S
Perfect Gifts
for the
Holiday
Season !
urviving the holiday sea-
encouraging them to match your dona-
son requires a little super
tion or pay it forward by matching
power, a little creativity
theirs.
and a lot of organization. While it
8. Pinterest – Looking for
wouldn’t hurt to have Martha
a last-minute recipe while
Stewart’s number in your
you are shopping? Pinterest
phone contacts, most of us
offers millions of ideas for
are not that lucky. Instead
the recipes, crafts, games
we have come up with 15
and so much more. Pins
must have apps that will
will take you directly to
make your holiday more
the recipe or directions so
organized, more helpful
you will have everything
— by Pam Molnar
and more fun. Check it out!
you need while at the store.
15
Must Have Apps
for a Successful
Holiday Season
Gift Cards
Available
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1. Elfster – If you are do-
ing a Secret Santa gift exchange be-
tween friends, coworkers or family, this app
is for you! Simply add your groups’ emails
and it randomly chooses your exchange. It
also includes wish lists so you know every-
one’s preferences. This free app is available
on IOS and Android.
2. justWink – If holiday cards have
become a chore, download to justWink app
on IOS or Android. This app, developed
by American Greetings, offers cards sent
directly from the app as email, text, social
media greeting and even snail mail. Bonus
features include voice recordings and gift
card attachments.
3. The Advent App – Available on
iPhones, this app allows you to create per-
sonalized Advent calendars for family and
friends for 99 cents and they can receive
them for free. Every day they will receive
a personalized photo, text or a gift selected
by you.
4. Elf Yourself – Make silly dance
videos of up to five people with images
from your phone or Facebook. The app is
free, but to download and share the videos
will cost 99 cents to $6.99.
5. Amazon Shopping – Wouldn’t it
be great to do all your shopping from your
phone? This app is also great for price
comparisons while shopping locally. With
a subscription to Amazon Prime, you can
also get free shipping and free access to
Prime Video and Music.
6. Allergy Eats – This is a great guide
for checking how allergy friendly restau-
rants are in your area. Simply type in the
allergen and your location in the search.
The results are ratings based on actual ex-
periences by other families. You have the
option to leave comments, too.
7. One Today – This generosity app
showcases a non-profit cause daily with a
video and story. You can also browse for
those causes that are closer to your heart.
Make a donation of at least $1 with all pro-
ceeds going to the cause. Inspire others by
9. Sign up Genius – It takes
a village to get through holiday plan-
ning and Sign Up Genius is a great way to
divide up the tasks. Use it for bringing food
to a potluck, driving the carpools or shift
schedules at work.
10. Christmas Ringtones – Get into
the spirit of the holidays by assigning Christ-
mas ringtones to your frequent callers, texts
and other alerts. There are several versions
available for free on IOS and Android.
11. Capture the Magic – This is a
great app for kids who are questioning San-
ta. Take a picture of a room in your house
and add Santa, Elves or Reindeer to the pic-
ture to “prove” they exist. Free app avail-
able on IOS or Android.
12. Heads Up – This fun app will
be the hit of your next party or even just
a time killer while you wait in line. Hold
the phone up on your forehead facing the
other players. They give you hints as to
what word or phrase is on the screen and
you have to guess.
13. Arrive – With all the online pur-
chases going on, it is hard to keep track of all
the packages. Download Arrive which syncs
your email with Amazon, eBay, Walmart
and many other online stores to track all
your package deliveries in one place.
14. Shutterfly – What do you do with
all those photos you took during the holi-
days? Get them off your phone and store
them on Shutterfly for free. In addition, get
free 4 x 4 or 4 x 6 pictures through the app
version only.
15. Mint – Keep track of your spend-
ing with a budget app. By having all your
financial information in one place, you can
track spending, investments and create a
budget. Mint is made by Intuit who created
Turbo Tax and Quickbooks.
Pam Molnar is a writer and mother of
three. She knows parents have to rely on
more than just the magic of the holiday sea-
son to get them through until the New Year.
November 2018 WNY Family 43