Last-minute gifts you can buy on Amazon Prime
Because nothing else will make it in time for Christmas.
Your only other option is spending Saturday at the mall. pexels
You’re out of time. Here are the gifts you can order now and still have arrive before Christmas—without paying an arm and a leg for shipping. Assuming you have Amazon Prime, that is.
And hey, that isn’t such a bad gift idea either.
NutriBullets are great blenders if you can’t shell out for something like a Vitamix, but their Bluetooth-enabled model might well make you scratch your head. Bluetooth? In a blender? What for? We actually had a lot of fun playing with this little guy, which uses a smart scale to help you weigh out smoothies and sauces with perfectly tracked macros. It’s not, strictly speaking, a necessary object—you could accomplish the same thing with a cheap kitchen scale, a regular old blender, and Google—but it’s also not useless. And if you have a loved one who’s keeping a close eye on their nutrition in 2019, this blender provides a fun and easy way to do it (at least for foods you can slurp). $100.
Don’t make your sweet pup suffer a giftless holiday because you were too lazy to go to the store for them. This option has the added benefit of offering the allure of oh-so-hot-right-now genetic sequencing without the huge privacy concerns associated with human ancestry kits. If your dad keeps asking for 23andMe, get him the canine equivalent instead. You can find some other Prime-available selections in our gift guide for very good dogs.
Don’t get all high and mighty. We’re not the ones who waited this long to do our holiday shopping. Seriously, Sock It To Me’s footwear makes a great gift for any sort of friend or love one: their socks are affordable, fashionable, comfy, and last a long time. We’re big fans of their geeky patterns, like these constellation kneesocks. $12.
Featured in both our gift guide for runners and our prestigious Best of What’s New awards, The new PureMove sports bra from Reebok contains tiny beads of a gel-like substance called Shear Thickening Fluid (STF). The stuff remains liquid at rest but becomes solid with movement or support. That means the right amount of support only when you need it. Plus, it’s available on Amazon Prime. $60.
Not everything in our sleep-aid gift guide is going to make it in time for Christmas, but these soft and supple PJs sure will. You can even snag a set to wear while opening your presents, which will surely fool your parents into thinking you’re a responsible and elegant adult. $28-$34.
Speaking of sleep: we recommended silky pillowcases in our gift guide for people with lots of hair, but unfortunately Kitsch’s sheets won’t arrive before the holiday does. Luckily their silky scrunchies will ship a little quicker, and they accomplish the same thing—folks with loads of curly, frizzy hair can pile their locks up atop their head and fasten the mess with one of these adorable elastics. The lack of friction means hair won’t get wrecked overnight. $34.
Does your darling nephew demand the hottest new toys each year? And did you forget to track down the super-duper-backordered gizmo he asked Santa for? Check out our list of alternatives to this year’s trendiest toys to find him something even better. Or you can just give in and buy him the pooping (?) unicorn (?) all the kids are clamoring for this season, which Amazon says will arrive in time for holiday festivities. $45.
Our ultimate STEM toy guide has a lot of winners, but the littleBits Electronic Music Inventor Kit is definitely a highlight. Projects include a DIY keytar as well as an air drum that lets the little creator make sounds without even touching the device. $68.
Worried you’re out of time to grab a decent host gift? Never fear: Numi’s ‘Tea by Mood’ gift set is prime eligible and chock-full of delicious brews. Energize yourself for the day of marathon cookie eating with a cup of Emperor’s Pu-erh, sip on some Jasmine Green as you reflect on your family’s holiday drama, and desperately throw back some Chamomile when you’re totally Christmas’ed out. $23.
Some gifts only get better with time. Case in point: fermented food. This kit has everything your friends need to make delicious pickles and kimchi on their own. $50.
Does anyone need to spend almost $300 on a device that exists solely to apply skincare products? Probably not. But while Foreo’s new UFO isn’t exactly necessary, it is truly delightful: the notion is that the device, by heating up and cooling down and vibrating and basking you in colorful LED light, primes your skin to accept and absorb various concoctions more efficiently. So if your giftee posts a sheet mask selfie every night (or multiple sheet mask selfies every night) you can upgrade their routine with 90-second serum infusions. $279.
Giftcards are probably your best bet if you’re looking for a one-size-fits-all last-minute gift. But if that sounds boring, you can always add a puzzle to the mix—by which we mean a puzzle box that will keep your friends from retrieving said giftcard until they prove their mental acumen. You might just fool them into thinking you gave this gift some thought! $13.
Last-minute gifts needn’t be cheap or impersonal. Our guide for outdoorsy folks has several items that will arrive in time to slip under the tree, including these Danner hiking boots. $150.
Most books available on Amazon are available with free two-day shipping for Prime members. You can get a paperback copy of Autonomous, which came highly recommended on our list of 2017’s best sci-fi books, for just $15.99. Need some more ideas? Check out our list of suggestions.
The Fire TV Stick can sync with all of your friend’s streaming apps, including Netflix and Hulu. It gives recommendations from each, and lets the user choose what they want to watch when they want to watch it. This is all without the need to shell out between $30-$100 every month for actual cable. $40.
An annual subscription to Popular Science
Okay, it’s not on Amazon Prime, but… Popular Science
Alright, a subscription to our print magazine isn’t technically Prime eligible. But no one will know how last-minute your Christmas shopping was if you just tell them their subscription should arrive shortly. $5.
If you’ve run out of time to buy something for your office’s Secret Santa exchange, we’ve got a whole list of potential life-savers to check out. But you should just go ahead and buy this adult coloring book. It’s been a stressful year. $5.
If you dropped the ball on buying a gift for your favorite cook, never fear. The Instant Pot—this year’s hot ticket culinary gift and a true game changer—is available on Amazon Prime. $98.
A bunch of the items on our gift guide for women cooler than you are Prime eligible, but my personal favorite are these trendy, sturdy, and absurdly affordable sunglasses. You can get them in a variety of colors and styles, too. $30.
If a pair of touch screen gloves isn’t the ultimate all-purpose, last-minute gift, I don’t know what is. $11.
Don’t forget a gift for your furriest friend. Give this to your big dog to make him feel wild. Or give it to your tiny pup and giggle as he tries to drag it around. Either way, it’s an excellent chew toy for pals who rip up every gift you’ve ever given them. $27.
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