Last Minute Gifts That Don’t Require Shipping

If you still have some holiday shopping to do with only a couple days left before the big day, shipping a gift from Amazon or eBay is out unless you want to pay double what the gift is worth to overnight it.

So, what are your options at this point?

Sure, you could go out and buy gift cards card, but didn't you do that last year?

eCards? So you couldn't bother yourself with stepping out of the house to drop a real card in the mail. Instead you email a cheesy, semi-animated eCard surrounded by banner ads.

Don’t be that person.

Here are a few unique and thoughtful gift ideas that won’t require shipping and will make you look like a creative holiday hero.

Create an Xtranormal Video

You could just record a special holiday video message and send that. But this gift idea is much more creative and entertaining. It’s super easy, and depending on the options you choose, it might not cost anything to create.

With Xtranormal, all you need to do is write a short greeting and you can have a 3D animated character present your message. You just type your message into the free software to have it read by your character.

You can choose from a wide range of characters, many based on real-life celebrities. Select a venue and background music for your scene. You can give your digitized celebrity facial expressions as they talk and cue body gestures.

The only flaw with Xtranormal is the selection of voices. With all the characters they offer, the number of voices is comparatively low. The digitized voices aren't the best I've come across in other software either. You can also add your own voiceover to your video.

Upload to YouTube (make it private if you like) and post on the recipient’s Facebook wall or email the link.

I've done this before for some friends and had a lot of fun making my video. My friends absolutely loved it. You can get started on your video production by heading over to Xtranormal.com.

Hire Someone on Fiverr to Create a Unique Holiday Greeting

You can hire people to do almost anything on Fiverr.com for only 5 bucks. You can write a greeting and have it video presented by puppets, in another language, by sexy women in holiday lingerie, sung by country singers, or reported by a news anchorperson.

This gift idea is going to depend on the booking availability of the person offering the gig. If you can find someone with a 24 hour turn around, you might be able to pull it off if you act quickly.

Gift Music, Games or Apps

Many sites that sell digital products also allow you to “gift” items. You pay for the product and your gift recipient receives the all access details. Here are a few example sites that allow gifting:

• Music: Streaming music service Spotify allows you to buy gift subscriptions that will allow access to their impressive library of tunes.


• Apps: Use iTunes to gift one of your favorite apps to a friend or family member. You can also gift music.


• Games: Have a family member who’s a gamer? Gaming platform Steam allows you to gift individual game titles from their online store.


• Courses: Give the gift of learning. Udemy.com has a gift option available for all their online courses.

If you do a quick search on Google you’re sure to turn up more sites that allow gifting.

There you have it: a number of gift ideas that are thoughtful and will make you look like a creative genius. Best of all, you didn't even have to get dressed to finish up your holiday shopping!