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

Brenda_Costigan

name of present: Tin Money Box
Make or Buy It: Buy It
Total Cost £1.99
Details: Most cheap poundland type shops sell them in all different pattens and colours and you can put £3.00 in change into them and when they are full you need a tin opener to get your money out and the person receiving the gift doesn't know how much you have put in at the beginning

SharkyGeorge

I have two submissions so far, here is the first:

Name of present: 3D "photo" scene
Make it or buy it: Make it
Total cost: Varied, but under a fiver
Details: In Ikea (and other places) you can these 3d photo frames, which are like photo frame-sized boxes with glass at the front, space in the middle and a sliding panel at the back (so you can put things in them). What you can do is cut out a picture(s) from a magazine or even use actual photos and stick them at the back, and inside then put in lots of little toys, either from kinder surprises, happy meals or just cute little figures from a shop. You then create a 3d scene.

You could make a Christmas themed one too.

They then have hooks on the back so you can hang them like a picture.

SharkyGeorge

Second submission:

Name of present: Chocolate truffles / leaves
Make it or buy it: Make it (need to buy chocolate)
Total cost: Depends on type of chocolate, but probably around 2pounds and three for little box to put it in / tissue paper
Details: 1) Truffles

Melt chocolate (my mother adds a dash of Grand Marnier and double cream to make it richer). Leave chocolate to cool and then put in fridge to harden. Take out chocolate next day and (wearing plastic gloves) use your hands to roll it into little balls. You can then coat these in coco powder, crushed nuts - anything you want, really. Get a little presentation box, put in some tissue paper and then place the truffles inside.

2) Leaves

Melt chocolate, as above. Leave to cool for a short while.

Get some holly leaves from outside. Wash thoroughly.

Using a paintbrush type tool coat one side of the leaves thickly in chocolate. Leave in fridge for a night (and day). You should then be able to gently peel off the leaves, leaving you with holly-shaped chocolate. You could also fashion little chocolate balls for the berries. Put in presentation box and enjoy!

rls1973

secretmachines wrote: »

• 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."

can i just add, i have also seen these in 'au naturale' shops, they were about £3ish IIRC, i got some for dd1:)

rospax

* Do you make it or buy it: Can make enough for two gifts in under half an hour (plus chilling time)

* Total Cost: Approximately £2.50 each (organic) and £1.50 (non-organic) per gift box of 18 yummy hand-made truffles. This is based upon dividing the batch of 36 truffles in two, because surely 18 truffles is enough for anyone...

* Details: Are you sitting comfortably? Here's my festive rant:

I have spent much of the last ten years trying to get rid of extraneous "stuff", much of it accumulated as presents from well-meaning family and friends: Knick-knacks, silly toys, the gloves that didn't fit properly, that horrible tie from Auntie Gladys, yet another candle holder, the horrible picture someone gave you for your wedding and you just can't remember who... you know the kind of thing. Tom Lehrer put it rather well in his song A Christmas Carol - "Relations sparing no expense 'll / send some useless old utensil / or a matching pen and pencil / just the thing I need... how NICE". Let's face it, our lives are crammed full of such stuff.

As I have got older my tastes have become more, well, refined. I want classy stuff actually. I don't really think I'd hoot with joy to receive a basket of dressed up bottles of cheap chemicals from the pound shop in the guise of a classy cosmetics hamper... and I don't think any of my friends would relish that either. But as a committed money saver, I equally don't really want to spend my hard earned cash on giving costly status symbol department store smellies to my chums and loved ones.

Furthermore, whether we like it or not, we ALL have a responsibility to protect our beautiful world. One way to help do this, and to be true to the heart of money saving, is to stop buying so much uneccessary crap in the first place! Less stuff manufactured means less materials wasted, fewer emissions of dangerous chemicals, a better environment for ourselves and a healthier (and hopefully longer) future for our kids.

With these thoughts in my head and heart, I finally made a decision last year that I would no longer give gifts that were destined to hang around and haunt the recipient. Instead, I would ensure that every present could be enjoyed, maybe shared, and always remembered fondly. So, if you can't drink it, eat it, bath in it, go out to it, or otherwise use it up in a reasonably short period of time, I won't give it. This makes me a big fan of theatre and cinema vouchers, experiences and outings, good luxurious food (of the kind people won't usually buy for themselves), things made for sharing, and the like.

So ("finally" you must be thinking) here's my suggested present for under a fiver. It ticks all my boxes: It's yummy, it can be shared, it's top quality, it's ethical, it's festive, it's something you might not buy for yourself (ready-made these things are EXPENSIVE!), it's easy to make (the kids can help!), takes all of half an hour (plus chilling and packing), making food for someone is a true act of love, and recipients of all ages will enjoy eating it. Oh, and it costs way less than a fiver!

Ingredients:

275g dark good quality chocolate (min 60% cocoa solids - eg. Green & Blacks organic) broken into pieces
250ml double cream (eg. Yeo Valley organic)
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature (eg. Yeo Valley/Rachels organic)
50g cocoa powder (eg. Green & Blacks organic)
A couple of takeaway plastic boxes (or similar) and a bit of imagination

Method:

Place chocolate in large bowl. Bring cream to boil and pour over chocolate, stirring gently to melt chocolate (try not to create bubbles). Cool for 2 minutes. Add butter in 2 stages stirring gently each time. The final "ganash" should be smooth and glossy with no oil slick on the surface. Set the truffle mixture in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.

Remove from fridge about 15 mins before you want to use it. Put cocoa into a bowl. Keep your hands cool and dry and dust them with cocoa before you start. Take spoonfuls of the ganache mixture (teaspoons or tablespoons, depending on how big you want to make them, but remember they are rich and a little goes a long way). Roll the mixture into a ball in your cocoa-dusted hands. Drop each ball into cocoa powder and roll again in your hands to remove excess. Pack into airtight containers (takeaway boxes are perfect - line with a doily if you have one, make a label for the lid on your computer, tie round the box with a length of ribbon).

Variations: If you have some left-over liquers / spirits in the drinks cabinet (cherry brandy, cointreau, grand marnier, etc.) you can make a very adult version by adding a few drops into the mixture just before you add the butter. Yum!

This recipe makes approximately 36 truffles - that's enough for 2 (or more) gift boxes for under a fiver - less if you use non-organic ingredients. Please note: if you are only buying for this organic recipe you may have to spend up to £7.50 to stock up on all the ingredients, however, you will be left with most of the butter, most of the cocoa and some of the cooking chocolate for another use.

Please note: This recipe uses fresh cream and butter so should be made very close to the time it will be presented and stored in the fridge for no more than a few days before eating. For obvious reasons, I have never found storing these yummy truffles to present a problem.
:santa2:

Smickan

• Name of present? Post Christmas Survival Kit
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Both
  
• Total Cost? Could be nothing if you have the items hanging around (free samples, BOGOF's) could be the full fiver if you buy bits to pad it out.
  
• Details (the more the better) It's sad to think that in exactly 2 months it'll be the 2nd January and it'll all be over! (or re-starting in true mse fashion in the sales!) After all the preparation for Christmas, what with the music/shopping/budgeting/present lists/excitement etc, anything after feels like a complete let down what with it being another 365/6 days to go until it happens again.

You can pad this out with bogofs, free samples, things you've made, or you can buy things for it/to pad it out.

You can include things such as manicure/pedicure sets, hand warmers (make wheat bags?), general pampering stuff, cold remedies, indigestion tablets, feet/heel creams, sweets/chocolates to cheer people up, perfume samples, coffee sample/small jar, teabag samples/tea bags, paracetomal, homemade vouchers for babysitting/cleaning/washing/ironing/cheer-up-cuddles etc, energy saving lightbulb, dvd to snuggle up and watch, bottle of wine - sky's the limit

Nestled right at the bottom once they've got through that - a little gift wrapped present maybe? Something personalised? Or a little letter/card to say 'thinking of you?'.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=588342 - free energy saving lightbulb
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=412244 - free teabags
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=584307 - free DVD
http://www.supermarketspecialoffers.com/LatestOffers.aspx - supermarket special offers - updated daily to get best prices
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=585463 - free organic shampoo
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=576131 - free conditioner
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=585664 - free horlicks etc.

Always good to check the freebies board to see what you could include, or even gain ideas!

niknakb

Name of present: Goody variety box!

Make it or buy it? Make it and buy it.

Total cost: As much or as little as you like. Nothing at all if you're really creative!

Details: Get a card board box, maybe a shoe box or one from the supermarket. Decorate the box in pretty xmas paper or customise the box to suit the person you're making it for.

Fill the box with everything you have got from the freebies board on this website! I have been saving bath/shower goodies, purfume samples, sweets, vouchers and all sorts of goodies that I've seen in the freebies forum and sent away for and I have made up a beautiful box to give to my friend. This means there is so much choice and variety and it's really exciting sorting through the box to see what's in there.

Tmouse

Name of Present: Remember me!
Make it or buy it: Buy it
Total Cost: £4.50 + 33p to post it!
Details: Cleverly designed key hook that folds out from flat. Appears to come in lots of different colours. Is made from scrap material is fully recyclable and also has a pop-out key fob. Also loving the fact that it only costs the price of a first class stamp to post. Also very cheap to post abroad and because it called Remember me it's great for people you don't see very often! Designed by eco design company Blue Marmalade - so I thought it was a great to find an eco and designer gift for less than a fiver (including postage) :j

I found them on www.onebrowncow.co.uk and www.ecocentric.co.uk

DaisyClaire

• Name of present? Christmas 'Party' Bag (for the kids)
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Make it (and buy some)
  
• Total Cost? £0 -£5 its up to you!
• Details (the more the better) I had this idea thanks to my three year old who seems to prefer party bags to actual gifts! Kids love getting a party bag (sometimes called party or loot bags) after childrens tea parties and certainly my son prefered the one I made for his third birthday party more than the gifts some of the children brought!
  So insted of reserving them just for parties, I am making them up for the children I normally buy a cheap gift for (friends kids etc) this year. You can actually spend a little more than you perhaps normally would per bag and still keep within the £5 quid budget! Of course if you have several kids to buy for, you can make huge savings by buying the packs of proper loot bag toys you get in supermarkets etc. Simply take a nice Christmassy style bag (anything will do - nice paper bag you may of got a card in, a gift style bag, coloured paper bag) then fill with sweets, home made cookie (perhaps an xmas theme- im making round cookies and decorating them as xmas puddings) pencil, printed off pictures to colour in (try various kids websites for these) which you could roll up and tie a piece of ribbon round, small pack of crayons, even a Chrismas cracker, balloon, blow out etc. The list is endless really and only your budget of £5 max will make you stop! Just decorate the front of the bag a bit more special than perhaps you would for a normal style 'party bag' with a homemade gift tag, just to make it a bit more personal and 'present like'. Children will love to root through the bag and see what they have got.
  

LilMissEmmylou

• Name of present? Christmas outfit!
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
  
• Total Cost? £5 or less - depends how good you are
  
• Details (the more the better) Outfits for under £5 are totally doable, so why spend a fortune on Christmas outfits for your family! My example is that I got a lovely ladies outfit this week for under £5 which would be great to wear on Christmas day! Black dress £2 in matalan clearance store, £1 pink scarf again in the clearance store, footless black tights £1.50 in m&s. My total was £4.50. You could try and find a nice bangle or necklace for 50p or ditch the scarf to up the accessory budget to £1.50