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Over the next 30 pages, we've collected 150 thrifty ideas that will not only please your pocketbook, but might actually elicit a "wow" from their intended recipients.

STOCKING STUFFERS

UH-HUH, GIVE ME S'MORE

Cubicle jungle got you feeling like a tenderfoot without a compass? Relax, city slicker--here comes the chuck wagon. The unashamedly un-urbane Urban S'mores Kit ($15, Borders Books and Music, 708 SW 3rd Ave., 221-9811, and other locations) has everything to do dessert (or distraction) desk-side: graham crackers, Hershey bar, marshmallows, even tin prongs and tea-light to melt the gooey grub. Just mind the office smoke alarm, pioneer.

FROM SMOKE BREAKER TO NOTE TAKER

We think this one's just too weird to leave off the list (especially with all those silly New Year's Resolutions some of you take so seriously). Forget Nicorette, and chew on the cigarette-shaped pen ($3, Twist, 30 NW 23rd Place, 224-0334, and other locations) instead. It looks so much like the real thing, everyone around the office is sure to be fooled--hope the same can be said for that ashtray-kissable mouth of yours.

ONE MEGABITE

And while your neighbor's busy toasting marshmallows across the hall, plug in your PC E-Z Bake Oven ($29.99, thinkgeek.com) for your own cyber-snack. It works just like the ones you used back in the old days--except that it's powered by your computer and looks like an external drive. The binary bakery turns out a 3-inch cake in about 10 minutes and comes with replacement bulb, additional teeny pan, six mixes and recipes for more. We recommend the non-dairy creamer crème brûlée.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Find getting the family together for the holidays isn't the same as getting the family together for the holidays? Sit the brood down for a round of Christmas Gamesake ($29.95, gamesake.com). The interactive, self-creating board game is built around family gossip, stories or secrets--and you can broaden the game as the years go by and memories pile up. It might not make you look forward to talking politics at the dinner table, but it will be useful for future blackmail.

ABRACADABRA THERAPY

Looking for nontraditional holiday gifts? Try these: IO Herbal Alchemy offers five different Magic Potions ($30, io-herbalalchemy.com) that are crafted, according to the manufacturers, using "ancient alchemical brewing rituals." Flavors include Love, Purification, and our favorite, Empowering. These potions are made from such ordinary-seeming ingredients as chili powder and orange peel. It's strange. We weren't going to write about these, but we suddenly just...felt...oddly...compelled.

LOCAL CHEESE MAKES GOOD

Sure, some "Oregon" cheeses took a credibility hit this year, but here's the bright side: Local churners Rogue Creamery recently nabbed the silver medal at the World Cheese Awards in London for their Crater Lake Blue Cheese ($29 in gift pack, roguecreamery.com, 866-665-1155, and other locations). The makers claim "the vibrant blue-green color of Crater Lake is mirrored in the veins" of this cheese--we just know it tastes good.

TURNTABLE ON THE TABLE

For a new spin on the old fruit bowl, put out Vinylux Record Bowls ($26, elsewares.com). They're crafted from real vinyl records and covered in a protective finish (including the spindle hole) to carry food safely. They're available in both red and black vinyl with the album's label still attached.

MINI-SIZED AND CUSTOMIZED

Yeah, the irony of "personalizing" your mass-marketed stuff with other mass-marketed stuff isn't lost on us, but we still think iPod tattoos ($14, Costco, 4849 NE 138th Ave., 252-1045, and other locations) are pretty cool. You can choose from pre-made styles--plenty of band photos--or you can design your own and print them out on ready-made adhesive backings. (Don't fret: The sticky stuff comes off.)

LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED...

When you're tracking down the unlikeliest of gifts, you have to look in off-the-beaten-mall-track places. Like the Portland Art Museum's gift shop (1219 SW Park Ave., 226-2811), which exhibits some great finds on the cheap--such as the 50-Year Perpetual Calendar Paperweight ($10), a nickel-plated beauty for the desk. Check out the chicly intriguing silver-and-pewter jewelry ($25 and up), too. As the two metals melt at different temperatures, their union is a secret known only to the artist.

Copyright © 2004. Willamette Week.