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knowing what to buy. So, how do you solve the holi day madness? Here are a few tips: I r* I Don’t give teens gifts f " r you think they “need.” Save those purchases for your quality time together at Target. Teens don’t want to get socks under the tree. When they think about the holidays, it’s a “Must- Have Moment” If you’re looking to impress, think about one big gift vs. a lot of little ones. Computers, cellphones, video games and digi tal cameras top the list. ODon’t use the holidays as a time to correct your child’s behavior. Your teen probably isn’t going to stop her in cessant IM’ing just because you bought her a set of Jane Austen books. If you don’t want to cave and get her the latest gadget (which is w T hat she really wants), then at least get her one of the recent best sellers on the new lan guage of technology and Web acronyms so she knows you’re thinking about what mat ters to her. She may even read it! ©Don’t overlook their ward robe. Teens actually want to get clothes—they just don’t want the ones you knitted for them by the fire or something from the same stores that you shop in. Their favorite retailers are Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and Ameri can Eagle. Trust me, your teen can prob ably recite the store’s return policy bet- Vy ter than his geometry lesson, so if he doesn’t like your selection, he’ll exchange it for some thing else. But the best advice I can offer is to talk to your teens before the holidays so you don’t feel unprepared and they don’t wind up disappointed. Although they may wish i w it, they know money doesn’t grow on trees and therefore will be reason g, able in their expectations. At the end B of the day, the holidays are about being B together with family, and if you really listen w to their needs, even your teen probably will V understand you’re doing your best. SET DESIGN BY LINDA KEIL HALLEY RESOURCE: HAIR BY MARK TOWNSENO. MAGNET LA: MAKEUP BY TROY JENSEN. MARGARET MALDONADO AGENCY; STYLING BY JOHNNY WUJEK. MAGNET LA CLOTHWG ON COVER: DRESS BY CALVIN KLEIN. EARRINGS BY ALEXIS BfTTAR. BANGLES BY ALEXIS BITTAR AND DEAR; CLOTHING INSIDE BY DEAR Amanda’s Perfect Holiday Who needs elves? Actress Amanda Bynes can make her own gifts. BY FRAPPA STOUT Amanda Bynes has a hidden talent that helps get her through the holidays. “In my family, we make a lot of our gifts,” says the Nickelodeon bred actress and star of this year's Sydney White and the hit Hair spray. 'I like to draw, so I'll deco rate a plate, or I'll do an oil paint ing. It just means more when you make a gift from scratch.” Bynes is the ideal cover girl for our annual issue, not only because she has gift-giving down to an art, but the 21- year-old also knows what youth cut- J ture craves: cool M stuff at discount « prices. That's the ff| idea behind her w latest venture, Dear ' by Amanda Bynes, a 'WlN $250” worth of gear from her fashion line, Dear by Amanda Bynes! Enter at kusaweekend.comJ popular fashion line for teen girls at Steve & Barry's. The apparel chain, also home to Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten, prom ises no price tag above S2O. “It's nice because it makes'affordable chic,'”says Bynes, who meets with designers several times a month. Since its August launch. Dear has become the chain's fastest selling line. The new winter col lection reflects the young star let's personal sense of style, in cluding cozy pajama sets, plaid dresses and faux-fur-lined hood ies. 'We were looking for some body who appealed to [a younger demographic], who was an All- American girt'Steve & Barry's piesi TURN THE PAGE FOR MORE GIFT GUIOE dent Andy Todd, says. “No. 1 on our list was Amanda. She's so success ful and such a good role model.” Growing up the youngest of A three in Ventura County, Calif., ■ Bynes used to design her own T clothes with patterns and ma terials that she handpicked. At 8, she took sewing classes at a local fabric store. ”1 come from an ar tistic family,” she says, "and I was always the person drawing on the paper tablecloth at restaurants.” Her dad, a one-time shop teacher, carved a dis , play cabinet for her Ik Beanie Babies. Her Sgii mom sewed out k| fits (even under iff wear!) for Bynes' 2? Barbies; today, she ¥ makes stained glass. The family cele- brates both Christmas and Hanukkah, which Bynes admits can make things kind of confusing. 'We go to temple and church,” she says. Since moving in with Bynes' Jewish grand mother, they haven't had a Christ mas tree. "[ln the past] when we got one,” she says, “we called it a 'Hanukkah bush,' and I would decorate it.” It's usually Bynes'job to set the mood. Each year, she decorates the house with scented candles (she likes cinnamon and ginger bread) and her Marvin the Mar tian ornaments. She also jazzes up her own wrapping paper by drawing holly or little bows with * , uyw :W m, fjp 'l f PI ’t! fk M Hr f Am ; agH m R H m H 1 1 i 9 m 1 si r 1 bright markers, and she and her sister, Jillian, create their own Christmas cards. Her all-time save gift, she says, is a stained-glass dock, made by her mom, that still hangs in her bedroom: “Everyone comments on it.” She also loved it when, at 17, her best friend, Leslie, gave her a Louis Vuitton makeup bag (“My first!") and filled it with cos metics, induding Bliss body scrub and Lancome's Juicy Tubes lip gloss. Bynes often follows suit and buys the women in her life "things I would love myself.” This year, the Byneses are planning to gather together for a big holiday meal in Texas, where her brother, Tommy, lives with his family. As usual, Bynes will bake her famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. "Instead of flour, you use pump kin from a can,” she says. “They are so good!” Ca USA WEEKEND • Nov. 30-Dec 2,2007 7