Vitamin Daily

Can’t bring yourself to fight the crowds at the eleventh hour? Here are five last minute gifting tips that don’t require a trip to the mall:

1. Give away a good book you own. Make a simple, personalized dust jacket for it with paper and anything crafty you have around the house.

2. Buy tickets online to a concert in the new year (something to look forward to), then create a YouTube playlist of that band’s music videos and live performances and email it to them to tip them off to your plan. Check www.tourfilter.com/vancouver for listings.

3. Bake a batch of your favourite cookies and put them in a plain Chinese food take-out box (many dollar stores sell them) or another nice container you already have. Write up a clever fortune for 2011 and hide it at the bottom of the box.

4. Giving money may seem tacky, but it’s all how you frame it, literally. Place a $20, $50 or $100 dollar bill in a small picture frame you’re not using and title your DIY artwork, “For Emergencies Only.”

5. Book them a little post-holiday pampering by phone. We don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like a massage after Boxing Day sales.