The Festive Fivers competition is back!

vikki_louise

We whisk you a merry christmas
£1-£2
Home made

My grandparents are very hard to buy for but appreciate home made things or funny things. This went down really well last year-sorry about the bad picture though

Buy a cheap whisk, fill it with some treats (I put in some wrapped chocolates that had been left over from other things), you just slot them in through the gaps. Wrap up in an off cut of cellophane as you need very little and tie with a bit of ribbon. Add a tag saying 'We Whisk You a Merry Christmas'

angela93x

Name of present: THE LITTLE BAG OF HAPPINESS.
Whether it's bought or homemade: Bought from someone but was Homemade
Total cost: £2.40
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):

THE LITTLE BAG OF HAPPINESS HANDCRAFTED. A BEAUTIFUL GIFT FOR SOMEONE SPECIAL. MADE IN GOLD SATIN FEEL FABRIC, WITH GOLD SATIN RIBBON. AND GOLD HEART ATTACHED. A PRINTED CARD READS.

BAG MEASURES APPROX. 10cm x 14.5cm

THE LITTLE BAG OF HAPPINESS

A HEART OF GOLD.

TO MATCH YOURS

A CHOCOLATE.

SO YOU KNOW SOMEONE CARES.

A PIECE OF STRING

SO YOU CAN HOLD IT ALL TOGETHER

ELASTIC

SO YOU CAN STRETCH BEYOND YOUR MEANS.

ERASER

TO ERASE PAST MISTAKES AND LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE

1P

SO YOUR NEVER TOTALLY BROKE.

ALL ITEMS WILL BE WRAPPED IN TISSUE PAPER AND PLACED INSIDE THE BAG.

WILL HAVE "HANDCRAFTED JUST FOR YOU" TAG WITH BUTTERFLY CUT OUT

A link to the offer if it's online (where possible): ebay cant post link as new user

Own_My_Own

Name of Present Chocolate Slab

Bought or Homemade Both but MORE Homemade

Total Cost £2-£3

Details

Buy-
a silicone cake tin or loaf tin from 99p or £1 shop.
3 39p bars of chocolate from Lidls (makes 2 bars)(2 one type and 1 of another)
Chocolates etc to decorate.

Here is the original post I made showing pictures.
Although I used 200g in the square tin, 150g would be fine, meaning 2 slabs can be made from 3 bars.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=56821995&postcount=7089

Wrap in cellophane and tie with some ribbon or string.

The silicone tin only needs buying once , so all subsequent slabs can be made for under £1.50.

EDIT - Forgot to say - melt chocolate in microwave in 20 sec bursts.Leave for 30 seconds then stir well . It should take about 3 or 4 goes, according to strength of microwave. There is no need to melt all the chocolate, the last bit will melt in the last stir.

DO NOT USE EXPENSIVE CHOCOLATE YOU HAVE AT HOME, IT ONLY WORKS WITH CHEAP CHOCOLATE !

bigmamapasta

• Name of present: Birth year silver ring
• Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
  
• Total cost: Between £0 and £2 if you're using current coins...
  

Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
This gift takes a bit of time (and requires that you or a friend have a bench drill!) but the results are really satisfying and make a unique Christmas gift for someone you love. Simply take a silver coin- preferably dating from a year meaningul to the recipient- and a hammer, then find a stone or concrete surface. Firmly tap the side of the coin a couple of times with the hammer, then turn a little and tap again. Repeat this, working your way around the coin and gradually, the sides will start to splay and the faces of the coin will bend around as you work. Keep going until the circle you make is the right diameter for a finger. When you've finished tapping to the right size, tap more gently to get as smooth a finish on the outside as you can. Then you need to hold the coin in place with some sort of vice and drill through the middle with a bench drill (or something similar). Don't worry, this will still leave you with some of the markings on the coin including the date visible on the inside of the ring. Make sure the inside is smooth with a metal file or glass paper, then shine the coin with some silver polish.

Voilà! A beautiful silver ring for someone special! You can use a new or old coin, silver or not, but beware if it's not silver as it might make your finger turn green! Happy Christmas money savers!

bigmamapasta

• Name of present: Chocolate shoes!
• Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
• Total cost: £3.49 for high heels from a charity shop + £0 for chocolate because I used Celebrations that had been a gift!

Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):

An unbelievably simple yet spectacularly stunning gift! Simply (and carefully) use a glue gun to hot glue chocolates onto the sides of a stilletto, high heel or other shoe to create the greatest chocolate shoes a chocoholic could ask for! I made these for my sister last year, as my family had a make or keep to a £10 limit Christmas! It was great fun!

I'd add my flickr picture, but as a baby moneysaver I'm not allowed...

flowerbaby

• Name of present: Shamballa bracelets
  
• Whether it's bought or homemade: bought
  
• Total cost: £3.80 inc delivery
  
• Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): These are very in at the moment and a perfect secret santa pressie, everyones been talking about them and were suggested to me for my secret santa, there is lots of different ones available and you can get them cheap on amazon and ebay see link for black and silver unisex shamballa with 3 delivery
  
• A link to the offer if it's online (where possible):
• Cannot link because new user but available on amazon for £3.80 inc free delivery in UK search Shamballa.
  

SugarSpun

Name: Edible Coal
Bought/Homemade: Homemade with bought ingredients
Total cost: 3 pounds with half a bag of leftover marshmallows as a reward for your labours.

Details: Take two 150g packets of Oreo cookies (98p each in Asda) and pulse them in a food processor till they're crumbs (or bash them with a rolling pin. Whatever). Line and grease a small loaf pan or use a silicone one.

Melt 4tbsp of butter plus half a bag of big marshmallows (1.00 in Asda) in a big bowl in the microwave. You want the marshmallows to be puffy. Stir in the cookie crumbs till it's all combined, then put it in the lined bowl (use a piece of greaseproof paper to push down and make sure it's lying flat, if you get your hands in this you'll be stuck there and make a mess of the surface). Let it set (couple of hours max) and cut into coal shapes.

happyjoybells

Name of Present Magnetic sensory letters (or numbers)

Bought or Homemade Homemade

Total Cost From £1.50-£4.00 depending on whether you have card and fabric scraps, glue etc at home already.

Details
These are a lovely gift for little children and easy to make - they just take a bit of effort.

Search the internet for some letter or number templates and print them onto stiff card. Cut them out.

Now cover your letters or numbers in scraps of old fabric with a variety of different textures - felt, tweed, satin, fake fur etc. You don't have to stop at fabric - use sandpaper, underlay, carpet, glue lots of buttons on, corrugated cardboard etc - all sorts of stuff that you have lying around or in your recycling. You can cut up old clothes for the fabrics. just make sure that each number or letter has a different material on it. They should be interesting to touch and stimulating to look at, so use lots of different colours. Spray glue is the best way to attach the materials, but if you don't have any and want to save money, you can use any glue - just test it with the materials first to make sure it won't soak through and spoil the way they look.

Now superglue magnets onto the back of each number/letter. You can get a pack of 25 for £1.50 (with no p&p charge) on Ebay.

When they're finished, present them any way you like. I make a little simple fabric bag for them but if you don't have a sewing machine (or the skills or even the inclination ) you can put them in a clear plastic ziplock bag and they'll still look nice.

claire244577

• Name of present:Magic 8 Ball
  
• Whether it's bought or homemade: Bought
  
• Total cost:£5/Free!
• Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): I bought one of these for my bf last christmas and we have had loads of fun with it. Also my sister was so jealous that I'm getting her one this year. If you buy one in Boots they come in at exactly £5 (or free with advantage card points!) You can view it on the Boots website (MSE won't let new users post links) but bear in mind that you have to spend £20 for free delivery to store.
  

skittl

Name of present: Cute Charm Necklace
Whether it's bought or homemade: both
Total cost: around £5
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
This isnt a gift for realyl young children as it has small parts!
Buy some "mini glass vials with cork stoppers" , which can be bought for around £2.70 for 5 from ebay (+P&P)
Buy a chain or re-use and old one (1.50) ebay
Buy some glitter (you can get it for a pound in a pound shop) or some coloured liquid and pour it into the vial. Get a small piece of paper and write " Fairy Dust" and stick it on the front of the vial.
There are many different things you can put in the vial , others include "magic potion" and you can make it as christmassy as you like!
Get a small piece of wire and bend it into a "U" shape
Push it into the top of the cork
Push the chain through the wire and it is done!