In our fantastic Christmas gift guide this year we had lots of good ideas for pressies, but it's also fun to make your own gifts for loved-ones, saving shopping time and money. And you can actually make these presents for under £15 and in no time at all.
**We love these great gift ideas! **
Homemade Christmas gifts: Lip scrub
Create the perfect stocking filler for your pals with a homemade lip scrub. Sugar, coconut oil and a little colouring or flavouring will create a batch that can popped into little pots. We managed to make 10 pots for under a tenner! Your girl gang will have kissably soft lips in time for NYE!
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Measure out your white sugar – you’ll need about a table spoon per pot of scrub.
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Add coconut oil – one teaspoon per pot.
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If you want to give your scrub a colour theme, add a drop of food colouring an add essence if you’d like a flavour. We went with peppermint for a refreshing feel – but vanilla or cinnamon would work nicely too.
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Mix together but be careful not to blend too much as the sugar will start to dissolve.
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Spoon your mixture in to each pot and finish with a ribbon or festive string for a simple and usual treat for your beauty loving bestie.
Shopping list for homemade lip scrub
Sainsburys Organic Coconut Oil £3.95
Silver Spoon Granulated Sugar 69p
Waitrose Food Colouring £1
Plastic cosmetics pots, Amazon £2.40 for 10
Homemade Christmas gifts: bespoke Sweatshirt
Designers and celebrities have given retro patches their stamp of approval. Rather than forking out on a bomber jacket or sweater on the high street, why not create your own bespoke design with a basic buy and some sewing-free, iron on patches? You can spell out a name across the front or keep it simple with initials – there are no rules when it comes to creating your one –off fashion statement.
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Ensure the sweatshirt or tee is clean and wrinkle free so you have a smooth even base to work on.
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Line up your letters, where you’d like them to sit.
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Place a tea towel over the top to protect your sweater and then then iron over the area for a minute or two until the letters are fixed in position.
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Leave to cool and voila! An individual top for your favourite teen!
Shopping list for homemade sweatshirt
Sweater, H&M £12.99
Badges, Hobbycraft, £1.50 each
Homemade Christmas gifts: recipe in a jar
Rather than spending cash on foodie treats to take round for the big day, why not try a recipe in a jar? Simply layer up the measured ingredients for their fave brownies or biscuits into a jar and finish with pretty fabric or ribbon with instructions on how to bake. It’ll be a nice treat for a rainy boxing day and fun to do with the grandkids.We managed to get 5 jars for under £10.
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Use an old clean jam jar. Find your favourite recipe and measure out your plain flour and baking powder in to the bottom of the jar. Press down gently to ensure it sits neatly at the base.
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Then layer up all the other ingredients in tidy layers – we used cocoa powder, walnuts and marshmallows but it’ll work just as well with any dry tasty treats.
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Ensure the lid is on tightly and wrap with an old piece of fabric and ribbon to give it a special feel.
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Don’t forget to include a tag with the basic method and extra ingredients needed (eggs, butter, milk etc).
** Ensure the jam jar doesn’t tip over before you present it as your layers will lose their neatness. Other than that – get baking and enjoy!
**Shopping list for recipes in a jar: **
Sainsburys Plain Flour 80p
Cadburys Cocoa Powder £1.95
Sainsburys Walnut halves £1.35
Waitrose Mini Marshmallows 80p
Tesco Chocolate Chips 80p
Homemade Christmas gifts: Pet Treats
Why not bake some tasty, treats for your beloved doggy or cat? There’s so many healthy recipes for that guarantee to get their tails wagging. There are all kinds of options to find online – we went with tasty cheesy biscuits but you can pick and choose ingredients to suit your pet’s taste buds.
Method
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Mix 2 ½ cups of flour with 1 egg and a pinch of salt.
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Add a handful of grated cheddar cheese and half a cup of chicken or veg stock.
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Stir together until it creates a smooth dough and roll out until its about 1cm thick.
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Use cutters to cut out your shapes – you could go for a classic bone shape but we gave ours a festive feel with stars!
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Place on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 mins, until golden brown. Let them cool – and surprise your pooch on the big day!
Shopping List for homemade pet treats
Sainsburys Plain Flour 80p
Tesco Medium Free Range Eggs 89p
Morrisons Grated Cheddar cheese £1.80
Kallo Chcicken Stock cubes £1.50
Food Cutters, Tiger £2 for pack of 5
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