You don't need to spend sack-loads of cash to put a smile on loved ones' faces this Christmas. The hundreds of entrants of MoneySavingExpert's Festive Fivers competition show that with a little imagination, a drop of creativity and some research, there's a vast array of wonderful pressies to be had for little or nowt.

• What's the idea?
• Top ideas for adults
• The perfect man
• In case of ermergency
• Top ideas for kids
• Kids Home Baking Kit
• Kiddies Journal Jar
• Other Articles/Discuss

Don't break the bank over Xmas: Top festive pressies for under a fiver

What's the idea?

The aim of the Festive Fivers competition is to build a database of wonderful sub-£5 children's or adult gift ideas. The gifts are allowed to be bought, made or a combination of the two. I first did this two years ago, and it was so popular I decided to re-run the fun again this year. We ran the contest in 2005, 2007 and now 2008; below you'll find the very best ideas from all years. Huge thanks to all MoneySavers who entered.

Top Presents For Adults

2008 Winners

Give the perfect man Buy/Make: make-it Cost: c. £2 Contest Entry Year: 2008 The perfect pressie for non-smug married pals! Make or buy a gingerbread man, wrap him up in posh wrapping, then print out and attach the following poem with ribbon: THE PERFECT MAN They say good men are hard to find I know this to be true But I hunted far and wide And found one just for you! He is no good at DIY He cannot fix the car But his socks are never smelly And he doesn't stray too far He always listens patiently And won't pester you in bed If you get fed up with him You just bite of his head!

• 'In An Emergency Break Glass' framed pressie
  Buy/Make: both Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Give your friends a sneaky treat, that they're only allowed to use when the going gets really tough. To make this gift, grab a photo frame in any size you like; around 8" X 10" should work fine. If you already have one in the house, even better; otherwise you should be able to buy one for around £3.
  
  First, cut a thin piece of card to fit inside the frame. Mark the part that will be visible through the glass out in pencil; this will be your working area. On the top part of the card, insert the words 'In An Emergency'. This can be printed on, handwritten, stuck on using letters from a newspaper, or with rub-on transfer letters, available from stationers (approx. £1 a pack).
  
  Select your 'emergency' treat, based on who the gift's for: a bar of choccie for a smoker; a £2 coin for someone who's always gets down to their last pennies; or a cigarette/nicotine patch for a smoker. Centre this on the card and make a pencil mark on its position. On the bottom section of the card, insert the words 'Break Glass'. Stick the coloured card onto the picture frame backing. Finally, stick your 'emergency item' in place and assemble the photo frame and ... hey presto!


• Name a star for free
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: c. £0 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  A gift that's light years away from everyday presents! It's possible to name a star after a pal or family member for absolutely nothing. Simply go to Free Name A Star, pick the name of your star, and pen a short dedication. It'll then send a certificate, that you can print out and stick to some coloured card and give to your friend - cosmic! You could add some educational info about stars and the universe too.
  
  This is just for a bit of fun though; it's not official and doesn't mean much, but it's a fun gesture. It might even be educational for kids and inspire them to find out more about astronomy. The same thing can cost up to £20 from lastminute.com, so do it for free instead. It's a small website run by one guy and this is what he says about star naming:
  
  

  "I can't officially name stars. No star has been given an official name in recent history. There is no official star naming service or authority that sells star names. Only the International Astronomical Union officially names stars and except for some older recognized stars, nearly all of the millions of stars are no longer named, but numbered. Here is what the IAU says:

  "Any company can name any star whatever you want, but it will mean nothing except to you and that company. Naming stars is another money making scheme to feed on the emotions of decent people. Therefore, if your family would like to name a star in the memory of a lost one, there is regretfully nothing "official" you can do. But that is no reason to stop you!! "



• Unique artwork on the cheap
  Buy/Make: both Cost: £2-4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Show friends and family you appreciate them by using your artistic talents to create some individual artwork. Simply buy a photo or picture frame, and create something unique and stunning. Ideas for things to frame include retro postcards, a record cover of an old favourite band, a nice poem written on special paper, or a kid's drawing or baby hand print.
  
  Or for something a bit different, do a collage of cigarette warning labels - perfect for someone trying to quit!



Sand Art Brownies Buy/Make: make-it Cost: c. £3 Contest Entry Year: 2008 This cute gift will get you lots of brownie points from pals. The idea's to buy all the ingredients for brownies, and present them along with the recipe, so your friend just has to do the final touches. Take a clean, wide mouthed jar and layer the following ingredients nicely: 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 + 1/8 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, 2/3 cup brown, sugar, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup Choc. Chips, 1/2 cup Vanilla Chips, 1/2 cup nuts. This should pack nicely into jar. Include a decorative tag (could personalise) with instructions for making the brownies: Combine contents of jar with 1tsp vanilla, 2/3 cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs. Pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Cover the lid with Christmassy decorations and ribbons. You can adapt the idea for other cakes or cookies, but brownies always go down well.



• A Personalised Top Tips Book
  Buy/Make: Make Cost: Free Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  If there is someone in your life who has had a new baby or a child that needs entertaining, share your knowledge and ideas by making a top tips book. Look through internet forums, talk to other parents and use your own experience to give ideas of games, activities, useful things to buy, what not to buy, local places to take your child, books to buy/get from library etc. As a new mum, it’s very difficult to know what to do and what activities you can do on a budget.
  
  The beauty of this present is that it’s practical, but the recipient also knows you’ve spent time thinking about them and doing something to help them. You can present it written on cards or in a book or folder. It would also work well for someone trying to lose weight or get fit.


• A Personal Squash Book
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  This is a lovely creative gift, which is great for rellies. Squash books are homemade concertina-style books, which make great photo albums. You will need the following materials: Two pieces of 4" x 4" square card/chipboard, four 4" x 4" pieces of patterned paper (cheap xmas wrapping paper), three 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" pieces of cardstock, embellishments, scissors, glue and photographs of the family.
  
  Use these instructions to create your squash book. These would be ideal a babies' first year or a friend's wedding.


• Personal Free Message
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Surprise loved ones by getting hold of a camcorder or recordable camera, and recording a personal video message. It doesn't need to be long, just 'I love you' will work well. This is always special you live away from family; get the kids to do one for their grandparents and tears are guaranteed. Transfer it to a CD for the recipient to watch back.


• Exploding Photobox
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  An exploding photobox can be made VERY easily from four pieces of cardboard. Inside goes lots of lovely photos and when you take off the lid, the sides flap down and shows your photos off. Use these step-by-step instructions. A really unqiue present and easy for even the non-crafty type.


• Personalised Diary
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Grab a blank diary, one with plenty of space for each entry, wrap the cover with nice paper or material. Then the special bit: go through the diary adding important dates to cheer them up throughout the year. Ideas include date nights, TV free nights, picnics, museum visits, DVD boxset watching days, their team's match days.
  
  Or cheer up a Monday morning car journey by burning a CD of his/her favourite tracks and sticking it in, glue in sudoku puzzles periodically, stick in a keepsake napkin from where you first met on the appropriate anniversary date, include handwritten messages from the kids on Mothers / Fathers day. Attach freebie cinema tickets or freebie tickets to watch live TV shows. On your wedding anniversary add an envelope with a message and confetti inside on your wedding anniversary. A very personal gift that lasts throughout the year for next to nothing!

Vinyl Record Bowls Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008 Bowls made from old vinyl are a fab crimbo gift for any musos in your life. Grab some old records you have lying around, or pop to your local charity shop to pick some up. Then place the record on top of an upside down oven proof glass bowl, and put the oven on at about 200 degrees. WATCH IT ALL THE TIME! Each record will start to "flop" at different stages. Take it out of the oven, using oven gloves and while it's still soft bend it around the bowl a bit more. Leave to cool until it sets and you there you have some funky, unique bowls! Please take care when doing this; you do it at your own risk!

Past Winners

• A Picture With Your Hero.
  Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: Under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Simply use the web to source a photo of your friend's favourite celeb and then provided you've a little computer nowse you can super-impose their picture onto it. If you don't have picture editing software, just download the free paint.net programme to help. Once done, print it out at home or professionally, stick it in a photo frame, or even have it blown up into poster size and they'll love it. Do always check when you're finding the photo though that it's not copyright protected.
  
  


• A Relaxation Wheat Bag.
  Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: Under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  Normally you'd fork out around a tenner in the shops for this, yet it's easy and cheap to make. Using a remnant of thick material, fold in half and sew down three sides. Stuff with wheat and dried lavender, which most supermarkets will have and sew up the remaining side. Heat in the microwave until comfortably warm; include an eggcup full of water in the microwave when heating so as not to burn the bag. If you've got a flair for sewing you could even personalise it by stitching on the recipient's initials or a nice design. It's perfect for relieving aches and pains or just for keeping hands warm.
  
  
• Restaurant Dinner Date for a Fiver.
  Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: £5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  The key here is with the clever use of any Tesco Clubcard vouchers you have. Instead of spending them instore as most people do, swap them for special 'Deals' from the Deals brochure and they're worth four times their face value. A fiver voucher is enough to get £20 to spend in restuarants such as Cafe Rouge or Chez Gerrard. Alternatively you can buy watches, magazine subscriptions and more to give as gifts also for around a fiver using the Tesco deals brochure.
  
  
• Discover Theatre-land's secrets.
  Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Lots of theatres around the UK offer tickets for backstage tours; taking you behind the scenes of your favourite show or play, revealing the ins and the outs of the theatre. For example, The National Theatre in London does a tour costing £5; so put some luvvie into the love of your life.
  
  
• DIY Page 3 Calendar.
  Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: c. £1 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  Give your other half their favourite page three lovely: you! Simply get snapping, upload the pics whether naughty or nice and then use the HP Photo calendar maker to make a calendar. Cheap and easy (the gift not you!)
  
  
• Festive Fruit Vodka Shots.
  Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: c. £3 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Homemade festive fruit vodka is cheap and easy to make. Get a small bottle and fill it with three-quarters vodka and one quarter sugar. Then put some of their favourite fruit into the mixture and leave to soak for 2-3 weeks. To really cut the cost check out the supermarket's reduced items at the end of the day, or your local market for cheap fruit. To add a personal touch, tart up the bottle with a DIY label or gift tag.
  
  
• A personal football programme.
  Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: c. £3 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  On eBay there are sections with old football programmes that you can buy for a pound or two. So simply find a programme of a match involving a fan's favourite team near the day they were born; buy it and frame it.
  
  

• Kids DVDs' for adults.
  Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  Bring back fond childhood memories by giving someone a DVD of their favourite children's TV show. There are loads of kid's classics to be had for under a fiver. Play.com has Postman Pat for £3.99, Blah DVD has Flash Gordon for £4.99 and Woolworths has The Magic Roundabout for £4.99, all including delivery. Though don't forget to compare prices on a shopping robot such as Find DVD or Pricerunner before ordering. (Read the Cheapest Online Shopping for more details).
  
  

A personalised house lamp. Buy/Make: Both. Cost: c. £4 Contest Entry Year: 2007 If you've got an arty touch, why not use it to give a creative house gift to friends or family. Budding Picassos can pick up a plain lamp for around £3.50, such as this one at Ikea. Then, before pluggin in of course, trace a pattern or shape on to it in pencil; decorate it with heat proof glass paints or glass pebbles for your very own "here's one I made earlier" moment.

Here's one a MoneySaver made!

• Why I Love You.
  Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: Under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  In this modern technology age, there's still something special about receiving a handwritten note. Whether you do it as a scroll of paper tied with a ribbon or just a simple sheet; write each other a love letter detailing why you love them so much. You could include things you've never told each other before, special stories or memories. Or you could write 101 reasons why you love your partner, each on seperate slips of paper, fold them up and place in a jar. They can pick one everyday!
  

• Turn your key into a torch.
  Buy/Make: Buy-it. Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  There's a clever little gadget called the Locklite mini key light; which fits onto any normal house key and turns it into a mini torch so you'll never need to fumble around in the dark again. It's like a tiny little pad that you add to the key head, and when you press it a 3 meter shaft of LED light shines ahead lighting up the door lock. These typically sell for between £3.50 and £4.00; and you can buy them online from gadgetpoint or Iwantoneofthose, although then the delivery cost will take it over the £5 limit.
  
  
• Take an away day for a quid
  Buy/Make: Buy-it. Cost: £1 per person Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Why not take your loved one to a place they've never been before; megatrain offers fares from £1 each-way if you book ahead, so pick a date and have a day away in a part of a glorious isle you've never visited before. There are many hidden gems in the UK; just look up a City, even if it doesn’t sound glamourous and see what it has to offer. If you’re on a strict budget, why not take a packed lunch. Of course using the FlightChecker you can often fly away for about the same price; only then airport transport and cheap accommodation will push up the cost substantially.
  
  

Top Presents For Kiddies

2008 Winners

A Baking Set With A Difference Buy/Make: Free! Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2008 Try and find some material with cakes on it and make a simple apron. Then fill a box ( decorated with fairy cake wrapping paper) with the ingredients for making fairy cakes including recipe cards and paper cases. You could also add some toppings like smarties or hundreds and thousands.

Here's one a MoneySaver made!

• Kiddies Journal Jar
  Buy/Make: make-it Cost: c. £2.50 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Spark your child's creative writing instinct by giving them a journal jar. Simply get an old clean, coffee jar and print off lots of quotes, prompts and questions like 'what five things make you happy?' Cut them up and place them in the jar; buy a cheap scrapbook to go with it, then each day they can pick a question and write the answer in the scrapbook. This creates a keepsake book that's all about the child and you can keep doing it each year.
  
  
• Christmas Surprise
  Buy/Make: make-it Cost: c. £2 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  After you've packed the kids off to bed on Christmas eve get a roll of wrapping paper and attach it to the door frame so the kids are wrapped in the room and they have to burst through the paper to get to their presents.
  
  
• England Team Football Shirts
  
  Pick up a boys' or girls' football shirt for around £4 from Sports Direct. You can choose to have different player's names on the back depending on their favourite player. You can either get the shirts in store at Sports Direct (470 around the UK), Sports World or LillyWhites or you can get them online at Sports Direct but you'll pay a £3.95 delivery charge per order.
• Children's Crafty Box
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Cover a shirt box or shoe box with wrapping paper. Fill it with as many crafty materials you can find around the house or pick them up cheaply from a pound store. Ideas include: pieces or shapes of wrapping paper, coloured or shiny card, coloured envelopes pictures and patterns from greetings cards, beads from old or broken necklaces, ribbon, bows, sequins, fancy buttons, doilies from cafes, restaurants or wedding receptions.
  
  Use the fancy bits from used christmas crackers, including the hats for pieces of tissue paper. Buy different shaped pasta each time you need to replace it and take out a few for the box. Collect wallpaper books, paint charts, fabric samples. Make up sections in the box to put the different things in and add glue and scissors to finish it off.


• Star in your own Where's Wally book
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: Free Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Buy a Where's Wally book (you can usually pick one up for around £3-4 from Amazon) and then change Wally's name for your friends. Find a funny picture of your mate and paste it over Wally throughout the book. And there you have a funny but personal gift.


• The Snowman book & CD
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: Free Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  A great little gift to get kids in the Christmas spirit, you can buy The Snowman Book & CD set for £3.99 from The Book People. Perfect for those long journeys when you're visiting relatives over the Christmas period.


• Edible Art Set
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: Free Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Fill a box with some sheets of rice paper, some cheap paint brushes, icing writing, food colouring, small sweets and anything else that will make a nice picture. Arrange nicely in the box and attach a sign to the front. You never know you might get an edible thank you card in return!


• Children's Monster Killing Spray
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  Buy a small empty spray bottle used for transporting cosmetics on holiday. Fill with water, and add food colouring & a few drops of lavender essential oil. Design yourself a fancy (personalised?) label to stick on and voila - Monster (or witch, ghost etc) killing spray! I know several young children who are scared of things that go bump in the night. Use this spray on an evening to fill their room with relaxing lavender scent, (whilst doing a crazy dance and singing a song/poem/spell to banish the nasties, and add to the magic!).


• Candy Cane Reindeers
  Buy/Make: Free! Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2008
  
  First get a box of small candycane sweets from Tescos for around £1 for 12. You'll also need some pipecleaners (the tinsel ones look especially great), small wiggle eyes & small pom poms for the nose. If you want to do this slightly cheaper, or can't get all the stuff, you can use small circle stickers for the eyes & nose, or just a small piece of coloured paper with some good glue. The last thing needed is any thin ribbon. This can be any off cuts as you only need around 8-10 inches for each reindeer.
  
  You will need to cut 4 x 1 inch pieces of tinsel. Use the remaining large piece to wrap around the top of the candy leaving 2 large pieces sticking up like horns, then twist 2 of the small pieces onto each horn making them look like reindeer antlers. Next stick on eyes just in front of the antlers, then the nose right at the end of the candy cane. Finally tie a ribbon halfway down the cane for the neck.
  
  These look great to put in the stockings, or just hang from the tree. They give a new lease of life to a rather traditional christmas sweet, and taste great. They are also great for school kids to make to sell on at the Christmas fayre.

Past Winners

• Turn your kids into a hand drawn cartoon character
  Buy/Make: Buy-it. Cost: £1.75 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  There's a great little website cartoonme where you can send in a photo of your kids and they'll turn it into a hand drawn cartoon version for £2.50. You can then print this out or even blow it up into a poster. Better still if you dress your child up in a superhero outfit first, then they'll become that cartoon superhero.
  
  
• Balloon Surprise.
  Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £1 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  This is very cheap, easy to do and will absolutely delight any nippers under five, after all they do say "they prefer the wrapping to the present." So get the biggest box you can and fill it with blown up balloons. Then wrap the box in Christmas paper so it looks great. It's often said small children are more interested in the packaging than the product; they'll get excited by the huge, huge box and then jump and play with the balloons. A massive pressie for a few pounds (though do carefully supervise, balloons can choke young children).
  
  
• Put them back together with a personalised jigsaw.
  Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £8 (yes I know, its a little over) Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Find a cute or funny picture of your child or pet, upload it to fabulousphotogifts and it'll create a 15 piece puzzle for around eight pounds; and they can have hours of fun picking up the pieces of themselves!
  
  
• DIY Construction Kit.
  Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £2 for paint Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Collect together the cardboard centres of old toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and some old cardboard boxes of various sizes and paint them in lots of different bright colours. Put them all in one big box and you have your very own construction kit, for pennies, which they can build all sorts with.
  
  

A mug of sweets. Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £2 Contest Entry Year: 2007 This is the type of thing you see on sale for £5 to £10; yet you can do it youself with ease. Simply get a few cheap large mugs from a discount store and stuff it full of sweets and chocolate. Then wrap it up in cellophane and tie some snazzy ribbon round it. It can also work for adults just swap the sweeties for posh chocolates.

Here's one a MoneySaver made!

• Give them a wirring flashing mopod.
  Buy/Make: Buy-it Cost: c. £1-£5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  This is the latest craze to sweep the nation! Costing between 99p and £4.99 (see Kelkoo* comparison) these little gizmos can be worn as charms on bags, clothes and mobiles. They're cute little animals that go with a mobile phone and spin and flash when you get a call, so if your phone is on silent, you'll still know.
  
  

• Feet of Love.
  Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £2 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  While it's not actually a present for kids, it's something you can get them to give to grandparents, aunts or uncles; it's especially good to do with small children as it's great fun too. Buy some clay from an art store and mould into a flat circle. Leave an imprint of your baby's foot in the clay, carve in the name and then decorate with glossy paint. You could tie string through it to make a nice wall hanging. Alternatively for a simpler (and messier) version you could do the same with paint and paper and frame the footprints!
  
  
• Make or buy your own Origami Set.
  Buy/Make: Buy-it/Make-it Cost: under £2.50 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  Simply buy a set of paper and then download instructions at Paper Folding; Origami's compelling, fun, and they'll be pouring over it for hours. Alternatively you can buy a set from Muji which will set you back for just £3.95.
  
  
• Make your own Slime.
  Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: under £5 Contest Entry Year: 2005
  
  Budding Scientists will love this make-your-own slime kit. Similar sets sell for £15 in the shops, yet you can make your own for a few quid. Please note that the mixture isn't edible and is only suitable for ages 8+. Fill a shoe box with: a small bottle of PVA glue; borax solution (1 tablespoon of borax added to 1 cup of water); some food colouring, a pipette, plastic cup and a small, plastic measuring cup. Add an instructions card: ‘To make the slime: add 2 drops of food colouring and 15ml of water to the cup. Next add 15ml of PVA glue and stir. Pour 10ml of the borax solution to the mixture and quickly stir. You should get a bouncy slime ball. To make it more slimy add less borax solution.
  

• Kit out a developing country's classroom.
  Buy/Make: Buy-it Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  For a fiver you can teach your child about charity giving by buying a bit of a classroom on their behalf. The donation to Oxfam will help build, renovate and furnish class rooms with walls, windows, desks and blackboards, plus they'll get a giftcard and magnet for their stocking. The ultimate feel good Christmas present.
  
  
• Personalised Story Book.
  Buy/Make: Make it Cost: under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2007
  
  Make them the star of their very own story, just grab some photos and get scribbling; you can include their friends, family and favourite toys. Or if the creative juices aren't flowing, incorporate them into one of their own favourite books. For example turn a little girl into Little Miss Muffet.