Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas

Last minute gifts…. I hate shopping for last minute gifts. But I like to have extra gifts around for unexpected house guests, hostess gifts and reciprocal gifts for people who thought of me…. but that I, shortsightedly, didn’t think of them. Usually these gifts have to be a bit more generalized.

Wine is a good gift. I always keep an eye out at Ralph’s, Trader Joe’s and World Market for highly rated wines at under $15.  If I was in the Marina /WLA area, I’d pop by Los Angeles Wine Company on McConnell to nab some good deals on wine. This worked great at a recent party where the $10 highly rated wine we bought was preferred over the other obvious cheapies.

Candles are another great general gift. Of course they had standout buys on these at last weeks Archipelago sale. But you can also find standouts at Villa Firenze Warehouse and at General Wax and Candle… both in North Hollywood.

Scarves are a great general gift… mufflers especially. Everyone seems to love receiving one. These are usually door buster deals at department stores and can easily be picked up for under $15 almost anywhere. I have picked up near a dozen different scarves at the upcoming LF Warehouse Sale for $10 or less and have stashed them away for gifts. But I could always use some more.

I also keep a few extra games around. They are not just for kids ya know!  Yahtzee, Backgammon, Checkers, Scrabble, Pictionary, Dominos etc. Cool fun classic games all available for under $20.

If at the very last minute I still don’t have a gift for someone, I do the gift card thing… Yeah- it screams of “I forgot” but only if you don’t think about the type of gift card you’re giving. Most supermarkets have a rounder of gift cards for purchase. An extra nice effort would be tucking the card tucked into one of those oversized chocolate bars or a mug with Hot Cocoa mix. It adds a bit more thoughtfulness.

What are you last minute gift strategies?