Gift idea - I'm filling mugs for presents and could do with a couple of suggestions please

[mogs0]

I bought myself some lovely mugs in a sale last week but then decided that I have far too many already and that I could fill them with treats and give them as gifts for Christmas. So far, I have the mugs, and some mini Green and Blacks choccy bars. I've been trying to find mini bags of ground coffee for the coffee drinkers and would like to find some nice hot chocolate sachets/tea bags for the others.

Any ideas for other things to put in them? I've set a £5 limit on each filled mug so any fillers have to be pretty inexpensive!!

[CybilLiberty]

Mini marshmallow to go with the hot chocolate ones, or bed socks, or mini bubble bath or sleep mask or face pack, in the manner of a 'pampering ' gift.

[mustrunmore]

What a great idea! < rues the fact that she's already finished xmas shopping apart from one main present each for the boys>

Erm... I dunno... all adult ones?
Minature alcohols
jewellery (sainsburys have quite nice cheapy stuff)
Pens and things?
Make some cookies or cheese straws or something?
Small cross stitch kits and that kind of thing?
Keyrings.

I'll have a sensible think later!

[mustrunmore]

Do they still dpo those small penguin books? You know, the ones where its like a taster for classic novels? They are v thin and would bend round into a mug without damage.

[NoGoodNicknamesLeft]

dear god you people are organised! there's still over a hundred days to go... might nick it as an idea though - nice one!

[mustrunmore]

Teatowels for old or sensible people!!

[mogs0]

Can you buy small packs of mini marshmallows? They'd be good with the hot choc mugs. When I said the limit was £5 for each filled mug, that is to include the cost of the mug too so there's only a couple of quid left to actually fill them!!

How old would you have to be to be old enough to receive a tea-towel?!!! They sell some great ones in the £ shop!!

This year I am trying to give gifts that are very useful or can be eaten or used then disposed of to try and reduce clutter/waste/cost. It's making me think a lot harder about the gifts I give!!

[notamumyetbutoneday]

Thank you so much- this is a fab idea and im going to do it for some of our friends! THANK YOU! [weeps with relief at having at least one gift idea sorted]

[Flightattendnt]

Can I have a decaf in mine with milk and two sugar please?

Don't worry about wrapping it though

[notamumyetbutoneday]

If only everyone was so easily pleased Flight!

[cuppateaplease]

cuppa tea for me obviously - with just the one sugar!
How about cookie or muffin mix? I know you can buy them in a sachet type bag rather than a box, not sure if they would actually squash into the mug though.
Chocolate always goes down well - buy a big tin of heroes/celebration type and fill em to the brim

I think you may have started a trend here and lots of people are going to get a mug n stuff for christmas

[Flightattendnt]

Has anyone suggested socks yet?

[notamumyetbutoneday]

I realise I'm in danger of over-thinking the whole mug thing (can you tell this is my only [stolen] idea for presents so far) but do you think giving one mug is enough? Eg if I'm buying it for a friend but the friend has a husband (no Dcs) who we know less well but is a lovely bloke...does that make me look tight?

[notamumyetbutoneday]

Sorry for hijack Mogs!

[teamcullen]

posh tea bags or flavoured coffee.

I used to do this for the teachers before Whittards went bust. They used to do a small jar of instant irish coffee for £2.50

Look on the top shelves in the supermarket or in the organic section

[mogs0]

No need to apologise notamum, I'm glad to have some more ideas!!

I have lost a little enthusiasm for the idea tbh. My house is so full of clutter and I'm finally getting myself organised and trying to get rid of some of it. It's making me less keen to give out presents that can be kept and cause more clutter for others!

As I've already bought some mugs I'll still give those out but I was wondering how it would look if I tried to get some take-away cups and maybe decorated them to give to some others on my present list.

So far I have coffee bags (like tea-bags - thanks to a suggestion on MN), hot chocolate sachets, tea-bags, stencils to make lovely patterns with choc on top of frothy coffee/hot choc, green and black's mini choc bars and some cinnamon sticks.

I was also thinking about getting some spoons. I have 2 lovely latte ones from whittards but they are selling on ebay for £3+ and that pushes me way over my £5 limit!! Another alternative to spoons was the choc sticks that M&S sell but haven't been in to price them up yet.

[mogs0]

BTW notamum - if you can get the mugs for a good price, I'd give your friend and her dh one each. Maybe you could present them in a decorated shoe-box or is that a bit too Blue-Peter?!!!

[StrictlyAvadaKedavraarrrrghhhh]

I'm buying these teapigs:

www.teapigs.co.uk/product/Tea/Red+(Rooibos)-tea/spiced+winter+red+tea
there are lots of different blends but this one sounds so Xmassy

[BornToFolk]

Oooh, Tea Pigs are lovely. My sister gave loads for Christmas last year and they were great.

Have a look at www.approvedfood.co.uk. They sometimes have individual portions of tea or coffee or biscuits.

[lillypie]

nutmeg and a mini grater?

[yellowpoppydog]

I have a friend who makes crackers and pops phials of perfume into them...free from cosmetic counters. I'll be doing the same with mugs this year

[tassisssss]

I wondered about this yesterday on spotting lovely mugs in Morrisons.

I think i'll pop some homemade tablet in them and give to teachers.

We put edible gold glitter on our tablet at Christmas.

[LocalEditorLancashire]

This suggestion is from the MN Christmas board, takes a few weeks to be delivered. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FYNQQCY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 but would go well with mugs

[SilasGreenback]

Sainsbury's do bags of mini marshmallows in the kids sweeties 3 bags for a £1 section.

Cheap teaspoons dipped in chocolate as stirrers would be easy to make.

Make biscotti - keeps well and works with coffee or hot chocolate.

[AugustaGloop]

www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Micro-Marshmallows-Waitrose/84893011?from=search&tags=%7C20000&param=marshmallows&parentContainer=SEARCHmarshmallows_LISTVIEW

I have put hot choc sachets in a mug with these mini marshmallows in the past