I was texting my little sister last night and she is getting herself in a really bad state about Xmas as they have no money. I said to her that Christmas wasn't about worrying about money and getting yourself to debt, but a time for showing loved ones that you care.

I suggested to her that she makes gifts rather than worrying about buying. Some of the suggestions that I came up where

Write a poem and laminate it ( I have a laminator so offered to do this for her, so it would be no cost for her)

I thought that she was learning the guitar so suggested she made a recording, however, turns out she couldn't get on with that, but can play the recorder, so she could do a Christmas recording.

Make pickles

She lives near a woods, suggested she got some woodland and made arrangements.

Has anyone else got any other suggestions that wont cost her any money or very nominal.

This little sister has been through a terrible time at the moment and she doesn't have good health as she suffers from Crohnes and the last thing I want is her stressing herself up, as this aggrivates the Crohnes.

To be honest I don't think any of us are really into Christmas this year after losing my other sister, but then we have to go through the motions, particularly for children and grand children.

ET

Make biscuits!

Has she got access to a computer?
She could maybe do a 2010 calendar with old and recent pictures of family and/or friends?

That's a great idea, thanks.

If she has access to a DVD rewriter she could perhaps make DVDs with photos and videos? She could make the covers for the DVDs and everything! I'm suggesting this because I've done it before for my friends, with photos and videos taken both in school and out and it went down a treat It's the thought that counts!

Biscuits and sweets are a good idea - I have a recipe for chocolate truffles which goes far and doesn't cost the earth. Roll them in a little cocoa powder and wrap in a paper twist or a little cellophane.

Handmade notelets are also useful - stick a favourite photo to the front of a blank card and add envelopes (I use ordinary card and supermarket envelopes - very inexpensive). People can use them for Christmas thank-yous.

Also fruit baskets - some shops sell small baskets very cheaply and they can be filled with fruit and some pretty boiled sweets and wrapped in cellophane. Ask in a florist.

For inexpensive kids presents - a pack of printer paper and a little bag of crayons, pens, etc.... I know kids who have abandoned their 'big' expensive presents to play with those! Even a simple ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles for a child has caused great excitement! Likewise a couple of fabric paints and some plain T-shirts (Tesco are selling pairs of white T-shirts for £3!).

Brilliant ideas, thank you everyone.

For those with internet access, putting 'homemade gifts' in to Google will get you more ideas than you will know what to do with (plus plenty of hours of entertainment looking at things thinking 'you made a what?!')

Personally, I think I may have to make a Smelly Jelly Fish Bowl

For people with children the offer to baby sit for an evening so mum and dad can go out is always welcome.
For the children themselves a trip out can be good. There are lots of free museums and galleries many of which regulary provide free family activities. Take a picnic and it adds to the fun.

I think, it rather depends on the person, for whom the gift is for. I once made my father for christmas six skulls with porcelaine mass, and delivered them in a selfmade box, where they lay like jewels. He was completely crazyly happy with them. You see, he is a magician and he had a magic piece he wanted to develop, but he couldnt find any. Some were too small, the next too large, the material wasnt right and whatever. So I made them exactly to his specifications. And I think, whatever your sister picks should reflect the persons personality or interest. It makes self-made gifts much more special, because they get personal to a degree, no bought gift could ever accomplish.

Would your mum appreciate a "This is Your Life" -type book? Your sister could get travel brochures and cut out photographs of places where your mum has visited, especially for family holidays, and scan/print old photographs as well. Accompany the pictures with memories of what each occasion meant to your sister. Could she write the accompanying memories in verse?

Can she make Christmas Crackers? And fill each cracker with a piece of fancy paper showing a link to a web site which she knows will be of interest to the recipient. For your mum it might be a link to a yesteryear Hollywood movie (whole movies are on YouTube) or to YouTube clips of her favourite singers. If your mum hasn't got a computer, she could include an invitation for "An afternoon at the cinema" after Christmas at her own house, complete with ice cream

I was looking at some puzzle books in a shop earlier today which were only about ?1 each and would keep somebody happy for hours/days. Has she ever tried putting a crossword together herself? The clues and the answers could all be things to do the family.

I hope you all manage to find the spirit of Christmas, in spite of all the problems you've had as a family this year.

x

Everyone's suggestions are so good!

Handmade presents are always more special, aren't they? I like making sort of scrapbooky card things, gathering old shiny sweet wrappers, using letters from magazines/newspapers, any old arts and crafts bits and bobs, then using photos (truprint are doing 9p per print atm, and they do these really good collage prints which can have several photos on the print for the same price, and add a message in different fonts, or just cut out the photos).

Cakes, sweets, biscuits always go down a treat

Also, I'm making a DVD for all my friends at the moment, with lots of videos and photos we've taken over the past few months, and am putting them to music, editing them, then burning copies and giving them to everyone. Hopefully they'll get a few good laughs and get that heart warmy feeling.

I always respect someone more if they've spent time, effort, and actually thought about something, rather bought the first thing they saw, regardless of the price.

Yes, I was going to suggest the calendar gift, you can download 2010 calendars and add your own pictures and/or words. So useful and those of us who have children that bring them home from school know how special they are.

Tesco's also do a very good range of personal photos on gifts, they vary in price but the keyrings/ fridge magnets are good value and different.

After the sad year you have had the last thing your family needs is to be stressed out with things that don't matter, i.e. Christmas presents, more important is to use the time to talk, listen and gain strengh from each other, these are the priceless things that money cannot buy xx

My sister made some beautiful and rather funky brooches to be worn on people's hats or coats, by knitting and crotcheting flowers and sewing on vintage beads and then stitching them to brooch pins. They only used a small amount of wool and materials, the pins were inexpensive, the beads came from old necklaces, and she tailored them to individuals by using favourite colours.

My grandfather used to produce jars of home-pickled onions for everyone at Christmas - always very gratefully received for munching with cheese and cold meats on Boxing Day

Thanks for all the ideas, gratefully received.

ET

When my neices were young they always used to make Christmas presents for us. My mum was quite put out the one year she didn't get a calendar! My dad has a quite substantially sized duck made from papier mache and a tissue box with the tissue box bit still a box. He uses it to keep "things" in. Now they're grown up we get proper presents, which are nice too, but the handmade ones, and the delight and anticipation with which they were presented were really quite special.