The Best Last-Minute Holiday Gift Ideas

6 minute read

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We’ve all been there. You’ve made your list and checked it twice, but then you suddenly realize there’s one person you forgot to shop for. Or maybe your gift idea got derailed by those omnipresent supply chain issues. Whatever reason has you scrambling to find a last-minute present, this list has you covered. From tasty subscriptions to fun e-gift cards, these last-minute gifts may not need to be unwrapped, but they’ll still be appreciated by anyone lucky enough to receive them.

Future membership

Price: $149 a month

With the Future app, a fitness coach creates flexible, personalized workouts for the gym or at-home use. The app’s real value, though, lies in having a real person send messages and hop on calls to encourage accountability, making it harder to skip a workout.

Buy Now: Future membership

Soko Glam gift card

Price: $10 and up

A Soko Glam gift card is a great option for anyone interested in the latest products and trends in beauty and skin care. Soko Glam has all the best Korean beauty (better known as K-beauty) serums, toners, cleansers, masks, peels, lotions, patches, creams, balms and essences.

Buy Now: Soko Glam gift card

Airbnb gift card

Price: Varying amounts

An Airbnb gift card can be used to book bungalows, beach houses, mountain retreats, castles, homes and even a giant potato. It’s the perfect gift for friends or family looking to get away or wanting a temporary new setting for their home office.

Buy Now: Airbnb gift card

Van Leeuwen ice cream

Price: $60 (for five pints)

Yes, you can (and should) ship ice cream. Surprise someone with Van Leeuwen’s vegan or dairy holiday ice cream sent through the mail. Choose from flavors like pumpkin cheesecake, peppermint stick, vegan pumpkin cinnamon roll or good old fashioned mint chip. And if you’re really aiming for the surprise factor, send the Kraft macaroni and cheese flavor.

Buy Now: Van Leeuwen ice cream

The Mysterious Bookshop’s Book-a-Month subscriptions

Price: $99 (for three months)

New York’s Mysterious Bookshop offers a variety of subscription plans perfect for bookworms who love a good mystery. There are eight clubs to choose from with options ranging from historical crimes to psychological thrillers to hard-boiled detective novels.

Buy Now: The Mysterious Bookshop’s Book-a-Month subscriptions

Disney+ subscription

Price: $79.99 a year

Give the gift of Disney—and Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic too. This streaming service offers access to old favorites like Snow White and WALL-E, and new ones, including The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Shang-Chi and much, much more.

Buy Now: Disney+

Goldbelly gift card

Price: Varying amounts

It’s not everyday you get a cheesesteak in the mail, but with a Goldbelly gift card, it could be. The website ships goodies from across the country to folks in desperate need of a Chicago deep dish pizza, vegan cupcakes from California, Maine lobster rolls or bagels from New York or Montreal.

Buy Now: Goldbelly gift card

Bandcamp gift card

Price: $10 and up

With a Bandcamp gift card, the music lover you know can support artists and independent record labels while building a library of digital jams, bops, anthems and beats. We call that a win-win.

Buy Now: Bandcamp gift card

Atlas Tea Club subscription

Price: $60 for a three month subscription

Help someone go on a tea-sipping trip around the world with this tea subscription. Each month brings a new tea from countries like Kenya, Nepal, Colombia and Thailand, giving tea lovers a chance to find their new favorite cuppas.

Buy Now: Atlas Tea Club subscription

Bokksu gift box subscription

Price: Starts at $39.95 a month

If someone you know is an adventurous eater or hankering for a taste of Japan, Bokksu offers a monthly sampling of snacks and treats. Think soy biscuits, matcha waffles, seaweed tempura chips, taiyaki corn puffs, green tea cakes, mochi and so much more—all tucked into a box that shows up once a month.

Buy Now: Bokksu gift box subscriptions

Cameo personalized video message

Price: Varying amounts

Personalized video service Cameo makes it easy to get celebrities like The Office’s Brian Baumgartner, James Marsters (a.k.a. Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Bravo housewife Luann De Lesseps or Tiger King’s Carole Baskin to send season’s greetings on your behalf.

Buy Now: Cameo video messages

Boona Boona Coffee subscription

Price: $34 a month (includes two different coffees)

Boona Boona Coffee founder Efrem Fesaha works with growers in Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and other places to source some of the best coffee beans around. Caffeine fiends and coffee aficionados alike will appreciate having monthly deliveries of this collection of beans from African growers.

Buy Now: Boona Boona Coffee subscription

Criterion Channel

Price: $10.99 a month or $99.99 annually

Any movie lover will swoon over the Criterion Collection’s impressive array of films. The site has cult classics, overlooked gems, hard-to-find foreign films, Hollywood hits and movies only true film buffs would love.

Buy Now: Criterion Channel

Murray’s Cheese of the Month club

Price: Starts at $63 a month

Send gouda, cheddar, chèvre, Stilton and more to the dairy lover in your life with this monthly delivery service from Murray’s. Want to truly blow a cheese lover’s mind? Opt for the Cheeseboard of the Month, which, for $113 a month, comes with three to five cheeses, one or two charcuterie items and one to three accompaniments like crackers, jam or dried fruit.

Buy Now: Murray’s Cheese of the Month Club

Etsy gift card

Price: $25 and up

Etsy, the online marketplace that was once largely just a home for crafters, has evolved into a repository for everything from vintage rock tees to homemade soaps and candles to high-end jewelry, adorable dog leashes, picture frames and pretty much anything else. Etsy’s e-gift cards are easy to use, making them a great choice when you really don’t know what to get someone.

Buy Now: Etsy gift card

Audible membership

Price: Starts at $15 a month

Book lovers will appreciate having access to Audible’s massive selection of audiobooks, including most of TIME’s 100 must-read books of 2021. There are also many original (and exclusive) podcasts, meditation and guided wellness exercises and other audio treats that will be music (or words) to their ears.

Buy Now: Audible membership

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