Festive Fivers Contest.

lifes2complicated

Name of present? Photo Board
Do you make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? Up to £4.99 for a frame, lots of time and effort
Details

The photo board is simple in principle. Purchase a clear glass clip frame and then spend countless hours with relatives, friends and acquaintances of the subject poring through thousands of photographs for those extra special moments captured on film.

There may be a theme or a story behind the board or it may simply be a tribute to the passing of time. In general this works best if you have a starting point in mind.

My fiancee and I used this theme a christmas or two ago for her parents and it worked marvellously well. We managed three separate boards of wonderful photographs, each with their own story behind them which the family were recounting throughout christmas day.

One board was of mum only showing through childhood, teens, adulthood to present day. The second was of dad set in the same manner. The third was the icing on the cake, being a collage of photos of their relationship together, charting from first meeting through marriage to raising a family and through to present day.

You should remember that the boards need a place to hang and that size may be important in this. You also need enough photos to fill the board and may need to incur costs to get some reprinted or copied in order that you can use them should the original owner wish to retain their copy.

A nice touch is to overlap showing the important parts of photos or to cut photos into different shapes (e.g. using circular photos over the meeting corner of four square ones). The arrangement can be as important as the photos themselves so put a lot of thought into them.

I have found these have become permanent fixtures in subjects' homes and provide many discussions. If you have a nice family christmas this brings out countless recollections and stories throughout the day to provide even more cheer and sharing should it be needed!

The link below is to an example frame that would be suitable but these can be picked up in many high street stores:

Link to Ikea Clips Frame

Be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort but a very worthwhile present which all the family can enjoy! Some of the best times we had were going through photos in secrecy with friends and grandparents trying to find suitable photos, laughing and crying at wonderful/terrible photos and the accompanying stories.

Memories can be our most precious possession. We should make sure they are not lost.

Kind regards to all,
Steve

Kazzea

Name of present? Paint your own big piggy bank
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? £4.99

Details (the more the better)
This big white china piggy bank is just begging to be painted all the colours of the rainbow. Don't forget to name her if you want to keep those savings safe! Age 8+. 4.5''/11.5cm.b Comes complete with paints as well. Its a great size and is a bit of fun for anyone on Christmas when all the presents have been opened and you are a bit bored

I have bought one for my brother (22) and the rest of my family (all older)

Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer
http://www.letterbox.co.uk/PAINT_YOUR_OWN_BIG_PIGGY_BANK_code_5645.html

rolpaula

Name of present? Computer Panic Button
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? £2.95
Details (the more the better) During an average working day spent at your computer, there will inevitably be a few moments when sheer panic sets in.

That report you’ve been working on for days has mysteriously disappeared from your hard drive, or you’ve hit send on an email calling your boss ‘Captain Stress’ that’s you’ve accidentally CCed him in on.

It’s at these moments that you’ll find a panic button comes in rather handy to defuse the situation. The Panic button is a standard keyboard key with double-sided sticky tape on the bottom for easy attachment to any keyboard.

Now when Derek from accounts ambles into view and starts an inane conversation, you can wink knowingly at your colleagues while you hit your big red panic button and send him blushingly on his way.

Main Features:

• Standard size red plastic keyboard button with the word PANIC in white lettering
• Sticky-back plastic attachment to your computer keyboard
• Ideal for those nightmare computer moments

Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer http://www.paramountzone.com/comppanicbut.htm

rolpaula

Name of present? Rainbow Light Pen
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? £2.95
Details (the more the better) It lights as it writes

No normal pen, this cool night pen has a secret light inside it enabling you to write legibly in total darkness. The light it gives off are rainbow colours...it glows with 7 different colours of the rainbow, with the option of either scrolling through the spectrum or selecting your favourite colour. Supplied with extra batteries too.


Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer
http://www.paramountzone.com/nightpen.htm

funnyfreckle

Name of present? Personalised story book
Do you make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? Easily under £3
Details (the more the better) Make a story book for a child based around something special to them eg their favourite toys, friends, family, special outing or party. You just need to take lots of photos and use one or two per page and then add a few sentences to make up a story. You don't have to be too creative (honestly) - as long as the story revolves around them they will be delighted and not give a second thought as to whether or not you are the next J K Rowling! If the creative juices won't flow how about adapting one of their favourite stories eg Goldilocks, Cinderella or whatever is 'in' for older children.

You can print or write the words on some card and add the photos in the relevant places. Bind the pages together or if you are feeling a little more flush (and want your masterpiece to become a family heirloom) you could get the pages laminated and bound together.

Have fun!

silvercarmel

Name of present? Buy a mosquito net for a child or adult in a 3rd world country.
Do you make it or buy it? buy it
Total Cost? fiver
Details Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance, they spread malaria which kills two million people every year - most of them children under five. This life saving gift screens children and adults from the potentially fatal effects of mosquito bites. You can aslo buy a school meal for 100 children from the oxfam site for £6.I am getting a goat for one of my christmas pressies off my mum , and as a stocking filler for each of my children they are donating the money to provide a school dinner for 2 hundred children.H :T eres the link http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com/ProductItem.aspx?ProductID=OU2523&CategoryID=4&CategoryName=&BrowseType=price&CategorySelector1:BrowseByPrice=4No if's or butts a goat is a great gift. Even the kids can get involved. You start with one and end up with a herd. They can then be sold to raise cash for school fees, or tools and start to reduce poverty. Best of all, the first female kid is given to another family and the process starts all over again. So why not invest in a goat?


Where possible please add a link if it's an online offerhttp://www.greatgifts.org/(q2h4yu45baegxs55hgkbb155)/GiftSelection/home.aspx

beckie

Name of present? hair & beauty hamper
Do you make it or buy it? buy or make
Total Cost? anything up to £5
Details: I got a really nice size basket out of the pound shop and filled it with shredded paper. if you've got some suitable freebies hanging around that you dont want, like shampoos, conditioners, bubble baths, moisturisers, shower gel, etc then use them, and add whatever else you like. Examples:
comb, brush, cotton buds, cotton wool balls, hair clips, perfume samples, make up, flannel. A great place to buy this sort of thing is Wilkinson. You can pick up a flannel for around 25p, or a sponge - around 20p, cotton wool - around 50p, you can also get lots of different hair and beauty products for under a £1 and they do bogof's! maybe able to get a shampoo & conditioner for £1.
Arrange all your items in a nice display and wrap clingfilm over and stick down underneath. (a quick blast from a hairdryer will iron out any creases in your clingfilm!)
I've done this for female friends and family lots of times and they are never disappointed!

maggiesoup

GIVE YOUR CHILD YOUR TIME. I know it sounds daft but your child doesn't always want fancy electronic games & dvds, they often just want to play with their mum or dad. Why not create vouchers, decorated in a fancy way, saying something like

"Mum will give you 1 hour each day for a week totally devoted to playing with YOU!"

It could be hide & seek, monopoly, cards, drawing, jig saw etc. etc. you must let them choose, not you..... I've done this in the past and it's amazing how much more you find out about your child just by spending some "quality" time with them. Surely this is what Christmas is all about.

fuzzyrazer

Name of present?........Blood donation

Do you make it or buy it? Buy it/give it.


Total Cost? £5.00


Details ....... Give someone you know the fiver for bus fare or petrol to go give blood,especially someone whom has been saying they were going to do this for ages.....give them the incentive.....a free £5.00.......
and help save many lives,many times over........


link to online.........http://www.blood.co.uk/index.html

funnyfreckle

Kazzea wrote:

Name of present? Paint your own big piggy bank
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? £4.99

Great idea! However, just wanted to point out that I spotted these in the Woolworths catalogue for only £3.49 (egg cups £2.49, mugs £2.99). It looks as though they also come with paints and paintbrushes.

I'm sorry to point this out after you have bought yours already (I'm sure the Letterbox are better quality!). Still hope this helps someone