Christmas under a fiver!

La_escocesa

I'm knitting cowl neck warmers (scarves by any other name - but not as long and button closed and look like a cowl neck top). £1.99 for enough wool for 2

Anglea

killielila wrote: »

any ideas for a 14 yr old boy and 2 six year old boys in this budget be greatly appreciated ( i have a girl i find them so much easier pink sparkley and or make up bits suit any age lol )

For the younger boys -have you considered making those blocks of chocolate with personal messages on them and sweets round the sides - there's a thread for those instructions. Then you can get tennis ball sized bouncing balls with flashing lights in them (can't hold up to sun) = £1 in the cheap shops - alternatively a joint pressie of a goodies hamper?

Older boy - money, unless you know what he likes.

EmptyPockets

We have 12 people to buy for this year, and only a maximum budget of about £90 :eek: so we will definitely be spending under a tenner per person... We've decided to do hampers mostly, to try and get the most we can for our money. This is what we're doing:

My sister age 4: Hamper of goodies - jigsaw book, teddybear, colouring book and pencils, bar of choc, felt-tip pens and small drawing pad
My brother age 12: Art & craft hamper - paint brushes, paints, wooden 'paint your own' money box, colouring pencils, drawing pad, bar of choc and coloured craft paper
My brothers aged 15, 19 & 23: Boys pamper-hampers - deodorants, shower-gels, socks, mugs with choc and cappuccino sachets in, and a bar of choc.
My Mum, & sister aged 22: Pamper-hampers - body lotions, shower-gels, moisturisers, face cloth, and candles
My Dad: Gardening hamper - kneeling pad, packets of seeds, greenhouse book, gardening accessories and gardening gloves
DH's Mum: Digital photo frame, bought second-hand but still in original box and looks brand new, loaded with pictures of DH and his sister when they were babies
SIL and BIL: Food hamper - they will be getting the very posh hamper that DH brings home from work every Christmas - they are lucky, it's always gorgeous!
My Grandma: I am making her a set of two wooden trinket boxes (one fits inside the other). I am burning them (no not setting fire to them! lol. I do Pyrography) and then painting and varnishing them. Inside will be a little poem I've written for her.

Looking at the list... I've no idea how we're going to do all that with £90... as the £90 also has to buy the hamper containers and wrappings :eek::eek::eek:

lilly81

killielila-For the 14 year old I would say buy a linx set, its under £4 in tesco.
This year I got most adults presents in the boots 75% off sale in January (all for under a fiver)
and for the kids I went to the sainsburys 50% off all toys.
The only person I need to buy for is my boyfriend, as I wasn't expecting to have one at xmas so didn't budget for it :rotfl:

I have had to put my foot down with friends and ask them nicely not to buy anything for my son as I cant afford to buy anything back for their kids, yes I know its 'only' a fiver but it all adds up!

esmf73

Empty Pockets - for the hampers, why not ask around on freecycle for any unwanted baskets, boxes or pop into florists / greengrocers and ask if they have any unwanted boxes / baskets.

I love the look of the baskets, but then I find that they are quite large so take a lot of gifts to fill. If I was really thinking about it I would use tissue or shoe boxes covered in a couple of layers of christmas paper to stiffen them up if required. That way they're not too large for filling. Or you could just tie everything together with a big ribbon if they all can be threaded through the ribbon.

EmptyPockets

esmf73 wrote: »

Empty Pockets - for the hampers, why not ask around on freecycle for any unwanted baskets, boxes or pop into florists / greengrocers and ask if they have any unwanted boxes / baskets.

I have been checking Freecycle daily for any possible containers, but I think I will put on a 'wanted' ad for some - can't hurt to try, and I won't be being as cheeky as the person who was yesterday asking for an XBox 360 WITH games :eek: Cheeky !!!!! :eek:

I'm going into the local shops later aswell so will certainly pop into the greengrocers too, thanks!

Coffee_Diva

Cheap baskets & stuff for hampers available at Wilkinsons/£saver/£world......or go to local garden centre--often baskets cheap there as not the growing season. Ikea also does baskets in their garden section.
I'm a hamper gal as well. I find that if you can't find a 'hamper'--use a cardboard box bottom wrapped in Xmas paper and then put all items in--wrap the whole thing in florists clear wrap( use a garden bamboo if you need height, topped with a cheap red ribbon) and it looks like a pro hamper! This is my first post so I hope it helps someone!!!

Anglea

Coffee Diva welcome to the site :j

jamespir

cheap dvds or 5 nice things from poundland and make a little basket up

lollyball

La escocesa
I'm knitting cowl neck warmers (scarves by any other name - but not as long and button closed and look like a cowl neck top). £1.99 for enough wool for 2

Hi, do you have a pattern for these, they sound lovely, what type of wool do you buy and where do you get it from.

Thanks

Lorraine