Every Christmas I spend $25.00 each on my nail tech and my hairdresser. My hairdresser's gift is easy.....a $25.00 gift certificate for a pedicure with my nail tech and homemade rum balls. My nail tech's gift is the problem. There is no one else who does great pedicures so I can't give her a gift certificate for a pedicure. She likes Pleasures by Estee Lauder, but that starts at $28.95 and goes up in price.

She likes to cook. She especially likes to bake things like cakes and cheese cakes. I'm at a complete loss as to what to get her for Christmas.

Right now the only thing I can think of is $25.00 worth of cream cheese, but somehow I don't think that's what she wants.

You see, the entire beauty shop goes on a diet right after January 1 until March or April.

Help !!!!

 I have a three ideas for you:

A coffee grinder, $10-15, with a pkg of coffee beans.

A one or two packages of gourmet salt, $10-15 each, with a fancy recipe card attached.

A few gourmet chocolate bars, $5-8 each, with a nice bottle of Champagne, Tosti Asti is very good with chocolate and starts a $10-15 a bottle, and two champagne flutes, $2 from dollar store.

cyn

One year my sister gave me three bottles of imported vanilla extract for my Christmas gift. They are a bit pricey, but absolutely wonderful. Cook Flavoring Company, Tacoma Washington. www.cooksvanilla.com 1-800-735-0545. That's somethng that would keep until after their dieting season.

VNW, do you use mypoints? If so, then maybe you have enough points for a bath and body works gift card. Victoria secret also has gift sets on sale around now for very reasonable. As far as Pleasures, if you have a belk or other store of that type near you, they are probably running a sale. If not, the girls at the cosmetic/fragrance counter are usually good about telling you when it will be on sale, so maybe in the next couple weeks it will be within budget. Good Luck!!!!

A gift card and catalog to Pensey's Spices

VNW:  I have an idea if she is a coffee drinker you could make her a basket with some coffee with some of the DaVinci Gourmet Flavored syrup I don't know all of the flavors it comes in but I know I have found Vanilla,Hazelnut,Kalua,and rasberry and if she will be dieting after Christmas some of the flavors come in sugar-free.  Another idea since she likes to bake would to do her a basket with a few cake mixes a bag of pecans and a festive towel to line the bottom of the basket and with either one of these ideas you could throw a 2009 calender hopes this helps you some if I think of anything else will let you know.

I agree with Joyous, Penzey's is the way to go for a cook/baker!

 I'm a cook also - but sometimes, I am difficult to buy for because I have a lot of baking stuff. Of course, I read cookbooks like regular books so now I have quite a collection. This may be a good suggestion - you can usually find some for cheap at a bookstore, if not they can be kinda pricey.

If she drinks coffee, the above are great ideas. Any gift basket you can usually make at home. Hot pads, dishcloths and kitchen towels are used heavily at my house and make a great gift. Nice ones are always appriciated since I usually buy the cheapies for myself. 

Make sure you check the drugstores for the perfume, especially this time of year. I work at one and know that sometimes they go on sale - up to $10 off a bottle. Make sure to price the gift sets as well, especially if you decide to spend the 28.xx. You usually get more in them.

You can do a gift card - either to a restaurant or a retail store. Make sure it is a stable place - gift cards won't be honored if the company goes under. You can do a prepaid visa card, but there will be a fee starting around $3.95 on top of the dollar amount of the card.

If you live in a winter climate, you can get a nice pair of gloves and scarf; you can add some warm socks as well. 

 Good luck!

Pony.

Just kidding.  I agree with the folks who mentioned gourmet chocolates and other cooking items or coffee grinder with fancy coffee.

 Have you tried an on-line search for the perfume she likes? There's quite a few discount perfume dealers on-line. Also, if she likes things like the body wash, lotion, etc, those are often a lot cheaper than the perfume itself.