Her Third Birthday

At that age, my mom did a "creative box" for each of us and we LOVED it!

Plastic container filled with:
- children's safety scissors
- crayons
- water colors
- construction paper
- ribbons
- rhinestones
- fabric swatches
- old t-shirts to decorate
- smock
- brushes
- glue sticks

Decorate the box with her name on it and make it look super special! Replenish or add to it as needed!

You could also hit Goodwill and do a ton of dress-up clothes and costume jewelry!

You could shop thrift and regular stores and get her a box full of scarves, purses, play shoes, glasses, hats, gloves, jewelry - dress up stuff if she doesn't have too much already!
Barbie house?

Does she have dress up clothes?

check out the Melissa and doug website. I love their puzzles and learning toys! They have a wooden magnetic dress up doll that my daughter LOVES!

How about some books? My 2.5 loves books, and I love getting the "Kohl's Cares" books and matching stuffed animals, $5 each, so only $10 a gift. Right now our local Kohl's has "Clifford" books and the characters. Or books about Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake or other characters she's in to would be great. Something new, educational, and not overboard.

I got my kids the Leapfrog learning (letter and word factory and math) dvds. They love them and it has greatly improved their alphabet/math skills. I got them on amazon in a bundle pack for around $30. She would probably love the large leggo duplo blocks.

That's a good age for a Leapster or Leapad

Books. My DD loves books, and books about things she likes (dinosaurs, tools, ponies) are hits, as are classics like Dr. Seuss.

art supplies and a wood easel (with chalkboard on one side)
building toys (there are so many kinds now a days)
small 12 inch bike w training wheels or balance bike
sit and bounce ball (i forget what they are called. At 3 our son was crazy about this)
musical instrument for a kid (keyboard, small drumset, kid guitar. A good one is the Power Tour Guitar)
A small fish tank of her own! They make little ones now that are cool.
toy tent to play in (they make one now that looks like a little castle/circus tent)

Hmm, well my daughter turns 3 in March, but I was already thinking about christmas and B-day presents! Try to look at some of the leapfrog learning toys that help tech words and colors! There are so many neat things you can get without spending a lot like puzzles, activity books, baby dolls things, maybe a play tent for inside since its going to start getting cold....try looking on Toys R Us website for ideas!

Yes - do a 'girls day' and take her to the spa to get "feathered" with you!!!!!! It's not that expensive - the feather is like $10 for one (The big ones like Steven Tyler has are way more - these are just little and very cute).

Or you could both get your fingers & toes painted!!!!!! They won't do a mani/pedi that young, but just re-doing polish would be fun - plus you would be doing it together.