Last week, I suggested the Mullet magnets as an alternative to the traditional hostess gift of wine, candles or chocolate. But if your host or hostess has a clever sensibility but no real use for mullet magnets, I've compiled a list of a few other bizarre gifts that will earn you major points at your next dinner party or overnight stay.

Remember when Ren & Stimpy sang, "It's a log, it's a log. It's big, it's round, it's wood. It's a log, it's a log. It's better than bad it's good!"? From that moment on, logs have earned themselves a reputation of incomparable camp, a fact which is writ large in this porcelain log vase from the Curiosity Shoppe. Who wouldn't love a bouquet of fresh flowers in this cheesy woodland container?

When it comes down to it, I love a good pencil-thin mustache. And now you and your host can play Clark Gable and W. Clement Stone all night long with this set of fake stick-on mustaches from Malabar.com.


But if you are looking for something truly unexpected, you always get your charming host or hostess a commemorative Elvis and Nixon mouse pad. The mouse pad from the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace features a photograph of the King and the President shaking hands in the Oval Office.



Did you know that the Netherlands has a royal family just like the United Kingdom? Okay, so there's no one quite as hunky as Prince William in the Dutch Royal family, but they do have their own sort of low-land charm. With a tin of Queen Wilhelmina Peppermints, you can bring your kind host a sweet treat with a bizarre commemorative tin.


Give your host the best gift going: good fortune! But if you cannot make the fates listen to you, at least let your friends indulge in a round at the Prophesy Board, also from the Curiosity Shoppe.

Even if everyone you know has long given up their LP collections for CDs and iPods, there's still something to be said for the artful covers of old records. A record isn't exactly a work of art on it's own, but when you hang it on a wall or set it on a bookshelf, it comes pretty darn close. Anything by Tito Puente and you're golden.


Last but not least, there's always the diner scenes disposable place mats which feature somewhat grim photographs of 1960s era diners. I wouldn't want to eat in the joints shown in these placements, but I wouldn't mind eating on top of them.

Just remember, you don't have to spend a lot to give a great gift to your host or hostess. All things considered, creative gifts are far more valuable than any old Bordeaux, and they almost always guarantee a repeat invitation.