers, cookies, and some simple foods will make feeding your guests quite simple. If you want to have more filling foods, you might want to consider having the party catered or purchasing pre-cooked foods so that you do not have to worry about cooking great food for you and all of your guests to eat at your party. If you really want to have homemade food at your Christmas parties, you may want to have some friends or family members come over and help you prepare the food and make a tradition out of that as well. Or, you can always make your Christmas parties potlucks so that you have a different selection of foods to offer your guests every year and simply say that you’ll provide the Christmas crackers, cookies, and one prepared dish every year but you want help feeding the masses! Most people love potlucks, so you’ll find that most of your guests will be quite receptive to this idea.

If you are busy preparing food and Christmas table arrangements and other decorations and you just can’t seem to get your home cleaned, think about employing your kids or a neighbor to help you get things tidied up quickly. Just one extra pair of hands can help you get the job done in a lot less time. Or, create a checklist for yourself that will help you get a few things done each day before your Christmas parties so that you do not have stress about cleaning the day of your party.

If you want Christmas table decorations as well as other decorations to make for your party, the Internet and craft stores offer many great ideas for Christmas crafts that will make your home look even more festive. Just hanging strands of garland on your door frames is a simple and inexpensive way to make your home look great for your Christmas parties, so don’t think you have to spend a ton of money to make your home look great. A great Christmas party table decoration is to simply buy a pre-decorated wreath to place on the table and then find a great scented candle to put in the middle of it. If you have a large table you might think about placing more than one on the table.

Christmas parties should be a lot of fun, so don’t let yourself get stressed out as you plan for the party in your home. Some of the best Christmas parties are that way because of great planning and because the hostess isn’t afraid to be thrifty and even ask for help. Christmas is about bringing family and friends together to have fun, not to stress you out! So focus on enjoying friends, family, and fun at your next Christmas party!