Last Minute Gift Ideas

5 Last Minute Gifts That Look Like You Planned Them

Another year of waiting till the last minute?  Or maybe this year you did have it all down to a tee.  Maybe your well-thought out gifts you ordered online in September are wrapped in Pinterest-worthy style.  You've laid out your Christmas to-do list with organizational skills on par with Martha Stewart.  You sigh satisfactorily, and sip an eggnog, while, like Santa, you check your list and check it twice.  Suddenly, you realize your holiday planning isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Isn't so and so bringing a date, or what about that last minute invitation you just accepted.  Where shall you go?  What shall you do?

It would be nice if you could pull an Oprah and whip out a lavish gift that will bring the forgotten recipient to blustering tears.  But, alas, you don't have Oprah's credit card and Christmas is tomorrow and now what?  

No worries.  Consider these 5 last minute gifts that any woman would love to receive.  After all, wouldn't you?

1 - Are you great in the kitchen?  Are you crafty?  Check out Pinterest for some quick handmade gifts any woman would adore.  I like the personalized Sharpie Pen mug and the White Chocolate and Cherry Cookies.  (Or deliver the sweets inside the personalized mugs.)

2 - No time for baking?  Run into the grocery store for a Christmas card full of Christmas themed lottery tickets.  Who knows?  Maybe they'll win an Oprah-sized lottery.  (And if not, studies show that simply imagining you won the lottery is actually beneficial to your health.)

3 - It's never too late to shop online and it means you don't even have to leave the house and get into a lineup.  What does your friend, relative, mate, like? Go online and order a gift voucher.  These can be emailed to you or your givee in the denomination of your choice.  And it means they get to choose something they will actually wear, love, carry, use.

4 - Another great gift is a magazine subscription.  We all love a good magazine but if you're like me, you probably treat yourself now and then on a whim.  A subsciption to O Magazine or Good Housekeeping or Home and Garden or Cosmo is the gift that keeps on giving.  And your thoughtfulness will be remembered every month when your friend receives their beloved magazine.

5 - Create a gift basket.  Pick up a basket or something else that can be reused, head to the drug store and fill it with luxuries your relative loves.  A recent novel, decadent chocolate, calming bubble bath, Sudoku puzzle books, cozy slipper socks, the latest lipstick, their perfume.  The drug store is overflowing with ideas for every budget.