Budget gifts

aklmatthews

I did not have a lot to spend on presents this year and a new grandson and a new great niece on the same day last month means even more presents to buy so i have had to find some ways to save money i usually buy most of my presents from Boots taking advantage of 3 for 2 free gifts with purchase and extra points but need ed to cut back even more this year. so have been trying to put together some cheap bits in attractive ways so presents look nice but dont cost a lot. I have made chocolate hampers i used some recycled gift boxes but an old shoe box covered in nice paper would work well. inside i put
1 large Toblerone £1 from £ shop
1 box of Maltesers £1 £ shop
1 box of milk tray £1 £ shop
1 Christmas mug 50p £ shop
2 packs of hot chocolate 35p B&m
a few Christmas marshmallows about 8p from a 50p bag from Tesco
a few chocolate cones and santas about 15p from 2x50p bags Tesco
1 candy cane about 6p from box of 5 from £ shop
i put hot chocolate a few marshmallows and candy cane in mug placed all items in box and sprinkled the cones and santas around the other items wrapped in cellophane and added a bit of ribbon totally coast with cellophane from large roll and ribbon from large role bought on ebay last year about £4.25 and it looks like there is loads in the £ shop also have other chocolate items like after eights chocolate shells walnut whips so you can add more for a larger hamper. I made 3 the mugs with hot chocolate marshmallows and candy canes coast about £1 to make and can be given as small gifts on their own.
I bought some cupcake boxes 6 for £1 and paper cupcake wrappers 36 for £1 both from £shop some face cloths 30p Wilko bath bombs 3 for £2 Morisons roll the face cloth to look like cupcake and put wrapper around it put in cupcake box wrap one bath bomb in tissue tie with ribbon stand on top of box and wrap it all in cellophane and add ribbon
total cost about £1.10 each
i wanted a fun gift for a friend as we are visiting her Christmas day night which we will be spending in the Bar they built in the shed in the garden we will of course be taking drinks with us but i wanted something fun to take. £shop have plastic fish bowls for cocktails set of 8 plastic cocktail glasses set with cocktail sticks umbrellas and stares so i put 4 of the glasses ½ the pack of cocktail sticks stress and umbrellas inside the bowl open one of the umbrellas inside the top of glass added a few straws i had. I printed and laminated some cocktail Recipes to make recipe cards wrapped in cellophane and added ribbon and bow totally coast about £2 .20 for a more substantial gift a couple of miniature bottles of spirits could be added.
For my daughter's boyfriend i bought a container that looks like a popcorn box from the £shop and added all from the £shop box with nachos and dip box of 3 microwave popcorn large bag of bbq nuts tin of cashew nuts he doesn't eat anything sweet but sweets could be used instead of the nuts. i will be adding a HMV gift voucher in a DVD case but it could be a £shop dvd or just a card saying just add you favorite film. coast £5 + voucher or dvd if you chose to add.
i will add some photos of finished items when i have time but thought others might be able to use some of the ideas . my next items to do will be Santa's Sleigh made from kit kat candy canes chocolate santa and some other bits of chocolate.

springdreams

Well done :beer:

You have been very creative and your makes sound lovely. I hope the people who are getting them appreciate all the time, effort and thought that you have put into their gifts :xmassign:

jodles16

Sounds like you have worked really hard! Well done!

Jodles

VintageBelle

I think that's so thoughtful and much more personal than ready made gifts. I've been having a go at making my own, but still not done them all yet as I'm self employed and not very organised, so I've been trying to organise my books (couldn't come at a harder time lol).

chanie

The Body Shop often reduce some of their body butters to £5 from £16. This often coincides with their 40% off days, so it's £3. I normally buy a couple to keep as emergency gifts throughout the year.

7roland8

chanie wrote: »

The Body Shop often reduce some of their body butters to £5 from £16. This often coincides with their 40% off days, so it's £3. I normally buy a couple to keep as emergency gifts throughout the year.

Yes I always have some in my present drawer too.

notanewuser

aklmatthews wrote: »

Santa's Slay

Is that a horror film?!