Daily Mirror
The shops are full of Christmas decorations and gifts - but you can give the festive season a personal touch by making your own presents.
We also have tips on making your own wrapping and decorations, which are sure to make your celebrations extra special.
Some of these projects could be fun for children to help with for a real family Christmas.
We have 12 Christmas makes for you which are low on cost but big on personal value.
And share your suggestions for Christmas makes by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
Daily Mirror
1 No Christmas party would be complete without a mistletoe kissing ball. Pick fir branches from the garden and buy mistletoe from a garden centre, £5.99, The Garden Centre Group. Soak a florist's foam sphere in water, £1.39, Hobbycraft, push a wire from one end to the other, making a loop at either end to tie your ribbons and decor. Push foliage into the ball to cover. Hang from a vintage hook, £8.95, Bombay Duck.
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2 Make your wrapping part of the present, themed with the things the recipient will love. Sewing kits in glass jars (£1.99, Dunelm Mill) will keep essentials handy all year round. Or fill a pudding basin, (£7.49, Mason Cash) with the most luxurious ingredients and wrap it in a tea towel (£15.99 for three, Typhoon.) Fix with ribbon to make a novel gift for cooks.
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3 Your foodie friends will treasure a thoughtful present made especially for them. Fill inexpensive Kilner bottles (£4 each, Cargo Homeshop) with good quality olive oil, fresh herbs or dried, crushed chillies and mustard seeds. Place a fresh potted herb (99p, Sainsbury's) in a terracotta pot (75p, B&Q) and spray with blackboard paint (£8.29 for 400 ml, Plasti-Kote.) This is a quick, easy and gorgeous gift.
4 Create Christmas place settings using your everyday china by simply adding a few festive, seasonal touches such as a sprig of rosemary tied with brown gardening string. Gold charger plate, £2, purple china, £25 for 12 pieces, both Asda; vintage side plate, £5.95, Bombay Duck; linen or cotton napkin, £5, Milk & Honey; gold cutlery set, £26.24 for 24 pieces, Argos.
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5 Personalised gift tags are quick and inexpensive and are sure to put a smile on a certain someone's face. Photocopy black and white images of old photos, stick on to a piece of cardboard and tie to shoe boxes wrapped in brown paper. Fabulous sign, £15.99, Miss Cake; brown paper, £2.99 for eight metres, Hobbycraft; thin satin ribbon, £1.99, Dunelm Mill.
6 Wrap empty shoe boxes with different coloured paper and add a strip of fabric. Attach a ribbon or a sparkly headband for a teenager, and tie on some handmade tags so everyone knows who the gift's for. Buy brown paper, pink wrapping paper and fabric, from a selection at Hobbycraft. Get this jewelled headband for £1 from Primark.
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7 What could be any more festive than these home-made shortbread Christmas trees? They're delicious and so easy to make. Use these tree cutters, £2, Sainsbury's, and place the biscuits in these presentation bags, £2.99 for 50 and square cardboard moulds, £2.79 for 12, all Lakeland, tied with coloured ribbons, £5 for twelve rolls, Paperchase.
8 Send striking cards this year with pretty tree decorations attached to give your friends and family a lasting Christmas memory. Card blanks and envelopes, £4.99 for 30, and sequin snow flakes, £1 for eight, all Hobbycraft; paper doilies, £1 for 100, Poundland; Posh Graffiti tree decorations, £3.99 each, The Garden Centre Group.
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9 Fed up with expensive crackers? Making them yourself is easy and you can fill them with your own gifts such as a ring for a teen, a bottle opener for Dad, or even a lottery ticket. Craft paper cracker kit, £3.99 for six, red film, £2.89 a roll, cracker snaps, 99p for 12, all Hobbycraft; ribbon, £1.99, Dunelm Mill; plastic letters from an old board game, 50p, Oxfam.
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10 Kids will love making these no-bake treats for teachers. Gently heat a 284ml pot of double cream, 280g of good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), and 50g of unsalted butter in a pan and leave to cool until pliable. Then mould into round balls and roll in cocoa powder, caster sugar, chocolate sprinkles or melted white chocolate. Place in candy boxes (£3.29 for three, Hobbycraft) lined with coloured paper tissue (£1.99 for 20 sheets, Hobbycraft).
11 Stems of seasonal flowers such as lilies, sprigs of heather, a candle and an Oasis floral foam sphere is all you need to transform your Christmas table. Make one for yourself and another for friends or family. Stems, from £2 each, and heather plant, £7.99, both The Garden Centre Group; pillar candle, £2.50, Sainsbury's; foam, £1.39, Hobbycraft.
12 Steer clear of expensive beauty box sets and make up your own, picking smellies your family will love. Take a wicker storage basket (£2.99, Dunelm Mill,) fold in a linen towel (£4.99, TK Maxx) and fill with Nspa toiletries (from £3 each, Asda.) Pop in baubles or a ribbon for extra decoration.
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