Last-minute gift doesn't have to be costly

— -- Truly last-minute holiday gifts tend to fall into two categories: pretty expensive or rather cheap.

As the clock starts ticking closer to Dec. 25, it's often the jewelry stores and drugstores that benefit from the last mad dashes. Even 7-Eleven is touting itself as a mecca for thrifty — if not forethought-filled — holiday gifts.

Shopping at each type of retail outlet is fraught with some ill-advised temptations. From the questionable electronics at drugstores to the overpriced baubles at some jewelry stores to the simply strange choice of a convenience store for holiday shopping, it's a seller's market near the 11th hour of holiday shopping.

Some mainstream stores are helping procrastinators look good. While most stores close by 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, there's something for everyone as the clock gets closer to Christmas. Several stores, including Best Buy, Toys R Us and Victoria's Secret, are open until 10 p.m. on Dec. 24. J.C. Penney is closing at midnight.

Target says beauty-oriented gift sets are very popular this year; the Frederic Fekkai hair care set is an especially big seller. If you can't drag yourself to the store on Christmas Eve, you can put together your own gift basket or buy other gifts at convenience or drugstores. While 7-Eleven is selling the popular Pillow Pets and remote-control cars, it's their phone prices — yes, phones at 7-Eleven — that impressed bargain expert Brad Wilson.

He says 7-Eleven appears to beat the competition, including Amazon, with its December-only prices on Virgin Mobile's PayLo Kyocera 2300 and the T-Mobile Nokia X2.

"It's rare — but great — to see 7-Eleven competing like this," says Wilson, owner of BradsDeals.com.

But drugstores' "off-brand tablets and $25 digital cameras are uniformly awful," says Christine Frietchen, editor-in-chief of ConsumerSearch.com. Instead, she recommends having family photos printed at a drugstore photo lab and placed in a drugstore frame to make last-minute gifts more personal for family.

Spa-like gift sets can be easily put together with drugstore-bought hair or skin care products. Or try making a do-it-yourself "retro" toy set for an adult. Frietchen tried that one year with drugstore-bought Pickup Sticks, Barrel of Monkeys, Jenga and Yahtzee, added microwave popcorn and called it "family game night."

"Packaging inexpensive items together along a theme is a great way to make a cheap gift appear more thoughtful," she says.

Jewelry stores. December may be one of the most popular months to buy jewelry, but it's actually one of the worst months to do so, says DealNews.com. " 'Big Jewelry' has you in a corner this month," says the site. Even store coupons often exclude fine jewelry. If you've waited this long to pick out jewelry, stall a little longer and check prices online for any item you're considering so you know what the price range should be, advises Gary Liebert, owner of Harts Jewelers in Weymouth, Mass. But don't wait too long: "Try to give yourself a few days and not wait for Christmas Eve," he says.