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

Glpark01

• Name of present?Sat Nag
• Do you make it or buy it? buy it
• Total Cost? £5 + (5% discount if you can use RAC smiles)
  
• Details (the more the better) The Sat Nag is the greatest in-car invention since the Sat Nav. Actually - it's better than a Sat Nav, and even if it's guaranteed to get you nowhere fast, it's one of those jokes that just keeps on giving. Press the button on the front and a very well-recorded, patronising woman's voice will come out with one of a host of hysterical Sat Nav-type commands. With such crackers as: "I know you're a man, but it's been 35 minutes now, so can you please admit you're lost and ask someone the way"; and "In 100 metres turn left. No right, err, no left. Sorry, I never can tell my left from my right", as well as "In 50 meters I'm going to put on my most annoying voice and say 'Is your short cut really faster when we get stuck in traffic like this, well, is it darling?" and "In 100 meters I'm going to talk to you in that special voice, which should let you know you've upset me in some way that is bound to be your fault".
  
  There are loads of them, and the main reason they're so funny is that they're so accurate, we've all been there, and boy are we all going there again. There are a few 'not in front of the children' comments, but none that are too offensive. This anti-compass has a holographic screen, highlighting the important roads such as Whiny Lane, Backseat Drive and Earache Avenue, and will have you howling with laughter both at the idiosyncrasies of women in passenger seats and also how dumb men are behind the wheel - every car should have one.
• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/-/382/482/-/5345770/Sat-Nag/Product.html?searchtype=genre

pancakes*

Name of present: Organic Lavender Hearts:money:
Do you make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? Mine cost 10p/cost of chosen material
Details: This year I have made material hearts filled with organically grown lavender. I bought pretty dresses from jumble sales, and cut it up into hearts, added scrap of ribbons I had kept. I filled these with cushion stuffing(I used an old unused one) plus lavender from my garden. Perfect for hanging as display or using in a wardrobe.

pancakes*

Name of present? Organza lavender bags
Do you make it or buy it? make it and buy
Total Cost? 3.00 for ten roughly
Details (the more the better) I bought 10 organza bags(often called favour bags) from ebay for £2.80. Prices vary for colour and size you desire, you can also get them from Hobbycraft. I filled these with lavender from my garden. I placed these in plastic boxes which I had saved when I had revieved gift sets. I put a piece of tissue paper in. Lastly a label on telling the recipient it was made using organically grown lavender.
Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

pancakes*

Name of present? Gift Sets
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? 50p
Details (the more the better) I visited autumn fairs in nice areas nearby, where I found lots of gift sets which still looked brand new(no rips, tares, sticky patches etc..) They include ones from boots, Lush, clarins(filled with tester size) And I secured them for roughly 50p each. Great saving!!!

• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

savvy

Name of present: Personalised Snowglobe

Make or buy it: Buy it

Total cost: £2.99 in HobbyCraft (were £3.99 in Boots last year) But could be cheaper with vouchers and points etc. Plus pennies for 2 photos.

Details: Plastic snowglobe that you can put your own photos in, I've done some digital scrapbooking and will resize the pics to fit the snowglobe template.

Link to product: This is the one I bought in Boots last year

keren

what is it ?present in a jar (look pretty and can reuse jar after)
make it/ buy it
you need- kilner jars or similar- (tesco were selling them for 87p and www.thelivingcompany.co.uk are selling them (search for kilner) from £1.80 to just over £2.80 depending on the size)

ideas
cookies/muffins to bake- partic good for kids or students- just buy a packet of choc chips, raid your kitchen cupboard for non-perishable items (flour, sugar) put in airtight bags and stuff into jar. Search for simple cookie or muffin recipe, print out or write onto pretty label and attach to outside of jar. also can purchase a few cake cases.
you can purchase biscuit cutters to attach with string or ribbon(rustic looking) to the outside (www.ebay.co.uk have them from 99p but many supermarkets sell cheap plastic ones)
edible present
decorate the outside by sticking on old Christmas card or wrappingpaper etc artistically on a piece of card or brown luggage tag to make it look nice and to act as a tag then get baking!! biscuits or homemade fudge goes down well. If you don't want to bake Ikea have packs of gingerbread biscuits for less than £1 that combined with a bit of greaseproof paper/tissue paper look lovely inside the jar.
spa present
buy inexpensive bath salts -Superdrug have some for 99p(or find an unused present) and decant into the jar. Raid the house for a few tea lights and put those in too (in a separate bag is probably best!)Add a pretty label and attach a bath scrunchie to the outside. (again superdrug or supermarkets have them very cheaply- often in packs but then make the present for more than one person).

This idea can be adapted to most people's interests- (new baby- cotton wool balls etc)when you're trying to go economising I think packaging something up beautifully makes a gift look far more expensive- raid your house, clothes etc for bits of ribbon, card etc to make them look more classy!

oysterpots

Name of present: Millionaire Christmas

Make or buy it: Both

Total cost: £5.00 - £1 for ticket, £4 ish for ingredients (depending on how much you make)

Details: Make a batch of millionaire's shortbread (here's a recipe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannahliesje/444234353/)
Package it up in a lovely box along with a lottery ticket.

Lynsey76

Name of present: Santa's Treasure Hunt!

Do you buy it or make it? You make it.

Total Cost: £4.50

Christmas is all about the kids having fun, so to get them out of the kitchen (and under my feet!) I make a xmas day treasure hunt. The story goes that Santa has left a letter and a map for some treasure for extra good girls and boys!

Get an old shoe box, and cover with leftover wrapping paper - I did mine in gold paper and made it look like a real chest. Buy some chocolate Christmas coins - usually on 3 for 2 in Boots - about 6 bags is enough to make the chest seem full, and put some red and green boiled sweets in (for jewels!). Then draw a treasure map of the house, using metaphors like climb the hill for the stairs etc. You can make the map look authentic by burning the edges with a lighter (carefully!) Add a few clues around the house and you have happy occupied children for under a fiver!

maltesers_2

Name of present? Clove Orange Pomanders
Do you make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? approx £1 - £2.00 each
Details (the more the better)


I have made clove oranges for myself and for presents for many years, my own some of which are over 15 years old are still being used as christmas tree decorations although they no longer smell.

Here are some from last year



The finished ones look better than this photo shows

Oranges
cloves (it is possible to buy loose but if you do the tops are often missing - Tesco cloves in jars are not too expensive) approx 30g 1 ox per orange
tape to mark out segments
pins with bead head (from dressmaking shop)

Orris root powder (from health food shop) approx 30g 1 oz per orange
Cinnamon powder

tissue paper


ribbon or decorative tapes or beads etc (from dressmaking shop or curtain making shops
a skewer, large needle or similar pointy object


Divide the fruit into quarters with tape. Make holes evenly spaced using skewer in quadrants. This stage is quite messy as the juice comes out. Don't make them too close together as the oranges shrink when dried. Poke a clove into each hole.

If you want to use the oranges as tree decorations it is best to add the ribbon for hanging before drying. when the orange is dried it is difficult to get a pin into the orange

Remove the tape from orange and put orange in a bag containing a mixture of orris, cinnamon and any other spice you might want to inlude. Shake well brush off excess powder and wrap in tissue.

Leave in a dry warm place eg airing cupboard for 3 - 4 weeks. Once I tried to dry them on top of a radiator but some went mouldy so slow and warm is better than warmer and quicker.

when dry the colour will change to brown (they look like mummified oranges), brush off any remaining powder using a paint brush and decorate as required with attractive binding, ribbons beads etc. using glue to stick on decorations

Finished oranges can be combined with fir cones, cinnamon sticks, undecorated citrus fruits etc to make a gorgeous smelling display, or wrapped as individual stocking fillers in gold tissue paper.

Sjsmi

Photobook

£3.99 (p&p not included)
Print your favourite pictures in this pocket sized photo book, so you can show them to your friends. They also make a wonderful, inexpensive gift. A perfect way to share photos. You can write personalised captions on the pages and cover.

http://www.bonusprint.co.uk/pages/pocket_photo_books.htm?level=2&sub=4