Cheap and Chic- Under the Wire Gifts

So it's getting down to the wire, and you still have those small last minute gifts to get. I totally know the feeling. I've been there. Yesterday.

It's best to have a game plan, of course. You don't want to get stuck spending a fortune on these little tid-bit-gifts. Don't be afraid to buy a lot of small things in multiples. Here are a couple of last minute ideas I had, that maybe you will find useful.

1) Chocolate bars- Whenever I unwrap a chocolate bar, I get that wonderful thrill of discovery and joy. I think it's perfecty captured in the original movie version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when Charlie gleefully opens his birthday bar. I, too, am always looking for my golden ticket, but that is another story. These days chocolate is the new coffee, and you can find it in every which way, from country of origin (terroir is tres francais,), mixed with everything from your run of the mill nuts to bacon, to percentage of cocoa to mixers (the darker, the bitterer.) I'd go for a mix of fun, pretty wrappers and flavors. And how luxurious to have many to choose from! At a small dinner party I was at recently we had a great time passing them around tasting them. What could be more fun? Dean and DeLuca has a lovely assortment, and you can get six of their in house bars for 12$.

2) A tin of tea- It doesn't have to be tea, but I know tea well, so I feel like I can speak to it. No tea drinker would spend 20$ on a box tea for themselves. But I bet most tea drinkers would love it as a gift. I am speaking of Mariage Freres, that great old French company. I prefer the bags, but the tins look neater. French Breakfast is a lovely flavor, soft and smooth with overtones of chocolate.

3) M.A.C Dazzleglass lip gloss- Now, here is a gift that the 12-year-old girl in us can appreciate. For my money, there are few pleasures as simple as opening a new lip gloss, especially something bright, and outrageously pink. The addition of glitter makes it that much better. I am not generally the glittery sort, but you must be a Scrooge-y sort if this wouldn't at least make you smile. Buy for your sillier, more whimsical friends. The practical types might not appreciate it.

4) Sharps Kid Glove Shave Gel- This stuff gives the smoothest, nicest shave you can imagine. The men in your life will wonder what they ever did before they tried it. The women (or other men) in their lives will sneak it relentlessly (I swear it makes my legs look thinner!). Oh, and it smells so so so good! Also, it apparently soothes bug bites, so there's that too...

5) Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid on Blu Ray- Because who doesn't love Paul Newman? Or Robert Redford? Now in Hi-Def! Your welcome.