Win £200. Festive Fivers Competition 2008: The best Xmas pressies for under £5

rachette01

i have a daughter who is a beautican so after xmas i get her to go round my mum my partners mum and my sister in law and do different treatments,as a pressie,my daughter doesnt take money off me even though i offer so basically costs me nothink and they love the pampering,my daughter doesnt mind neither as its good practise for her.

Looby888_2

Organise a party with friends to bring unused presents kept in the back of cupbopards, under the bed etc - then swap away - you may all donate some money for each gift you take to be donated to charity. Then when you give your present have a tag on the gift which says that you and your friends raised £xx for whatever charity as part of your giving this year.

mummybird

hello
hope this helps
christmas baubles
cost :under a £5er
you will need : balloons £0.05 x how many you are making for
torn news paper strips , glue ( flour and water mix ) or pva glue/ paint , glitter , coloured paper-( magazine pages- colour blockes and pictures) ,ribbons , feathers, confetti ( made with hole punch magazine or coloured paper ) -beg steal or borrow from mum , office -friend ,next door neighbour.
big chocolates £0,40/3 for a £
under £3.00 for little gifts

blow up a balloon as big as you want and with the newspaper strips and flour glue cover balloon twice ,with you paint/ glitter /pictures decorate the balloon to the personality of the recipient - make it pretty ,funny ,naughty , child like ,grown up , masculine etc. let it dry completely.
Shred some paper really thinly and fluff up this will bulk out your present , puch out some confetti also for your filling make in contrasting colours .
go to your local purfume counter and ask for free samples of purfumes /aftershaves etc - they will give them if you ask nicley enough . (how else can you recomend the product to others if they don't give you a sample to take away.)
Got to a £/charity shop and find little treasures to put in your bauble - soaps candles- aromatherapy oils - tiny picture frames -anything funny sexy creative that you know your friend will like - take out of packets and replace original labels with hand written ones from you with personal messages from you .
Once you are happy with the outside of youre bauble chose a selection of gifts to put inside .cut hole in the top big enough to fit in your gifts but not to big to show whats in it.
add some shredded paper ,confetti and one big chocolate , then continue this with your gifts untill its full - if you have any feathers /ribbons , anything that will make it look fab- put this near the top.
To hang make a hole in either side of the hole and put ribbon /fishing wire/ cotton etc through make a bow for hanging on there tree.
These BAUBLES can be made as big or as small as you want - you can buy water balloons 100 ( they have a small inflater in the packet )for £ at £ shop fill with sweeties from £ shop write individual names on and put a little xmas note inside( AND YOUR WHOLE OFFICE/ WORKS CAN BE DONE FOR UNDER A FIVER !)
I have also made them very big with puch ball balloons 4 for a £/£ shop and put a toy garage and cars in for my son for last christmas he thougt it was fantastc.!
You don't have to be arty to make these , just a spare evening have fun, save money and most of all you will give an original and hand made gift from you .
Happy Day mummybird and baby boo

ih8stress

Name of Present: Personal Message
Make It Or Buy It: Make It
Total Cost: Depends on the equipment you use
Details:

Get hold of a camcorder (or mobile phone?) and make a personal video message to the recipient. This needn't be a long message, just from the heart eg.
'Son, I just want to let you know that I love you to bits, that you are the most special person in the world to me and I thank you for everything you have done.

Then get the message transferred onto a cd or dvd, depending on what the recipient can play it back on.

I'm sure this would be a priceless gift to many and treasured long after christmas has been and gone.

An alternative would be to use a tape cassette player and record a message on that (though of course this would not be visual!).

You can probably tell that I am not very technical! The main idea is to produce a keepsake of a personal message by whatever medium is available to you.

rachette01

i tend to go to the january sales where you can pick up some good bargain for xmas early and for under a fiver or even much less as they get rid of a lot of stuff very cheap,at least by xmas you dont have to worry as youve got all or most of your xmas pressies for nxt to nothink,especially with the resation !:rolleyes:

peeshydicker

You can pick up a cheap Kite registered hot water bottle from a hardware shop for under £4.00 or if you already have one - great. Kids fancy water bottles are expensive - you can make your own from old clothing and toys. I used a soft pale pink fleece with ruined cuffs which was too small for my 5 yr old and the head of a small stuffed toy she no longer plays with (you can find all these items at charity shops/car boots for less than 40p). Do not use beanie type toys as kids could swallow beads if the toy was damaged or loose ribbons.
If you are not sure about instructions, practice the cutting with 2 bits of kitchen roll.
First - wash everything and check for colour run and shrinkage! Hotties are nice when you feel ill but kids do throw up...!
Second - put your hottie on the inside out fleece and draw round it with a marker pen adding 3 inches at the bottom and 1 inch round the sides. Cut this pattern out. You will have 2 elongated bottle shapes. Now, cut one piece in half widthways and hem both the cut edges(blanket stitch in a contrasting colour for fun). Make sure the hem rough edges are on the insideedgeof the fabric.
Making sure the 3 pieces of pattern are inside out, lay the large piece down first (A) and trim the bottom by 2 inches - remember to keep the shape of the hot water bottle! If you want to add a pocket for a fabric star or a little fabric animal/doll, applique names/shapes, now is the time! Cut out a square from the remaining fabric, blanket stitch round the edges and stitch round 3 sides on the right-side large piece of pattern(A)(make sure it's the right way up!) Or sew on your letters to the right side of the fabric. Lay the fabric(A) down so the design is looking up at you or right-side.
Lay the neck end piece(B) inside out on top of it and pin it. Lay the 3rd bottom piece(C) again, inside-out on top of that following the shape of the bottle and pin - it should overlap in the middle. Stitch the fabric all the way round the outside only and then round again (this makes sure it won't fray and looks good in contrasting cotton).
Turn it inside out and you should have a safe unique designer hot water bottle cover personalised for your child. You can sew the toy head on the top of the hottie making sure you can still get the head of the water bottle in(!) or use the pocket for a small friend to live in (a comfort fairy for example).
Besides recycling, this may also save on your fuel bill but don't use boiling water and do get the air out and screw the top on carefully! Seasons greetings!

profp

Name of Present: Festive basket
Make it or Buy it?: a bit of both
Total Cost?: £4
Details: A nice wicker basket from the fabulous 99p store, add some shredded paper from the office shredder!!add a box of yummy choccies from the 99p store, a net of chestnuts from the 99p store, include a £1 scratchcard and finish it off with a dusting of festive confetti-Everything you could want,a functional basket, a yummy treat, shredded paper can be used to start your open fire on which you roast those chestnuts , & the anticipation of winning £100's with the scartch card-all bases covered.;)

rachette01

i tend to make sweet rings you go to a large retailer and buy assorted sweets for the adult and kiddie sweets for the kids,you then get hold of small medium bridal hoops from a floristry or ebay,the whole lot would probarly cost about £20 BUT u can make about 10 sweet rings for your friends and family,all you do is tie 3 sweets to some fancy ribbon or some of that stuff you tie to presents to make look fancy,tie tie round ring so u have 2 1 sde 1 the other then keep going rond till u fill all the ring,put a nice bow on it and ther you have it a nice cheap xmas pressie,and it looks really pretty,you can use the same colour or multicolours sweet in wrapper of course!!if yu use small bridal hoops u can make more,so thats about 10 xmas pressies for £20,they even look good hung up at xmas!

lisallama

Name of present? Happy memories collage

Do you buy it or make it? Both

Total cost? Just under £5

Details? Select all your favourite photos stored on your computer (I used 70 photos for mine). Upload to Picassa (which you can download for free). Use the 'create collage' option and watch your photos arrange themselves into a gorgeous & funky collage. Save your image to your computer. On ebay, pay about £3.00 and purchase a poster printing of your image. Email your image to the seller and they'll send it to you in a few days. Buy a clip frame from somewhere like Ikea or a £1 shop for a few quid and pop your poster in. I did mine on A3 for under a fiver as a cheap but cool pressie for my anniversary this month....would be great for any festive celebration too!

Have fun!

ih8stress

Name of Present: Website lists/CD
Make it or Buy It: Make it
Total Cost: Time
Details:

Create a list of fun, useful, interesting websites suited to that particular person then either type out the list and print it out or put the list on a CD.

If you have alot of time you could also buy a cheap 2009 calendar and insert a website suggestion for every day/week/month and even add themed ones for certain days (Xmas, birthday, anniversary, mothers.fathers day etc.).

I have started to save any I come across on my surfing. I have also got a few from the forums on this site along the way.
You can also try googling for them eg. 'how to make' 'fun websites' 'gardening tips' 'craft ideas' etc.
Of course it's best to check them out before putting them on the list (especially if they're for children).

Some I have found are:

3 FREE GO's ONLY on the following one:
http://www.faceonbody.com/?CID=FB137

http://www.talkingpets.org/?mid=28088909

http://simpsonizeme.com

https://www.yearbook.com

https://www.marthastewart.com/article/pipe-cleaner-creatures

http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk

https://www.festisite.com/tools/generators/money

http://www.misofunky.com/

http://www.robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp

http://www.fisher-price.com/us/printcards/

http://www.madaboutcards.com/section.php/1152/0/CraftPoundShop/

http://www.blockposters.com/default.aspx


http://www.18185.co.uk/index2.php
http://www.saynoto0870.com/
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/proxy/view/full/2019/grantsandofferssearch


I THINK I have checked all these but would suggest you do likewise before using etc.

I will post any more I come across in the future.