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

annaf_3

MOSAIC FLOWER POT
Name of present: Mosaic Flower Pot
Make it or buy it: Make it:
Total cost:£3-£4
Details: This is a fab present - its a terracotta flower pot mosaiced with broken china - I have seen them in the shops for £30 but you can make it for £3-£4 !!! Get your flower pots and china from boot sales or charity shops then all you will need to buy is some multi purpose grout & tile adhesive (99p) for a tube.

So heres how:

1. Wrap a plate in a teatowel, and tap gently with a hammer, rolling pin or rubber mallet to break into to reasonable size pieces. Mind your eyes - wear safety goggles if you can.
2. Repeat this for different colours and patterns of china until you have a good selection.
3. Spread the tile adhesive on the pot, a small area at a time, then start sticking your bits of china on. Repeat until all is covered.
4. Wait 24 hours before grouting, removing excess grout as you go. Remove any dried on grout with a craft blade, nail file or halogen hob scraper.
4. Voila! A fab handmade present!!

oysterlover

Technically not made or bought, unless you have bought the twine to tie bundles with.
Free Free Free Take a walk in your local woods and collect dry/ish twigs of the forest floor, live branches are a definate no no (Beech and Birch are great), snap to nice lenghts, fill your bin liner. Take home and tie into kindling size bundles and decorate with a sprig of holly (to make it even more festive) leave to dry in an out house or under cover until the twigs snap! then give as presents to friends and family with open fires.

denise74

Name of Pressie: Large Box Assorted Chocoates
Price: £3.74 (half price)
From: Tesco
Exceptionally good value - also 200g box for £1.74 and 400g box for £2.99 really good value:T

vickylouisegibson

Name of present - Hand/Foot Prints, ideal for those with kids

Do you make it or buy it - Make it

Total Cost - Well depending on how cheap and size of the canvas a couple of quid or under. Finger paint most of us with kids will have if not ELC, woolworths etc its really cheap like a quid

Details - Quite simply cover your childs hand or foot (which ever is easier foot for the younger ones) with baby safe paint and print on to ready made canvas, leave to dry turn over and write date, age(s) and name(s) wrap up and your done

May I suggest wilkos for canvas or any pound shop alot of the ones in pound shops come with little pots of paint with could be used by adult to decorate edges if need be also many art shops have a buy one get one free on at the moment for example i got 4 top quality canvas' for 6 quid

This is really fun to do and the kids love getting involved grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles go crazy for them
p.s. dont forget to cover surfaces, learnt the hard way
Thanks for looking
Take Care
Vix

sakara

Name of present? personalised figurine bust
Do you make it or buy it? make it
Total Cost? max £15
Details (the more the better)
an odd one but unique. theres loads of those expensive bust of characters from films/comics etc, but if you have a bit of talent and your other half has a favourite character they like then why not have a go at sculpting them as that character.
need - a second hand doll- barbie/sindy for girls /action man for guys..use this as the base..then get some airdry clay llike milliput and sculpt the character over it. use a simple wooden base to hold the upper torso of the doll.:D

Nol-wise-gamji

Pill Box
Make it!
Total cost: <£3

• My grandparents are forever being given more and more pills from their doctors to try and keep their bodies working! And being a poor student I couldn't afford much in the way of xmas pressies last year so I made pill boxes for my grandma and grandpa to keep all theirs safe!
• Just use an empty shoebox(free!!!) and cover in anything from wrapping paper, tissue paper or even tin foil! You can then decorate with glitter pens and stickers to make them look pretty and even write the recipients name on so they know whose pill box is whose! Inside i put cardboard dividers so all the bottles don't get muddled up.

Tabby

Name of present? London's your Oyster!
Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
Total Cost? as little as £5
Details Buy an Oyster card from your local newsagent and pre-load it with cash. There is a refundable charge of £3 so you can put £2 on it and of course it can be reused. This gives the card holder cheaper travel around London. Can also buy online.
Website www.tfl.gov.uk

If you or the gift recipient lives outside London, then you can buy this online for them to use on a day trip/ short break in the capital. If they are a Londoner, you might just encourage them to use public transport and leave the car at home helping their carbon footprint.
Oyster is cheaper than paying a cash fare as cash journey on a bus is £2 (ouch) and only 90p with an Oyster card.
I am doing this for my younger brother who is too lazy to sort out a card himself! Every time he pays £2 for a bus journey a moneysavingexpert fairy dies!!

Pandora123_2

• Name of present? Paper models
  
• Do you make it or buy it? A bit of both
  
• Total Cost? Around £2
  
• Details (the more the better)

Paper Toys has free patterns for making models of landmarks such as:

Taj Mahal

Angkor Wat

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre


They also have a good selection of models for cars, including:

Ferrari Testarosa

Dale Earnhardt NASCAR #3
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Chrysler PT Cruiser


Print the models out, then enlarge them onto cardstock (10p per sheet). Buy a nice set of Artist coloured pencils in a tin for £1.49.

A great present for children (or adults who are still big kids).

:A
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Pandora123_2

• Name of present? SmartCafe Hot Cafetiere Mug
• Do you make it or buy it? Buy it
  
• Total Cost? £4.95
  
• Details (the more the better)

John Lewis and Homeware Store sell this one cup cafetiere which is great for making a single cup of fresh tea or coffee. Perfect gift for the traveller who enjoys fresh brewed coffee but doesn't want to pay through the pocketbook.

sparkle88_2

Name of present? TRY ME! (This can be used any time of the year).
Do you make it or buy it? MAKE IT.
Total Cost? £0 OR MAYBE £1 FOR A GIFT BAG/BOX & TISSUE PAPPER.
Details (the more the better)
Want to buy that special someone some perfume/aftershave but not really sure what they like?
Well look no further. Next time you’re out shopping, pop into your local Boots, Debenhams and department stores and visit the fragrance counters. Tell the assistant you’re looking to buy some perfume/aftershave for a gift. This is when they will start to spray you with different scents on any available bare flesh area (this resulting in you smelling like a chemist!), or they will offer to spray some card with a scent (this never smells the same on skin!). Politely say that you would like to try before you buy and ask for some free take away samples that you can try out with your friends. At this point also ask for their name as they will think you will be back next week for a sale!
Overtime you will obtain a lot of samples which you can then wrap and place into a gift bag/box, with a tag called TRY ME! And give to that special person. They now have an unlimited choice to choose from, without you running the risk of buying a scent they don’t like. The samples will also fit into a bag /pocket.

A point to remember is that some of the samples will allow you to open, wash out and add your own fragrance by using a perfume atomizer funel. That way you can carry your favourite fragrance with you at all times without the load of a heavy bottle!:T

Oh, and remember you can also clam some free samples online, through the companies sites.:j

So happy hunting and remember….
:T ‘Smell nice without the price! ‘:T