LOW COST homemade christmas gifts

Savvybunny2009

I will be watching this thread closely, thanks to some unexpected costs I wont be able to afford to buy Christmas presents, I just hope that I can make something people will like.

kerri_gt

As an idea for people (not tried out by myself) how about gingerbread houses. Make templates of the house pieces (I'd suggest two rectangles for walls, two squares with triangles on one side for the ends, and two rectangles for the roof) Make the dough and use the templates to cut the shapes out. You could even cut holes for the windows and use the method of crushed up boiled sweets to create stained glass. Score tiles in the roof if you want. Then bake and stick together with caramel.

Put it on a cake board and decorate with white icing for snow, add desiccated coconut around the ground perhaps, and use your imagination for other embellishments - dolly mixtures in the garden, a marshmallow snowman etc etc.

mum2one

got brain like a sieve - couldnt remember who mentioned candy canes (signed to 3 xmas threads) but I got some from Home bargains - box of 12 for 79p x

NewLifeAhead_2

Ive just bought these clear glass "cookie jars" with screw lids from ebay,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161101149725?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
Am thinking of doing sweet jars for the children in the family and decorating the lids, but just thought I could even do them for adults with other things. ONly things ive thought of so far that would fit are -
Mini beauty products/hair clips/bobbles etc
Posh cookies/chocs
Any other ideas? Obvously a bit limited with them being a bit small

mum2one

NewLifeAhead wrote: »

Ive just bought these clear glass "cookie jars" with screw lids from ebay,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161101149725?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
Am thinking of doing sweet jars for the children in the family and decorating the lids, but just thought I could even do them for adults with other things. ONly things ive thought of so far that would fit are -
Mini beauty products/hair clips/bobbles etc
Posh cookies/chocs
Any other ideas? Obvously a bit limited with them being a bit small

The adult version, I would do old fashioned sweets, pear drops, kola kubes, rhubarb and custard, aniseed balls, - when you go up the coast there £3 for a jar that size.

You could cut circles of material and tie some curling ribbon around it.

Or - could use the posh coffee mixes - reckon that each jar would get at least 4 or 6 servings of coffee mix.

I've got that size in glass jars - I brought mine from poundworld (4 in a packet), I used some for home made marmalade, managed to sterilise the galss in the oven the lids I just popped in some hot water in a plastic water jug.

But I'm buying some more - doing pots of snow (which is white marshmellows) theres a poem somewhere (got to find it...)

xx

Own_My_Own

mum2one wrote: »

The adult version, I would do old fashioned sweets, pear drops, kola kubes, rhubarb and custard, aniseed balls, - when you go up the coast there £3 for a jar that size.

You could cut circles of material and tie some curling ribbon around it.

Or - could use the posh coffee mixes - reckon that each jar would get at least 4 or 6 servings of coffee mix.

I've got that size in glass jars - I brought mine from poundworld (4 in a packet), I used some for home made marmalade, managed to sterilise the galss in the oven the lids I just popped in some hot water in a plastic water jug.

But I'm buying some more - doing pots of snow (which is white marshmellows) theres a poem somewhere (got to find it...)

xx

I made these last year and they went down well.
I used lemon curd jars.

mum2one

kerri_gt wrote: »

As an idea for people (not tried out by myself) how about gingerbread houses. Make templates of the house pieces (I'd suggest two rectangles for walls, two squares with triangles on one side for the ends, and two rectangles for the roof) Make the dough and use the templates to cut the shapes out. You could even cut holes for the windows and use the method of crushed up boiled sweets to create stained glass. Score tiles in the roof if you want. Then bake and stick together with caramel.

Put it on a cake board and decorate with white icing for snow, add desiccated coconut around the ground perhaps, and use your imagination for other embellishments - dolly mixtures in the garden, a marshmallow snowman etc etc.

Thank you for that DD wants one we went to Lapland last yr just b4 xmas and she said it reminds her of there..... thou nearly had a heart attack at the price of tins in the Lakeland catalogue xx

kerri_gt

mum2one wrote: »

Thank you for that DD wants one we went to Lapland last yr just b4 xmas and she said it reminds her of there..... thou nearly had a heart attack at the price of tins in the Lakeland catalogue xx

Was this the one in Lakeland? http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16675/Gingerbread-House-Cutter-Set

Apart from perhaps the little gingerbread men, you could easily make those templates yourself - just check they all fit together first before committing them to dough. You could even use jelly babies as little people round the marshmallow snowman (or perhaps round the front door like carol singers). Best of all, you can let your imagine out for a festive run, and it will be totally unique for your daughter.

Marzipan is great for modelling with as well btw.

NewLifeAhead_2

mum2one wrote: »

The adult version, I would do old fashioned sweets, pear drops, kola kubes, rhubarb and custard, aniseed balls, - when you go up the coast there £3 for a jar that size.

You could cut circles of material and tie some curling ribbon around it.

Or - could use the posh coffee mixes - reckon that each jar would get at least 4 or 6 servings of coffee mix.

I've got that size in glass jars - I brought mine from poundworld (4 in a packet), I used some for home made marmalade, managed to sterilise the galss in the oven the lids I just popped in some hot water in a plastic water jug.

But I'm buying some more - doing pots of snow (which is white marshmellows) theres a poem somewhere (got to find it...)

xx

Love the coffee idea thank you! My mum is coffee mad and she's just had a coffee maker for her birthday too, so this would be great
Im wondering now if these jars are goin to be as big as i thought,i was thinking of the cookie jar we had when i was a kid, which i would say would be too big for marmalade? xx

mineallmine

Own_My_Own wrote: »

I made these last year and they went down well.
I used lemon curd jars.

These look brilliant :T

Can I ask were the lids plain? I buy lots of things in jars and I'm wondering how to decorate lids with branding etc on them.

:j