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'.

[2020nymph]

My sister and I were talking about the handmade cuddly toys we were given as children and our nan made us beautiful cards.

My Nan in law bought me a spoon holder from a charity shop and it's one of my favourite presents as it's the same one my mum has!

[butterpuffed]

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

They were great weren't they. You're the only other person I've ever head of who's familiar with them, let alone owns one !!

[nowlook]

A friend once made me a little head towel/turban thingy with a toggle fastener. It was thoughtful and useful- perfect present! I'd never seen one before at the time and it was so much better than a massive bath sheet wrapped around my nut.

[Autumnraincoat]

Colourful candles wrapped in lovely paper

Homemade anything

Secondhand books

Charity shop cups and saucers

Lip balm/bubble bath

[WellTidy]

A 12 colour eyeshadow palette from the MUA range in superdrug, which cost about £3-4. I love it. Perfect colours for me and excellent quality for the price.

A Wimbledon (All England Lawn Tennis club) mouse mat. I still use it 20 years on.

A coaster, which my DS1 made.

White chocolate, cranberry and pistachio fudge (homemade), but the Aldi Deluxe ones are fab too.

Lots of Christmas decorations.

[ravenmum]

When the kids were very small they wanted to get me a present, so I gave them 5 euros and sent them into a shop to buy something secretly. They came out with it in a bag, then gave it to me wrapped on the day. It was a saucer. No cup, just the saucer :) It is sitting on my windowsill now, I use it to put bits and bobs in and love it!

[NeonIcedcoffee]

I love house plants. I have so many but always want more! I've taken a few cuttings which I'm currently rooting and I'm going to give them as little extra gifts. But honestly a plant on its own for me would be great.

[Hadjab]

[quote MmeCamenbert]@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!![/quote]
@MmeCamenbert cold process or melt and pour?

I haven’t made soap for years - might get my kit out later!

[CarrieMoonbeams]

When we moved house for DH's work, many years ago, our friend made us a photograph album with pictures of places that were really meaningful to us - firstly as a couple, and then with him too as we spent a lot of time together as a 3.

So there was one of the church where we'd got married, then our first and second homes, then the home that we left, and the local pub that we all used to go to, the chippy, our favourite walks etc etc. He'd also then driven out to our new location (over 100 mile round trip) and taken photos of himself giving a "thumbs up" outside a couple of local restaurants, a pub, takeaway etc, and of the local beauty spots. This was his way of showing us that we'd be OK in our new location, and that he'd still come to visit us.

This was in the days before fancy cameras/phones, so he'd taken the roll of film, got the photos developed and stuck them in an album.

I'm actually welling up typing this! Such a loving, thoughtful gift and one that we still treasure.

[MmeCamenbert]

@Hadjab , melt and pour! I don't think I would trust myself with handling Lye! I used a slow cooker recipe and it was so easy! I'm just drying out some Olive leaves for my next batch !

[Valkadin]

My old boss got a free mug from a trade fair it’s got cospace library shelving emblazoned on it. I left that job almost 20 years ago but such a reminder of great times I still love it.

[OneInEight]

Secondhand books can be cheap and great presents (disclaimer: I sell secondhand books so probably am biased).

[TheTurnOfTheScrew]

Pretty IKEA christmas bauble from an old boss
a book loved by the giver - even if I don't end up loving it, it still feels like a lovely and thoughtful present
box of eggs from a mate's garden chickens
jar of honey from a mate's husband's hives
big box of wine gums. colleague gave them as a thank you for covering a lot of his work, and I was really touched that he'd taken the trouble to find out what my favourites were.

[caringcarer]

I was feeling so low during first lockdown then I got s picture of a rainbow 🌈 from my dgs he put I hope the rainbow makes you feel better Nanny. It did cheer me up and DH put it in a frame for me so now on the wall for.me to look at if I feel down.

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

This thread is a delight!

So many thoughtful gifts, appreciated after many years.

It's just lovely!

[Nonamesavail]

Someone at the kids after school club last year made them all a lovely photo calender gift she had made of them all and they featured on their birthday month. It was really lovely.

[Nonamesavail]

^ it was hand made. Im guessing she got photos printed and the calendars sheets so it probably wasn't that cheap now I think about it.

[breadfortea]

A tray of apples, all different varieties.

[IntermittentParps]

A tray of apples, all different varieties.

What a beautiful present!

[HotPatootiebootie]

Every spring my OH buys me the first bunch of dafodils he sees. And then I get a bunch every week until they are no longer in the shops. They are the happiest of flowers and that 50p a week meant the world to me when we were a very poor young family with 3 kids.

One December around the same time we were still on the poverty line and every spare penny went on the kids stockings. We were on the motor way on the way to his mums and he mentioned that he loved the plants that were growing in the central reservation, that they were teasels. He was doing a biology and conservation degree and was learning all about that sort of thing and they were his faves. So I went onto a newish site called ebay and got a packet of seeds for 99p delivered. Then I sentioned off part of the bottom of the garden and found a friend that had a spare pond liner and an old shovel for free. Put the stuff at the bottom of the garden, tied some glittery ribbon on the temporary string fence and that was his christmas present. Wrote in a card to go outside. He really enjoyed creating his own little habitat with the kids and learned an awful lot to help with his degree too.

[caringcarer]

When I was six my Auntie made me a doll's cradle. She used an old orange box from greengrocer and covered it in foam them fabric. She put a piece of bendy plastic covered in fabric to make a dreamcatcher and voille hanging down. Bought a small cheap doll and knitted it clothes. The bit that makes me cry when I think of her I'd that it was in my stocking from Santa and she herself gave me a little book. I played with that doll and cradle so much. It wasn't until years later when I found she had made it for me that I realized she had let me believe in Santa and give him the credit for my beloved cradle.

[JaneJeffer]

Not a Christmas present but after I had DS1 my SIL gave me a lovely jumper and said everyone will be giving you presents for the baby so I got something for you instead.

[Nonamesavail]

Oh the garden idea and the cradle are absolutely brilliant. Thats Christmas to me. Not perfume.

[Roussette]

My favourite present of all time...

The (now adult DCs) did a 'before and after' picture.

Them in a tent aged between 5 and 9.... recreated so so cleverly... same colour clothes, same backdrop, same daft facial expressions, the lot.... only about 15 years (or more) on! Both pictures in a frame.

I cried when they gave it to me, it's fantastic, and I smile every time I look at it.

[Tobebythesea]

An embroidered bookmark. A thing of beauty and something I treasure.