Gift guide

Charitable

Pillow and votive candles designed by Barclay Butera for AIDS Project Los Angeles Rest easy with a gorgeous linen pillow from Los Angeles designer Barclay Butera. Cozy up the room even more with Butera's trio of scented votive candles. Matches are included! (Candles $39.95; pillow $295)

2005 snow globe; Broadway Bares 15: Rxxx 2005-2006 calendar; dog collars and leashes; and "Make a Difference" wristbands for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Continue the wristbands-of-awareness trend with BC/EFA's "Make a Difference" set of five. Broadway's latest season is immortalized in Scott Pask's snow globe, which can be wound up to play "New York, New York." Get your friends wound up with the Broadway Bares calendar. And get your canine pals a "Broadway," "Tickets," or "Diva" collar or leash! (Snow globe $60; calendar $20; leash $20; collar $15; wristbands $10)

Rainbow Celebration Flag; partner touchstone pendant; Annie ornament for HRC Christopher Radko commemorates HRC's 25th anniversary with a brand-new, hand-painted, limited-edition ornament. Share the joy by displaying the seven-panel Rainbow Celebration Flag. And for an intimate celebration this holiday season, a sterling silver partner touchstone pendant makes the perfect token of love. (Flag $19.95; pendant $42.95; Annie ornament $35)

Pendant and lapel pin for PFLAG Both the pendant and lapel pin, each sterling silver, are in the shape of the organization's meaningful heart-and-triangle logo. ($60 each)

"Happy Pawlidays" ornament for PAWS/LA This limited-edition ornament benefits PAWS/LA, an organization providing free comprehensive care for the companion animals of people suffering from debilitating or terminal illnesses. ($45)

--Lawrence Ferber

High-tech

For the caffeinated, give them the best with a new addiction-aid gadget, the Nepresso Romeo ($799). It's all the foam and fun of an espresso machine but with Nespresso's easy-to-use capsule coffee system.

Here's the perfect gift for the videophile in your life--the Lite-On DVD+VHS Recorder LVC-9006 (about $230). The LVC 9006's AllWrite technology allows him to transfer tapes to DVD with a choice of formats. Just in time--his Mariah Carey Cribs tape was about to snap.

LEGO Factory offers a brand-new way to make your own custom block sets. Download the Digital Designer software from Lego.com and create virtual structures. LEGO will then send you the blocks to build a three-dimensional version (prices of blocks vary, with many in the $20-$30 range). Great for your little constructionist, or if you just want to give someone that Liberace bust you made. (What? They're hard to find!)

Even the chef who claims "I never buy canned anything" will bow down to the power of a good bread maker, and it doesn't get much nicer than the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme ($250). You can set it to bake at a certain time, you can prep sourdough, and you can even make jams. The only thing it won't do is cut off the crusts.

Slim, sleek, sexy: The Casio Exilim EX- S500 five-megapixel camera ($400) does not skimp on features and comes in a choice of three colors to suit what hues you think are most flattering to your gift-getter.

Let your favorite music fanatic go cordless with the Sennheiser RS 140 wireless headphones ($220). He gets musical freedom, and you get quieter evenings. What's not to love?

Bring her iPod to life with The Bridge ($70-$100) and the AVR-340 home theater receiver ($899), both from Harman Kardon. The Bridge links her iPod with the receiver and enables control of both with the receiver remote. She can even track song information on a TV screen or the receiver's LCD display.

Accessories and novelties

Holidays, reindeer, heavy coats--these deer hat hangers ($160) from artist David Wiseman are perfect for your loved one to unwrap on a snowy morning.

Get them something they can step into for the holidays with Medium's Alchemist shoes ($95-$115), available in a range of colors for all seasons--winter, spring, summer, and sexy.

There's something to be said for a clean shave, and with the HeadBlade Classic ($15), now there's a solution for the top of your favorite smoothie's head.

These handcrafted Love and Pride stainless steel and diamond rings ($295) are perfect for saying "I love you" or even "I do"--or maybe just "Sorry about going over that curb with the Lexus."

For the wine connoisseur, there's the VIP Edition of Metrokane's Rabbit ($125), a corkscrew that surpasses all other corkscrews. It can pull corks out in one clean, sexy sweep.

The Alessi Kaj watch ($85) makes simplicity look sophisticated and is the ideal gift for the mod you're mad about. It comes in pink, brown, black, and silver-gray to accommodate your color preference.

Gay designer extraordinaire Jonathan Adler has created this fantastic chocolate Fondue for Two Gift Set ($85) exclusively for New York City's cocoa-based boutique Chocolate Bar. You buy the set as a gift--but there's enough chocolate for two. Smart, huh?

--V.L.