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

intheblackfinally

Name of present? - Personal video/dvd message
Make it or buy it? - Make It & Buy It
Total Cost? -less than £1.00 if video purchaed from a cheap shop
Details If you have access to a video camera then film yourself telling the receipient how much you love them, great memories etc, etc. If you can sing (or like me even if you can't!) you could sing them a special song etc just to let them know how much they mean to you. If you have kids they could also record messages etc, put on a show to taped etc - it really is up to you what you put on it but whatever you decide it really will be a personal present for the receipient.
I done one of these for my parents last year and they loved it - it had them in tears (not sure if that was becauase of my singing being so bad though?!!!!)

rospax

mbohea wrote: »

• Name of present? 4 Lottery Tickets
• Do you make it or buy it? Buy It
• Total Cost? £4
• Details (the more the better) 4 chances at winning a lottery jackpot, unlikely chance of winning but you have to play to stand a chance and because the tickets were a present you cant lose!
  
• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

I used to run a business and one Xmas we couldn't afford to do much in terms of bonuses for the staff so instead I took them all for a meal and bought each of them £5 worth of lottery tickets which they found in front of them when they sat down at the table. At first there was an air of excitement as everyone rubbed away at their cards. Gradually it got quieter and more subdued as, yes, you've guessed it, noone won a thing. I had spent £100 on scratch cards for 2 minutes of anticipatory excitement followed by a lasting downer. I think we'd have got more mileage out of a round of cocktails.

Marmitegirl_4

Name of present? Make up collection
Do you make it or buy it? Buy and collect
Total Cost? £3
Details (the more the better) Buy a make up bag and fill it with all the free sample goodies advertised on the MoneySaving Expert site
Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

:beer:

kbl

Name of present?
Multi coloured striped candles
Do you make it or buy it?
Make it
Total Cost?
I spend about €5 (£3.50) on each of mine, but you could do it cheaper or as expensive as you like
Details (the more the better)
Got this idea from a craft shop my bil works in, they make striped fragranced candles for sale and they charge between €10 and €20 for theirs. Here goes: Buy different coloured candles in sales (as cheaply as poss) throughout the year (try to buy the right colours if you're going for themes e.g. I have made a few green, silver and red ones for one friend, while I have done cream, brown and gold for my sister this year. They look lovely on their mantles for xmas decorations). You can also use bits of candles you've got left over in your own home (I've run out of mine ages ago :rotfl: ). You can also buy wicks, but I usually use one of the unused wicks from my melted candles. Gather as many empty washed pringles boxes, either small or large (in fact, it's nicer to do a couple of each size in same design). Get an old saucepan and melt one colour candle (slowly over a low heat, you can also add scented oil if you like). Have wick suspended in middle of pringles box with knot at end so that it touches bottom of box. Carefully pour melted wax into each container so that it comes up a little. Leave to set. Redo process again next day with different colour. And again and again.... Build up your layers in whatever colour combination you want, Leave to set completely. When finished (and set!!) just peel off the pringles carton. It's better if you make a lot of these as it's rather time consuming to do just a couple, I've made twelve this year, four small fat ones and two larger ones matching for my friend and sister. Strictly not a fivers pressie for either lady, but could have been if I had stuck to just one or two each.

Kilala

Name of present: Stockings
Do you make it or buy it? Bought amd Made
Total Cost? £3-4 each
Details:
I used an old red T shirt to make 5 stockings (roughly 8" long) using up thread from old projects, for my family and in laws as wee presents. (Free) (Any material will do- I just happened to confiscate an awful T Shirt from the OH!) I then sewed initials on the front.
For filling: Chocolate coins, (£1), Slice of dried orange- smells divine (slice orange thinly, put on baking sheet in oven at 100 degrees or so over night) using an orange I was given at work, wrapped chocolates given to me at work (free), mini packets of biscuits saved from meetings (free), some mini Molton Brown toiletries from a hotel from my honeymoon last year (free). I will be topping them up with bits and pieces as the weeks roll on, (going to a bootfair...), leading to personal gifts for people without giving junk they don't want and spending well under £5 per person. Saving the chocolates/biscuits from meetings also means I won't be eating them!
I will also me making some sugar mice and will put a satsuma/some nuts in each one too- this just means siphoning from our food shop as we eat them anyway! If they are on offer, I will buy multipacks of minisparklers/party poppers etc and split them between the stockings.

If you are a little more flush, why not make larger stockings> They are easily adapted and give the chance for people to unwrap lots of little things!

MentalMoggs

Name of present? Pirate Chest Yarrrrrrrr!!!
Do you make it or buy it? make chest, bought content
Total Cost? Depends on what you have lying around e.g. paint coloring pencils etc. Mainly how many sweets you buy :-D
Details (the more the better)

Get a old shoe box (one with the swing lid, not the one in to parts). Take some plain paper and paint/colour a wood effect onto it or simply paint brown.
Stick all over shoes box.(You can also get a piece of foam etc. to make a curved lid befor sticking paper on)
Stick two strips of black paper over the top and one around bottom of the box and edge of lid. Decorate with glitter glue/foil 'studs'
Stick foil onto a small piece of card and stick a black key hole shape onto it And attach to front of lid.
Fill with sweets from home bargins/Aldi/pound land etc. (especially gold coins and candy jewlery!!!)
Take a plane piece of paper and fold in half draw treasure map on front for Pirate card,
Or hide the Treasure chest and draw map to where it is. Roll into scroll. Give to person. :-D

You can make this as complicated or simple as you like, but great for all ages.

JAG1967

Name of present? - Personalised Engraved Pen
Make it or buy it? -buy it
Total Cost? -£2.99
Details - Really nice quality engraved pens for £2.99 including posting, the pens are a deep red colour and quite chunky with the rubber gripping bit at the bottom of the pen, and they will engrave up to three words on the pen for £2.99.
Where online offer - www.oxfordprint.co.uk there is a link down the side for the special offer personalised pens £2.99, and they take paypal payments.

lazy&indebt

Name of present: Little book of wisdom
Make it or buy it? But it
Total Cost? As little as a penny (but with about £2.75 p&p)
Details: There are a lot of little mini books like this on Amazon (this particular one is written by his holiness the Dalai Lama) and they contain Buddhist phrases on each page to 'enlighten' you etc. I also got a little book of Zen, very interesting it was too!

katchambers

Name of Present: Dinner and a Movie

Make it or buy it: Buy it/apply for it

Total Cost: £5 in tesco vouchers

Details: The perfect romantic gift for a loved one, or a great idea for a friend or family member, particularly if they have a baby or a young family and can't get out much.

Friend/family:
I have a friend who has just had a baby, and she can't go out a lot, especially with her husband so this is an idea inspired by my friend. Find a basket or old shoe box in the house, wrap in nice paper and put inside a going out kit:
- Tesco vouchers that have been converted to Restaurant vouchers (£5 tesco voucher = £20 restaurant deal voucher) for them to use at their favourite restaurant.
- Get 2 free tickets for an upcoming preview film, by checking out the freebie cinema ticket thread here on MSE.
- Make your own babysitting voucher on the computer, saying something like:
"Free babysitting service, good for 3 hours to use in conjunction with restaurant and cinema tickets."

If the gift is for a partner, remove the babysitting voucher.

Where online:
Convert your £5 tesco voucher to a £20 Restaurant deals voucher:
http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/browse.aspx?N=4294966488&bid=HRestauBars

There are 25 different restaurants and bars to choose from.

Find some free cinema tickets on this MSE thread:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=352410

Thanks
Kat x

fairytooth

Name of present? Handy USB Powered Massager
Do you make it or buy it? Buy
Total Cost? £1.85 ($3.69) delivered
Details (the more the better)
- Unique design with rounded "fingertips"
- Generates moderate vibrations delivered via "fingertips"
- Long "arm"/handle and long USB wire for easy reach
- Powered by any USB port
- Great to go with laptops for travellers
- Power on/off switch
- Color may vary from pictures

Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2555