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

Wise_Guy

• Name of present? Personalised Gifts
• Do you make it or buy it? Make it – Waste Not Want Not!
• Total Cost? 50p - £5 or next to nothing if you recycle unwanted clothing, sheets etc

• Name of present? Teddy bear, Charlie Bag, cushions, robe etc gifts for men, women and children
• Details

You’re probably thinking I don’t have a sewing machine, so I can’t make any of the projects suggest but you can hand sew. My husband gave me a teddy bear for our cotton wedding anniversary that he actually hand sewed (it made me cry!), I was really impressed (he’s not the sort to sew!) You could do the same or make a stuff toy. You could visit your local library and get a book on teddy bear making. They usually have a pattern in it. You can trace the pattern with grease proof paper or clear plastic sheeting and a permenant marker. You can recycle an old coat, fleece or blanket to make teddy. All you then need is a needle, thread and a pair of scissors. My husband sewed the bear during his lunch time at work…all his female colleagues thought he was lovely and wished their boyfriend/husbands would be that thoughtful!

• You can also make loads of other items. If you visit www.burdastyle.com you can down load FREE patterns. I’ve made the Charlie Bag which makes an excellent shopping bag and would be an ideal gift especially with stores charging for bags! I’m going to make another Charlie Bag but using parts of an old t-shirt and fabric that I got for 50p. If you do not have clothes you can recycle, there are several places you can buy cheap material (cheap does not necessarily mean tacky!). If you live in London Walthamstow market has stalls and shops where you can buy fabric for as little as 50p a metre. Yes, you could make the Charlie bag for as little as 50p! You can also visit Goldhawk Road on the Hammersmith and City line for cheap fabric.
• You could also buy items for under £5 example boxer shorts, vests, t-shirts and embellish.

If you need more inspiration visit www.etsy.com to see what others have made. If you’re really crafty you could sell things on etsy.com and supplement your income!
Hope this helps

PS If you love recycling you can visit your local charity shops. There are 100s of items under £5. You help the charity in question and you could give someone a lovely gift!

Wise Guy J

peeshydicker

You will need:
Assorted sizes of recycled baked bean/soup tins
Water
Nails
Hammer
Wire
Tealights
Piece of paper that wraps around the tin and tape to stick it.

Clean the tins thoroughly, inside and out, make sure the edges are not sharp! Fill them with water and freeze until solid. This will stop them crumpling when you hit them with the hammer.
Make a design/pattern on your paper - not too complicated!
Tape it round the frozen can and then (carefully) bang the nail through the tin making a hole following your pattern. Next, hammer 2 holes into the tin lid at the edge - this is to thread onto the wire handle and will be a rain lid to protect the candle if it rains.
Finally, make 2 holes either side to hang the long wire handle through.
Light your tea light and hang in a safe place - you will see glimmering light rays in your pretty pattern.

meltonchar

A great idea for something very personal from children to their Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles or special friends.

Get them to make good old fashioned Peppermint Creams or Truffles.

Cost much less than a fiver, all you need is some icing sugar, peppermint essence and colouring. A few shape cutters (clean the kids playdough cutters) and away you go. Let them dry and to make them look expensive dip half in chocolate.

For truffels Make with some spongecake mixed with Alcohol (for growns ups only) and shape into balls. Cover in vermecelli or cocoa powder.

Put them all into a neat box or cellophane bags (around 20p each) and make someone feel very previlaged and special.
If my post ends up in the wrong place pls forgive me, it's my first post:-0:o

jumpingdemon

Customised Pop-pop boats
Cost around a fiver
Supplier: e-bay, also fairs and markets

Pop-pop boats are miniature steam boats made from tin. They used to be a very popular toy in the thirties and forties. They run on a tiny scrap of candle and will steam across a bath or pond making a characteristic popping or chugging sound. They're now made by enthusiasts and sold at fairs and markets and also on e-bay. They can be bought unpainted and can then be customised with (metal) painting.
There's something enormously appealing about these toys, they always have a stall at Glastonbury (and at our local German markets) and I always see folk gazing into the display ponds with fascination.
I've given them before as gifts as they're so unusual and beautiful. This year I'm giving one to my sister's boyfriend - he's Norwegian and I'm going to paint a suitably Nordic scene on the prow!
I think they'd be warmly received by any child with an interest in how things work (there's a site where an enthusiast describes how he makes his technology class make them every year to demonstrate hydraulics!) and by people who may remember them, as well as by anyone who appreciates beautiful things.

Llamalout

My little boy was only 5 months old last Christmas, but my dad covered an old shoe box in wrapping paper and then filled it with lots of squares of cut shiny wrapping paper, pieces of magazines and odd and ends of fabrics. It went down a storm, and my son still likes getting out the contents of his box, even now.

Pumpkin1

Name of present - Helicopter Rescue
Bought or Made - Bought
Total Cost - £4.99
Details - A large red and white emergency rescue helicopter with 6 little cars (3 police, 2 fire, 1 ambulance) Back and side of helecopter open so the vehicles can drive in to be transported to where they are required the most. Age states 3+ yrs. Sainsbury's are selling these at the moment and I bought one for my nephew for Christmas, I'm sure he'll love it and it has the added benefit of looking like it cost more!
:j Happy Shopping!

jamtart6

Name of present - Exploding Photo Box
Bought or Made - Made
Total Cost - £2 or cheaper
Details - An exploding photobox can be made VERY easily from 4 pieces of cardboard. Inside goes lots of lovely photos and when you take off the lid, the sides flap down and shows your photos off.

You can find step-by-step instructions and photos here:

http://glitteradventure.blogspot.com/2006/11/exploding-box-class.html

Really unqiue present and easy for even the non-crafty types

royster9

Name of present: Aroma Basket

Do you make it or buy it? Make it

Total Cost: £1

Details: A nice little idea that for either mum or dad that the kids can make. The fragrance departments of most high street shops give free samples of perfumes, aftershaves, lotions (and potions!). Simply ask for some of these or even send off using some of the links frequently in the freebies section of this site, buy a small basket or box and fill this with the samples. If you want to be a bit more extravagant use some tissue paper for presentation.:T

cheriepope1

One of my friends is always asking me for the recipe to dishes that I’ve cooked for her and my other friends, so this Christmas I’ve decided to collate a few of my favourite recipes and create a personalised cookbook for her.

Personalised Home Made Recipe Book

Cost: <£4

Buy a scrapbook or note book from WH Smith, paperchase, Woolworths or another stationary outlet.
Then write out the recipes yourself, print them off the internet or photocopy them from other books and stick them into the scrapbook.

..... Leave half the book empty so that your friend can add to the book or you can send her recipes in the future for her to add to the book.

anansi69

Name of present? Children's MONSTER killing spray!
Do you make it or buy it? Make
Total Cost? Less than £1
Details (the more the better) Buy a small empty spray bottle used for transporting cosmetics on holiday. Fill with water, and add food colouring & a few drops of lavender essential oil. Design yourself a fancy (personalised?) label to stick on and VOILA- Monster (or witch, ghost etc) killing spray!
I know several young children who are scared of things that go bump in the night. Use this spray on an evening to fill their room with relaxing lavender scent, (whilst doing a crazy dance and singing a song/poem/spell to banish the nasties, and add to the magic!)