Craft Tips

1. Use last year’s Christmas Cards to make this year’s gift tags
2. Make your own candles – save over left over candles/tea lights, put the wax in a washed tin sitting in a pan of boiling water and leave to boil until the wax has all melted. To make the wick, simply get a length of string, dip it in the wax and let it dry straight. To put the candles together, put the string in a glass/tea cup or jar and fill up the container with the wax (just make sure you hold the string until the wax starts to dry so that it doesn’t move!) If you want to make the candle extra special, add some dried lavender or essential oil to the wax. These make lovely decorations or gifts to loved ones
3. Get a few oranges, press in some cloves, tie a ribbon around it and voila! Instant decoration that leaves your house smelling gorgeous and festive. You could also get some cinnamon sticks and tie a few together for another idea
4. If you need more decorations either for the tree or the house then why not get creative and make your own? If you aren’t particularly crafty or don’t have a lot of time then simple things such as paper chains are easy and quick to do and look lovely with different coloured paper. If, however, you have more time and patience then the sky’s the limit! You could make a festive wreath, baubles for the tree or and an angel for the top of the tree! The sky really is the limit.

Cost saving ideas for food (parties and Christmas dinner)

1. Get people to bring things to parties to help reduce your costs
2. It may be cold and snowy (well, we can hope can’t we!) outside but that’s no excuse not to pop to the local market and see what you can get there. More often than not the prices are vastly cheaper than in supermarkets and the products are tastier too.
3. Don’t be tempted to buy packed vegetables if you don’t need them! Loose ones are often cheaper, you can buy the exact quantity you need and you should have less waste at the end of Christmas
4. If you do decide to shop in a supermarket then why not try out their own brands to save some pennies! Most people won’t tell the difference between them and the branded product!
5. If you know it won’t be eaten, don’t buy it! If no one in your family likes Christmas cake or pudding then don’t buy it! Even if one person in your party does like it, you won’t eat the left overs so it will go to waste.
6. Make you own truffles! They are simple to make and the kids will love helping to decorate them!
7. Shop online! You will only get what you need and are less likely to be tempted by unnecessary items that will rack up the £s and will end up being thrown away

Cost saving ideas for presents/cards

1. Organise a Secret Santa between your friends, family and colleagues. This will reduce the number of presents you have to buy and save you a fortune in the process.
2. If you live near a few of the people you want to give Christmas cards to then why not deliver them in person and save money on postage stamps
3. Make you own Christmas presents. It often means more if you put time and effort into creating something yourself so have a go at baking, cross-stitching a picture, knitting or crocheting something or get a special photo printed and framed.
4. If you’ve got a lot of children in the family then make arrangements that you just buy for the kids and not the parent’s too

It’s never too early to prepare for next year

1. Go to the Boxing Day/New Year’s sales and pick up wrapping paper, cards etc. for next year. They will keep and it will save you money, provided you have the space to store it all.
2. The post-Christmas Sales are also brilliant for picking up presents for family members who you won’t see until the New Year, or even for getting started on next year’s shopping.