The Festive Fivers competition is back!

brownclai

Name of present: Chilli Oil

Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade

Total cost: £3

Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): Every year my wife and I make food hampers for our family and friends as we like the homemade touch and we don't like to feed the commercial aspect of Christmas we have made all sorts of things but these chilli oil bottles are great.

We save all our glass bottles and jam jars and even get our family member to save them to. Put 1 table spoon of chilli flakes and about 10 whole peppercorns in a bottle fill with olive oil (stock up when on half price) and place a whole dried chilli in for decoration. Leave for a couple of months for the chilli's to infuse the oil. Print off a label and stick to the bottle tie a bit of festive ribbon round the neck and hey presto. A wonderful gift for all the family.

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

Rayanne

Name of present: Love keyring
Whether it's bought or homemade: Both kindof!
Total cost: £4.50
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
Buy a dog collar tag and have it engraved with what ever you want it to say, for example: Love you forever, Wilson x xmas 2012. You can get it done anywhere that offers engraving. It cost me £4.50 and it slips nicely onto his keys and is masculine because its bronze.

Name of present: Love diary
Whether it's bought or homemade: Both
Total cost: £1
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
Buy a cheap diary with a page for every day. You can pick them up for a pound in your local poundstore. Write a reason why you love them/a special memory/a link to a video/song on every page. Ultra romantic!

Name of present: Scrapbook
Whether it's bought or homemade: Both - you might need to buy materials
Total cost: Upto £5
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
Make a scrapbook of all your favourite memories of your times together, can include parking stubs, photo's, reciepts etc.


Name of present: Happiness Kit
Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
Total cost: Free!
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): I did this for a friend who was in Afghanistan - collect some things - a match, a battery, some string, a pencil, a kiss on some paper, a piece of fabric sprayed with your scent, a grain of rice etc and include a list with reasons of why e.g. "A grain of rice so you'll never go hungry, a kiss on paper so you've always got a kiss near, a match so you'll always be warm and have light" etc etc

dubliner123

Christmas wreath for door
Home made
cost 40 pence for green string
Details.
I wire coat hanger,lots of colourful foliage from my back garden
Moss and holly from my friends garden.
First i twist the metal coat hanger into a round shape.
I cover it with moss secure with the string
I add all the foliage then the holly,.
secure with green string.
It takes about two hours to make
I give to my special friends at Christmas They love them.

brownclai

Name of present: Blackerry Gin

Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade

Total cost: £2

Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): Make a habit of saving all glass jars/bottles to make free/cheap gifts to give to friends and families.

This gift is especially great as the blackberries can be harvested for free all around the country. Take some fresh blackberries and cram into a jar/bottle. The tighter packed they are the less gin you will need to fill them. Once filled with blackberries sprinkle in ordinary sugar until it reaches a third full. Then fill with a cheap gin. Simply screw on the lid a shake it in the morning for a couple of days until the sugar has resolved. Print off a simple label or tie a tag around the neck of the bottle.

Your friends will think your very generous and it only cost you a couple of quid. The drink is great in cocktails and the berries are lovely served with some vanilla ice cream!

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

southernsun

For someone who normally struggles with what to buy, this thread is proving most useful and interesting. Its brilliant already and everyone seems to have some great ideas which will not only save me some money but the recipients should love. My latest one is:

Name of present: Plant pot surprise
Whether it's bought or homemade: Brought & Homemade
Total cost: Upto £5
Details: Choose a recipe or two which involve using herbs and go to a shop which sells seeds and plant pots, you should be able to get at least 2 different herbs and plain plant pots for a fiver easily.
Decorate the plant pot and add a recipe either written on the pot or on a tag to put in the pot but leave the herb that is going to grow inside blank (eg I have a recipe for a lovely garlic and rosemary focacia bread so you would put all the ingredients and method on there except for the word rosemary). Then plant the seeds in the pot and they will have to wait for it to grow to find out what it is and then they can use it to make the recipe.

Alternatively you could do the same with flowers but leave a cryptic clue/poem instead of recipe and then they can try and guess the plant and wait until it grows to find out what it is (Bovine error - Cowslip, Got up - Rose, Please remember me = Forget Me Not etc)

Jewell_2

Name of present: Activity File
Whether it's bought or homemade: Bit of both
Total cost: Up to £5, depends how much you want to put in it
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):
I've made this for my little sister, she's 7 and loves drawing, colouring, writing etc. Buy a cheap lever arch file/ringbinder, preferably a bright colour (mine's hot pink!) and fill it with activity sheets to complete. I found some printable ones online and I also put some plain paper in too. If you really wanted to cut the costs and had time then you could make up some activities yourself. All printed in black and white from a £7 ink cartridge onto Asda smart price paper which I think is £2 something, I've used about £1-£2 of ink and about 100 sheets of paper so when you split the costs down it comes in at much less than £5. It'll keep her quiet for ages and is a bit more special than just buying her a colouring book.

ih8stress

# Name of present:

Personalised baby keepsake for Grandparents etc.

# Whether it's bought or homemade:
both
# Total cost:
£1-£5
# Details (where it's from, how to make it etc):

Buy a suitably sized box frame (deep photo frame) either new or second-hand.
Decorate it as required to personalise it. Add a material or paper background if desired.

Gather together a small collection of baby items eg. first pair of socks, bootees, mittens, dummy, bib, photos, lock of hair, hand prints etc. then position and carefully glue/attach them inside the box. * Check the position of things with the frame over it first to make sure it does not hide any items.

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

There is a frame at Wilkos for £3.25, sometimes Poundland have some in stock, also car boots etc. or if you are handy, make one from a photo frame and add the 'boxing' yourself.

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/photo-frames/wilko-decoupage-box-frame-natural-wood-6inx6in/invt/0250423/?htxt=CqRsbJu%2FutV8PO2VUe7M5tbw0eF0%2BgiZGsyhRiL%2FA7J%2FD5ckTwx4gGk9NGxRQ2HoBcTxJmxJa8Ar%0AIS49VztZhg%3D%3D

Munty_Boy

Name of present: Box of love
Home made
Total cost - minimal
Details: Take an empty box, any size but smaller is better. Wrap it in a pretty paper and tie it with ribbon, make the presentation look good. Once done hand write a note as follows and attach it to the box.

I took an ordinary box
As empty as can be
I filled it with a special gift
And wrapped it carefully
But please don't ever open it
Just leave the ribbon tied
And hold it tightly near your heart
Because my love for you's inside.

ruthgroves

Name of present: Bag of love and surprises.
Homemade but with some bought items
Total cost- minimal 40-50p( once range of items purchased from pound shop or similar)
Details: type up the following and print off a copy and place in bag with the items listed in this description below- bags can be made from wrapping paper/ card or from material sewn into a grab bag.

In this bag you will find:
Rubber bands to remind you of hugging and those times when you want to give a hug or when you just want to receive one.
Tissue to remind you to dry someones tears away.
Toothpick to pick out the good qualities of someone.
An individually wrapped chocolate to remind you that people need a treat once in a while.
Eraser to remind you that everyone makes mistakes and thats OKAY.
I did this for my wedding and each guest had one but can be done at any time of the year and makes a nice thing to give to family on Xmas day at the table.

meeshpeesh

Name of present: Vinyl Wall Clock
Whether it's bought or homemade: Homemade
Total cost: £4.50ish depending on Vinyl
Details (where it's from, how to make it etc): I made this for my music mad brother last christmas. I bought a vinyl from a bargain box at my local record store for £1. I preferred to opt for something related to 'Time' in the title, I got 'Midnight Mayhem' in the end but also works great with Vinyls that are unsual and are brightly coloured. I then attached a clock mechanism that I purchased from ebay (£3.50) to the vinyl. The hole on the record needed to be made a little bigger but this was not problem. Very very very easy to make and very cheap. Make sure you leave plenty of time for the clock mechanism to arrive as they are usually from Hong Kong. Alternatively you can buy them from craft shops.
A link to the offer if it's online (where possible):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quartz-Clock-Movement-Mechanism-Long-Spindle-Black-Hand-/261064245573?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Clock_Parts&hash=item3cc8a44145

My brother still has it and he loves it!