Daily Candy dropped into my inbox this morning these beautifully illustrated hat templates designed by NYC illustrator Nicole Killian. Now you really have no excuse to not don one on your noggin this evening.

Download here, here, and here.

Oh Martha! Aren’t you clever!?! Ring in the New Year with a few easy to make decorations and party favors. Hats are a must-have for any great New Year’s party. Make hats ahead of time or lay out sheets of paper (patterned, construction, wrapping, etc) markers and tape and let your guests go to town. Grab all the clocks you have to make a fun mantel or table centerpiece. Counting glasses can be constructed using simple champagne flutes and buying adhesive numbers at any office or stationery store. Make a table runner or fill a tray with leftover metallic wrapping paper. Purchase a 2010 rubber stamp or tape together the numbers if you already have stamps and let your imagination run wild! Stamp balloons, napkins, coasters, placemats, runners, toilet paper (make sure ink doesn’t come off when wet!) I think you get the idea. Lastly, keep the celebration going on New Year’s Day surprise guests or family with 2010 pancakes. All you need is confectionary sugar and cookie cutter numbers or homemade stencils. Let the countdown begin!

marthastewart.com (search New Year’s Eve for even more great ideas)

Will I ever get used to saying twenty ten (2010) in place of 0-10! I can’t believe 2009 is over this week, I keep looking at my desktop calendar and January just isn’t there which sent me to Etsy.com in search of a 2010 calendar. I shop Etsy because many designers sell printable PDFs that I can easily make myself or if you rather beautifully constructed calendars for purchase. Last year my roommate and I hosted a New Year’s Eve dinner and I purchased a calendar PDF from the Little Brown Pen on Etsy and made calendar favors for all of our guests. For under $8 I was able to give a gift that lasted all year long and was cute to boot, amazing!

Here are a few of my favorites from Etsy this year…

1. Keep Calm and Carry On Spoof Calendars, Printable PDFs, 4.25 x 11″, $5 each, Little Brown Pen womens & mens, 2. Typography desktop calendar, 5 x 5″ $12, 10% of the proceeds from this item will be donated to March of Dimes. lily jane stationery, 3. Funny Birds Calendar, 4×6″ cards, $25, Modern Pop, 4. Desktop Calendar Verison 1, 4 5/8” x 5 3/8”, $20, 3 Sisters Love, 5. Pretty Patterns wall calendar, 4 x 10″, $17.50, pink lily press, 6. Printable Calendar, $6, Sweet beets

Backdrop: Ring-a-Ding roll of wrap, 2 sheets 19″ x 27″ $5.75, hellolucky.com

Need to dress up your table, holly napkin holders made of felt and a jingle bell can be just the right festive touch to add to each place setting. Or use larger bells with ribbon tied to the napkins and let your guests take them home as favors. Centerpiece or mantel decorations can be easily constructed using ornaments, greens and a little glitz purchased from a local craft store. Add illumination using recycled wine bottles topped with tapers or fill large clear pillars or vases with cranberries (buy frozen inexpensively) and top them with votives. Stockings not fitting the presents they hold, personalize a canvas tote with iron on letters and hang it instead.

1. marthastewart.com, 2. & 3. realsimple.com, 4. betterhomesandgardens.com, 5. this is glamorous, 6. createmyevent.com

Like most people I still have all my wrapping to do. Oh the joys of the holidays! Most of the time I wrap in recycled kraft paper so when I saw these huge rolls on Whisker Graphics I thought what a great idea!  Buying in bulk - ingenious. What is so great about kraft paper is that you can dress it up in soo many ways, ribbon, illustrations, natural elements like this pine cone, sprig and twine from HGTV - so simple and yet stunning. Also, I love these ideas by Real Simple. Plain boxes closed with colored masking tape in place of ribbon. This would be especially helpful for those that have to ship presents like myself, I learned early on that the packages don’t always look as pretty after being tossed around in the mail. Creative tags like these paint chips, how cute!  Anyone that loves the Pantone series or home decorating would be touched by your cleverness (Real Simple won’t tattle). Also, these wood tags with adhesive letters could be used for your family year after year, what a great way to lessen waste. Lastly, run out of gift wrap, wrap with what you have, newspapers, old maps, magazines. Sometimes these options can actually suit a gift better than store bought paper. Blast holiday music, make some eggnog and have fun, any way you wrap it!

1.-4. reasimple.com, 5. hgtv.com, 6. whiskergraphics.com Great resource for plain boxes in bulk Uline.com

Little surprises that bring lots of cheer.

1. Compact reusable Nylon bags, Neon Chevron, $8, baggu.com, 2. Smencils, scented pencils, 10 for $14, uncommongoods.com, 3. Monogrammed decals 3″ dia, stick them just about anywhere, $18, dabneyleeathome.com, 4. Stapless stapler, $12, uncommongoods.com, 5. icon keys, $11 each, statkeycompany.com, 6. Eco Tools 5-pc. Makeup Brush Set, $11, target.com, 7. iTunes $10 giftcards, pack of 3 - $30, bestbuy.com, 8. Desktop speaker for MP3 players, $10, AAA batteries not included, containerstore.com, 9. Mimobot® USB 4GB Flash Drives, $35, momastore.org

Women want something indulgent that they can enjoy. Gifts that are thoughtful that will make them feel good whenever they wear, look, or think of the memory it made. For all those men that think their loved one actually wants a vacuum cleaner - think again. Cleaning is a chore that very few like if not loathe, functionality should not be top priority when gifting someone special.

With that being said below are some great ideas for gifting the lovely ladies in your life. Gift the jewelry that will make them shine, silky lingerie to make them feel sexy, and cupcakes to show them how sweet they are. For those that love experiences - Sunday Suppers is a cooking & dining class taught by local NYC chefs pairing market fresh, local and organic food with wonderful table top aesthetic in a waterfront loft in Brooklyn, NY. Give the gift of style with a classic trench, or vintage one-of-a-kind china clock. An all-in-one printer can be the perfect helper to a scrapbooker, or creative individual. And every women’s dream… a custom closet made just for them, you won’t need any mistletoe to get a reaction for this one, promise!

1. Ismene Necklace, $745, dannijo.com, 2. Mistletoe, $5.99, kisses free, morekissesmistletoe.com or check your local florist, 3. Stretch Silk Satin Kimono with Lace, $87, marygreen.com, 4. Sophie Camisole, $80 & Sophie Hipster, $55 by Only Hearts, shopbop.com, 5. Burberry Double Breasted Trench, $975, saksfifthavenue.com, 6. Peppermint Mini snow cupcakes, set of 24 -$50, williams-sonoma.com, 7. China Cabinet Clock, one of a kind variety, $188, anthropologie.com, 8. Cobblestone ring, $35, silentgypsyjewelry.com, 9. Dinner Experience, $75-$100 per person, for upcoming events e-mail info@sunday-suppers.com or visit sunday-suppers.blogspot.com, 10. HP photosmart all in one printer, $400, bestbuy.com, 11. Closet makeover, prices vary, California Closets

Let them man their own brew, tote drinks, treats, & tunes, grill up pizza Batali style, and drink in support of their favorite team.  Give them digs that are both hot & cool. And for those with just a hint of Scrooge, ‘nice parking’ note cards to promote a healthy sense of sarcasm.

Beer Making Starter Kit, makes 1 gallon & different flavors to choose from $40, brooklynbrewshop.com, Portable Speaker cooler, 18 can capacity and plays radio and MPS player, $34.99, dickssportinggoods.com, Lacoste Polo Sweater, $158, neimanmarcus.com, Magnetter Key Hanger, $12.99, thinkgeek.com, NBA Glassware Collection, $19.00 - $39.00, Potterybarn.com, Italian Grill book by Mario Batali, $17.97 paired with a Pizza Grill Topper, $10.95, foodnetworkstore.com, Tom Ford “Pierre” Sunglasses, $425, bloomingdales.com, Digital luggage scale, $25.00, flight001.com, Nice Parking small notes, 25 for $15, jackspade.com,

Show the kids who invented cool! Gift them great gadgets like mini amps for their Ipods, sophisticated headphones or a camcorder small enough to tote in their pockets. Spark creativity with a lunchbox that shows off their moods, 275 sticker ways to be exact, a pocket notebook to journal one’s big ideas in, completely customizable sneakers, and a tie dye kit to get trendy with. Go on, give Santa a run for your money…

1. Mini Doc Amplifiers, pink & black, $19.99, containerstore.com, 2. Free Hugs Gloves, $13, & the Ultimate texting gloves, $26, fatherpanik.com, 3. Custom Modern Silhouette Portrait, $22, sweetcarolinadesign etsy.com, 4. Animal Index, by Hiroshi Sasagawa, great for organizing a library, set of 2 back and front of animal $23, spotted in Real Simple June 09, greenergrassdesign.com, 5. Flip Ultra Digital Camcorder, $150, target.com, 6. Goodbyn Lunch Box, $29.95, lunchboxes.com, 7. Customizable Ked Sneakers, Slip on & Lace up, $50, kedscollective.com, 8. ChitChat Pocket Moleskine Notebook, $8, milkweedandhoney etsy.com, 9. JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case, $29.95, amazon.com, 10. Tie Dye Kit, $20, spotted in Vogue.com’s Holiday 09 Gift Guide, urbanoutfitters.com & White T-shirt, $17, americanapparel.com