29 Secrets

Every year, holiday soirées sneak up on us a little too quickly! But no matter how busy your sched, never lose sight of the time and effort spent planning these functions. Show your hostess gratitude by snatching one of these unusual last-minute gifts... because a party-giver can only receive so many bottles of Merlot.

1. Instant Wine Chiller, $39.99. Available at Sharper Image
This gift goes out to the many bottles of wine being hoarded in a hostess’s kitchen. Instead of chilling the wine herself (and, let’s face it, she’ll have enough on her hands as is), room temperature wine will flow through this product and cool instantly. Before you give it a test-drive, the product must be stored in the freezer... only then will you witness miracles. Red or white, this unusual device chills all. Just be sure the hostess is a wine lover outside of throwing dinner parties!

2. Classy Paper Placemats, $39.95. Available at Teatro Verde
Help the hostess set the table with no more than a placemat. Not only are these clever place settings just as stunning as the cutlery itself, but they are made out of 30 per cent recycled paper, and are 100 per cent recycable. Even the ink is composed of natural soy ingredients! With more trees being cut down this season, this is the perfect way to give back. Each set comes with 50 placemats.

3. DIY Wine Bottle Sweater
 Behold, festive partygoers! Yellow Tail Wines recently designed a clever do-it-yourself solution for toting your libations. They created a pattern that allows you to knit your own holiday wine sweater. This gift is ideal for one of those infamous Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. Yes, even the wine bottle gets to join in on the action. Go to facebook.com/yellowtail for more info.