A handmade Christmas: a budget-friendly, festive guide

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Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but with the current economic climate, keeping the festive spirit alive can feel like a challenge. Here’s a guide to creating a budget-friendly, yet still magical, Christmas.

While shop-bought gifts definitely don’t go amiss, the time, energy, and thought that go into a handmade present really show your love and appreciation for someone. Air-dry clay is incredibly affordable and offers endless crafting possibilities: photo frames, ornaments, magnets, and trinket dishes, a quick Pinterest search for clay Christmas gifts reveals a whole world of ideas.

Food gifts are also easy, inexpensive and sustainable. Jams are essentially just fruit and sugar, while fudge only needs condensed milk, chocolate and whatever fillings or toppings you fancy. (Sara Davies has an amazing fudge recipe!)

Making your own Christmas decorations is another great way to get into the festive mood. Instead of buying single-use plastics or cheap decorations, you can create a homemade winter wonderland. Throwing it back to primary school, paper chains are simple but surprisingly effective, use coloured paper, leftover wrapping paper or even ribbon.Dried oranges not only make your home smell amazing, but they can be turned into wreaths or garlands. A pack of oranges costs less than £2; slice them thinly, dry them slowly in the oven, and you’ve suddenly got endless decoration options.

Not to sound like an American, but the holiday season can be a difficult time. Between seasonal slump, the pressure to socialise, buying gifts and decorating your home, it’s easy for the joy to get overshadowed, especially when money is tight. It’s important to remember that the simplest things often mean the most. A handwritten letter would mean just as much to me as a Summer Fridays lip balm.

Edited by Phoebe Huzij