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

98jdougl

name of gift: name a star
make or buy: buy
cost: £1.97 (ish) or free
method: visit www.freenameastar.com and follow the instructions for your star. For $3 (£1.97) you can change the banner on the certificate so it doesn't read www.freenameastar.com and the recipient doesn't know it was free. Certificate can be printed out and presented in A4 certificate frame or clip frame if desired.

jamesmair

Name of present? : Flake Stake!
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? £5
Details (the more the better) Put a bet on at the bookies that it will snow on christmas day. Or you can think of a similar festive bet. Frame in a seasonal homemade card. Even if it loses, it's a nice thought and may be a talking point in a frame! And of course if it wins, it snow joke.
Where possible please add a link if it's an online of

junebride_2

Name of Present: Photo Calender
Make it or buy it?: bought it - but uploaded photos for calender
Total Cost: Free
Details: My friend has not seen his son for 5 months (due to v nasty ex) - I managed to convince him to save the photos of his son onto my PC, in case he lost his phone and therefore lose all photos of his little boy... then I uploaded 12 different photos onto the website below and gave each month of the calender a different photo of him, and an extra one for the front cover. Cant wait to give it to him, but bit scared its gonna make him cry - he misses him to bits
PS this was free to me as I had already ordered something else from this site - but would need to add P&P if you just order calender
Here the link: www.vistaprint.co.uk/personalized-calendars.aspx?GP=11%2f12%2f2008+4%3a35%3a49+AM

christine119

I'm not sure if this has already been mentioned as I haven't read all the pages but here's my virtually free romantic Christmas gift...

Name of present? : Memory Jar
Do you make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? zero if you use things you already have
Details (the more the better): I made this for my partner's Valentines present but it's also perfect for Christmas. I wrote out lots of memories from our 6 years together on pretty pieces of paper (I'm a crafter so I have plenty but plain paper would also be fine). Then fold them in half and put them all in a clean jar (a pretty jam jar was my choice but any clean jar is fine). Tie a pretty ribbon around the top of the jar and you're done.

Mandles

Name of gift: Make me babies


Make or buy it: Make it (online)

Total cost: Free!

Details: See what someones baby would look like if they got together . Maybe an idea for a new couple , freak out your partner by doing this or maybe add a friends photo with their favourite film star etc photo. (you need 2 full face forward facing photos and they show you what the child will look like).

Where? http://www.makemebabies.com/

Tinkywinks108

• Name of present? Treasure Chest
• Do you make it or buy it? Make
• Total Cost? Up to you but can be done for pence
• Details (the more the better) Buy or find a nice sized box which you can cover with a collage of photos. Fill box with treasured memories. This can be done for anyone, but for example for a partner: Include a photo of the place where you met. Snippets of romantic emails and texts. List of 10 things you love about this person. Include any small objects with senitmental value. Details of a special holiday together put together like a holiday brochure and/or include photocopy of passport stamps. Make up a page of personal ads, including two with both of your details, put a circle around both. Write a newspaper report detailing a significant or funny event you shared. Draw an outline of your hand, fill in palmistry lines then write personal notes eg. "HEART LINE - falls in love quickly, especially when asked out by handsome men who drive clapped out Ford Fiestas". Draw a picture of your partner, with arrows pointing to all the bits you love best. Include a lock of your hair (considered a romantic gesture in olden times). Include quotes, old ones, well known ones, made up ones eg. ""If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile- the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand." (Unknown source). Put some lipstick on and make a lip print - you can write on the back "Here's a kiss for you, whenever you need it". If you have a special song, see if you can find a picture of the cover, and write out the words. Take a photo of them when they are sleeping and add a caption like "Sleeping Beauty" or "Hope you are dreaming of me". The list is endless, and you can keep adding things as you share more memories together!

Whalter

Name of present? The Ultimate bubble bath!
Do you make it or buy it? bit of both
Total Cost? Depends what you buy but around £5
Details (the more the better) Look for a small but inexpensive bottle of bubble bath (it needs to be small and ideally an asthetically pleasing bottle!) some candles and if you have enough left in the budget some of your partners favourite drink...

Fill the bath and put candles around the bathroom empty the bubble bath in, rinse out and dry the bottle, write a romantic letter or poem, put it in the bottle and let it float in the water for your partner to find, and if you have some of their favourite tipple leave it by the bath!

Ultra-pampering, ultra thoughtful - minimal cost...

If you wanted to do this for Christmas you could buy all the stuff and then just write a cryptic card or note saying you are going to do something special for them and do it on Christmas Day or even one day when they are coming home from work.

Super-duper partner brownie points will be yours...

Chris.

globro

Mini piggy bank:j
To buy £2.99
Bronze mini Piggy Bank -baby of one shown on Moneysaving expert TV show.
Can be purchased at TK Max.
Great fun present. Husband Big Fan of tv programme and THAT Piggy so he will be delighted to receive for Christmas a mini version.
Janie x

lib385

• Name of present? Romantic Scrap Book of Love
• Do you make it or buy it? Both
• Total Cost? From £1 to £5
• Details

Buy a notebook of any size (ring-bound is best). Try to find one with a nice cover, eg: hearts, but if not, you can always decorate it yourself with old wrapping paper, coloured pens, photos etc. It's nicest if the sheets of paper are not white... cream or coloured will make it look prettier, but it's really up to you. You should be able to find a nice notebook from any charity shop (Oxfam do nice ones) or any stationary shop (WH Smith, Rymans, Paperchase is nice but more expensive obviously).

Write a message at the front of the book, tell your loved one how much you love them and why, and explain that you can both write in it to document your relationship... for example, you can stick in cinema stubbs, pictures, photos, postcards, event/travel tickets, draw pictures etc and write down your treasured memories so that you can keep them forever. It's best to start the scrapbook off yourself... for example, you could start by writing a list of all the songs that remind you of your partner, or by writing the story of how the two of you met and started going out. The scrapbook doesn't have to be chronological, but writing about the early days of your relationship will bring back lots of lovely memories for you both.

My boyfriend gave me this last Christmas - it was so touching and romantic! We write in it regularly, and it's so nice to look back on a year of memories. It is a present that will last forever!

walls_c_2

• Name of present? Homer Simpson Soap on a Rope
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
  
• Total Cost? £3
  
• Details : A relatively large soap compared to most, 'engraved' with homer on the front. Nobody really appreciates smellies at Christmas but this is slightly different plus it will probably last them right through to next Christmas!
  
• From Boots in-store or online - also part of their 3 for 2 christmas deal so you can pick up a couple of bags of choc coins to throw in with it for under the fiver!

Hopefully this hasn't been mentioned before but I think its a cracker! Bought one for my man - it may seem a bit extravagant for a soap but its novelty and tis Christmas all you scrooges out there!