11 Thoughtful, Last-Minute Holiday Gifts

This is the sticky note that started it all. We may have lost Spencer Silver, the inventor of the Post-it Note, earlier this year, but their legacy lives on every time someone reaches for nine square inches of yellow paper to jot down a reminder, a phone number, or an irresponsibly maintained password. 3M churns out so many of these that you can now get 1,200 sticky sheets for just $10, and relieve your brain of the burden of having to remember things.

Canary yellow might be the color most closely associated with the Post-it Note, but what if you’re shopping for that one person in the office who refuses to conform to norms? You know the one: the rebel with the Sex Pistols poster in their office (that HR made them take down) who pairs leather jackets with spiked bracelets. They’d scoff at canary yellow, but a stack of neon-colored Post-its? It’s safe to assume this would be greatest holiday present they’d ever received, and it all it cost you was $11.

If you’ve ever tried to stick a Post-it note to a cork bulletin board or the fabric covered walls of a cubicle, you already know the laws of the universe won’t allow them to stay put. But 3M’s mad scientists have already found a solution to the problem, which the higher-ups thankfully railroaded through R&D, testing, and onto store shelves. Post-it Super Sticky Notes are just that: adhesive notes with twice the sticking power so they grip better on any surface while still peeling off clean. No one tell 3M they could be selling stacks of 450 super notes for way more than $7!

Is there anything more awkward than trying to hold a meeting outdoors only to find a sudden downpour has left all the sticky notes stuck on a tree soaking wet and smeared? How is one supposed to be productive and become one with nature? The answer is 3M’s Extreme Notes, which are not only water-resistant and durable, they also boast 100 times the holding power of regular ol’ Post-it Notes, no matter if it’s during the scorching heat of summer or the freezing cold temps of winter. Yet somehow, you can still get 145 of them for just $4.

In a time when our phones, watches, and computers are all vying to grab our attention with endless chimes, dings, and notifications, it can be almost impossible to know where to look first. Almost impossible, because 3M’s Post-it Note Arrow Flags cut through all the chaos and distractions with bright colors that direct our attention exactly where it needs to go. For around $3 you get 100 of the little attention directors, but make sure to save one so that your giftee knows exactly who to thank.

It’s widely known that the greatest inventions of all time either started out as a doodle on a cocktail napkin or a piece of graph paper. So if you’re shopping for an amateur inventor who’s yet to strike it rich by coming up with the next great doohickey, you can help inspiration strike with these white Post-it Notes printed with a light blue grid on them. It’s safe to assume this particular variation on the Post-it design also came to be via a graph paper sketch, and at $11 for 300 sheets, it’s a small investment that might pay off big one day.

As magical as the non-permanent sticky goop 3M uses to make Post-it Notes actually stick, sometimes a thin strip along one edge just isn’t enough to ensure a sticky note stays stuck. But don’t worry, it’s a problem 3M has already addressed and solved with a Post-it Note almost completely covered in adhesive on one side. A thin strip around the edge is left dry to make it easy to peel each note off a pad, but otherwise these 3-inch squares of paper will stay in place better than cheese baked onto a casserole dish. You can get four pads for just $7.

Yes, you’re reading that correctly, and no, this isn’t the year 3000. Our ancestors may have had to suffer through office life relying solely on square and slightly less square sticky notes, but we live in an era of smartphones, space tourism, seltzers of every flavor imaginable, and circular Post-its. They work just like the old-fashioned kind do, so your parents and grandparents should be able to use them with minimal training, and for around five bucks you get a stack of 100, which might be the steal of the century.

Got someone on your holiday shopping list who lives and dies by to-do lists? 3M’s got the perfect cheap gift: This printed design features a blank list with line-by-line checkboxes that can be crossed off as each item is completed, plus three different tabs indicating the urgency of the items on the list—later, tomorrow, or ASAP. You can get a stack of 90 sheets (30 of each tab) for $10.

Feeling a bit anxious about the climate and environment? Well, you should be: Every day it seems like there’s another natural disaster, and while we’re not blaming regular Post-it Notes for all the planet’s problems, we’re not not blaming them either. For the regular Earther readers on your shopping list, Post-it’s Greener Notes are made with 100% recycled paper and use water-based adhesive, which means you can toss the note right into the recycling bin. At $13 for a pack of 12 pads, you’ll feel like you’re doing your part even though the reality is a little more complicated.

Sometimes a tiny square of paper isn’t enough to grab someone’s attention. They’re easy to miss, and small enough to be blown off a desk by an office’s HVAC system. To leave a note that’s impossible to ignore, these bright yellow adhesive easel pads can stick to any flat and smooth surface, and at 25 x 30 inches in size, they’re the equivalent of screaming at a co-worker without actually making a peep. A two-pack will set you back around $66, making your gift recipient feel especially spoiled.