Christmas…it’s not always perfect. Any day with children, pets and grandparents all in one room is bound to have a mishap or two, right? In a bid to celebrate all things imperfectly perfect about Christmas, we asked our Facebook fans to share their funniest Christmas ‘mishaps’ with us. Take a look at our top mishaps illustrated below, and be sure to follow our stories on Instagram sharing a new story each day of our #NoFilter Advent.

Timber!

You can never go too overboard when it comes to Christmas decorations. Unless, of course, your tree is too small to support all your favourite ornaments and manages to tip over. Take Ross’ story as an example: “Taking a Christmas card photo with our daughter turned into a “timber” moment… On the bright side we used the photo anyway.” If you need a bigger, stronger tree to hold all of those baubles (like Ross), there’s plenty on Gumtree.

Present Problems?

Christmas isn’t Christmas without forgetting presents last minute, either. This is the third year in a row you’ve forgotten Uncle Bob’s gift – and there’s a huge gap under the tree to prove it. If only there was somewhere you could snatch up a last minute Christmas bargain to make up for it…  He’s always wanted a saxophone. Or was it a bass guitar? Either way, Gumtree has an entire host of musical instruments in your local area.

Kitchen Mishaps

Is it really possible to get through a Christmas day without having a few mishaps in the kitchen? From dropping the plates right as you’re serving up dinner to realising last minute that, in fact, the dinner set you’re using is too small for the turkey. We’ve all been there! Search on Gumtree for last minute kitchen essentials. New plates!

The Unexpected Guests.

Christmas cooking has been meticulously planned for 4 people this year. 4 more people show up at the last minute. A bit of quick maths proves that there’s too little food and not enough space. You can’t get food on Gumtree, but you can start looking for more dinnerware, chairs and wine glasses to be extra prepared this year.

When Things Get Heated.

It’s the most boozy time of the year, which can lead to all sorts of Christmas mishaps.

Take Beth’s story, for example: “My mum, who didn’t drink, got more than a little tipsy at a neighbours house Christmas Day. I set the table and put out the servings for the whole family and sent someone to get her. She stumbled in, said what a good job I had done, and that I had even remembered her candles. She then noticed I hadn’t lit them so reached forward with a lighter just as I was leaning over to pass something to my husband. Whoosh! My hair caught fire – long curls up in flames! She thought she would help by throwing two glasses of wine over me to douse the frizzled mess“.

If only Beth had bought some battery candles….

The Unpredictable Furniture.

We’ve all got furniture which has gone a bit past it’s best. Helen’s story includes old leaf dining tables and heaped Christmas dinner plates. Her old table reportedly “collapsed, and so did Christmas dinner“. We might not be able to save the Christmas turkey and roast potatoes, but we can certainly be there to help you with a new table.

A Clumsy Santa.

It’s important to remember the extremely hard work Santa undergoes to deliver all the presents around the world on time. The 24h hour shift he undertakes for his Christmas duties is understandably exhausting, and sometimes he’s prone to mistakes. Jeanette reminisces on the time she witnessed this first hand: “‘Santa’ dropped part of our son’s drum kit down the stairs, swearing and waking all the household up“. Should have asked Santa for an electric drum kit!

The Broken Oven.

Everyone knows the cardinal rule for Christmas cooking is to check the oven temperature at least 5 times before putting anything in there. A disastrous event recalled by Julie on Christmas day – “I pulled the turkey out of the oven to realise my oven was not working” – reminds us all of that. Fortunately, Gumtree can come to the rescue. Here’s a selection of reasonably priced, working ovens.

Imperial and Metric Miscommunication.

Follow us on Instagram and open a new story each day of our #NoFilter Advent!