Last Minute Gift Ideas

My darlings it is almost Christmas! Has it snuck up on you as much as it has on me?  I finished all of my finals and celebrated coming out of hibernation by doing SantaCon with some friends then meeting up with one of my Div School Darlings to finish out the night in Harvard Square.  It was reeeeediculous but so much fun.  I’m leaving for Louisiana Thursday and in the meantime am wrapping up things here (including trying to get my apartment back into some semblance of sane) and planning out all my Christmas visits with old friends.  I did a gift guide over on Becoming the Odd Duck for all the Health Nuts on your list, but with it being crunch-time I thought I would feature a few last minute gifts that are always a hit.  Enjoy!

There were all KINDS of Santas, including this dude who was apparently referencing a horror movie called The Human Centipede?

Penguin By Design would make a great hostess gift, don’t you think?  Penguin covers are so distinctive and this has hundreds of covers.  I can’t imagine that any bibliophile wouldn’t love to receive this as well.

Nina mentioned a few weeks back how magazine subscriptions make the perfect gift — something I had never thought of but she is so right!  Most will cost you less than $20 but your recipient will continue to get the gift for the year to come and think of you every time he/she does.  There is a magazine out there for everyone and if you wanted you could even pair a little something with it (cute measuring spoons + a subscription to Taste of Home, anyone?). 

In our always “on” world of Twitter, iPhones, and Netflix we tend to just make a photo album on Facebook or send a picture message, but there is something to be said for *gasp* putting a print copy of a photo into a cute picture frame.  You probably have a picture of you and the person you are getting a last minute gift for, but if not, why not do something silly like put a Somee card in it. 

A nice bottle of wine, homemade baked goods, or a unique foodstuff all make perfect host/hostess gifts.  And the booze always goes fastest during White Elephant games.  At least, they do in my Louisiana family…:) 

I’ll be back later this week with a guest post from Laura, a packing guide for your travels home, and some fun links but in the meantime, what are your favorite last minute gift ideas? I’d love to hear!  xoxo