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

CoopStar_2

Name of gift: Memories Cushion
Make it or buy it?: Make it!
Price: Between £2.50 and £5
Details: Find old clothing and material that your son/daughter/sister/brother/husband/wife will remember from childhood or from significant occasions in their life (I have made one using my sister's clothes from when she was a child as well as a blanket she used to have on her bed. She loved the memories it brought back. I have also made one for my grandmother, using the shirts my grandfather used to wear when he was alive. She now snuggles up to this cushion every night).
Cut these clothes into strips (try to choose colours that will blend, or go with any current colour schemes in the home) and then sew the strips together lengthways so that you end up with a square of material that consists of different coloured strips of material.
Purchase lining from a textile store and use another piece of clothing as backing for the cushion. Sew the square of strips, lining and backing into a cushion cover. Instructions can be found here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1956008
You can purchase a cushion pad cheaply from places like Ikea/Dunelm or websites like these - http://www.worthaglance.com/store.cfm?g=6
Your loved ones will be touched by the thoughtfulness of this gift and be pleased at the memories they bring back, simply from seeing materials from an era they had partially forgotten about.

Happy sewing!!

toniq

Name of present? home made peppermint creams and a half bottle of wine
Do you make it or buy it? make peppermint creams, buy the wine at asda ( has been on offer for £2)
Total Cost? £3.50
Details (the more the better) Link to recipe for peppermint creams, make recipe as instructed, when slightly hardened wrap a few in tissue paper and tie with ribbon, like this:

Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer ASDA wines £2 per bottle - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

gusnted

last year i made a square xmas cake then cut it into quaters,decorated each ones individually and gave them to relatives who lived on their own and would probably never buy a full size cake just for themselves, cost me about £2 each cake.

snortiblog

Heres a good one- recyclable- echo friendly and
captures the thoughts of giving:
One options even FREE- I'll explain:

Just pop down to your local library armed with a pre compiled list of reads your family and friends would love over the holiday period- remember books are free although you can order specific titles in for a small charge of between £1 and £2.50-they'll also have these sent to a local library of your choice!
Whats more you can even get out CD's or DVD's (theres a small £1 to £2.50 charge here though).
I did this for my husbands Birthday as he wanted to read a new autobiography that had just come out. He was VERY IMPRESSED- more so knowing the thought and effort that I'd put in to it!- even better as it cost nothing but effort!!
If giving to friends as a gift (wrap it up- they'll still get a surprise on Xmas day) you could always include a note saying that you will collect and return the item after the time limit on their behalf.
A note here is that sometimes libraries 'extend' loan times over the holiday periods.:T

jules_out_of_debt

Name of present? Cat's Cradle / Sweet Shop
Do you make it or buy it? Make it and buy it
Total Cost? nearly free / under £5
Details (the more the better)

Cat's Cradle

get a piece of string / ribbon or similar (approx 90cm).
tie the two ends together

Now you can either draw directions and instructions onto a piece of paper, or alternatively if you have a helper, you could take digital photos of each stage and print them with instructions onto paper.

make it look pretty: if you have a small tin or gift box you could fold the instructions and ribbon/string inside it and finish with a ribbon. Alternatively you could roll the instructions in to a scroll and tie with the string ribbon (but add a label to the ribbon saying do not cut!)

Sweet Shop

You will need:

• some old (clean) jam jars or similar (with lids). You can use a variety of sizes
• a variety of sweets (e.g. 3 bags for £1 or similar from Tesco etc)
• a scoop of some kind (e.g. bead scoop available from Amazon for 99p)

Fill each jar with 1 type of sweet. Add the lid and then dress with tissue paper rounds (or similar) and ribbon. You can label the jars if you want.

You could put the sweet shop jars in to a decorated shoe box or similar to keep them together.

ClrDvs86

Name of present - Havent named it yet- suggestions welcomed
Do you make it or buy it - Bit o both
Total Cost - Under a fiver
Details - I've set myself a goal of doing everyones presents for under a fiver this year and i've had to think a little more about it, which makes it alot more special. For my friend, she loves The Who and CSI, so i got her an old LP of The Who - Who Are You (CSI theme) 99p (+postage) from Ebay and have put it in an old frame that got from my Grandma (Free - recycling too!) along with a collage of photos of the two of us on a recent holiday - taken on a digital camera and printed on some photograph paper from Wilko (1.69 for 25 sheets)

Name of Present- Traditional Stocking
Do you make it or buy it- again bit of both
Total cost - Under a fiver
Details - Another Idea I got from speaking to my Grandma about what christmas was like when she was a child and she explained fondly about the christmas stocking being the traditional fruit and a selection of nuts etc. so thats what i will be doing for her this christmas! and i know that she will appreciate that more than anything that cost a great deal.

Name of present - Mix CD
Do you make it or buy it - bit of both!...again:o
Total Cost - 1.27 + time + more if you want to decorate
Details - For all my friends i will be making mix cds 6.99 for a pack of 25 blank cds and 99p for cases both from wilkinsons, other than that the only cost is time for deciding which songs to put on and i think time spent is more important than money spent.

Little_Feet

Idea: Give your guy a FACIAL. Cleanse, hot towels, tone, moisturise...the works! He'll love it. This is such a tender, loving thing to do, and most guys would secretly love to have a facial at a salon. So this is the free, non-salon version.
Cost: probably nothing. Most girls will already have good cleansers, exfoliators, moisturisers. Even beg free men's cosmetic sample sizes from the cosmetic concessions on a 'try before you buy' basis!
Start by making a voucher: This voucher entitles the bearer to one 45 minute home facial treatment to include cleansing, toning, exfoiation and moisturisation. Please choose your Time: ..... Date:.......
With Love from.......
Preparation: Assemble all your items beforehand. Write yourself a little plan so you know exactly what you are going to do. When he has 'booked in', you should have some of his favourite relaxing music playing, switch the phones off, light some candles.....c'mon girls, we've had facials, we know how to set the scene! Key tip: have all your towels, bowls of water etc ready and at hand before you start.
Advice: steer clear of messing with his eyebrows, blackheads and nose-hair!! Making his eyes water is not the idea.
Whatd'ya think?

sarahs999

Not sure if this has been posted already, but just noticed on my lunch hour that HMV have many CDs on offer at two for £10, so that would be two presents sorted....

easter65

• Name of present? Christmas Dinner..( for an elderly neighbour )
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Make It
• Total Cost? Pence due to already cooking for 12 people ( one more wouldn't hurt )
• Details (the more the better).... As the elderly are suffering so badly this winter why not just put an extra hot meal and dessert Christmas Day for someone in your neighbourhood who hasn't got anyone cooking for them. If like me you mom's are cooking for large families 1 more dinner will not really make any difference. Watch their face when you offer. It's a priceless gift, means more to them than unwrapping a gift and they will feel so wanted and grateful for the thought .. After all it is Christmas...Get your Other half to do Delivery like my good young man. ( If your really keen you could invite them round to spend christmas dinner with you all);)
  
• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

Beki

easter65 wrote: »

• Name of present? Christmas Dinner..( for an elderly eneighbour )
• Do you make it or buy it? Make It
• Total Cost? Pence due to already cooking for 12 people ( one more wouldn't hurt )
• Details (the more the better).... As the elderly are suffering so badly this winter why not just put an extra hot meal and dessert Christmas Day for someone in your neighbourhood who hasn't got anyone cooking for them. If like me you mom's are cooking for large families 1 more dinner will not really make any difference. Watch their face when you offer. It's a priceless gift, means more to them than unwrapping a gift and they will feel so wanted and grateful for the thought .. After all it is Christmas...Get your Other half to do Delivery like my good young man. ( If your really keen you could invite them round to spend christmas dinner with you all);)
• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

that's a lovely idea! i don't know of any elderly people near me - in fact i'm a bit of a recluse so don't really know many people full stop :rotfl: but if i did it'd be the first thing i did! thanks! :T