I’ve found a few top-notch, easy-to-use sites that’ll help you design, compose, and send the perfect holiday card, which you can send via email, post on Facebook, or print at home. You can even arrange to have your custom card land in a loved-one’s physical mailbox, all without touching an envelope or licking a stamp.

Want to send a video greeting instead? I’ve got you covered.

Just pick a holiday card, upload an image, and Hallmark will mail your card automatically—for a price, of course.

Hallmark (prices range from free to $15 for an annual subscription)
The granddaddy of greeting-card companies has kept up with the times thanks to its excellent online options. Choose to have Hallmark personalize, print, stamp and send your cards for you (hint: enter either “FREESTAMP” or “FREESHIP” at check out for a great discount) or go with digital e-cards (after all, digital stationary is the new black, right?), complete with your photos and choice of music. Don’t forget to check out the online invitations tab to skip the awkward RSVP phones calls.

Evite (free to $4 for a one-month subscription, or $20 for a year)
Nope, Evite isn’t just about invitations anymore. Sure, you can still use it to get the word out about your upcoming Christmas party, Hanukkah celebration, Secret Santa gift exchange, or New Year’s Eve bash. (As always, guests can see who’s invited, ask the host what they can bring, check the time and address online and get directions via smartphone.) Thanks to its partnership with American Greetings, though, Evite now offers personalized greeting cards, too. Add familiar faces to elves or snow angels, paste in a slideshow of the kids around the hearth, or even embed a video of that Thanksgiving snowball fight.

Paperless Post offers some surprisingly tasteful, low-key choices in its holiday-card selection.

Paperless Post (receive 25 free “stamps” and cards at sign-up, then pay $5 for 30 additional stamps)
This e-card site boasts a lovely, contemporary collection of invitations and greeting cards, à la Martha Stewart or J. Crew. Your recipient opens a virtual envelope and drags out the card and/or save-the-date with a click of their mouse. Banana Republic gift cards are also available to personalize, as well.

Bubble Joy (free)
Got a webcam for your PC or an iSight camera on your Mac? If so, you’ve got everything you need to spread a little Yuletide cheer with Bubble Joy, a free service that lets you upload and send instant videos with personalized holiday backgrounds to friends and family. Warning: Bubble Joy’s user experience isn’t exactly stellar (I’m talking to you, pop-up instruction guy) and you’ll have to set up a free BubbleComment account before creating a video, buy hey … that’s the price you pay for free.

Care2 (free)
Send an e-card and make the world a better place at the same time. Care2 (a name that makes a bit more sense once you read its tagline: “Make a difference”) is a green-lifestyle site that lets you send free e-cards with ads that generate donations for over 350 non-profit organizations. Care2 also offers the option of making a donation in lieu of gifts, a great last minute option.

Bonus: Some Cards
Looking for something completely different? The choices at Some Cards range from hilariously bizarre to deadpan, and be warned: you may find a swear word or two.

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Heat Sensitive iPhone 4/4S Backing

Heat-sensitive iPhone backing ($12)
Not your usual protective film for the iPhone, this stick-on backing changes color depending on the temperature of whatever happens to be touching it—so yes, get ready for groovy, multicolored palm prints.

Flying digital alarm clock ($22)
Got perfect aim when it comes to the “snooze” bar? Try this on for size: a digital clock that gets you out of bed with a detachable propeller that takes off at the appointed hour. To snooze the alarm, you must snatch the propeller out of the air and snap it back onto the base of the clock. Mean, but effective.

GorillaMobile flexible smartphone tripod

GorillaMobile flexible smartphone tripod ($20 and up)
You’ve never seen a tripod quite like this. Complete with a trio of knobbed, flexible legs that you set on a flat surface or wrap around a tree branch, a pair of handlebars, or just about anything it can get a grip on, the GorillaMobile tripod looks more like an octopus than a furry primate—but hey, it’s still nifty. Specific models are available for the iPhone 4, 4S, and the iPad.

Solar smartphone charger ($160)
Charge your phone in about two hours (in direct sunlight) with the tiny solar charger. Great for travelers or hikers and campers.

Eitech Solar Powered Airplane and Helicopter Construction Set ($49)
Build them, and they will fly—and they run on solar power, to boot.

UP by Jawbone

UP by Jawbone ($100)
Perhaps the snazziest-looking “lifestyle bracelet” now on the market, the so-called “UP” by Bluetooth headset-maker Jawbone features a silent alarm that gently rouses you at the end of your sleep cycle, a calorie tracker, an cutting-edge pedometer, and reminders to drink water and move from your desk every hour.

X-mini II capsule speaker ($30)
This little, sweet-sounding, go-anywhere pod is perfect for tailgates, picnics, or a personal concert right on your desk.

Zoku Quick Pop Maker

Zoku Quick Pop Maker ($50)
Your little ones can pour their own treats and watch them freeze in under 10 minutes.

Square credit card reader (free)
This free reader attaches to your smart phone and takes payment in a snap, perfect for the small-business owner on your list. Let’s just keep the price tag (or lack thereof) to ourselves, shall we?

Biography of Steve Jobs ($18)
Give the inspiring story of the groundbreaking, iconic innovator.

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In spite of what you might think, many of the best early-bird and door-buster deals are actually available online. Last year, for example, Wal-Mart warned anxious shoppers that it wouldn’t have the same deals online as it did in stores; by late Friday, however, almost all of the same sales appeared on Walmart.com.

That said, there’s still an art to sniffing out the best post-Thanksgiving (or even pre-Turkey Day) deals online. Follow these six steps to save time, gas, and money on Black Friday, starting with…

1. Jot down ideas using online gift lists
Stumped on what to put under the tree for that special someone? If you’ve hit a brick wall, you may find inspiration from the gift lists on sites like Daily Candy and Gifts.com.

And once you’ve found some great picks, keep ’em organized using an online shopping list; try the one on Wishpot.com, for starters, or go mobile with The Christmas List for iPhone.

2. Find the best price
Make sure to take advantage of comparison-shopping sites like PriceGrabber.com. And when you do, make a point of selecting any necessary parts for gadgets, household appliances, and toys—like, say, essential attachments, batteries, or even power cords. That way, you can prevent retailers from masking the true price of a given item by skimping on those not-so-optional extras.

3. Find out when the sales begin
It’s called “Black Friday,” but that doesn’t mean the best deals won’t start early—as in, say, on Thursday, Wednesday, or even earlier. To keep up with who’s slashing prices on what—and when—check out Black Friday Ads, which keeps tabs on the biggest sales during Black Friday week.

4. Get a head start
Yes, even online, the early bird gets the worm when it comes to nabbing the best gifts before they’re swept off the shelves by frenzied Black Friday shoppers.

To keep fellow shoppers from beating you to the punch, check out your fave sites before Friday and add items to your shopping cart. When the starting gun goes off, just click the “checkout” button.

5. Grab some coupon codes
Don’t forget about sites that offer coupons and discounted prices on all types of gifts. I suggest trying RetailMeNot and CouponCabin, for starters.

6. Shop on your phone
Online stores are now offering mobile-only deals aimed at those waiting in long lines at the mall. Stay a step ahead by staying on the couch this Friday.

Bonus tip: Relax
All your shopping is finished, you got the very best deals, and now you can kick back on Black Friday rather than get into a fist fight in the mall parking lot or lose your kid in Target again. Congratulations!

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1. Nike Training Club (free)

This free app has all the kinks worked out—and as far as I’m concerned, it’s close to perfect.

Celeb athletes, ranging from U.S. soccer player Hope Solo to Li Na (the first Chinese tennis pro ever to win a Grand Slam title), team up with Nike fitness trainers to guide you through a range of workouts at the difficulty level you choose, with no superfluous steps.

Every workout completed unlocks a bonus workout or tip. The app looks intense, what with its gunmetal-gray splash page and fierce-faced trainers, but beginners and fitness buffs alike will find workouts tailored to their needs. And while it is geared toward women, I don’t see why Nike Training Club wouldn’t appeal to health-minded men, too … after all, Maria Sharapova is one of the trainers.

Bonus tip: I use Nike Training Club while traveling because the workouts don’t require equipment. If I need weights, I’ll use water bottles from the hotel fridge.

2. Fitness Pro (free)

Armed with a database of more than 450 exercises, complete with photos, Fitness Pro is a great free app for beginners because it outlines how to do every exercise step by step. For the experienced gym-goer, Fitness Pro makes for a handy way to learn new moves and review classics. Check out the anatomy tab to focus on specific muscle groups, or try the tracker, which charts your progress over a month or through an entire year.

3. My Fitness Pal (free)

This app is basically a calorie counter. If you’ve never kept a food journal or counted calories, this is a perfect place to start. You can learn how to gauge your caloric intake and your output. (For example, did you know you burn around 500 calories, just in your sleep?) There’s a huge database of foods to pull from, but beware: you might find out your favorite salad has more calories than a Whopper! The app even has a bar code scanner that I use in the grocery store.

4. Lark (free, $100 wristband required)

A silent alarm that wakes you gently at the end of a sleep cycle via an armband, Lark can help you wake up feeling refreshed, not jolted out of a deep sleep into a groggy morning. I set the timer for the 30-minute window when I want to wake up and Lark tracks my quality of sleep, including time I spent in REM sleep, and nudges me awake with a gentle vibration when I am closest to conciseness.

Nice, but what’s the catch? Well, Lark isn’t cheap.

Sure, the Lark app itself is free, but it won’t do you much good without the $100 armband that goes with it.

From my experience, though, you get what you pay for—and personally, I prefer Lark to cheaper silent-alarm apps that work (well, more or less) by sticking your iPhone under your pillow.

5. Runmeter ($4.99)

Any competitive person will tell you that beating yourself is the sweetest victory. Maybe that’s why I’m so addicted to Runmeter, a $5 app that lets me race against myself. When race training or even jogging gets boring, I fire up Runmeter to see how I’m stacking up against my previous runs. That always inspires me to pick up the pace, so I can kick my own butt.

Bonus App!

Missile Wars is a (free) game rather than a wellness app, but it makes for a weird, crazy workout. You send and dodge virtual “bombs”’ with players around the world, and using your iPhone’s GPS, you run away from missiles heading your way. You look a little strange doing it, but it sure gets you off the couch.

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