One man's trash...

...Is this woman's treasure! today while I was taking the boy to nursery I passed a bag placed on a low wall outside a house in a way that stood out. Next to it was a glass 'Bonne Maman' jam jar, I've always thought those jars were cute, but I can't afford that jam, so I rarely get a jar to save(I have a total of one at home!) Anyway...I peeked into the bag, and got really excited because it was full of the Bonne Maman jars, I picked them all up and carried them with me to nursery to drop off the son then all the way back up the hill past where I got them from (too excited to be sensible clearly!) I couldn't have found these at a better time as I've just started planning Christmas presents, and there are so many gift ideas that revolve around jam jars that don't include any kind of condiment! When I got home i counted them....22!
I'll let you know what I get up to with these!

The cost of Christmas

Last year I spent £400 at christmas. That may not sound like a lot to some of you, but for me it was big overdraft, still paying it off in July kind of debt. So....this year I'm making gifts!

I've had to buy some craft materials to make my giftsm soi here is the cost so far:

Knitted Rabbits (I'm making these for children of my friends, about two or three per child)-

• I have way too much yarn anyway, and I have needles and stuffing and embroidery thread, so no cost
• I'm thinking of giving them in painted egg boxes with toy carrots...maybe that's too 'easter' though

 Bottle Cap Magnets (My favourite gift idea so far, involves going to the local pub and asking for bottle caps and getting them for free!) I have bought craft material to make these;

• A slight luxury maybe but I bought a 1 inch hole punch to cut out photos with - £11.94 off ebay inc. postage
• Contact Cement for sticking magnet on the back of bottle caps - £4.62 off ebay inc. postage
• 100 magnets for sticking on the back of bottle caps - £3.00 off ebay inc. postage
• 100 mixed alphabet beads and 40g mixed seed beads - £2.88 off ebay inc. postage

So to make 100 bottle cap gifts (say I give each person 5) They work out at 22p each and £1.12 for a set of five! That does only make 20 gifts though....but if I wanted to make twice as many it would be even cheaper.

Bottle Cap Jewellery (I saw some very inspirational stuff online and have tried to make my own versions)

• I have a hammer (no cost) and pliers already (no cost) and a £20 voucher for the local DIY shop should I need any new tools!
• Stretchy elastic (I already had some from a previous project) no cost
• Beads to go alongside the bottlecaps 

Peckham Pot-Pourri - I thought this would be a funny gift to the posh relatives who live in far nicer places, also it's very light so cheap to post

• The pot-pourri is made from drying roses and lavender I've collected from the streets of Peckham, so...no cost!
• I found some awesome jam jars perfect for the job of storing/presenting it, so no cost there either!
• I wonder if I could find any kind of silly ribbon alternative?