I'm looking for ideas for "a little something" I could bring back for special people.
Nail girl, cleaning girl, poker group etc.
I'm not looking to break the bank.
Thanks for any ideas.

There are so many wonderful things
to buy as gifts in Italy. In Venice
they have masks and murano glass. The
glass is fantastic. Such artisans in
Italy. Florence the gold, leather
and purses are beautiful. I could go
on and on. I visited my family in Italy
the month of August. We had a wonderful
time and experienced such beauty.
Have a wonderful trip!

I found some very beautiful and colorful ceramic spoon rests (for the cook top), for well under 10 euro each. I still have mine from my first trip to Italy,and wish I'd bought more of them at the time.

I wish I bought more glass pendants in Venice. You can buy them for 5 Euro each in a great variety of glass colours. They look great on Gold or silver chains. Everytime I wear one, I get compliments. Great small, packable gift.

Stationery.

WHERE in Italy? The gifts in Venice are very different from those in Sicily, for example.

Some of the glass gifts in Venice make great little take home gifts. We like to buy some of the glass bead jewelry, the glass topped wine bottle stoppers, and glass paperweights.

A coworker brought me a beautiful silk scarf and a leather bookmark... small, inexpensive( I'm presuming) and very appreciated.

If you will be in Florence, the outdoor markets at San Lorenzo have many inexpensive gift options, many named here already. I particularly like the silk scarves, a great variety of patterns, for 10-15 euros.

Also in San Lorenzo, there's the big food market. We brought back several bags of dried mushrooms and spice mixes (nice and light to carry). Also, Italian chocolates. You can buy lovely leather gloves in San Lorenzo market but an Italian friend recommended her favourite glove store, Sermonetta. There's one in Rome (bottom of the Spanish Steps) and in Venice (near St. Mark's Square). Also, there are some nice small tooled or gilded leather items -- notebooks, change purses, cases for glasses, etc. I aim for gifts that are light and/or flat and easy to pack.

Usually the only souveniers I buy are artwork of some variety.

Well I brought back a daughter from Italy, does she count as a souvenier? Sometimes I want to exchange her or get my money back but that's a different story...

I do recall the chicken pitchers being popular as well as Italian Lira coins being made into earrings. If you travel to Sorrento, a music box would be a nice gift (mine played the theme to the Godfather). A rosary dipped into holy water from the Vatican is a great gift for your Catholic friends.

My favorite gift item when I visited Rome 2 years ago, were little bottle openers that had a coin with the Pope's head on them...we christened them
"Pope-eners" and everyone who got them from us got a chuckle.

I brought back beautiful leather covered note books as gifts.

Leather bookmarks
Rosary beads
Candy from Rivoire
Several good stories about gypsies
Coffee from Sant' Eustachio (sp?)
Glass winestoppers
Glass necklaces and bracelets
Some Italia t-shirts