Blogmas Day 10 | Festive Fivers

Aloha! Christmas is a very expensive time of year so today I thought I'd share a couple of my favourite 'festive fivers' - gifts for £5 or less!

1 - Make your own bath bombs! Mix 1 kilo of sodium bicarbonate with 500 grams of citric acid. Add a few drops of food colouring and flavouring e.g vanilla extract then gradually add a few drops of water whilst stirring the mixture until it looks like wet sand. Mould using cookie cutters, cake cases or paper cups and leave to dry for 48 hours. You can then wrap in cellophane to make them look pretty.

2 - Student Cookbook. I could have done with one of these when I was a student. Buy a cheap ring binder or wirebound notebook and then you can write in your favourite cheap meals (you can google them if you don't know any). Or you could just fill the book with local takeaway menus...

3 - Homemade Jam. Recycle your old jam jars and decorate the lid with some pretty material. Get 500g of fruit, jam sugar and a lemon and use a simple recipe from good old google. Easy peasy and looks good too!

4 - Teacup Candle. Shops are selling these for a pretty penny these days but you can make your own for about £5. Just buy a vintage teacup from a charity shop/ebay/car boot sale, grab a candle wick in any craft store and if like me you have many old wax melts lying around, you can melt them down and pour them into the tea cup, adding a new fragrance if you wish. Wait for the wax to harden overnight and you have a pretty candle. Wrap it in cellophane and tie with a bow if you want it to look extra pretty. 

5 - Hot Chocolate Cones. Buy some cellophane cones on Ebay, get some nice hot chocolate (check bargain stores or supermarket offers for the best prices) and fill half the cellophane cone. Twist & tape the top closed and slip this into another cone of the same size. Sprinkle mini marshmallows on the top and twist and tie a ribbon around the top of the 2nd cone. Stick a candy cane on the front with a little label on how to make the hot chocolate & voila!

I hope these tips come in handy if you are looking for some cheap, thoughtful presents!

Let me know if you try any of them!

xxx