Giving extra this Christmas with Mum in the Mad House and Halifax 61



I am a huge fan of making Christmas memorable and one of the ways I do this is by giving gifts that we have made.  So I am delighted to be working in partnership with Halifax the bank who give you extra to inspire  more of you to give extra this Christmas by taking the time to produce homemade gifts for that special someone.

I want to share with you some ideas and inspiration for craft ideas that can be produced by you and your family and given as christmas present this year.  None are hard to do and are fun family activities and I guarantee you the receiver will be over the moon with the little extra that you have added to your gifts made with love and thoughtfulness.

Simple homemade gifts

simple homemade gifts

Festive Inspired Gifts

simple festive gifts

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61 thoughts on “Giving extra this Christmas with Mum in the Mad House and Halifax

  • claire

    This year we have used some acrylic paint on some baubles as gifts for the teachers.
    I think a great home-made gift needs to be useful, not too amateur but something that the person can keep (or eat!).
    Can I say I’d love one of your reindeer mugs or a crochet blanket if anyone who can obligue is reading this!

  • Pippa Ainsworth

    My two are under four so simple is best. We’re planning some handprint ornaments for the grandparents using air drying clay and paint. I’ve also seen some terrific hand decorated mugs using sharpies, by setting them in the oven. I’ll definitely be trying these when my two get a little older.

  • Iona@redpeffer

    This year I’ve taken family photos throughout the year and am framing and mounting them myself. It’s not difficult to do as frames can be found all over the place at various prices and backing card is easy to get hold of in stationery shops. All you need additionally is some spray fixer, which is available from stationery shops too.

  • Julie

    Don’t beat yourself up about making EVERYTHING yourself-maybe stick to one or two items that you enjoy and are good at. Plus, don’t beat yourself up if it’s not perfect – it adds to the homemade charm. Or just blame it on the kids 😉

  • Carols

    This year I am crochet scarves. We make decorations this year it’s toilet roll hoops and BG is making chocolate disks or her teachers. We melt chocolate and spoon discs on baking paper then add what ever you want to them. We have gold and silver stars, chopped nuts and raisins. In the past I have made candles, bowls made from old vinyl records, cookie jars and chocolate lollies.

  • Leigh Fenn

    I love homemade gifts, from candy bark, cookies jars, and salt dough ornaments, its even better if the whole family can get involved in making them too

  • michaela atkins

    collect fir cones with your children dip them in glue and sprinkle with sparkles fills a few hours the kids enjoy it and they look great

  • Tanya Camilleri

    Every year (3 Christmases!) we make tree decorations for grandparents. They love the gift as it is personal and one of a kind and my daughter and I get a chance to be creative. My tip is to enjoy making them too!

  • Sandy Calico

    We are making gift tags by cutting up old xmas cards with pinking shears, punching a hole in and adding a ribbon. We will be making home made shortbread for the boys’ teachers

  • Fritha

    having been a student or working part time for many years my family are all too used to homemade gifts! I try to make them something personalised. Making homemade bath bombs and soap is super easy cheap and really individual! I also make felt ornaments for the tree 🙂 x

  • Leanne V mckenna

    Get the children to make christmas cards instead of buying them, they will have fun too 😉 I also have Xmas shape silicone molds and I melt down chocolate and fill them and chill them, and hey presto Xmas themed choccies!!

  • Angela Campbell

    We’ve made bunting for the grandparents. It’s easier than you think!

    1. Just cut up bits of fabric (old but good condition table cloths, shirts, etc are ideal) into triangles. You can colour co-ordinate or mix up colours – whatever you fancy.
    2. Trace out designs or wording (we spelt out ‘We love you’ woth our bunting)
    3. Get the kids to colour in the design/letters using left tip pens (although fabric pens work best and are obviously washable).
    4. Machine stitch (or hand stitch/tack) all the triangles onto a piece of ribbon (I save ribbon from gift boxes/pyjama gift sets etc)
    5. You’re done! Voila – handmade gift that looks like it took more effort than it took – shhh – they don’t need to know that though 😉

  • Peggy

    I love your ideas for homemade presents. This year we are baking cookies for the teachers that we are going to deliver in gorgeous paper bags I found in ikea with a beautiful Santa on it.
    I really like the tea cup candles I am keeping them in mind for another present.

  • Emma Carter

    An important part of our Christmas arts and crafts is creating handmade thank you cards. We always have great fun using photos taken over the holidays and recycling Christmas cards to make a collage effect on the back of a postcard with the thank you messages on the other.

  • HELEN

    my gift ideas are all edible – my favourite this year is my Malteser vodka…half a bottle of vodka & 2 boxes of maltesers – it’s amazing!

  • Frances hopkins

    I love getting the kids involved at christmas, it makes everything look more magical, with lots of glitter, paint and abit of mess, but the most important thing is all the cards are made with love

  • Rebecca McLuckie

    I always love the personal touch of homemade gifts. This year we’ve enjoyed a good deal of foraging, so presents are mostly going to be crabapple jelly and liqueur, sloe gin (every year without fail!) and rosehip syrup and decorations 🙂

  • Lesley Walsh

    Make a Christmas stocking, cross-stitch, fabric, felt and personalise with name, hobbies (for adults) toys (for kids) or Santa/Xmas motifs. It will become a family heirloom.

  • Ann Robinson

    Money is short this year so i’m thinking of making a mixed home made food box with things like homemade fudge and homemade mince pies

  • Sonia

    We make up cookie mixtures Jars for the kids little friends and the kids always decorate mugs and fill with chocolates for their teachers! They always go down well xents

  • Wendy lavender

    Top tip jam jars, or any jars, buy some nice Christmas ribbon wrap around the top and Add a tea tight. If feeling really creative you could make some little charms to go around the ribbon as well

  • Welshmumof3boys

    I’ve bought some plain canvas bags and some fabric crayons/pens for the children to use to decorate the bags as gifts for grandparents or in case of my minded children their parents. We’ve also been turning foot and hand prints into decorations – reindeers, angels, wreaths. Very easy and children as young as 18 months can do them

  • Josephine

    As I spend my year sewing, friends and family often anticipate handmade gifts from me. Last Christmas my mum taught me to knit, a gift that I’ve enjoyed all year. So, this Christmas I am knitting my first garland, to celebrate how precious sharing skills can be. I hope to make one for mum too and pass on a love of handmade to the children in my life this year.
    So why not give the tools to learn something new, a little sewing or knitting kit, a jar of layered cookie making ingredients or simply paint and paper.

  • Pru

    A pretty jar filled with a mix of epsom salts and pink himalayan salt with lavender flowers stirred through. Cover the lid with pretty material, tie with a matching ribbon and either use a pretty sticky label or attach a paper one to the ribbon. Dead easy, very effective, and quite cheap to do.

  • gemma blake

    I make our own crackers, they are so much nicer than shop bought ones! I choose a small present for each person, find some cheesy jokes and cheat with the paper hats! This years contents are nail varnish, socks, photo keyring and some treats for the dog in hers!

  • selena gupta

    1) Personalise Christmas Gift tags (for presents)! Simply cut out the gift tag shape, write the recipient’s name (in your own handwriting) and hole punch the card to thread through some ribbon to stick onto the present.

    2) Clean out old jam jars and remove the label by soaking jar in hot soapy water for a few minutues, then pull away the label. Fill jar with home-made brownies cut into small pieces, and tie a brightly-coloured ribbon around the neck of the jar. Also, can use marshmallows and candy canes!

    3) find old shoe boxes in good condition. Wrap them in nice fabric and use as boxes for putting presents inside.

    4) Whitewash pine cones and place on tables, mantle-pieces and on the Xmas tree!

    5) Cut out festive shapes from card, such as stars and angels. Spray paint with silver or gold paint and glue glitter around the edges. Thread some ribbon through the card and hang from windows!

    Merry Christmas Jen and family! 🙂 xx

  • Anita Rawson

    I always love to receive cards and gifts made by my Godchildren. Plates and mugs with their handprints and footprints printed in christmas tree designs from when they were smaller are precious. This year I am sewing mini christmas stockings and filling them with home made truffles. Home made sloe gin was one of the best presents I ever received – tip for next year lol x

  • Julia Plant

    I love being creative with the children, but I don’t want to bombard family with artwork that they won’t know what to do with or feel guilty putting in the drawer or throwing away. So this Christmas we are baking: cakes truffles and maybe (if we get time) marzipan fruits. My daughter (aged 3) loves baking and hopefully these gifts will be enjoyed by all xx

  • Hele R

    We love making our own wrapping paper and gift tags. A roll of brown paper is cheap as chips and there are so many free printables available on the internet.

    Hele

  • christine taylor

    I like to make personal christmas cards with my hids. We paint their hands and use their handprints to make snowflakes and christmas trees. It’s lots of fun and people love them x

  • anna

    homemade food gifts are always good like cakes, biscuits or fudge. a nice jar or tin can make all the difference to the presentation

  • Rachael

    I always make my Mum some florentines because they are her favourites. They are quite difficult to get off a baking tray so last year I made small ones in silicone muffin trays. They came out a bit thicker but very tasty, nicely shaped and easy to remove. I have also made a lot of flavoured vodka and gin this year. Our autumn raspberries were very good this year so I added 350g of raspberries and 350g of sugar to 500ml of vodka and it is delicious. It doesn’t take long to infuse – a week is enough. I would like to give out a selection of these infusions but I need to order some little bottles to put them in. We also like to drink (and give) eggnog. It’s completely yummy and indulgent. I have a recipe on my blog – search it for eggnog. I generally make some sort of cake to take to my children’s school. So many people help them out, not just their class teacher that I think the other staff should get something too.

  • Notmyyearoff

    Home made cakes and little biscuits in pretty jars or home made xmas cards. Both are very nice and don’t take much room up keep sake wise (or in your tummy!)

  • Leanne Lunn

    Little decorated tubs with homemade Jelly sweets. These are lovely.

    2 sachets sugar free jelly crystals
    2 sachets powdered gelatine
    1 pot mullerlight yoghurt

    To half a pint of boiling water add both jelly and gelatin sachets and stir well.

    Pour 2/3 rds of jelly into a flat-ish container or ice cube trays or moulds

    Put in fridge until set.

    Whisk the Muller yogurt into the rest of the jelly.

    Once bottom layer set then pour on jelly/muller mix and place back in fridge to set.

    Once set cut into bite size pieces or pop out of moulds.

  • Charlotte

    Cinnamon sugar tree biscuits are a definite present pleased together with a parcel of peppermint patties. To appease the savoury folks, I give green tomato chutney and this year some lucky individuals will get cushions designed by my five year old and made by me. Whether they like them or not! Hahaha!

  • Maisie

    I’ve nearly finished a book compiling loads of memories and milestones in my son’s first year. It’s going to be accompanied by corresponding pictures as a sort of picture journal of all the cute, silly, amazing things he did as a baby. Entries include… the time he made dinosaur noises, to when he learned to walk, to his first cold, when he used to do a really loud smelly poo when Daddy was eating etc etc! He obviously won’t appreciate it just now, but i’ll keep it for him to look through 😀

  • Jo Bryan

    I make a few homemade gifts, a cake mix geared to friends and family’s fave cakes, I add it to a mug with a recipe, some Christmas cupcake papers, a pretty vintage plate and napkins. I pick up baskets throughout the year. For garden lovers, I buy narcissus or crocus bulbs usually at a garden centre in a pick and mix crate and add a pretty plant pot, can be personalised easily with names

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  • Make do mum

    I try to keep it simple! We made pinecones dipped in silver paint & sprinkled with glitter last year, they look really cool & K enjoyed helping. We put string on and hung them on the tree and tied a few to xmas pressies 🙂

  • Lindy

    Squidge and I always do a load of baking. If we have the time I also like to make some decs but this year w/ the remodel it will just be baking. I love all the things you do with the boys- you’re much more patient than I am!

  • nicola morgan

    This year I have made my own xmas cards by using form a line patterns. It takes a while to sew each card but you can personalise with names. They do look really lovely once done.

  • Cara

    We love homemade gifts here. I often make gifts for close family members – knitted, sewn etc and then I get the children to help me make fimo/clay tags with greetings or the recipients name stamped onto them.

  • Jayne T

    We like making sugar cookies in Christmas shapes, then decorate them and put them in little bags, hand tied with a pretty Christmas ribbons.

  • Gavin Beale

    I make up skittle vodka (can google how to make it), then use small-ish bottles to make a gift of a selection of flavours, lay them in a box or basket with shredded crepe paper.

  • Linda

    Your Comments
    First time making gifts, three hampers already done – Christmas cake, biscotti, macaroons, truffles plus nice bottle of fizz. Also making pretty coloured glittery play dough for granddaughter.

  • Lynn Adams

    I work in a school for kids that have been excluded from mainstream education – many of these kids have come from very unstable home lives and some are now in care homes so as part of my art and crafts lessons i try to give them the opportunity to make their own cards, presents and decorations that some would not normally have the chance to do – the lead up to Christmas is full of glitter, glue and lots of shiny paper!

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