christmas hampers 2015

please feel free to add this to pre excising thread if there is one.. i couldn't find one..

what hampers do people have planned so far this year?
im after some help with ones im doing for my inlaws..

im doing my sil's a winter survival kit.. so far ideas i have are:

yankee xmas candle (brought in jan £5 for large jar)
soap glory hand cream mini (£1.66)
gloves and scarves
lip salve

need some other ideas.. cheap as poss only have £15 budget

and im doing craft baskets for 7 nieces and nephews with a £10 budget .. want more ideas beyond, glue crowns etc...

any help would be great:T
Savings £2000
Emergency fund £200
Credit card  £600
Christmas savings 0

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Replies

  • Di-DoughDi-Dough Forumite
    306 Posts
    For the winter warmer how about fluffy socks, hot chocolate sachets in a nice cup, bubble bath for a nice relaxing bath.
    Sealed Pot Challenge # 007
  • barbekabarbeka Forumite
    54 Posts
    For my niece last Xmas I did her a "Student Survival Set (Winter edition)" (printed on the lid of the large shoe box it all went in). It included: tissues (box & pocket packet), throat pastilles, lemsips, fingerless mittens (so she could keep studying if cold), mini hand cream, hot chocolate sachets. I thought about including an insulated mug but someone else was giving her that. As I was trying to save an impoverished student some money I also included, tins of baked beans, soup, pot noodle (type), packet of snickers, penguins (winter theme?), & an envelope taped inside the lid containing some cash labelled "Emergency beer fund". She loved it.
    If you wanted some cheap things to bulk it up you could go for tissues etc, maybe some mulled wine (available nearer Xmas) or mulled wine sachets, hand warmers, hot water bottle, fleecy blanket. Then there's always food - like porridge sachets (avoided those with my niece as she doesn't like it)
    HTH
  • mandcomandco Forumite
    955 Posts
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker Xmas Saver!
    Forumite
    for the craft baskets have a look at crafty crocodiles should give you loads of different ideas for arts & crafts .
    what ages are the kids? for older kids homebargains have tie dye kits for £3 you could add a cheap t-shirt and still have £5ish for other bits too

    winter survival kits - I'm making something similar for dd for the car
    fleecy socks
    mug/travel mug & hot choc/coffee sachets
    hand gel
    mini pack (baby) wipes
    small packet of tissues
    emergency choc bar
    power bank emergency charger
    mini torch
    fleece blanket
    this year do something that scares you for courage is not the absence of fear just the knowledge that some things are worth the risk
  • i am making my aunt a gardening one
    i have some netting for plants
    fleece wrap
    garden gloves
    chicken manure pellets
    plant food plant pots.
    need a book about growing vegetables and some packets of seeds need to do it now as gardening stuff goes off shelves soon to make way for xmas stuff.

    doing a candle one for Dil got basket and candles , tarts, oil burner and some fragranced oil need to find a nice candle holder for some votives to go in
  • Microwave wheat pack, teddy bear one. I have a Bagpuss one. They are really good.
  • mum2onemum2one Forumite
    16.3K Posts
    Xmas Saver!
    Forumite
    hampers can be as cost effective as you want, whether £5, £50 etc, but heres a few suggestions for ones under £5

    More Hamper Ideas - all £5 ish

    A girly hamper - hair turban, bath bits, chocolate, wine, make up, etc

    A food hamper - homemade cakes, buscuits, chutneys, sauces

    A pamper hamper - a blanket, candles, mini bottle of wine and a glass, a girly dvd, a book

    A gardening themed one - gardening gloves (pound shops sell these), a kneeling mat, a gardening themed mug, gardener's soap, a nail brush, gardening seeds

    An alcohol one - mini alcohol bottles most supermarkets do 4 small bottles for £5. two glasses, a wine or cocktail book

    A movie themed one - a dvd, popcorn, pick and mix

    Drink + choc mug – mug, sachet hot chocolate, sachet cappicuno mix, mini whisk, couple of mini bars of chocolate, - wrap in cello

    Whisk u Merry Xmas – Large Whisk, fill the bottom with chocolates, toffees etc, wrap the whisk in cello wrap

    Ladies gardening hamper – hand cream, nail brush, kneeling mat, garden gloves, garden mug, garden tools – fancy designs

    A girly hamper – hair turban, face mask, toe seperators, nail file, tea light candles, nail varnish,

    Car hamper – Steering wheel cover, bucket, sponge, shammy, carwash, windscreen cover

    Mini pamper set- colour scheme, shower squidee, sponge, flannel, bubblebath, showergel,

    Mini food package – Mini jars jam (Morrisons 4 for £1), small box posh tea bags, shortbread biscuits (buy multi pack and split between people), add a mug, put it on a small tray

    Kitchen goodies – mini scales, teatowel, oven glove, fancy rubber gloves (kim and aggie gloves – posh style £1.00 shop)

    Drinks Tray
    Christmas tray, small cafeteria pot £1.00 poundland (boxed) they also do a matching teapot (again £1.00) add a small packet fresh coffee, some fresh tea, a couple of teatowels and 2 mugs.
    xx rip dad... we had our ups and downs but we’re always be family xx
  • mum2onemum2one Forumite
    16.3K Posts
    Xmas Saver!
    Forumite
    great for a drinks hamper / coffee hamper etc

    Get a nice pair of mugs
    then make a selection of the coffees
    add some chocolates


    COFFEE MOCHA
    4 tablespoons coffee
    4 tablespoons cocoa powder
    4 tablespoons coffee whitner

    mix together, and pot up


    CAFE VIENNA
    4 tablespoons coffee
    1.2 teaspoon cinnamon

    Mix together and pot up


    SWISS MOCHA
    4 tablespoons coffee
    4 tablespoons drinking chocolate
    4 tablespoons whitener





    CAFE Au Lait
    4 tablespoons coffee
    4 tablespoons whitner

    by using a 4 spoon ratio you get about 4 servings, per mix, but there easy to double or triple up as needed.

    I usually get the coffee, choc, etc from £1land/home bargains/aldi to be the best value x

    ________________________________________
    xx rip dad... we had our ups and downs but we’re always be family xx
  • mum2onemum2one Forumite
    16.3K Posts
    Xmas Saver!
    Forumite
    baileys2 version - it is lush, but doesn't last long in our house. xx

    Ingredients
    • 150 g dulce de leche
    • ½ tbsp coffee liqueur
    • ½ tsp vanilla extract
    • 150 ml brandy
    • 325 ml single cream

    1. Spoon the dulce de leche into a bowl, and stir in the coffee liqueur, vanilla and brandy until combined.

    2. Stir in the cream until well mixed.

    3. Pour into 1 large, or several smaller, sterilised bottles. This should keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

    4. Serve cold over ice.

    ....
    flavoured vodka's

    skittles - stick to one colour at time (if u use mix comes out brown)

    whethers - crushed down whethers

    toffee - few toffees broken down

    fruit - add raspberries to jar, cover with sugar (equal measures) top with vodka (can use cherries)

    chocolate - use one flavour, (milk, dark, white, caramel) - break choc up

    jelly babies - one colour

    kola cubes - break them up

    pineapple cubes - break up

    christmas pudding, - raisins, (dried fruit) spinkle mixed spice, table spoon sugar (steep with vodka, - when ready strain the mixture into clean sterilised bottle (can add the mixed fruit to the xmas cake mix)

    ---
    What I tend to do is smaller bottle (screw top wine bottles, even used salad cream/oil bottles etc

    Once bottles have been sterilised - put in the filling / flavouring in, I tend to fill to 1/4 of the space available, top up with vodka, shake well. Usually shake every day to get the product to dissolve, can put in freezer (vodka doesn't freeze), can be anything from 2 weeks to month to dissolve.

    ---
    Cheap Vodka

    I use cheap vodka, and put it through my water filter about 6 times, takes some of the harshness out of it, when its flavoured tastes a lot better as well (dont filter water afterwards.... need it to be end of life for the vodka xx
    xx rip dad... we had our ups and downs but we’re always be family xx
  • Thank you for starting this years hamper thread mum2one, cannot believe I havent found it before now!

    Hampers are my speciality (at least my family memebers seem to think so!), and it has gotten to the stage now where most family members put in their "theme" requests by Easter, allowing me ample time to search out the very best bargains!

    This years Hamper themes are:

    DD1 (15) Anime/Manga - finished, just need to wrap. £43.28

    DD2 (8) Minecraft - finished, just need to wrap. £46.91

    Mum & Stepdad - movie night hamper. Not started. Budget £10

    Dad & stepmum - movie night hamper. Not started. Budget £10

    Bro & sil - movie night hamper. Not started. Budget £10

    Fil - Foody hamper. Got a few bits already. Budget £20

    Mil & partner. Cheese Board & hamper. Got board & knife £4.99 hb.
    Cheese budget £5, plus small bottle of port.

    Neice (4) Frozen hamper. Done £10 (all items from £land)

    Nephew x 2 (9) Moshi hampers. Done £10 each (all items from £land)

    BFF (31) Pamper Hamper. Budget £10-£15. Already got lots of bath/body samples from promotions etc, plan on adding a bottle of wine, good book, and some chocolates.

    I am also making 3 x mini chocolate hampers for dd's and dh. £5 ish each, filled with their fav chocs and sweets, as an alternative to selection boxes.

    And (finally!) I picked up 6 of the plastic bright milk bottles from hb yesterday, I plan on filling these with sweets to give to dd2's bestest friends, and the kiddies of my closest friends. At a cost of probably £2 each when done, its saving me a vast amount on the 6 little hampers I usually put together for them :-)
    It's not about getting what you want, It's about wanting what you get.
  • Sorry for the multiple posts, but regarding ideas for your winter survival hamper:

    I have done a few of these in the past, I like to include a nice bubble bath or shower gel (festive fragrance of course!), hot choc sachets, chocs, fluffy socks or slippers, a good book, lip salve, tissues, hand cream, vics vapour rub & a pack of fishemans friends, those little hand warmer things, box of cuppa soups, and if I am feeling really generous, a bottle of wine or their fav tipple!

    hth x
    It's not about getting what you want, It's about wanting what you get.
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