£5 Secret Santa

[TwoBigNoisyBoys]

We have a Secret Santa going in work…due to cost of living etc it’s been agreed to stick to a £5 budget, which means it’s affordable and everyone is happy to take part. However… what can I buy?! I’ve drawn a lovely lady who I get on with brilliantly, but I don’t have a clue what to buy. She’s teetotal, vegetarian, arty, spends Christmas skiing in France, and is absolutely fab…so how can I do her justice with a fiver? All ideas gratefully received!

A book (if you have any idea what they like) maybe a bestseller on sale for £5

Nice chocolate - hotel choc slab as Pp says, a Lindt bear is about £4, Lidl has toblerones for £5

Lip balm or hand cream - on Amazon you can get either for less than £5

A Christmassy nail polish if it's a woman

you can get a bayliss and Harding hand soap and hand cream for £5 online

Dunelm actually have some lovely waters and noble notepads on their website, I believe they are mostly around the £5 mark.

Or I would second the suggestion for a lovely bookmark or perhaps some lovely fluffy socks.

Find a photo or picture of a picturesque skiing theme in France, screenshot, print on snap fish for a quiid and frame for under £4, 🙂

I've bought a pair of these - they're lovely and a bit different https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296835175949

Look in TK Maxx, might be able to get a nice one there in budget.

For a £5 token gift I'd love a bag of coffee, or nice biscuits or handcream

A tealight carousel?

I bought a similar one from Oliver Bonas for my work friend a couple of years ago. She loved it 😊

www.amazon.co.uk/GROOMY-Spinning-Tealight-Carousel-Ornament/dp/B07KBWNWVQ/ref=asc_df_B07KBWNWVQ?mcid=55145605985332cc9cdf30eb697fec96&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=710828824456&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13977180302951963921&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045353&hvtargid=pla-852012944785&psc=1&gad_source=1

£5.99 on Amazon for this beautiful hardback notebook with gold page edges.

I’d check out museum shops for something a bit different.

Does she love the theatre? The Globe does these beautiful chocolate bars https://shop.shakespearesglobe.com/collections/stocking-fillers/products/rhubarb-milk-chocolate-90g-bar plus maybe the “2B or not 2B” pencil https://shop.shakespearesglobe.com/collections/stocking-fillers/products/2b-or-not-2b-pencil

So many lovely suggestions!! Thank you all 🥰

A skiing headband or ear muffs would be lovely, im sure you could find some for around £5

Decathlon have snoods for under £5

If she's going skiing, done really good waterproof, UVA and UVB resistant SPF lip protector. You can get them to hand round your neck for easy access when skiing - look somewhere like Snow n Rock, Ellis Brigham, Go Outdoors.

Hand warmers for skiing? E.g. these look nice enough to gift:

www.mountainwarehouse.com/snowflake-reusable-hand-warmer-p49630.aspx/White/?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ePMax+-+High+-+Shopping+UK&utm_term=&utm_content=|pcrid||pkw||pmt||pdv|m|slid|VPA1WhZW|product|055360052001|grp||tid||cmp|20642088702|&searchintent=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAjKu6BhAMEiwAx4UsAkm0FVB4ZU9vU4WvZZm4F95K0cJuZVkOo3mw9cCnf0nbwJgnCrDtThoCQ0sQAvD_BwE

I agree with small lovely things. Eg box of M&S riciarelli biscuits £4.95. Or the museum chocolate. Or saffron/nice paprika.
I always steer away from cheap candles / fragrance etc because the smell can be dire and you just bin them.
my Secret Santa is getting 250ml homemade sloe gin this year - but I know she drinks.

M&S tin of luxury nuts or an individual mocktail? I like the charity shop book idea - book and a mini bar of vegan chocolate?

I'd go for a paperback book.

They are generally voluntary. Certainly is in our workplace.

Scrawl have some of their art boxes at £5

scrawl

I know they're voluntary in theory but that doesn't always work in practice and it depends on the size and type of workplace too. If you work in a smallish privately owned company for example you really are expected to join in and there is subtle, but very real, pressure if you don't. Very few people want to work in an awkward, or even unpleasant, atmosphere. I've seen a couple of colleagues truly distressed because they honestly couldn't spare £10 - or at least it was a choice between Secret Santa or spending it on something essential. I don't suppose they were utterly thrilled to receive a chocolate willy or scented candle in return either.

This has been me. We weren’t asked whether we wanted to join in and were just told one day, you need to buy a present for X. I said, no thank you, and it didn’t go down well at all. Then other colleagues came to me secretly and said that in the past they had been too scared to say anything (boss, who organised it, is a bully with a temper who play favourites), they also didn’t want to do it but felt forced.

Lidl do an Amaryllis kit for £3.99.

Nice soap from TK Max

Bauble eg
https://amzn.to/4gfipnb Is nice

or nail polish - saw this yesterday and it looks amazing

https://amzn.to/3D3gPGn

maybe with a couple of home made truffles.

I second the candle idea. Also box of chocolates. Something from Lush.

The thing about secret santa is that no one is expecting anything amazing, especially with a £5 cap. Its really just a token, a little something extra to open...so I wouldn't worry too much about it.