The Festive Fivers competition is back!

EccentricRavenJewellery

Name of present: Star Rose
Bought or homemade: Bought
Total cost: 99p plus whatever you want to package it in.
Details: The 99p shop are selling live potted Star Roses (it has a little trademark sign too!) in dark red/pink, light pink, and yellow. They looked absolutely lovely and I think all the women in my family are getting them this year. You could include different things like a pretty ceramic pot (charity shop), or a little rose necklace, or my personal fave- a box of rose Turkish Delight (Mum's gift).
Where: The 99p shop (formerly 99p Challenge), but not all of them. For instance, the one in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham has got them, but not Erdington.

orange_bubble

Name of present: Photo memories

Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade

Total cost: £3.98 (But does depend on what you stick on it!)
10 Coasters: Free (from the pub).
Patterned/plain paper: £2.99 for a pad of 25 assorted coloured and patterned sheets from The Works (see their website), but if you search you may get some cheaper.
Photographs: If you go to Boots online you can get 50 free prints when you sign up to bootsphoto.com and we all know that Martin Lewis is always giving us free photo offers!
Keyring 'split ring': I found £0.99 for 10 on Ebay so shop around.
Ribbon: Free (cut off of clothes - explained below).

Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
When you next go down to the local pub see if you can get 10 coasters, all the same size. I find square or oblong ones easier to work with than round, but it's up to you. The coasters are made of good stiff cardboard and best of all, they're free.

Cover the coasters on each side with patterned/plain paper. On some pages you can stick 3"x2" photos and write a little message/the date the photo was taken underneath.

To get creative, if the photo was eg. of a picnic, you could go down to your craft shop and get some stick-on butterflies to add either side of the photo as it links in with the theme of the photo. I sometimes stick on sequins or perhaps different sized buttons - generally the free extra ones I get with items of clothing that I never use and have stockpiles of! Or I cut them off of clothes I no longer want. Cut out letters from the coloured paper too.

On other pages you could just write something nice about that person, eg that they make you laugh and smile, or a memory you two share.

Once done hole punch each coaster in the same corner and then clip them all together using a keyring. Tie a ribbon to the keyring to make it look nicer. For ribbons I tend to cut off of my clothes the little ribbons they have on each shoulder of a top so you can hang it on a hanger. They come in handy for crafts!

Et voila, a cheap but really thoughtful little photo/memory book for someone you love.

NB. Sorry, would've added links to items, but as a new user I'm not allowed!

Kyliexjx

Sweetie and toy cups
Home made
Cost 3 - 5 pounds

Get a Christmas beaker / tumbler -I got one from home bargains for 70 pence.

Fill it with small bags of haribo ( 10 bags for a pound - you will need about 5 ) and refresher type sweets (can be bought in bags for a pound - you'll needs about half a bag depending on the size of your beaker - my beakers were quite wide)

Add a couple of small toys ( the types you can get in Hawkins bazaar - 50 to £1.00)

The cup should now be full to the top. Rest on top of the sweeties an led snow man type toy - which are £1 in home bargains. Secure to the sweeties with a little sticky back plastic tab or some cello tape doubled over.

Wrap in cellophane and add a bow lovely in expensive gift for kiddies - looks a lot more expensive than it is. You can add cheaper sweeties too to make it even cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330810318101?ssPageName=STRK:MEUSX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1562.l2649

Linked a picture for illustration x

Kyliexjx

Yankee candle gift

Bought and handmade ( but very little effort)

Cost £4.00 or 4.50 ish if allowing for cellophane and a bow.

Yankee candles samplers are just £1 in asda and they are the perfect size to fit in a votive and tea light candle holders.

I've found a lovely tea light holder in Wilkes for £1.00
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/reflect-tones/wilko-tealight-holder-glass-clear/invt/0292954/?htxt=lG0qUz%2BQAdvd9pe75mECabsJyuWadgp95Onyakp9RHKGU%2Ffe9AyZn8AETqmxQT60IK1yAKzsbtVb%0As3EiIN6jLQ%3D%3D

This would also work well with votives which you can pick up in pound shops.

I did find some on amazon for 10 p each but the delivery was extortionate!

3 x yankee candles for around each, placed in the votives or candle holders - £4.00

Wrapthem in cellophane and add a bow.

Makes a wonderful stocking filler and looks more expensive than it actually was just cause the candles are Yankee candles!

xfive71

Name of present: Homemade Christmas treats
Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
Total cost: up to a fiver depending on which recipes

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

In the spirit of MSE sharing, here is a link to yummy homemade Christmas stuff on BBC Food website : Homemade Christmas treats

Plenty of yummy treats from chocolate truffles to beer mustard. Look at the comments as well - there is a nifty idea for a soup ingredients jar (similar to the sandy art brownie jar) with a wooden spoon pressie.

What I love most is the above website has a link to lovely Christmas labels to print and string up to your homemade pressies

lindelou54

Something to treasure;
Patchwork cushion cover/christmas stocking/make-up bag, funky scarves. etc.
cost. zip fron charity shop 50p. cotton and needles assorted 99p. old clothes, curtains,any fabric for free. imagination, priceless.
Cut out squares/shapes. titch together in preferred pattern. The possibilities are endless to create a present that will be enjoyed and treasured.
There are simple tutorials on the internet. a great money saving idea for any occasion,and not too difficult.
Enjoy

PaulClaireD

•Nameof present: IdeaNumber 1 - Ferrero-Rocher Tree, Christmas Table Centrepiece



•Whetherit's bought or homemade: Home Made



•Totalcost: Around £5(possibly less if you shop wisely for materials).





•Details (where it's from, how to make itetc): The finished article wouldlook like a smaller version of the one shown on TV advertisements around Christmastime (see link below). It could be usedas a table decoration - centrepiece for Christmas day. Or it could be used as a talking point at aparty, or simply given as a gift to e

How to Make:



You would need: 1 Polystyrene Cone, a box of wooden toothpicks, a box offerrero-rocher chocolates,1 large sheet of cellophane, and 1 piece of gold ribbon.



Take the cone, and start by sticking a toothpick into the bottom of the a chocolate,and then use the remainingpart of the toothpick to attach the chocolate to the cone. Work upwards in rows, until you havecovered the whole cone. 1 Box ofFerrero-Rocher's would cover 1 small cone, bigger cones will require morechocolates.



To make them extra secure, a small dab of non toxic glue may be applied to thebottom of each sweetbefore applying to the cone - however this is an option, and not compulsory.



The tree would then be covered with a large sheet of clear cellophane, (Bunching atthe top) and tiedtogether with a gold ribbon in a nice bow.



I made these for a party, and they went down a real storm, everyone commented onwhat a fantasticidea they were, and a number of people asked if I could make them again forvarious events.



They are very simple to make, not expensive, and enjoyed by al





Woodern Tooth Picks -(99p for 4 tubs sheffield 99p store - or can be found in many different supermarketsetc)



Boxof Ferrero- Rocher - £1 (Sheffield pound shop)







Goldribbon £1 or less from any craft store.







Thankyou

anita476

Home Made
Free
How to make
Take a photo frame (most of us have a spare around or get one from £1 shop or charity shop)
Go onto Google maps and print out maps centred on places that mean something to your loved one. (where you met, proposed, married, 1st house etc, etc) Cut out heart or circles shaped maps with the place of interest in the centre.
Put them into the frame in a pattern.

cherryturbojames2

Name of present: Tea Bag Saver
Whether it's bought or homemade: Bought
Total cost:4.99
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):Ebay
A link to the offer if it's online (where possible):

saw this and it made me laugh, very thrifty

browneyedbazzi

Name of present: Make your own Magic Fire Kit
Bought or homemade? Homemade
Total Cost: around £4
Details (the more, the better): This kit will allow you to make up some wax discs that when put into a fire will change the colour of the flame like magic. To make a kit include a bag of paraffin candle wax (you can use wax from old candles or buy candle making wax if you don't have any) and a small quantity of each of the following chemicals (or whichever ones you have available)
Epsom salts to make white flame
Copper sulphate (tree root killer) to make dark green flame
Borax to make light green flames
Potassium Chloride (water softening salt) to make purple flames
Sodium Chloride (table salt) to make orange flames
Also include some little paper cups/fairy cake cases and some cocktail sticks.

Instructions to make the discs are: put approximately 1/4" of one of the chemicals into your paper cup, melt the wax and pour a little over the chemical - just enough to coat the chemical - then stir with a cocktail stick to make sure the chemical is coated in the wax. Leave to set. Once the disc is solid remove it from the paper cup. To use just place the disc into a fire, as the wax melts the chemical is released causing the flame to change colour. Mixing the chemicals won't cause a colour change but you can use more that one type of disc at different spots in a fire to make a really colourful effect.

You could also include little bags of the following in the kit which make effects when thrown onto flames:
flour - small amount tossed into the flame causes a flash flame
sugar -small amount tossed into the flame causes tiny sparks
powdered coffee whitener (coffee mate or similar) - throw a handful into the flames above the fire to cause sparkly flashes

Edit to add: include a note to say that the above should only be used on fires that won't be used for cooking - so any marshmallow roasting or similar needs to be done before you start your magic show!