Monday 21 November 2016

BUDGET CHRISTMAS EVE BOX

For as long as I can remember, my siblings and I have always had some sort of present to open on Christmas Eve. It started out as just a new pair of pyjamas to wear to bed that night before evolving to contain pyjamas, a Christmassy DVD to watch in bed, a new book to read if we were too excited to sleep and usually a sachet of hot chocolate and some popcorn. 
 
It's a tradition I've always loved, and the build up to our Christmas Eve presents is almost as huge as the build up to the actual big day. We would pester my mum right through the day to let us open our boxes and she never wavered. 7.30PM on the dot was Christmas Eve present time. 

I have such fond memories of still living at home and having Christmas Eve presents to open, and it's a tradition I was sure I wanted to continue with Freya. However, money is tight in our household. Especially at this time of year, and I wasn't prepared to spend a lot of money on something that, honestly, was more for me than her. This is Freya's second Christmas. Last year she was only 3 weeks old on Christmas Day and this year she will have just turned one, but I still want to start instilling those family traditions while we can. 

So, I set out trying to make Freya a Christmas Eve box/bag/hamper on a budget of £20. Challenge accepted.

 
Firstly, I found this absolutely amazing 'Fill Your Own Hamper' for £7 (!!!!!!) from The Works. It comes complete with a wicker basket, wood wool filling, cellophane and tartan ribbon to decorate. I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it and couldn't resist purchasing one. 

 
The next thing I bought for Freya's hamper is this Organix Goodies Christmas Selection Box at £2.99. I'm not too strict when it comes to Freya eating chocolate (she's definitely had a fair few kinder eggs in her time!) but the thought of her eating a whole selection box was a bit too much for me, so this was a perfect substitute. The box contains: 1 Raspberry and Apple Soft Oaty Bar; 1 Apple and Orange Soft Oaty Bar; 1 packet of Mini Cheese Crackers; 1 packet of Strawberry and Apple Gummies and 1 packet of Mini Gingerbread Men. We are huge Organix fans in this household anyway and I can't wait for Freya to try the goodies in this box. 

 
Next up is this absolutely ADORABLE cuddle gingerbread man from Wilko costing. Freya is a big cuddly toy fan and I couldn't resist this little guy, and at only £3.50 I can't complain!

Now the next few things are actually all from Poundland. Maybe not your first choice of shop, but you can get some real bargains in there occasionally. 
 
 
I picked up two Christmas themed books in Poundland; one a fun pop-up book and the other more suited to bedtime (in my opinion). I mentioned before that I didn't want to spend a fortune and considering these books will be put away for next year come January, I didn't really see the need to splash out on more expensive books. 

 
I also chose this Dora the Explorer Christmas Carol Adventure DVD from Poundland which meant I spent a total of £3. I know Freya probably won't pay much attention to this, but I still wanted to put a DVD in her hamper as per the tradition set by my dear mum. Freya absolutely loves singing so I'm hoping this will be full of Christmas Carol's that she can bop about to before bedtime. 

 
The last thing I picked up on my shopping trip was this £1.95 Butterbear bath bomb from Lush. I am an avid user of Lush products, the bath bombs and fixers especially, and I love the idea of popping this in to Freya's bath on Christmas Eve to help make the night that bit more exciting and special. Obviously she doesn't have lush products in every single bath she ever has, but I don't see any harm in using fairly plain ones like this on special occasions. 

 
 Everything mentioned in this post came in at a total of £18.44 so definitely under my £20 budget! I still need to pick up a pair of Christmas pyjamas and socks (which weren't included in my budget) for Freya to wear to bed on Christmas Eve and maybe a sachet of hot chocolate as a treat for her bedtime milk but apart from that, her Christmas Eve hamper is done! 

I am so excited for Christmas this year, and I know Freya is still a little bit too young to understand what's really going on but I still can't wait to spend another year celebrating with my little family. 

I hope this gave you some ideas if you're also on a smaller budget. It really is doable to create something really special for your kids on not a lot of money. 

Thanks for reading, 

Grace x

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