Surviving the holiday season requires a little superpower, a little
creativity and a lot of organization. While it wouldn’t hurt to have Martha
Stewart’s number in your phone contacts, most of us are not that lucky.
Instead we have come up with 15 must-have apps that will make your holiday
more organized, more helpful and more fun. Check it out!
Elfster – If you are doing a Secret Santa gift exchange between
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 everyone’s preferences. This free
app is available on IOS and Android.
justWink – If holiday cards have become a chore, download the
justWink app on IOS or Android. This app, developed by American
Greetings, offer 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.
The Advent App – Available on iPhones, this app allows you to
create personalized Advent calendars to 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.
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 to $6.99.
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.
Allergy Eats – This is a great guide for checking how
allergy-friendly restaurants are in your area. Simply type in the
allergen and your location in the search. The results are ratings
based on actual experiences by other families. You have the option
to leave comments, too.
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
proceeds going to the cause. Inspire others by encouraging them to
match your donation or pay it forward by matching theirs.
Pinterest – Looking for a last-minute recipe while you are
shopping? Pinterest offers millions of ideas for the recipes,
crafts, games and so much more. Pins will take you directly to the
recipe or directions so you will have everything you need while at
the store.
Sign up Genius – It takes a village to get through holiday planning
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.
Christmas Ringtones – Get into the spirit of the holidays by
assigning Christmas ringtones to your frequent callers, texts and
other alerts. There are several versions available for free on IOS
and Android.
Capture the Magic – This is a great app for kids who are
questioning Santa. Take a picture of a room in your house and add
Santa, elves or reindeer to the picture to “prove” they exist. Free
app available on IOS or Android.
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.
Arrive – With all the online purchases 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.
Shutterfly – What do you do with all those photos you took during
the holidays? 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.
Mint – Keep track of your spending 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, which
created Turbo Tax and Quickbooks.
