Everyday items that can be made to look 'gifty'

[TheCrow]

I've seen a few posts from people who are having to cut back this year and are worried about there being a smaller number of presents or it looking like there's not much to open, especially for kids. Thought it would be a good idea to list some everyday items that you would buy anyway that are nice enough to wrap up and look 'gifty' without spending any extra money.

For example I'm making DD a unicorn food hamper- wrapping half a cardboard box in nice paper and filling it with unicorn themed snacks like iced gems and Mr Kipling cake bars. They're things I'd get as snacks/treats anyway but I think it'll look really nice as a gift. Also the pound shop had a big bottle of unicorn shower gel- practical and something I would need to buy anyway but nice enough to wrap up as a gift 🙂

Yep, Santa is always good for the useful stuff in our house, just as he was when I was growing up. We loved it and knew it was funny. I don't like to waste it on tat that will never be used after Christmas day.

Toothbrush and toothpaste
Nice shower gel
Body spray
Pants and socks
Lip balm
Pack of tissues
Cereal
This year he will be no doubt adding handgel and masks

To this I would obviously add more 'luxury' items, but thinking about it they would still be things that you can actually use

Pens
Notebook
Nail varnish
Wallet for travel pass
Hair accessories
Card game
Chocolate
Hot chocolate spoon

For anyone wanting unicorn stuff, Home Bargains have loads.

They also do face masks with animal faces on for about 80p. I bought DD a flamingo one and a donut shaped bath bomb for her stocking.

These are all the types of things that go in Xmas stockings in this house.The older DC got miniatures of single malt whisky which went down well.
My lot are weird though, their favourite Xmas pressie every year is new PJs in the Xmas eve box!

You could make a hamper (cover a cardboard box with wrapping paper), with a label 'to the Crow family from Santa', then individually wrap treats you'd buy in anyway e.g. tub of cheese savouries; Pringles; stollen bites; Christmassy biscuits, popcorn etc and they can take it in turns to open them - but you take control of when they are eaten.

An orange in a long sock nailed to the mantlepiece is the best I can suggest.

Oh and add a piece of coal.

Dd is 2 and I've tried to do her stocking all practical.

Head torch.
Squeezy hand torch.
Glow sticks.
Mittens.
Bobble hat to match daddy.

Favourite snacks.
Hot chocolate pouch.
Bubbles.
Bubble bath.

We live on a farm so she's out in dark a fair but, plus with lockdown. She always wants my torch. So I'm hoping it will be a hit.

We have 9 nieces and nephews so it's getting quite expensive. Last year I challenged myself to buy as many items for a total of £10 as I could. E.g bubble bath, hair bobble, colouring book, story book, small toy, puzzle, sweets etc and wrapped each individually and put in a gift bag, being careful not to duplicate items for siblings.

Home Bargains & B&M do small old-fashioned toys and puzzles for 99p such as parachute man, build a glider, mini skittles, jacks etc. They're great.

This year I'm making gift bags by appliqueing pillowcases with motifs they like, princess, dinosaurs, pirate etc and adding drawstrings so the can use them as gym bags, pillowcases etc. Colouring books are a good source of inspiration for templates for these.

For example I'm making DD a unicorn food hamper
Asda have cake sprinkles shaped like teeny tiny unicorns 🦄 for about a quid?

My three best friends and their kids are getting a wrapped parcel per family containing a tub of hot chocolate, a packet of big chocolate chip cookies (the soft ones), a tin of squirty cream, a pack of mini marshmallows and a pair of cosy socks for each person... I'm on a real shoestring this year but I thought this would be a nice way to give them all a treat to enjoy as a family.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

An orange in a long sock nailed to the mantlepiece is the best I can suggest.

Oh and add a piece of coal.

Brilliant idea - where do I go to get coal and what do my kids do with it?

Some good ideas here - I’m trying to limit plastic tat for my 1 and 4 year olds.

I’m going with Craft hampers, a bath hamper for my older DD and books. I’m also trying to find a simple at home chemistry experiments book using household stuff if anyone can recommend one (rather than buying a chemistry set) ?

@Bikingbear

You can get coal (well smokeless fuel these days) from many service stations.

As for what your kids do with it, chucking it at each other seemed to be the most popular option in our gas-fired, centrally heated home.

How about a nice mug with some tea bags, coffee sachet, hot chocolate pouch and a small pack of biscuits? My DS is doing this for his grandma this year, cheap and cheerful and useful too. Also, you could add a crossword book or similar, maybe some jam and a scone?

For those that are making hampers for small kids, when I've done them in the past, I found it cheaper to buy a multi pack of stuff like bath bombs, lip balms, socks, pencils, bags of sweets/selection boxes. The £ shop do small packs of stencils, card, glitter etc, once its broke down, it works out cheap and can do maybe 5 hampers. You could always personalise it by printing out a personalised picture of what they like, mermaids, dinosaurs, football, to colour in. Or print out some word searches with their theme.