Skint Christmas for three children

[Wellyscooterwalk]

Please help me with some DIY/ very very cheap ideas for Christmas.

We are in the ‘both working full time but barely scraping by’ bracket this year.
We can only find £100 to cover Christmas for our three children - stockings and gifts and other- and I’m trying to make the most of every penny. (£100 all together not each). I’m willing to spend every spare evening making/baking/searching for things.

I’ve already put together an advent calendar using Christmas themed books we own/craft activities we already had the materials for/‘activities’ such as a walk to see Christmas lights.

I will try to bulk out stockings with primark socks etc. and toiletries such as toothbrushes/bubble Bath which would normally fall within our groceries budget.

Any ideas of age appropriate gifts/stocking fillers that I can make please? Or things to buy cheaply which would be worth while?

Children are 8,6 and 2.

Thank you.

Also, my kids (ages 4-8) absolutely love getting their own packet of tissues in their stocking. No idea why.

If you are able to, how about gifting them an experience either together or one at a time.
Do them a voucher for it “in May we are going to the beach/theme park (using the bogof vouchers)/museum etc.
We did that one year and our girls really looked forward to those activities x

Join your local neighbourhood app op, on ours there's a group where people are giving away craft materials and colouring kits for children. You might find some other true bargains on there.

I’ve seen people putting flour, cocoa powder etc in jam jars, with Xmas paper and string round the lid, as a ready to bake kit.
You could already have some of that in your cupboards.

Agree with others about using the budget on the older ones. Your 2yo won't care or remember what they get. Balloons in a big box is a great idea. When my DC were little they loved old plastic bottles filled with rice or bells (lids glued on for safety) that made loads of noise.

Facebook is a great place to pick up slides, climbing frames, scooters, bikes, etc. Don't be put off buying second hand. DS is getting some used toys this year and he really won't care. One year DD got a big box of 80s action figures as her main present, it was her favourite gift for years & now DS has them.

Perhaps you have friends with similar aged children who will exchange toys? For example your DC don't play with a train set any more and their DC don't play with a marble run, you could swap.

Car boot sales, The Works, B&M, pound shops are great. If you buy activities/games you can spread out unwrapping and encourage them to play with things as they open. Food treats are great stocking fillers. A big pack of biscuits from Aldi would take up a good chunk of space in a stocking. Socks & fruit are good for bulking out too. I'm putting a can of pop in this year too, fizzy drinks are very rare in our house so this will be a huge treat.

On a different note, maybe check if there are any zero waste projects in your area. They are open to anyone, regardless of income. For a few pounds you can fill your fridge/freezer. Might help in the run up to save some money on your food budget & save food from landfill at the same time.

Most of all, your children will remember what you do together, rather than gifts under the tree so please try not to stress too much about the presents.

@TeeBee

Or do you have any scraps of wood that you could make an open-fronted dolls house from?

dd played for years with an open front cardboard box dolls house. (So basically backwall, floor and 2 side walls. You need a string across the front corners of the 2 side walls for rigidity. You can hang this from it, or maybe use those bottle fairy lights). We made all sorts of pretty things to go inside- a matchbox cradle and patchwork quilts, a tiny Christmas tree with sequin decorations. It was so much fun to make, and the things like the Christmas tree made an extra parcel, and she made pictures for the walls herself. It was a toy that grew.

@Listener2021 by any chance do you have any photos of this dolls house?

You could make a slot toy for the 2yo. Mine all loved putting shapes through slots at that age. I just cut a hole in the lid of a big jar and cut circles out of card but you could get fancier. Something like this: madebyjoel.com/2012/06/diy-baby-toy-slot-box.html

I agree with PP who say spend the most on the older two.

Also any kind of landscape/house set up has always gone down well here. For example attaching a couple of wooden crates we already had together and making it into a house with toy furniture we already had, or getting some flour in a shallow plastic container and setting up a construction scene with vehicles we already had. (To be played with at the table only!)

Make play dough for your 2 year old and use different colour food colouring for 2 or 3 batches.

Mine used to love Christmas film and hot chocolate, making paper chains and Christmas decorations, going for late night walks to see the lights. This is what they remember, not the gifts. And the gifts they do remember were the small cheap ones like marbles and jacks/five stones.

Slightly off topic but the Ikea dolls houses are really good.

As pp's have said, I've got a couple of mini boxes of coco pops for the stockings and some Nutella as they don't usually have that.

I'm also going to get some digestives and some of that icing in a tube as a bit of a 'cookie decorating' kit.

Have also got bubble bath, hair gel, hair brush, selection boxes, and some colouring books.

I read something the other day where someone said they barely remember any of the presents they got as a kid but remember the family time, playing games, walking in the cold - the magic basically. That rang true for me.

Home made slime made with cornflour, water and food colouring, can add jelly crystals too, in a plastic tub for the little one. Maybe if they like balloons blow lots up and stuff them into a big box, maybe push a small chocolate inside each balloon then wrap the box up. It will fill quite a bit if space and look impressive. Have a look on Gumtree or Facebook too for toys.
You could make homemade lanterns, cards, Santa out of toilet roll tubes, play things like pin the tail on Rudolph, I think focus mostly on the older child where the expense goes but plan lots of cheap fun for the younger ones.

[quote TheHound86]@Listener2021 by any chance do you have any photos of this dolls house?[/quote]
She is 23, Hound, so no, although we still have the cradle and quilts and a scrapbook and a few things like that.

Ebay, charity shops, free cycle

For stocking, science musuem website has some really fun little things.

If the 8yo has a bike and likes cycling, you can get a wired bike computer for about £18. It looks like a big present, is something they can set up with their dad on Boxing Day so good for sharing some time, and gets used all year, my ds loves his.

Find a local church to go to that does a family carol service (you don't have to be a regular churchgoer.) Sometimes churches will do free Christmas activities as well - there is a church near us that is having a Christmas tree festival, for example.

Libraries also sometimes do free activities as well such as crafts or story time.

Find out where in your local area is good for outdoor decorations and take a walk around and then come home and have hot chocolate.

From the dolls house. £2 coin for scale

@Listener2021

From the dolls house. £2 coin for scale

TheHound86 the house is long gone, dd now grown up, but I found a few of the things we make. Cradle and quilts and doll's Christmas stocking and doll's scrapbook.

Have a look at Toysforapound.com. Great bargains.

MeatyRvita

We’re in a similar position op but only have one ds (age 4) although you won’t be able to get the exact same things I thought it might be nice to let you know your definitely not alone and this might give you some ideas maybe?

we’ve got:
Hot wheels set (£5 from charity shop)
Spider-Man figure (£2 from a carboot sale)
Electronic drum kit (part of the 2 toys for £15 deal on Argos. (www.argos.co.uk/product/7248937?clickPR=plp:15:276)
Spider-Man and friends cars (again 2 for £15
www.argos.co.uk/product/9516234?clickPR=plp:272:276)
Stencil art kit £3.99 from B&M
Melissa and Doug reusable sticker book £3.49 from Amazon (www.<a class="break-all" href="https://amazon.co.uk/Melissa-Doug-Habitats-Removable-Backgrounds/dp/B007QTB6U6?psc=1&pf_rd_p=10d08d47-a6c4-482e-85a7-23115aa14aba&pf_rd_r=FWXTYEB1ACT3T0NGKCZK&pd_rd_wg=A7a5B&pd_rd_i=B007QTB6U6&ref_=pd_bap_m_rp_2_sc%29&pd_rd_w=uDy6b&pd_rd_r=bd070b51-bf3d-4fe7-80ef-d5fad9b2a6d9&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-christmas-4404889-Skint-Christmas-for-three-children" rel="nofollow" target="blank">amazon.co.uk/Melissa-Doug-Habitats-Removable-Backgrounds/dp/B007QTB6U6?pd_rd_w=uDy6b&pf_rd_p=10d08d47-a6c4-482e-85a7-23115aa14aba&pf_rd_r=FWXTYEB1ACT3T0NGKCZK&pd_rd_r=bd070b51-bf3d-4fe7-80ef-d5fad9b2a6d9&pd_rd_wg=A7a5B&pd_rd_i=B007QTB6U6&psc=1&ref=pd_bap_m_rp_2_sc)

And then his stocking:
Alien treasure x slime egg £0.99 from B&M
Whoopie cushion (£1 Poundland)
Chocolate Coins (Poundland)
Avengers temporary tattoos (eBay £1)
Disney wallet (0.50p from Ali express)
Character Socks from primark
Chocolate Santa (Poundland)
Colouring book and felt tips (Poundland)
Giant gummy cola bottle (Poundland)
Wilkos (Lego knockoff) ice cream van set £3.25
(www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-blox-ice-cream-van-assortment/p/0335883)

The works and card factory had some extremely cheap Christmas activity sets the other day if they’re anywhere near you.

Hi @Wellyscooterwalk, if your 6 or 8 year old are in to Sylvanian Families, I have a brand new box of the hedgehog family. My dd got gifted two of the same last year and I wasn't sure what to do with the spare one. They are very cute! Send me a DM and I will post it to you

There's been some fab suggestions here - not much left for me to add.

If you are crafty you could make a dolls house/furniture for an existing dolls house if you think it's something they would like. I made one out of the top half of an old tallboy I found in a skip. You can get free wallpaper samples in place like B&Q, and maybe carpet tiles too. You can make curtains out of fabric scraps.
DH once made DS1 a train station and tunnel to go with his Brio train set, mainly a Pringles tube and papier mache I think. That was very well recieved, the station was named after DS1 and he thought it was amazing!
I found jumble sales even cheaper than boot sales - sometimes the ones held in schools coming up to Christmas are really good, and are very child-centred.
You could go foraging on walks for leaves to dry/acorns/conkers/holly and then press them or spray them with gold or silver paint. You can make Christmas cards and present labels.The older DC can make biscuits or mince pies or sweets for people.
I think now is the time to get them used to the idea that Christmas is not all about what you get, and what you buy. It's family time and fun activities, and maybe a few nice presents but they don't need sackfuls. Especially not the baby, who will like nothing better than a big cardboard box to climb in and out of. Or bubble wrap to jump on.
We never had much money when I was a child, and it really wasn't an issue. I still have fond memories of the things my parents made for me. Don't worry about the children not having a good time, they will, it's clear that you will be making sure that they have a wonderful time!

It's DD's birthday just after Xmas so last year she got some ikea bits as the budget was so low. Still in this situation this year if having no Xmas budget for two kids and a birthday but, have got some lovely Aldi little town wooden toys in the weekly shop.

This is the "dolls house" DD got for her birthday last year www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/flisat-doll-s-house-wall-shelf-50290785/ I got it second hand for £12 in perfect condition from next door neighbour site.

My children enjoy baking and making homemade sweets for Christmas. They especially love homemade, chewy toffee which we wrap in brown oven paper. We then give it as gifts and have a big bowl at home.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chewy-toffees/amp

The recipe above is along the lines but you don’t need a thermometer. When it has boiled for a while, you put a small amount in a glass of cold water. If you can shape a small ball, it is ready, if you can’t it needs to boil longer.

If you would like the recipe we use, let me know and I will translate it. I am Scandinavian , couldn’t find it in English.