Home made Christmas presents - what shall I make?

[Miaou]

As we are on a very tight budget, for the last couple of years I have made all my Christmas presents (bar one or two). Last year I painted jam jars with glass paint designs and put a tealight in each one. The year before I bought a box of "church" candles and stencilled a design on each one.

The trouble is, I can't think what to do this year!
Each present needs to fulfill the following criteria:

• be suitable for a couple or single man or single woman
• be small/light enough to post (tho' I did jam jars last year and they all arrived without breakages)
• cost £1 - £2 per item

I do something different for the children (so any ideas for them would be appreciated too!)

Any ideas?

TIA
Miaou

What about those needlework pictures. You can buy the threads,needles, material (the white stuff with holes) and design your own pictures.

You could let your dc do homemade cakes/biscuits or even make them a christmas cake...
I always used to make peppermint creames...

ive got an american book with recipe for cookie mix that you put in a jam jar and add label with mixing baking instructions. Could post recipe if you like.

Thanks for the ideas ..... keep 'em coming!

I'm steering away from the foodie things, mainly because i want to start making stuff fairly soon rather than leaving it all until very close to Christmas. Will bear in mind for birthday presents though!

Hercules....that's what I do for a living!!!! It did cross my mind to do it as Christmas presents but I'm very aware that cross-stitch is not really everyone's cup of tea....

What about making candles from the children...?

Don't tempt me

LOL

Painted mugs or similar? these from Baker Ross are really cute.

Or how about getting a batch of suitable cloth and making tea towels, then decorating them - either some simple embroidery, or some tasteful painting/stamping ... or get the kids to do some tasteless painting/handprinting?

lol. It would very cheap and save you having to get something for the kids!

Or how about buying cheap wooden photo frames and painting them, or decorating them - various options there.

Love the mini mugs! I could do those for the kids and bigger ones for adults

Like the photo frame idea too ... anyone know a cheap source?

Are internet-shopping sites best for you? Or do you get someone to shop for you, and then send it over?

Tescos do some cheap wooden frames instore. I've heard Ikea recommended too.

I was just feeling guilty having done a link to BakerRoss, then checked and realised how much they'd sting you for postage

You can do food items if they keep. Add some chilis and garlic to olive oil and leave them till Christmas to infuse. Make pickles or marmalade, they keep really well.

I always do loads of stuff like this and people love it. They especially like my pickled onions, and they cost very little to make, and need to be left 3 months to mature anyway!

You could make Dundee cake or Christmas cake. I make a big one and cut it up into little ones to give away. It's lovely if you have poured spirit over it and wrapped it in foil, then left it for a few months to mature.

I also do homemade wines, but they take longer. You'd have to start making them a couple of years in advance! Every year we pick sloes and blackberries and make sloe gin and flavoured liqueurs. It really costs very little but you have to make the effort to go and gather them when they are in season and make the stuff, so people love it.

Plain wooden photo frames are very cheap in Ikea.

And they also sell coloured glass beads cheaply. I make these for my craft stall. Spray paint the frames with gold or silver paint and then glue the glass beads on.

and you could always add a photo of yourself in the frame - double pleasure for the recipient!

Anorak can you send a sample of your pickle onions please...I love pickles....

Could you decorate a plastic plant pot and send it with a bag of compost and some 'surprise' seeds or bulbs together with instructions?

message withdrawn

What about Salt dough - I did christmas decorations one year and 'natural' themed wall plaques (corn, baskets of fruit etc) another. You can also do place card holders or serviette rings.

Another year I bought large containers of (cheap) baubles and made up table decorations. You could also do mini wreaths.

Christmas cakes should be made in September (or beginning of Oct) and can be marzipanned early Nov and iced a week later.

Candied or sugar fruit or flower petals, fudge, toffee, coconut Ice.

I'll keep thinking and post if I have any ideas

My stepdaughter bough cheapish wine glasses and painted them in a kind of Rennie Mackintosh design for us last Christmas. She got metallic glass paints and they're absolutely lovely. My guess is that the paints aren't cheap but would go a long way if you were doing a lot.

The other thing is that Baker Ross do nice plain wooden egg-cups for decorating. They're pretty cheap but after Roisin's comment about postage maybe that's not really viable (unless you got a mainland MNer to order them and then post them on....)

As an alternative, the paper mache photo frame and tiny little gift boxes( range from approx 50p each), paint and stick on a little flower, xmas motif..
Individual felt xmas tree ormanments, started making these myself last year, but ran out of time. Keep pretty flat but use a bit of wadding.Try xmas trees, stockings,teddy bears...decorate with stitching, sequins or beads.
Personalised glasses, transform a cheap plain glass into something special, decorate with relief liner and glass paint, designs such as flowers,names,sports motifs...(saw some for sale at a craft stall going for £8.50 each!!!)
All of a sudden I am starting to get all festive, must be the wine I had with dinner!!
If I think of something more original I come back.

wow, thanks everyone... I don't know, I go off to watch the x factor and look what happens in my absence....

Just looked at the Baker Ross postage costs - see what you mean Roisin, what a rip off - especially as they don't get in a blimmin' boat to deliver them to me... However, I could get stuff sent to my mum and she can give them to me!

Lots of lovely ideas, I'm going to be hard pressed to choose what to do now!!

Miaou - what a lovely idea! I wish I was as creative although I did once make loads of fudge, truffles etc and bought some nice gift boxes and gave them to all the male members of my family (men being so hard to buy for). If you know of any ideas for non-artistic people such as myself or simpler ideas that my children could do for their grandparents, I would love to hear them.