The Festive Fivers competition is back!

jontryingtosortitallout

Animal Balloon Models
Cost £4.87

Sorry can't post real links yet...

1.
Buy
30x Mixed Colour Modelling Balloons
eBay

ebay/itm/15-Qualatex-260Q-Size-2-x-60-Modelling-Latex-Party-Balloons-Carnival-Colours-/280990162195?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Celebrations_Occasions_ET&var=580144044628&hash=item416c519d1
2 Packs + delivery + extra pack delivery = £3.87

2.

Buy from Poundland store on high street poundland DOT co DOT uk/product-range/a-z/sparkling-flowers-stationery-set/
(or similar pretty notebook - they have loads all £1, including ones more for boys)

3. Visit a website about balloon modelling such as videojug DOT com/tag/balloon-modelling
-Loads on youtube too

4. Practice a few yourself, use the stationary and maybe whatever coloured pens you have to nicely draw examples and simple instructions in the notepad, and present it all as a stocking filler on Christmas day.
You can make a few models with your child(ren) ready to show relatives at Christmas dinner!

camiraben

Name of present: "52 Reasons I Love You"
(Or… "52 Holiday Surprises", "52 Christmas Wishes", "52 Weeks of Giving", “Presents for an Entire Year”... Be creative!)
Bought or Homemade?: Homemade
Total Cost: £0 - £5 (depending on how many crafty supplies you keep around the house)
Details: This can be tailored for children, your spouse, a family member, friend, etc.

Begin with a deck of 52 playing cards. Any size will do! You are going to create 52 decorated paper tags, and glue one to the front of each card. Each paper tag will have a "gift" written on it.

The first step is to come up with a list of the 52 "gifts" you are going to tag the cards with. I recommend that roughly one-third of the items be things you can do together. A few examples:

1. This card can be used for home-cooked dinner for two
2. Turn this card in for one film night with popcorn
3. This card good for a 20 minute back massage
4. Card valid for a wine and cheese night for two
5. Redeem this card for a picnic lunch in the park
6. This card good for one free day of your choosing
7. Voucher redeemable for one free lesson (dance, cooking, music, art… Choose something you are good at!)

Roughly one-third of the list can be nice things you have to say about the person. Some examples:

1. I love how you know how to make me smile
2. I love what an excellent mom/dad/husband/wife you are
3. I feel lucky to have you for my best friend
4. It makes me proud when you clean up your room by yourself
5. I love what a great cook you are
6. I love what a great listener you are
7. You are an excellent dancer

And the final third of the list can be things that you can do FOR the person. Some examples:

1. Redeem this card for one day off without the kids
2. This card good for one free room cleaning
3. Voucher valid for two hours of quiet time to yourself
4. Gift good for one trip to the hair salon
5. Valid for one afternoon of uninterrupted TV/sports time
6. Card can be used for one free afternoon at the pub with your friends

Once you have your list of 52 “gifts” you can start making your tags. Be as creative in decorating them as you like! Crayons, markers, coloured pencils, glitter, stickers and the like may all come in handy. Once the labeled tags are prepared, glue one to the front of each card in the deck. If you have a hole-punch, you can punch two small holes towards the tops or sides of each card and bind the whole deck together like a small book. (This can be done with ribbon, string, album rings, etc.)

If you type "52 reasons i love you" in to Google search and look at the image results that come up, you will find photos of many examples of this project. Try it for some inspiration!

Find your own inner creativity though, using your specific gift recipient as inspiration! The “gift” tags can be as simple or as ornate as you feel comfortable with. There is no need to spend any money on this gift, other than perhaps having to buy the deck of cards. Cheers to free gifts that say “I love you”!

teri_odin

Name of Present: Talking Book

Homemade

Total Cost: 65p plus the cost of a blank DVD, (about 70p each), if you want to put it on one.

Details: Use the website littlebirdtales.com to make a talking book for a loved one, which can then be bought for 65p and downloaded as an MP4 file, and put onto a CD, DVD, memory stick etc to give a really personal gift. All you need is a microphone to record, and lots of imagination!
The possibilities are endless:
Photos can be uploaded with spoken favourite memories, (good to give to a partner). Children can use the drawing tools to make their own pictures, to retell a story, (or you could get them to draw pictures and take photos to upload or scan). Grandparents could retell a favourite story so that their grandchildren could hear their voices whenever they wanted. Children could be recorded singing Christmas songs or nursery rhymes, and suitable images to go with them could be found on the internet.
Would be even more special if a CD label and a cryptic message was written on the outside of your wrapped present!

Decisiondenied

Title: Box of Greetings
Bought or Homemade: Homemade
Cost: £1
Details: Paper recycled card

Step1—Obtain empty box of any sort. I used a box that contained tofu. Size 10cm. by 10cm. x 4cm., coloured packaging paper, PVA and glue.
Step2—Use saved food packaging paper and cut up into shapes or decoration. Cut into triangle shapes of increasing size.
Step3—Make a Christmas tree and one long rectangle piece for bark (2cm.). The layers of the Christmas tree can be different colours.

Use PVA glue to stick coloured pieces on to box. Cover entire box with coloured paper. Onto this, glue the three triangles of increasing size and bark to make a Christmas tree. Do the same with the 3 Greeting cards. Cards are of size 8.5cm. x 8.5cm. On one side glue on a Christmas tree or any other decoration and write on the back side a greeting such as : Written on Card1: Thinking of You Grandpa....Happy Christmas....Much Love Hannah , Card 2: Wishing you were here, lots of love, Hannah., Card 3: Miss walking in garden with you, hope to see you soon, Love Hannah.

wingobins

Name of present : Favour for a favour
Cost: From nothing to £1
Home made or bought? - possibly both
You will need: an empty box, the size of a shoe box or similar, paper pen, envelopes and paper to decorate (or you can use crayons, pens)

How to do:
First check at home to see if you've got the materials above. You can use a cereal box or empty drinks carton box etc if you don't have an old shoe box. If you don't have pen paper and envelopes at home these can be purchased from poundland in one set.
Decorate the box with whatever you can find at home; (wrapping paper, newspaper, magazines, paints, pictures etc) ensure that it is all sealed and cut out an envelope size slit on the box.
Ask each of your friends or family who you normally buy for to write down something on a piece of paper what they would like to ask for as a favour. Think of things such as...making the beds for a day, washing up for a day, doing the shopping etc...(but nothing rude! ) make it anonymous and seal the envelope. On Xmas each person chooses an envelope for another person and that is their gift to one another (and so on). If you wish, you can just make it a gift from yourself to those you would normally buy for if your friends and family do not wish to do the favour for a favour exchange. We all need a helping hand sometime and what better way to make this as a gift than getting a Rudolph jumper you're not gonna wear! It may cost nothing and keep you fit at the same time!

jillie57

Barking Dog Key Ring his eyes light up
Cost £3.99
Bought
Lakeland.co.uk

snutbrown

Name of present: FATE gift: Pair of shoes
Bought or Homemade?: Bought (well, donation made)
Total Cost: £5
Details: Fund for Action Through Education (FATE) is a UK charity that supports underprivileged children in developing countries by providing them with access to a good quality education. Their aim is to give these children the opportunity to learn, get a good job, support themselves and their families and become leaders within their communities.

You can help them achieve this by buying your loved ones a gift that gives twice! For a donation of £5, FATE can provide a child with school shoes, allowing them to attend school and get the education they deserve. FATE will send you a beautiful handmade card for you to send to your friends and family, telling them about what a fabulous gift you have given.

FATE is a small charity so every donation received really does make a big difference!

Link: I haven't used the forum before so I'm not allowed to post a link but the website address is fateuk.org . Or try googling Fund for Action Through Education. You can then go to their Gift Shop (on the right hand side of the green bar at the top of the page).

veg1

Name of present: Fizzy Scented Bath Bombs
Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
Total cost: Around £5

Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
This is a fun creative activity for adults and (supervised) children alike. Mix together 1 kg of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and 500 grams of citric acid in a large bowl until well combined. Add a few drops of any food colouring and flavouring you like. This is a great way to use up any random items you have laying around - raid those kitchen cupboards! I found strawberry flavouring left over from some cakes to work well, as did vanilla extract, cocoa powder and coffee granules. You can divide the mixture into smaller bowls to make as many different flavour/colour combinations as you like. Make sure everything is well mixed and then gradually add a few drops of water whilst continuing to stir until the mixture takes on the consistency of damp sand. Squash a small amount together in your hand, if it holds its shape then it's ready. Then it's time to mould, using anything you have to hand - you can pack the mixture into cookie cutters and then carefully press out, put into small paper cups and then turn out or, my personal favourite, fill cake cases and then decorate with sprinkles. Be creative with whatever you can find around (this is part of the fun!). When you've finished, leave to dry for 48 hours, then wrap in cling film or little cello bags. These look great in recycled cardboard boxes, which you can decorate with cut outs from old Christmas cards/glitter/sequins etc. You can also add little paper labels as a finishing touch. Give to lucky recepient, along with strict instructions not to eat as they look and smell so tempting! They can then enjoy popping a few into their bath and relaxing as they watch them bubble and fizz in the water releasing their delicious scent.

A link to the offer if it's online (where possible):
Sodium bicarbonate costs around £1.65 for 1kg and is available to buy from a number of places, including supermarkets or online, such as https://www.justasoap.co.uk/catalog/sodium-bicarbonate-p-91.html
Citric acid is also available for around £2.45 for 500 grams (eg https://www.justasoap.co.uk/catalog/citric-acid-fine-grade-p-707.html)

These went down well with friends and family last year!

deb2010

Name of present : Remember when
Cost: Nothing except your time and effort
Home made or bought? - Definitely can't be bought

How to do: Go through your email address book and facebook friends. Make a note of all those that you used to spend a lot of time with, even if it was many years ago. Find a photo of the two of you, or a group and scan it in. Attach it to an email or message that starts with remember when, and add a reminiscense of a funny/sad/good time that you had together, and a list of some things from that time i.e. sweets that you can't buy any more, favourite songs/groups that haven't stood the test of time/ TV programmes etc. Pop your current phone number and address at the bottom. This is as much a present for yourself as anyone you send it too - be prepared to laugh, cry and sing some awful songs to yourself whilst putting it together!

Former_MSE_Debs

The deadline to get your Festive Fivers entries in has passed, but please do continue to add your ideas to the thread for the benefit of other forum users.

Thank you to all who entered the competition. We are going through all your great suggestions and aim to have a winner soon. Watch this space...

The MSE Team.