Im stressed about the cost of xmas

For the adults
Last Father's Day & Mother's day I made the grandparents my sons handprint in paint on a coloured piece of card wrote a short poem ( this is the hand hand that you used to hold when I was only ... years old) and then bought a laminator ( which I will use again & again ) cost £14.99 total cost a few pence and they loved them, something to cherish

Other ideas I picked up from last years board..
A wad of Iraqi Dinar

During the previous occupation of Iraq, Iraqi Dinar currency fell to an all-time low.
When the allied forces vacated the stability improved and the currency value soared.
£5.00 worth of Iraqi dinar then would be worth a lot of money now.
Under the current climate, the currency is again at an all-time low - if history repeats itself,
The lucky recipient of this gift MIGHT be sitting on a gold mine.
The projections show that if the growth rate contines,
then this £5.00 gift could well be used to purchase a small house in a few years time !!

The accompanying letter can conclude with something like
"I don't know where we will both be in years to come,
So when you are sat on board a luxury yacht or on the patio of a fine restaurant,
sipping expensive wine or even just in a take-away having a cheap meal for two on me,
on Christmas Eve- you will always think of me"

If the predicitons are correct, the recipient will be rich - if not, then it provides an interesting present
that will be the talk of the crowd for months to come.

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Plant pot
how about getting a terracotta plant pot, paint it a lovely design, either a nice cath kidston-esque spotty one (looks fab) or stripes,
kids handprints, or even let the kids paint it, fill a bag of soil and pop in a couple of bulbs,
wrap it all in a nice bow and you have a personalised planting kit!

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Really Useful Box
Cover a shoebox with leftover wallpaper or wrapping paper, and fill it with an assortment of things that everyone needs all the time but can never seem
to find. You will have many of these around the house; others can be bought from pound shops. Ideas include: sewing needle and thread; scissors;
needle threader; spare buttons; safety pins; iron-on mending tape; tape measure; pencil sharpener; eraser; spare fuses; bottle opener; adhesive tape;
small packet of tissues; toothpicks; tweezers; aspirins; adhesive plaster; cotton buds; emery boards; a tiny notebook; toothbrush; batteries;
set of small screwdrivers; paper clips; stamps - the list is endless.
I have made several of these, sometimes as wedding presents, and they have always been very popular.
If you happen to have a small wooden box or basket around the house instead of a shoebox, so much the better. Contents can be varied to suit the recipient!

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Personalised Chocolate Bar
Details- Buy a bar of chocolate then take off the wrapper and then using your computer and it's photo
software customise a wrapper with photos graphics and festive messages.

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Horse Shoe
You can contact any nearby horse riding club/stables
and beg, steal or borrow any used and discarded horse shoes. Then rinse thoroughly at home, steel brush off any rust or muck, and paint according to
personal taste. I made one for a friend's wedding present recently, and painted it Kath Kidston 'shabby chic' style (baby blue with cream polka dots)
and she genuinely loved it! Lots of potential to decorate according to the recipients style and taste and can be used for any
occasion requiring good luck (new job/new home/wedding etc).

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www.iwantoneofthose.com.

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Luxury Christmas Hamper
You can fill the hamper with anything that you like - we have made some chutney and put some nice labels on, we're also baking Christmas cookies,
Biscotti and a Panettoni for everyone. We're making boxes (just like at school!) for each of these and decorating them. We're then going to personalise
each hamper with something - I've knitted an MP3 cover for my sister, we got some old library books for 10p each for someone else and we're giving another
relative 4 of his favourite beers. It's fantastic fun!
To make the hamper itself get yourself some cardboard boxes - we're using old paper boxes from work - and wrap them in brown paper (or wrapping paper,
if you wish). Then "garnish" them with some holly or pine (or both) and write a label for the top. Honestly, it looks soooo good!
Inside the hamper you can put in some straw, shredded paper etc to make it more fun when they dig around.
You really can make this for virtually free if you so wish, the more you make of the biscuits etc the cheaper they are per unti (economoies of scale!)

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A BOX OF LOVE
Tie an empty box with ribbon and add this poem to a tag.
This is a very special gift that you can never see,
The reason its so special is because its just for you from me
Whenever you feel lonely or are ever feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift and know I'm loving you
You never can unwrap it, please leave the ribbon tied
Just hold the box close to your heart its full of love inside.

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Lemon Tree
My idea is to plant lemon pips in small pots. They germinate really easily and will grow eventually into lemon trees.
Perfumed blossom in the Spring and lemons to follow.

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Glass of Gold

£2.50 for gold glass paint pen (but can be used for lots) and 75p for glass (buy in set to make cheaper)
£1 for lotto ticket 50p for gold coins
Decorate a wine glass with gold paint pen...simple swirls or a more elaborate art work...and could personalise it with persons name.
Then fill with gold coins, a little gold shredded tissue paper and the lotto ticket. Make up a piece of card (stick in glass) or label
(tie around stem with gold ribbon) with the following rhyme. You can write on with gold pen or type out and stick on.
This pot of gold is just for you
to make your dreams come true
Good Luck and festive cheer
from me (us) to you
or there is this poem too
Here is a little glass of gold
A festive nibble too
I hope it will make
All of your dreams come true
Have a very merry Christmas
Form all of us to you
(or from me to you)

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First Christmas
Its my best friends daughters first christmas and i know i would have loved one of these for my lo.
A simple shoe box covered in wrapping paper of choice( baby or xmas style) a little bit of shredded paper in the bottom and fill it full of
photos from when baby was born to now copy of birth cert, newpaper from day born, little family tree done on the comp, fav teddy.
you can get lots of things if you ask other members of the family on the quiet and a babys first xmas bauble.

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Mini Christmas Tree
Little Christmas Trees by post.
ideal for a Christmas present for those people who you just don't know what to buy or alternatively a great stocking filler for anyone you know.
We gave our 2 kids these trees about 3 years ago, the children planted the trees in the garden themselves and both trees
are now about 2 feet tall. Every Christmas we go out into the garden and decorate the trees. I can honestly say that for £3 each, this is the best and
most cherished present I have ever given.
www.thelittlechristmastreecompany.co.uk

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Childrens Art Canvas
Buy a small blank painting canvas from somewhere like Baker Ross (www.bakerross.co.uk) or The Works etc which costs about £1.00 and then give
your child some paints and ask them to paint a picture onto the canvas.
The result is lovely unique picture painted by your little angel which makes a great and much loved present for grandparents, aunties, uncles, teachers
etc and which serves as a permenant reminder of that stage in their life.

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sweetie jar
Last year i asked my newsagent for one of there old sweetie jars,She let me have a large glass jar for free, i took of label,
bought all my partners childhood favourite penny chews( bazooka joes, white mice, cola bottles,etc) obviously at a penny a time in newsagent the jar
filled up very fast, then i write a nice message on a label stuck it on , put loads of left over christmas ribbon on it.
He claims its the best ever present as it meant so much.

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Cartoon me - website that turns photos into cartoons

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Laminate drawings for placemats

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Oxfam

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Memory & picture book

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Lottery Tickets

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www.aquarterof.co.uk sweets

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personalised crackers

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babysitting vouchers

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freecycle.org

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www.snapfish.co.uk
photo prints

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worry dolls

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saving tin

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www.swapshop.co.uk

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www.greatgifts.org

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bet on white snow

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Football programmes dob

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make your own reindeer food - oats & glitter

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The perfect gingerbread man
he's quiet, he's sweet
and if he gives you any trouble
you can bite his head off

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newspaper from date of birth

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Remember, Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that made you smile.
A true friend is like a good bra, hard to find, lifts you up, gives you support, and is always close to your heart.
Lord, I only pray for Wisdom to understand my man, Love to forgive him, and Patience for his moods.
Because, Lord, If I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death.
Describe me in one word.... Just one single word. Send it to me and to me only. Then send this message to all your friends and see how many strange
& interesting things they say about you. This is really fun.
Here's how to play: 1. Hit the reply key and send me my one word.
2. Then return to this message, and forward it to your friends (including me) and see what people say about you when
limited to one word! The Game is On!!!

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"Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does, except wrinkles.
It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place." — Abigail Van Buren

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My Handprints
There used to be so many
Of my finger prints to see
On furniture and walls and things
From sticky, grubby me.
But if you stop and think awhile
You’ll see I’m growing fast
These little moments disappear
You can’t bring back the past.
So here is a small reminder
To keep, not throw away
Of tiny hands and how they looked
To make you smile someday.

I like this one too.....
This is the hand
You used to hold
When I was only
__ years old.

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I HOPE WHEN MY CHILD LOOKS BACK OF TODAY,
HE REMEMBERS A MUM WHO HAD TIME TO PLAY,
SO QUIET DOWN COBWEBS DUST GO TO SLEEP,
I'M PLAYING WITH BABY AND BABIES DON'T KEEP

for birth of new baby cards

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Wow mylittlesisterlola, fab list of 'stuff'. I love the little xmas trees!!!

This year i think will be tight for a lot of familes (us included!) and we have had a conversation (or rather me dictating whats going to happen- lol!) This year i will only be buying for mum & dad (grandparents) my two closest friends(also hannahs godparents) and my nana- then hannah, stepson & hubby. I really like some of those ideas tho- going to nab some of them!

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Where did you get these from?

I can't take personal credit for these
Back in jan I became an active member of this site, i stumbled across the Xmas thread and found these, I cut and pasted all the ones I thought I might use and have kept them on a word doc so when I seen this thread I thought you all might be interested, if I come across any more I'll post them
i agree with bootsales, and although it is too last for this Xmas Boots do an amazing 75% off sales in the mid of Jan that's whre I get most of my stuff, Good luck to everyone

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=6680781&highlight=christmas+gold+dinar#post6680781

This is the threa I got the ideas from Christmas presents or under a fiver, should be enough ideas for everyone ... Regards MLSL