Very very cheap and lovely gifts you've received and loved

[Inthetropics]

Asking out of curiosity really, because some of my favorite gifts throughout the years have been very cheap and i wonder if it also applies to other people as well.

My best friend knitted a lovely scarf for me using letfover yarn and it turned out to be one of my favorite gifts ever. When i was around 18 a good friend gave me a dessert his mom had made for me as an Easter gift and i remember how delicious it was. One of my patients gave me a pair of very cheap earings that i really love and use very frequently because they go with almost all my clothes ans are so 'me'.

For xmas last year my husband bought me an Elf card (my favourite Xmas movie) and inside made all these coupons that said things like

"Win the argument no matter what its about"
"An evening out on me, and I dont have to be the one you go out with"

I never used all the vouchers, but the thought that went into it just warmed my heart. Plus he always writes the sweetest messages to me in my cards.

I loved a digital album with photos of my best friend&I that she did for my bday last year. It was a part of the present and she used a special program called smartshow 3d for that, so it basically costed her nothing as she had been already using it for a while, but the memories and impressions were priceless

Strawberry cupcake hand cream in a little jar from Home Bargains, 79p and it smells divine!

A really pretty little box with a lid full of single leaves of note paper. Probably one of the most used items in my household over the past two years, I think of the giver every time I grab a sheet for a shopping list.

When I got together with my now boyfriend, I also got together with his inexplicable love of all things Star Wars (he’s a grown man ffs!) However, against my better judgement I have fallen in love with The Mandalorian, and with Baby Yoda in particular. Out of the blue a parcel arrived a few months ago, as my boyfriend had bought me a Mandalorian tee shirt with Baby Yoda on the front. So thoughtful, funny and lovely, and yes, I wear it all the time!

When I was pregnant with my daughter, on mother's Day, my husband got a small gift bag and out in it, a bag of my fave crisps, my favourite chocolate bar, favourite bubble bath and a couple.of other little bits - probably cost £10 if that and it's pretty much my favourite gift I've ever received

my daughter left to go to university and I really missed her - I was a single parent most of her life so it left a massive hole and then ds went a year later. I never told them how much it affected me as I wanted them to be happy and I was also proud and happy that they were well adjusted enough to leave and get on with it! And on dd's birthday, we had a brief chat in the morning and she was going to call back but ended up being taken out by her friends so ran out of time etc. etc.

on mother's day, something arrived in the post. And it was the most beautiful cross stitch fabric and I could see it must have taken some doing as it was pretty large and she'd designed it herself. She had made a perfect stitched picture of our house and stitched

'Love you mum
You are the best mum anyone could wish for'

still chokes me up now when I see it!

DC made personalised Lego mini figures of each family member

When I think of the things my children have enjoyed most at Christmas, their favourites have always been the stocking fillers, mainly because the things I put in them have been verboten the rest of the year (that's how they knew FC was real, because he brought things that Mummy didn't allow).

For me, I have a dear friend who always gets me something small, but always just right- often lovely socks from White Stuff or Fat Face, which are cute and get worn to death, or a lovely hand soap, or note lock, pen etc. Never £££, because none of our group of friends are exactly rolling in it, but always so sweet and thoughtful.

An amaryllis. The flowers were phenomenal.

I will mention not to assume all hand crafted gifts are 'cheap'. Some cost far more money than they seem.

Significant prints are always special - can usually pick up a frame in Poundland or similar too.

I would be incredibly touched to be given a copy of a friend's favourite book. Its a very special thing to share with someone.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER I've just made my 1st ever batch of homemade soap (they can only get better now I know what I'm doing!) but this whole lot only cost about 6€ to make! You might be surprised!!

For my 18th birthday my very arty creative friend made me a card and filled it with a lovely message about our friendship...sounds soppy but it meant so much. I still have it 20 years on.

Every year my nieces bakes me biscuits and they are the best. I always look forward to opening her Christmas gift biscuit tin (though I have to give the tin )

*give back the tin

A dear friend who I don't see much (she's in another city) sends me something small but carefully chosen every year for my birthday. It's always nice but a particular favourite is the pair of socks with Russian dolls on them. Probably cost a few quid from John Lewis but I just love the feeling that she thought about me, saw those and thought 'Parps will like those.'

Also, when I moved from another city to London a very nice colleague, who I didn't even work with closely or know especially well, gave me a book of London walks. I was so touched; I thought it was such a thoughtful thing to give.

A small hamper of all my favourite foods (not a pre bought one).

A pen and notepad. I write a lot and love a list. I use cheap nasty pens. My DC bought me an expensive pen(around £5 but significantly more than the 10 for a £1 ones I usually use) and a notebook from the works.

Not very very cheap I guess, but under £15 and one of the nicest gifts I have been bought - because my friend listened to me when I said I liked her set, chose colours that suited my room, and wrapped them really beautifully. It wasn’t the gift itself but how thoughtful it was.

www.amazon.co.uk/String-Garland-Wedding-Christmas-Decoration/dp/B08DXMN5CJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=Cotton+Ball+LED+String+Lights&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1606126983&sr=8-6

In the 60s my father came back from working in India and gave me a little red bean, small enough to put on my fingertip. It had a little stopper and inside were 12 teeny tiny weeny carved elephants, they were for good luck.

DH bought me a Switch with Zelda Breath of the Wild (I’ve always enjoyed Zelda games) and I cannot tell you how much pleasure I’ve got from it. I’ve completed the game and started it again. I love it.

At the end of my first ever term of teaching I was exhausted. I had a class of 32 very lively Year 1s, and only about 4 hours per week TA support.
At the end of the last day before Christmas, the mum of one of my favourite pupil’s came up and presented me with a cardboard box with ribbon. It was full of homemade stollen, in lots of icing sugar. I had only just tried stollen for the first time the week before and loved it, so this was just so amazing and lovely.
I actually cried.

Apologies - I missed the bit about cheap - a Switch is definitely not cheap.

@butterpuffed

In the 60s my father came back from working in India and gave me a little red bean, small enough to put on my fingertip. It had a little stopper and inside were 12 teeny tiny weeny carved elephants, they were for good luck.

Oh I remember those! I had one in the 70s. I loved it.

Relative of boyfriend brought our new baby a pink plastic 3 legged stool.
Very random I thought !
It’s been one of the most useful things in the house for the past 18 years

Not at all cheap for what they are - you can buy lovely mugs at the pound shop after all - but Emma Bridgewater mugs. Something about the weight of the creamware and the thickness of the rim makes them the perfect cup for tea drinkers. (DH drinks coffee and prefers a thinner rim). Mine is personalised and they also do favourite cities, flowers, dogs etc. Lots of 20% discount codes available if you sign up to their online newsletter.

Years ago, DH’s 3 year old niece made us a paper angel for our first married Christmas tree. It’s a toddler’s daubs, certainly no work of art, but it is still one of my favourite things in the house without a doubt. She stays out all year on the dresser and is known as our guardian angel when she’s not on top of the tree. Christmas decorations made by small children are always well received IME, as I see them on friends’ trees year after year.

30 years ago my Chinese flatmate gave me a tiny jade plant money tree and told me to water it just once a month on the night of the full moon. PMSL
but agreed. It’s 3ft tall now, it looks spectacular, I think of her whenever I water it (she lives in HK now) and it’s definitely brought me money luck.