The Festive Fivers competition is back!

MissMonkeyMoo

Ok, so here is my present idea which doesn't cost a great deal to make but shows thought and really gets a fab reception!

Name of present: Scrabble Pictures
Whether it's bought or homemade: Both!
Total cost: Varies from £1 - £5
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): Ok, so first you need a scrabble set - if you don;t already own one, you could try borrowing one from friends or family or seeing if you can pick up a cheap one in a charity shop. Arrange the tiles on the board for your chosen recipient; I did this for friends and put in their name, their partners and their childrens. You want to arrange the tiles so that they interlink and look like an actual scrabble game. If the gift is for a single person, you can chose short sayings and arrange the tiles in the same way. Take a picture of the arrangement; you can then get this printed in whichever size you prefer. There are plenty of deals to have this printed in poster size, or you could just print it in the usual 6 x 4 or 7 x 5 sizes. You then need a frame to put the printed picture in. Clip frames are the easiest to display them in and don't cost a great deal - you can find them in pound shops. An A3 frame is currently available from Dunelm Mill for £1.89. By using the current photodeals shown on MSE, you could get your prints totally for free or for a small delivery charge. If you only want to do one photo then this will cost a few pence at somewhere like Asda.
A link to the offer if it's online (where possible):

Hope you like it! :T

NicNak247

Christmas Survival Kit :rudolf:
Bought
Cost £5 or less
For whom: For those who like to eat, drink and be merry!!:beer:
Contains: Red Mug £1, sachet of coffee 50p, ear plugs 70p, pain killers 16p, a few alka-seltzers 60p, packet of mints/chewing gum 60p and tooth pick 10p. (all from supermarket)

I would wrap all up in cellophane and tie with a ribbon. You can also but it in a small bag and put a picture of the film the hangover on the front for a laugh

leftinthemiddle

• Name of present:Keep Calm and Log Onto Facebook Mug
• Whether it's bought or homemade: Bought
• Total cost: £3.98
• Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): Amazon
• A link to the offer if it's online (where possible): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keep-Calm-Log-Onto-Facebook/dp/B007R3E5EU

A nice gift for those who are addicted to Facebook.

crin

Name of present: Pleasant Surprise
Whether it's bought or homemade: both
Total cost: Around £5.00
Details:
1) buy a ball of multicoloured wool, knit a scarf with pom poms on the ends.
Name of present: Tressure Hunt
Whether it's bought or homemade: Combination of both
Total cost: Approx £5 give or take.
Details:
1) buy a ball of multicoloured wool
2) knit a scarf with pompoms on the ends
3) go to local Poundshop and pick up a bumper pack of sweets, hair things (clips, alice bands combs etc) and smellies
4) visit other bugdget shop and buy a bottle of nail polish
Make a nest from the scarf and place ither bits in the middle and wrap up

londonlydia

• Name of present:
  Bling the Grim
• Whether it's bought or homemade:
  Homemade
• Total cost: £1-£5 (depending on what you choose)
• Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):

As a girl guide leader this is something I plan to do with my girls! Great for people like me who have just got their first home or do lots of chores!

The idea is to get a really dull household object, often available form a pound shop, and *bling* it up.

Suggested Objects:

- Dustpan & Brush
- Broom
- Bucket (also a good gift for a student, I made a very beautiful hand-painted and bejelweled 'chunder bucket' for my uni roommate)
- utensils, such as wooden spoon
- Hammer/ tools
- Watering can
- Bin

To decorate, you can use either leftover paint (acrylic or wall paint), or, leftover nail varnish works really well!

You can also get stick on gems from the pound shops, I recently purchased 200 for a £1. Best to superglue these on.

Other items that work well are decorative ribbon (any left over from wrapping?), feathers, laminated photos....

In terms of design, you can do whatever, but it's quite nice including the name, such as 'Lydia's Hammer' or 'Big Dave's whisk'.

• A link to the offer if it's online (where possible):
  NA

lb364

Name of present: A pint of sweets
Whether it's bought or homemade: Both
Total cost: £2.60 (depending where you buy the sweets)
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): I had this idea last year for my OH but it's also suitable for kids and women too.
Original idea: Get a pint glass (60p in Asda), wash and dry thoroughly and fill with fizzy (or non) cola bottles and top with milk bottles to look like a pint. Cover the top with cling film to give a 'pint' of sweets kids would love this too!
Alternatively: Fill a wine or cocktail glass with any colour sweets to match recipients favourite drink colour. Or fill a latte glass with chocolate coffee beans for a more grown up gift
If you have the equipment you could even personalise the glass with glass paints first.
A link to the offer if it's online (where possible): pint glass for 60p!

:santa2:

brownclai

Name of present: Homemade Hot chocolate
Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
Total cost: £2
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): Get yourself an ice cube tray either a plain or patterned one to suit the person you are giving the gift to. Melt the chocolate in the microwave being very careful not to over heat it as it will go grainy. Place a wooden lollypop stick into the centre of each ice cube compartment and pour in the chocolate. Hold the stick in place until the chocolate has solidified a bit. Put the ice cube tray in the fridge over night the following morning push them out. You could do 3 flavours milk, dark and white chocolate. Wrap a selection together and tie with ribbon and add a label saying: Heat up your milk and stir in your chocolate. Enjoy:-)
A link to the offer if it's online (where possible): N/A

SashaReid

Get hold of a large clip frame, places like Wilkos do them for less that £2-3. Go through your friend facebook pictures, or family photo albums, then get them printed using the MSE's free prints suggestions.
Overlay all the pictures into a collage using as many pictures as possible, glue them down (to a sheet of card behind) add text, crafty bits etc to personalise.

SashaReid

Take an old Jar from coffee (Free), soak off the labels in soapy water and dry.

Using glass paint, decorate the jar. Then fill with sweets, mini make up samples, creams, tealight candles (what ever takes your fancy) then use after with a lit candle inside. This will shine through the glass paint Multi purpose present with a decorative use at the end.

RuthnJasper

A home-made calendar.

Twelve photos - a page for each month. Microsoft's website has calendar month layouts to download and copy'n'paste for free.
Cost:- 12 sheets of thicker paper, plus printer ink (I made one of my dog at home for one of his "fans" one year; I estimate the cost was @ £3). Print them at home (or in a High Street photo shop), then make a couple of holes at the top and fix with a ribbon/wire/string so that the new month page can be turned uver and the calendar can be hung on a wall.

I've found it to be an excellent idea for grandparents/other fond relatives who don't live nearby - a different pic of the children each month is almost guaranteed to please.

Also, my brother spent a year in New Zealand a while ago and took some gorgeous photos - he turned 12 of those into a calendar for Christmas presents that year.

As well as being economical and easy to make, they are also very easy, and quite cheap, to pack and post.

It's a nice way to give something that will make the recipient smile, that will be appreciated and used for the entire year, and which also has a useful practical purpose.

Merry Christmas!