Christmas shopping can be super difficult on a student budget, because you’re coming to the end of your loan money and quite frankly cringe every time you have to look at your bank balance. You want to be able to give the people you care about decent gifts this year, but financially it’s not looking pretty. Rest assured, there are plenty of alternatives! The big way to cut corners whilst still feeling satisfied that you haven’t disappointed anyone is to hand make your gifts. If anything, handmade presents are more meangingful than something you’d buy from a shop, because you’ve put time and effort into crafting something specifically for that person. Here are some ideas to spark your creative side!
1. Socks!
Even if you’ve never tried knitting before, making socks is sooo easy. All you need is a small circular loom, like one usually found in cheap knitting loom bundles such as this one, a yarn needle, and soom chunky wool! Following this pattern, I made my first ever sock in just four hours and felt ridiculously proud of myself. The basics of knitting with a loom are simple, because you’re just wrapping the wool around the pegs until you’ve got two rows, then pulling the bottom row over the top one peg by peg with the needle. Knitting the heel of a sock is a bit trickier, but the pattern I use is easy to follow so you get used to doing it eventually. They turn out more like slipper socks than something you’d wear everyday, but make really adorable presents when you attach handmade pompoms to them!
2. Homemade face masks/scrubs.
These make great stocking fillers, because you can make a huge batch and give them to loads of people at once. Reuse old jam jars, or buy some fancier jars and tubs from your local craft store, and decorate them with strings and tags to add a personal touch. I’m excited to try out this mint sugar scrub recipe I found – the only ingredients are sugar, coconut oil and mint, which are all really cheap and easy to pick up. In the past I’ve also conjured up my own “Mocha” face mask, the ingredients being ground coffee, cocoa powder, sugar and coconut oil. You could get creative and make up something yourself to give to people, but I’d recommend trying it out on your own face first!
3. Self-care packages.
Know someone that is feeling down at the minute? Cheer them up by creating a package filled with their favourite things. To give it a more festive touch, fill a wooden hamper up with Christmas-themed treats, which you can usually find empty in the seasonal department of a store. It allows you to vary your budget depending on how much you want to spend on someone too, for example a small hamper filled with Cornish chocolate, cocoa and tea/coffee would be a great gift for parents.
4. Biscuits! Cookies! Cake!
Baking, when done properly, can be a great way to de-stress when deadlines are consuming your life. During the last week of term, put aside an hour to bake some festive treats for your flatmates, classmates, or even teachers. If you hunt around, you’ll be able to bulk buy some ingredients to make multiple batches to give out. You could make something as simple as cinammon cookies, or go all out and make your own mince pies!
5. Baking mix in a jar.
Can’t be bothered to actually do any baking yourself, or simply don’t have the time? No worries! Cheat the system by measuring out all of the ingredients, layer them in a cute mason jar, and then add some decorations. If the person you have in mind doesn’t have a sweet tooth, then make your own granola mix. You’ll find these in the homeware/gift sections of stores like New Look and Topshop for anything ranging between £8 and £15, which is crazy expensive for something like a brownie mix. Again, source some cheap ingredients, and bulk buy mason jars from somewhere like Amazon, and thank the heavens you won’t be going into your overdraft this Christmas. You’re very welcome.