Festive Fivers Competition: The best Xmas pressies for under £5

Sallys_Savings

Name of Present - Sock Monkey
Make or buy it - Make
Total Cost - £2
£1 for stripey socks from poundland and £1 for pillow (for stuffing) from poundland
Details of present - Make up a personalised sock monkey from the instructions as per this website. http://www.web-goddess.org/writing/tutorial/Image0.html
You can make clothes and accessories from scraps of fabric/old clothes.
Have fun!!

Sallys_Savings

Name of Present - Box of love/hugs
Make or buy it - make
Total cost - small box and ribbon approx £1
Details of present - A BOX OF LOVE
Tie an empty box with ribbon and add this poem to a tag.

This is a very special gift that you can never see,
The reason its so special is because its just for you from me
Whenever you feel lonely or are ever feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift and know I'm loving you
You never can unwrap it, please leave the ribbon tied
Just hold the box close to your heart its full of love inside.

(you can change the wording from love to hugs too)
I've also done this with small bags and envelopes for school fayres

secretmachines

• Name of present?
  Guatemalan Worry Dolls
• Do you make it or buy it?
  Buy It
• Total Cost?
  £1.50 + postage
• Details (the more the better)
  Buy a pack of 12 worry dolls and save 33% !!
• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer
  http://www.purplesunrise.com/product.php/48/70/box-of-guatemalan-worry-people/

These are a really cute / thoughtful gift for only a couple of pounds... either as a stocking filler or a little gift for someone.

"Worry dolls have been around for years but remain exceptionally popular. Buy them for children as an aid to sleep if they are having a difficult time; sometimes the simplest ideas work best!

Remember they work for adults too. They might not choose to use them but always appreciate the sentiment and the knowledge that somebody cares.

There is a small note inside the box saying:
"Legend says that when the maya Indians of Guatemala have worries, they tell them to worry people and then put them under their pillows at night.
By morning, the worry people have taken their worries away."

One little box contains 5 or 6 worry people and a description as above."

JenniRogers

Name of present? Anything made from beads
Do you make it or buy it? Make the final gift, buy the beads
Total Cost? Up to £5 depending on what beads you choose
Details (the more the better) I found an amazing place for making pressies for men and women called the Bead Bar. Beads cost from 2p each upwards. You can go in off the street, knowing nothing and come out with a great present. There are tables set up inside, so you can sit down, get free help and instruction from the staff and spend as little as you like and come out with a custom made present that looks like it cost a fortune from a high street shop. And nobody will know really how much you spent on them.;)

hardman_2

Name of present - edible goodies
Make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? from £3 to £5 (as much or as little as you want)
Details (the more the better)
My 9 yr old son (helped by me) make bite size treats for friends and family as stocking fillers at christmas:
Traditional peppermint creams
Marzipan parcels
Chocolate truffles

all in presented in small papercases


to make bite size treats:
Peppermint creams - peppermint essence, icing sugar, drop of water and personal choice of food colouring (can be natural white in colour if not)

Marzipan parcels - ready to roll marzipan & ready to roll icing
take small bit of marzipan and roll into ball then completely cover with ready to roll icing & place in papercase.

Name of present- personal calenders
Make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? under £5
Details (the more the better)?
we also make personalised calenders printing off pictures stored on the pc and marking birthdays, anniversaries, weddings etc on the appropriate page. The calender pages can either be made up from pc or blank calenders bought from craft shop (2x calenders cost £5 total)

smudgey1

:A Name of present - Mini Bird Bath
Make it or buy it? Make it
Total Cost? from £1.50 to £3.
Details (the more the better)
Create a bird bath from an enamel soup bowl (the old fashioned variety with a blue rim) and some mosaic tiles.
Attach the mosaic tiles using grout around the rim of the bowl.

You can also place the bird bath on a ceramic plant pot to give it some height

Suitable for children from 5yrs upwards or make them yourself as I am.

kimn427

Name of present? Homemade Calendar
Make or buy? Make
Total cost? Less than £1
Details... Get the kids to make 2008 calendars for everyone with little more than a bit of imagination! Decorate an A5 piece of coloured card with glitter, then either use a photo or an appropriate picture (e.g. a Ferrari picture for a car mad dad or a cute Kitten for Gran) from a magazine or from the internet and stick at the top. Then stick on a mini tear off calendar (available from WHSmith's for 99p for a pack of 5!) at the bottom. I bought my glitter, glue and card from Woolworth's new "Worth It" range very cheaply. A cheap and very personal pressie!

Name of present? Personalised Canvas
Make or buy? Make
Total Cost? Under £5
Details... Helps if you're a bit creative for this one but buy a small blank art canvas. My local craft shop has them ranging from £1.29 upwards and use some backing paper or wrapping paper to cover it. Then stick on a speacial photo and add a message and any co-ordinating decorations that you have to hand or find in the bargain bin in craft shops. Looks really expensive but actually really cheap!

pennypinchingmum

Name of Present: A bit of the web
Make it or buy it: make it
Total cost: 0
details:Join squidoo, myspace or freewebs anything like that and create a little bit of personalised web space for the person you love. Perhaps they are starting up a business you could set them up there own page using freewebs or they care passionately about a charity or have a hobby set up a squidoo lens for them to tinker with and help spread they're cause. Alternatively set up there myspace (if you think they would want this and be careful not to divulge anything that wouldnt want to be on the internet, add all there old school friends.
Relevant Websites- www.squidoo.com , www.myspace.com, www.weebly.com

Smickan

• Name of present? DIY-custom calendars/photo album/photo frame, scrapbook, picture book, jewelery, wine charms, mugs,
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Make it
  
• Total Cost? Few pounds for the materials, or you could even have them in yourselves! Photo albums/photo frames, or paper, ink, glitter glue, paint, crayons, wool, pipe cleaners, sequins, wire, beads, fluffy bits... you can go mad and use whatever's around!
  
• Details (the more the better) You can apply as much or as little time as you want (or have) to this, you don't have to be a perfect crafter, you just have to have love and patience.
  

Calendars: Print out 12 *new* pictures of your children and stick a ready made calendar or design your own custom one (with the birthdays/special dates of your family/friends printed in - not just the bog standard ones. - Great gift for grandparents.

Calendar: Dig out your old photos and choose 12 of your children that show favourite moments as they've grown up to show how they'd progressed since being born - first steps, first attempt at feeding self, first Christmas right up to first day at school and then some - fantastic way to look back over the years when they've grown so fast!

Wine charms: These could be little extra gifts left in small jewelery boxes at the side of peoples plates at the dining table, or already attached to their glasses. Custom ones appear to be quite expensive, but really a shaped piece of wire is all you need - you can then customise them to fullest extent - finding the perfect shiny beads (or manly ones!) for the right recipients. They could also help serve as placenames.

Photo album: Decorate the front of a plain photo album with a picture? Glitter glue, appropriate paints, sequins etc - though it will need to be covered with sticky back plastic or something to make it last

Photoframe: Simply use a plain photoframe (ebay, carboots, second hand shops) - I find wood ones are best! (http://www.netpricedirect.co.uk/acatalog/Photo_Frames.html ) and decorate with paints, glitter etc - you can use names, messages favourite symbols/pictures/favourite actor names etc - maybe even print off a particular favourite picture to place in it!

Scrapbook: You could make a scrapbook on any subject, all it needs is some research and a lot of time. You could do a year-of-your-birth one, or a new baby one where the parents could document what has happened and when, a year of a special birthday (16/18/21/30 etc), anniversary, 'this is your life'. All you need is a large enough book (that you could even make yourself!) and pictures/newspapers/things to decorate it with.

Jewelery: Several pound shops have 'make your own jewelery' cases or you could buy something a little more personal - like birthstone looking gems, things of a certain colour that they like and turn them into earrings (the hooks are available in Boyes for like 30p a pair)/necklaces/bracelets/anklets/hair pieces.

Mugs: Jamie Oliver has produced a couple of mugs - one of which says 'DRAMA QUEEN!' which would be perfect for a friend of mine - who has said she wants one before! White plain mugs are little more than 50p-£1 and you can decorate them to be similar to the expensive ones already available (JO's is £7/£8) and/or you can customise them that bit more. If your family/friend has a particular favourite saying, or a nickname or something that sums them up instantly - why not paint it on in the appropriate paint!?

Christmas Decorations: Produce something unique and personal for a friend, decorate an existing bauble set or create something from scratch adding that cozy feeling to a christmas tree. A simple google search will bring up many ideas/templates

Myrtle

• Name of present? Diachronic glass Pendant
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
  
• Total Cost? From £2.99
• Details (the more the better) Beautifully made diachronic glass pendants. Really well-made, look and feel a lot more expensive than they cost. Great for "Secret Santas" :j
  

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/glasskanvas