How to Buy a Last-minute Gift

So it is your best friend's birthday tomorrow, or over the weekend. But you had this really crazy busy week and did not find the time to pick up a gift! What do you do? First of all, DO NOT PANIC! It is not a life-threatening situation (though your friend might just punch-yo-face! LOL. Kidding...). Take a deep breath, and quickly go through the tips given below on how to buy a last-minute gift. Then dash out of your house, go buy the gift, and save the day!

It is not at all difficult to throw together a last-minute gift basket, if you know the person well! There are many ideas to make a gift basket.

A food gift basket can have all the favorite food items of your friend. If he/she is a movie buff, then a collection of some of his/her favorite movies, an assortment of popcorn packets and fries, six beer cans or bottles, and you are good to go!

Best Bargain: Gourmet Gift Baskets have some of the best food gift baskets. Wine Country Gift Baskets also have some tempting ones. Check out the website.

Consumable gifts can be beauty products, food-related gifts, anything that can be used up. A bottle of wine can be the perfect gift for the oenologist in your group. For the health conscious, a fruit bouquet will be perfect. You can even gift a set of beauty products, or a massage kit. Basically, something that will make the recipient feel pampered!

Best Bargain: A bottle of Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Reserve Chardonnay will be just perfect. After all Chardonnay is America's favorite white wine! However, while picking up beauty products, make sure to keep in mind if your friend is allergic to any chemicals or constituents.

This includes anything and everything you can make at home. Homemade cookies, pie, cake, brownies are a complete hit! Of course, this is only if you trust your culinary skills. If you have a flair for fashion designing, you can make your friend a scarf. You can even knit one, if you are fond of knitting. Homemade jewelry can also be a nice option.

A Tip: Baking cookies takes a lot less time than making a cake or pie. Make your choice based on exactly how much time you have! While making jewelry, make sure you decide on a pattern that is not too time-consuming!

One of the best last-minute gifts is an iPod. Everybody likes music, and this can be just what your friend wants! If your friend already has an iPod, another gift idea can be an App for the iPod (or iPad even). You can even gift a DVD Box Set of your friend's favorite sitcom, or actor, director, etc.

Best Bargain: iPod shuffle or iPod nano is good for young children. iPod classic will be good for an adult. DVD set of Big Bang Theory, Bones, Harry Potter Movies, Twilight Series, etc. will be cool too.

If your friend is a nature lover, this one will be perfect. You can gift your friend a potted plant. You can choose indoor flowering plants that make a room smell good. The best part here is, even if your friend already has the plant, he/she will not mind receiving a second one.

You can even gift your friend a fish bowl with a goldfish! How exciting it can be to receive a pet as a gift!
A Tip: Pick a plant that does not need too much care. Supplement a fish bowl gift with fish food as well.

This is a fabulous gift idea for a girl! You can take her to one of the finest salons in your city and give her a complete makeover; haircut, hair coloring, pedicure, manicure, a facial and body spa. Call it a 'le bellafication trip'! LOL.

Best Bargain: Take your friend to a salon you have yourself visited at least once. Also, depending on your budget, if not a complete makeover, you can sponsor just one of the different beauty treatments.

If NONE of the above ideas work, you can settle down for a gift voucher. These are convenient, well in your budget, and allow the recipient to pick a gift of their choice. Recollect your friend's hobbies, interests, and accordingly give him/her a gift voucher of a book store, gadget store, jewelry shop, or a store brand.

Best Bargain: Macy's for jewelry, an Amazon voucher for books. If your friend has a particular favorite store for something, just pick that one.

Finally I will say: if none of the above ideas sound good to you, don't insist on buying a gift. You can always tell your friend that you couldn't think of something good enough; you can then offer to take your friend shopping for whatever he/she wants as a gift. It is any day better to be honest than buying a gift that's not even half as good.