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Need A Last-Minute Gift? Don't Want To Buy Stuff? All Tech Has Ideas

This post was updated on Dec. 19, 2016.

Bummer, you've missed the best time to order Christmas gifts online! And now you have these options: pay for same-day delivery or face the dreaded shopping mall (or resort to that end-of-the-line choice of a gift card, but you wouldn't go there, would you?).

So what's the last-minute buy for your plugged-in friend, sister or mom? Do they really need another Internet-connected thing? Nothing against gadgets and gizmos, but if you're of the philosophy that thoughtful gestures qualify perfectly well as Christmas presents, we've got a few ideas for you.

These are, of course, only a few of the possibilities — do let us know, in the comments or on Twitter, what other suggestions you may have and if you've gifted something like this.

(Note: None of these ideas are meant to be specific to any particular online platform, and you should be able to use whatever website or app you fancy. This is also not meant to be a step-by-step instruction, but a quick Google search should unearth production tips, if you need them.)

All Tech thanks NPR's Caroline Kelly, Christina Cala, Mallory Yu and several non-NPR friends for their help in brainstorming this post.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Alina Selyukh is a business correspondent at NPR, where she follows the path of the retail and tech industries, tracking how America's biggest companies are influencing the way we spend our time, money, and energy.
Kylie Mohr