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

MrsTinks

• Name of present? Crochet presents
• Do you make it or buy it? Make it
• Total Cost? £0 - £5
• Details (the more the better) This really allows you to let your creative juices flow and even if you don't crochet it's very easy to learn! I learnt it over a weekend (basic stitch). There are simple designs free on the internet but one great project for presents is handbags. You can make evening bags from old VCR tapes, if you have loads of odds and ends then these can be used to make a really nice handbag- if you don't have any then you can buy them on ebay cheaply. This handbag cost me less than £2 to make - including a skien of babyblue yarn to make a reasonable thickness all the way through. This round ripple probably about £6-7 and this scarf took one skien when completed - the wool was very expensive at £4 but still under £5. Check out your local pound shops for kits too... This was made with one of the £1 kits...

jacksmum1972

Last year I went to every freebie site mentioned on this website and applied for them. By christmas I had quite a few bits and pieces, smellies and the like. I got an empty box from the supermarket, wrapped it in festive paper and filled in with shredded paper. Then I wrapped all my freebies individually and put them in the box. My mum thought it was great, like her own christmas lucky dip. And it only cost me some time and the wrapping paper. Bargain I'd say!

jammy99_2

Sloe and damson gin and vodka
Make it: I've made sloe and damson gin (and vodka) in some old pop bottles which I plan to decant into nice glass bottles that I've saved over the year from wine / balsamic vinegar / oil etc and then stick a homemade label on.

Gin and vodka cost approx. £10-£15 for 2L bottle (cheap brand is fine)
Sugar (amount depends on how sweet you like it - 4-8oz per 2L) ~10-20p
The damsons and sloes are free (usually ready Sept/early Oct)
Bottles free and labels cost few pence.

By my reckoning that's less than £2 for a 300ml bottle of delicious brew - great stocking filler pressie and can be personalised too.
:xmassmileAnd you get to drink what's left over!!

P.S. the damsons make a great boozy crumble after too.

jamtart6

• Name of present? The Perfect Man
  
• Do you make it or buy it? Make it
• Total Cost? Less than £1
• Details (the more the better)

Perfect gift for the girlies! A gingerbread man made by your own fair hands, cellophane wrapped, decorated and put in ribbon with a gift tag attached saying :

The Perfect man
He's quiet, he's sweet,
And if he gives you any trouble,
You can bite his head off!


Heehee! Can't wait to make them!!!

HelskyB

Name of present? Jam, chutney, pickles etc
Do you make it or buy it? make it
Total Cost? depends on what you pick/buy etc, roughly £5 for about 15/20 jars
Details (the more the better) this year i am making jams and chutneys for friends and relatives - i picked tons of blackberries in sept/oct and made jam, just had to get a couple of bags of sugar and i had 20+ jars. (http://www.allbritishfood.com/blackberry%20jam.php) Also this halloween after hollowing out the pumpkins for the kids i made another 20+ jars of pumpkin chutney (very simple - http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/96/pumpkin-chutney-recipe/) just had to buy some onions and tomatoes and sugar + some spices and there you go!! I collect the jars over the year, or beg them from everyone you know! also you can go down your farmers market and buy a big bag of onions, cook them in some red wine vinegar and brown sugar and you have a load of jars of onion marmalade! any fruit or veg that you pick or buy would suit - obviously depending on the season. Then you can decorate (or not) your jars, and a lovely homemade present for everybody! it only takes a couple of hours and you have 20/30 presents done!

celyn90

I did these last year, they are so fun and remarkabley hard-wearing!

• Name of present? Chocolate clutch bags
• Do you make it or buy it? Made it
• Total Cost? less than £1 for chocolate coins, add another £1 (or less) if you make one with zip, pop stud fasteners or buttons (I actually used a reclaimed the zip from my craft box)
• Details (the more the better)

These are great, you can make little clutch bags and purses buy folding chocolate wrappers (instructions here)

www.candywrapperpurse.blogspot.com
www.gumwrapper.com/build

I made a purse from kitkat wrappers (bright red and shiny!) and a clutch bag from purple wrappers (different cadbury ones). It's time consuming, but I've seen them in designer shops so they have the added fun of looking expensive and different. It's also a nice pressie for environmentally consious people too, a different way of recycling (and it justifies the massive pile of chocolate wrappers on my desk!) You can alter the colours - I'm currently making a multi coloured tote bag from random bits of packaging and some placemats from old chemistry journals (we're both scientists, so the geeky thing of having placemats with chemical structures on them makes me smile - sad I know!).

I filled the bags with chocolate coins (they often do chocolate Euros in Lidl round Christmas quite cheaply).

If you sew a zip on or add buttons/pop studs - use dental floss (I know that sounds odd, but it is so strong it will never break!).

• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

HelskyB

We are members of Tesco DVD club, where we pay a monthly subscription and get dvds delivered to the door. In each of these dvds is a voucher inviting a friend to have free dvd rental for a month (or two months). I have collected these up over the year and will put one in a nice envelope with a bow for friends and family to enjoy free dvd watching! they can then cancel their free subscription once it runs out!
We pay £7.99 per month (different costs for different deals) and depending on how many we watch we probably get 4 or 5 vouchers a month, so works out about £2 per voucher.

HelskyB

also, my daughter absolutely LOVES making things from HAMA beads, you can get packs from toy shops with different shaped templates (round, square, heart etc) they are quite expensive per pack (anything from £6 upwards) but you can make loads of shapes from each pack, so only works out about 50p each, you can make them in all sorts of different colours and designs, i will be putting them in gift bags as coasters for grannies! fun for daughter (and me) and a lovely treasure for granny.

Julie1958

What a great idea Martin, i see some good suggestions from people.

I have found a little novelty gift that will be great as a stocking filler and is simply a very good idea for a cheap Christmas Gift

• Name of present? - Chinese Finger Trap
• Make it or buy it? - Buy it
• Total Cost? Save 17% & Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Free Delivery - £2.49
• Details (the more the better)? - These toys are a simple yet highly effective puzzle that all children and most adults will find very amusing

HelskyB

Not a christmas present but a bit of fun with the little ones on christmas eve... give them a bag filled with a mixture of porridge oats and glitter, and label it reindeer food. Tell them they have to sprinkle it outside the house, either up the path or in the garden - the reindeer will then be able to smell the oats and see the glitter sparkle in the night and it will guide them to the house for santa to deliver the presents!