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"There's Still Time" Holiday Gifts

Published 12.18.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (0)

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Photo by Michel Filion

Is all the talk of "Last Minute" holiday shopping making you twitchy? Yeah, I understand.

My friend Elizabeth of Busy Mom put it best when she tweeted that she likes to think of it as "there's still time." And, why yes there still is!

Here are some gifts ideas I would consider even if I weren't in a time crunch against Santa's fast-approaching sleigh.


Ancestry.com Membership

Researching and constructing your family tree is surprisingly fun and addictive on Ancestry.com. The fine folks at this company invited me to their offices and opened my eyes to a service that is so filled with data and pictures of ancestors that it makes you feel guilty that you haven't done this before. The key is that they have sophisticated algorithms that pull up information for you-- like an automated genealogical librarian. I think it's a perfect gift for that meticulous family member that's always chatting up the elders at holiday functions. Plus, it's a great activity to tackle when its cold or things are slow at work the week between Christmas and New Year's.

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You can buy a three- or six-month membership at $49 or $89 respectively. There's no formal gift card program but what the Ancestry folks suggest is that you just buy a membership in your name with your credit card, then give the recipient the user name/password you set up. To present this gift, I would find a gorgeous photo card with antique-styling and just write in the URL, login & password.

Giveaway! Ancestry.com has given us one World Deluxe Membership (worth over $300) to give away to one lucky reader. Just email us at contact@alphamom.com with "Ancestry" in the subject line by Weds, Dec 23 at 10am EST. We'll randomly select the winner and announce the winner on Weds, Dec 23 by noon EST. Follow our contest rules detailed here.

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Customized Family Album by Blurb

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Blurb is our go-to source for family albums. It's professional quality at consumer prices. Each year I make my husband a Year in Review Album and was thrilled to be notified that this year there's even more time left to make one at Blurb. That's right! We all now have until Sunday. Order one to three books within the Continental U.S. by Noon PST on December 20 and get your books by December 24.

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Shop Gift Hero

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We're in love with the hand-picked and kid-tested selection at online retailer Gift Hero. AND! Wherever you live, there is still time to buy your holiday gifts from them. Check out their shipping page for the Holiday Delivery Schedule. You can order as late as 11:59PM on December 21st and get your gifts by Christmas Eve. Just choose the 2-day express option.

Some of our favorite items include the Buddha Board Laptop (our review), Miss Brittany's Organic Fun Dough, Wooden Stringing Beads, Paper Fashions, and the games U.S. Bingo and Great States Jr. (which we recommended before).

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Buy Local

Yes, shop your local mom and pop shops. Remember the good 'ol days when you did that. Also, our friends at Cool Mom Picks had the genius idea of searching Etsy for artisans in your area allowing one greater shipping flexibility.

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Amazon is your friend almost until the end!

Yes, the Google of the shopping world, Amazon.com is almost as good as your local department store for being dependable until the end. Below's a screen shot of the cut-off dates and times for Christmas delivery.

Also, a truly special gift is the Kindle (which comes with FREE 2-day shipping). I adore mine particularly since I can buy and start reading whatever book within minutes of deciding to do so. It's special, special, special.

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More Gift Guides!

- Holiday Gifts for Kids
- Holiday Gifts for Girls
- Holiday-Themed Gifts for Kids (2008)
- Great Stocking Stuffer Ideas (2008)
- The Advice Smackdown Holiday Baby Gift Guide
- The Advice Smackdown Holiday Preschooler Gift Guide
- Gifts for School-Aged Kids (2008)
- Gifts for Young Kids: our favorites (2008)
- Holiday Gift Guide: Sweets & Treats
- Gift Ideas for the New Mom
- Holiday Gifts for the Women in your life
- The Advice Smackdown Holiday Beauty Gift Guide
- Best Holiday Hostess Gifts 2008
- Unique Hostess Gifts (2007)
- Mother's Day Gift Ideas
- Holiday-Themed Gifts (2009)
- Father's Day Gift Ideas

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About this column

This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!

We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.

This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!

About our Craft Contributors

Ellen Baker Bio Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.

Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.

Cindy Hopper BioCindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.

Brenda Ponnay Bio Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.

Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.

Disclaimer

This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.


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