by Leslee Stewart

Looking for a few gift ideas this season? Here are a few of my favorite Christmas gifts to give that are all under $10.

For my friends, my cousin and my sister-in-law, I love to give a few of my favorite, inexpensive beauty finds from the drugstore. A few of my personal favorites include:

• Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer – This is one of those items I can’t live without. It’s Burt’s Bees famous, all natural lip balm with a hint of color and shimmer. And it comes in some great colors. My favorite is Cocoa. Under $5.


• Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Polish – I’m addicted to this stuff. I adore just about every color it comes in, but my favorite part is the extra wide brush. I can honestly paint my toes in one coat with this fabulous polish. And did I mention it’s quick dry, too? Under $5.


• Sally Hansen Nail Effects – These are fun nail polish stickers that last forever! I wore these on my toes over the summer (prime flip-flop time in Florida), and easily got 3 weeks worth of wear out of them. They come in solid colors, but my favorites are the funky prints like leopard, flowers and the candy cane stripes for Christmas. Under $9.

For my neighbors and my kids’ teachers, I always try to whip up my favorite holiday bread recipe or homemade granola to pass out. Here are the recipes:

• Banana cranberry nut bread from Southern Living. – Bake in small ceramic loaf pans available at Tuesday Morning or Homegoods. Wrap in an inexpensive holiday tea towel or printed cloth napkin. Tie with ribbon.


• Golden honey granola from Country Living. – Package in inexpensive glass canisters from the dollar store. Tie with a ribbon and include the recipe printed on an index card.

A few of my other favorite inexpensive gifts include:

• A small succulent plant or Christmas cactus from Home Depot or Lowes. Not a green thumb? Not to worry. These are the perfect plant for people who forget to water. So long as you place them in a spot with indirect light (like a windowsill), and water them every 2-3 weeks, they’ll thrive.


• Note cards and decorative note pads. You can usually find a great selection of these for under $10 at Homegoods, Tuesday Morning and Target.


• Board games and puzzles. My kids love to play games and right now Target has classic board games like Operation, Sorry, Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land marked down to $8 or less. Also, card games like Uno, Phase 10, SkipBo and Go Fish are great and under $10. I also like to give them the 48-piece character puzzles, which can often be found at TJ Maxx.


• Mini flashlight, screwdriver, tape measure. You can pick up some great stocking stuffers for the guy in your life at Lowes. This time of year they usually have bins in the front of the store with small gadgets for under $10. One of my husband’s favorites was a $5 mini screwdriver that had interchangeable tips stored in the end cap. We keep it in our kitchen for quick fix projects.