• Jelly beans make a good first date gift.grabbing jelly beans / candy image by Katrina Miller from Fotolia.com
  
  Make a good impression when you give a first date gift to a man--this surprise move keeps him wondering what a future with uncertainty you have in store. Choose a small gift that is inexpensive but reflects what you know about him. Keep it tasteful, wrap it and present it with flair.
  
  

Homemade

• Burn a CD for the two of you to listen to as you drive out on your date. Fill it with upbeat tunes he enjoys in the beginning, slowly progressing to more romantic ones as the evening progresses. Or, bake some cookies or chocolate-covered pretzels, insert into a decorative tin and tell him you have prepared dessert. Another option is to braid several strands of leather together to make a wrist bracelet and add a key ring pen light so he always has a flashlight handy, a whistle if he is a coach or sports official, or a flip top can opener for those times he needs to open a bottle.
  
  

Traditional With a Twist

• Rather than give a small bouquet of flowers, give him a couple of paper flowers he does not have to water or a single glass flower. Or give him a plant housed in an unusual container, preferably self-watering. Another option is to give him a jar of cashews or a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Or, consider a tall jar of different varieties of jelly beans wrapped with ribbon along the neck of the bottle. He may enjoy a box of candy or gum.
  
  

Unusual

• Give him a helium balloon with a cute saying on it or wrap up a couple of spices if you know he likes to barbecue--and include an apron. Perhaps he would prefer a T-shirt branded with his favorite team logo, a baseball cap--for a daytime date, to keep the sun out of his eyes--or a scarf to wrap around his neck if it is a cold, snowy night. An umbrella works well for inclement weather as does a pair of warm mittens. If all else fails, fall back on a set of beer mugs with a six-pack of imported beer.