| Possible sources of bargain gifts:eBay.co.uk sell just about everything at great prices - you could sell stuff too if you like and make a few pounds.
BOL have great discounts on best-selling books:

If you want to give designer labels - check out these lower prices:

A good little stocking filler for p&p; only:
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Gift
Shopping: Waiting until winter to
do your Christmas shopping would seem to be
sensible, however it will cost you a lot more.
The shopkeepers know you have to buy presents so
get away with charging more. Look around the
sales and clearouts of old lines throughout the
year for gifts - this also takes much of the
hassle out of December! If you have very specific
items to buy starting your shop early gives you
time to compare prices and get the best deal. is a website that compares prices for you - worth a look. Argos
prices are often hard to beat too.
Homemade sweets and cookies can make
lovely presents - gift boxes and petit four cases
can be found cheaply in supermarkets throughout
the year.
Cards:
You
can go down the same route and buy your cards in
the January sales or summer clearances or you can
make you own. This does not have to be a
complicated matter - simple designs are often the
most effective. Look around for well priced card,
some paint/glue/glitter/sparkly confetti etc. If
you have children you may already have much of
this in the house already (could the children be
persuaded to make the cards?!). A potato or old
sponge can be cut into festive shapes for
printing - a red Christmas tree shape on green
card is very attractive. You could cut snowflakes
from plain paper and glue these to a contrasting
colour. If you are very organised you could press
flower petals in books during the summer and make
wreath designs with them for your cards. All
these ideas can be used for gift tags also and
for decorating plain brown wrapping paper - much
cheaper than Christmas wrap. If you have a
computer it may have programs installed with
printabale card designs for A4 sheets of paper -
these can be nice too. Many discount supermarkets
sell value envelopes or you may find that you can
get away without for cards that you hand deliver.
Decorations:
Homemade decorations can be really lovely and cost very little. Traditional things like coloured paper chains are really nice hung up in place of tinsel. Very attractive tree decorations are small match boxes wrapped up like presents with paper glued on to look like ribbons and a thread attatched for hanging. Cookies on ribbons are lovely - if you want to eat them better make them a bit last minute! Use a drinking straw to make a small hole near the top prior to baking for the ribbons. If you would like them to keep for future years use salt instead of sugar in the recipe and add a couple of tablespoons of PVA glue to the mix - bake lightly. For a very natural look to the tree slice oranges thinly, skins and all, into round slices and dry them out on your oven's lowest setting for a few hours - then thread them on ribbon or string. Gather pine cones in the woods, dry them near a radiator for a while (days, weeks) - dot them with glue and sprinkle with glitter - garden centres charge a lot for these! They look lovely piled round the bottom of the tree. If you know of a local source of holly or ivy a few sprigs are very effective - layed on shelves, or around candles and cones as a centre piece for the table.
Vegging Out! There is a very useful free TV Guide here where you select your region and can scroll through the days listings for BBC 1, 2, 3 and 4, ITV 1&2 and Channels 4 and 5.
Food:
Once
again if you make it yourself it will cost less.
Below are some of our favourite homemade holiday
dishes.
Sage and Onion Stuffing
Roast Potatoes
Nut Roast
Festive Sweets
Fruit Cake
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Chocolates, Sweets & Candies:
Hand-made Temptations to Give for Every
Season
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
or
Buy from
Amazon.com (USA)

Buy from Amazon.co.uk
or
Buy from
Amazon.com (USA)

Economical festive crafts using household stuff - relatively simple too!
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
or
Buy from
Amazon.com (USA)

A
fantastic collection of festive recipes.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
or
Buy from
Amazon.com (USA)
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