LOW COST homemade christmas gifts

FieryAngel

I'm brand new to the forums on here but feel I have already found the best thread! You're all full of inspired and amazing ideas for making your own gifts - which are often much more appreciated than a shop bought present.

It's also lovely of you all to post your recipes and step by step guides and you've all given me plenty ideas for a low cost Christmas!
Catherine

iammumtoone

Natalie85 wrote: »

hi, my reindeer food is oats and sugar, i use food colouring to make the sugar sparkly before i add it

I now have visions of birds going hyper from a sugar rush :rotfl: but good for you for not adding glitter maybe you could put a small sign up next to it stating the ingredients so people can see its wildlife friendly. Good luck with your next sale of it.

iammumtoone

For those that do put out reindeer food we always scatter some on the ground then put some in a dish so the stuff in the dish can be 'eaten' ds always goes out to check in the morning that it has gone, the reindeers are normally very messy and leave some scattered around the dish whilst they eat

wort

made some sleighs with my 6 yr old grandson,(his presents for mummy and auntie and grandad. last year we made pots of gold .we have lots of fun and he enjoys handing out the presents on christmas day!:) I would like to add a picture but as I am newbie I am not allowed to,(also not sure how to either!!)

kerri_gt

moneysaverangel wrote: »

Hi, Does anyone know where I can buy bottles like the ones in the photograph above? These look really great & really easy - I have eatten all the fruit from my garden though:rotfl:so I will have to use frozen! Thanks
MSA.

I ordered some similar style bottles from Germany - making home made oils for presents.

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I happen to have 6 for sale too as i wasn't sure how many I'd need. PM me if you like.

I was actually very pleasantly surprised by them, look fab, esp for Xmas.

Otherwise if you want the square bottles have a look on eBay or I can try and recommend a few sites. What size were you looking for?

FieryAngel

moneysaverangel wrote: »

Hi, Does anyone know where I can buy bottles like the ones in the photograph above? These look really great & really easy - I have eatten all the fruit from my garden though:rotfl:so I will have to use frozen! Thanks
MSA.

I saw that Lakeland sell bottles of a similar style to the ones in your photo as do Ikea

D00gie72

Hi, I've been making my own home-made hampers for a few years now. I make marmalades, jams and chutney's throught the year so they're ready for Xmas. I re-use jam jars and use jam jar covers and cardboard luggage tags to make them all look fairly uniform. However I always struggle to find presentation boxes of baskets to put them in. Does anyone know anywhere I can buy cheap wicker or cardboard baskets suitable for presenting a mixture of sixed jam jars?

FieryAngel

D00gie72 wrote: »

Hi, I've been making my own home-made hampers for a few years now. I make marmalades, jams and chutney's throught the year so they're ready for Xmas. I re-use jam jars and use jam jar covers and cardboard luggage tags to make them all look fairly uniform. However I always struggle to find presentation boxes of baskets to put them in. Does anyone know anywhere I can buy cheap wicker or cardboard baskets suitable for presenting a mixture of sixed jam jars?

Hi
Home and Bargains have some wicker baskets for sale - I bought a couple for making up the previously mentioned 'movie nights in' box or similar and was going to make it a bit nicer by getting some shredded tissue paper to lay on the bottom. These might be worth looking at to see if you can use them for your jams They were about £1.99 I think! Or they had some prettier lined ones for about £4.
Can i ask how far in advance you would make your jams and marmalade?
Thanks:)

D00gie72

Can i ask how far in advance you would make your jams and marmalade?
Thanks:)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that - are they online? never heard of them before. As to when I make stuff - literally throughout the year. Start in February to make marmalade when Seville oranges are around - then I make things depending on season. People know I make this kind of thing - so I often get given someones glut of produce - this year I have almost been buried in apples! LOL
I've also made biscuits and cakes - but that's done just before I hand out the gifts. Biscotti are great to make as its a two stage process. I make the dough and bake the first time - then freeze them and bake the second time as and when needed.

FieryAngel

D00gie72 wrote: »

Can i ask how far in advance you would make your jams and marmalade?
Thanks:)

Thanks for that - are they online? never heard of them before.


Thanks for your jam info! I'll get started now then!
Sorry, I realised after I wrote it that only people in Liverpool still call it Home and Bargains - it's actually Home Bargains. The website is (won't let me post it but is just shop name . co . uk) but it doesn't seem to have all the products in it that the individual shops do - worth trying to find a big one near you as they are very good for cheap items like that. Hope you find what you're looking for anyway!:)