Singing Valentines are excellent surprise/fun gifts that come by email. They are based on a clever idea by the people at HappyBirthdayToYou.com, who make singing email birthday cards customized with your name and message.

Just click on the link to experience a Singing Valentine. The song starts right away and you’ll hear the place for your recipient’s name. In addition, you get to write a message, as long or as short as you like, to be included in the ecard.

Same Day Delivery is featured, the card should be out within hours. And it’s very affordable. You can purchase an individual card, or save money by purchasing a “pass” to quickly get customized cards in the future.

Who on your list would be surprised and delighted by a Singing Valentine? It’s a wonderful way to “say I Love You in a song”.

Want to wish someone a happy birthday - perhaps today? Flowers are the perfect same-day gift, but suppose you’d like something a little more unique?

A flower birthday cake is a flower arrangement shaped like a birthday cake. No matter how good they look, these “cakes” won’t wreck any diets because they are not edible. Each is actually a fresh flower arrangement designed to look like a cake. Often they come with bows, decorations and candles included.

Birthday Cake flowers come in a wide variety of designs and colors. Very attractive arrangements come in a choice of bright or pastel colors. There is a “Lemon” flower cake, a pink one, designs featuring a lovely large rose as the centerpiece, and several cupcake styles. There’s even an “Over the Hill” birthday cake - white with black trimmings and candles. Yet another birthday cake flower arrangement comes as a Smiley Face.

With this variety of arrangements available for same-day delivery, or delivery any day you like, it’s easy to delight your recipient with one of these “delicious” zero-calorie treats. A flower Birthday cake is a unique way to say “Happy Birthday” to a friend or loved one.

Amazon.com offers Guaranteed Accelerated Delivery dates on selected items when you choose One - day or Two day Express shipping. This includes thousands of products that you can easily get overnight … if you know what to look for.

In fact, they are so confident that they can deliver your order in time that they guarantee it. When you place a qualifying order, Amazon prioritizes it to ship right away and automatically refunds the shipping costs if they miss the delivery date.

The trick is identifying eligible products. In order to do that, look for the “Want it delivered...” message that displays a delivery date and shipping option. This message lets you know that Guaranteed Accelerated Delivery is available for the item.

In addition to choosing eligible products, Amazon advises taking the following steps to ensure a successful order:
• Choose a shipping speed (one and two day delivery dates appear in green)
• Choose an eligible shipping address
• If your order contains other ineligible items, check the split shipment box
• Place your order before the deadline displayed on the product detail page

One more thing - make sure arrangements are made to take delivery of the package if necessary. If your shipment requires a signature or appointment, for instance, be sure someone is there.

This covers the basics of Amazon’s Guaranteed Accelerated Delivery service. If you have more questions about this feature, check the Amazon help pages for details.

With Accelerated Delivery comes Accelerated Shipping Prices. Amazon is a bit reluctant about showing them, but currently they display your new total price in red at the top of the page. You’d save quite a bit if the order could take a few days to arrive, and Amazon will let you change shipping preferences very easily. But if it can’t wait, their shipping prices are reasonable. And when time is of the essence, getting that order could be well worth the price.

What is a place like Office Depot doing in a blog about last minute gifts? Okay, they don’t offer gift twrapping and I wouldn’t shop there for perfume, but things like computers, cameras, and GPSs are very popular gift ideas. And there are many more products, gadgets, and craft supplies that are also suitable for gift-giving.

But the real reason Office Depot appears on the Lastminute-Gifts.com site is the speed feature. They offer free overnight delivery on most of their products. Yes, FREE.

And this free offer covers a lot of territory - much of the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico - wherever an Office Depot retail store is in range.

There is a $50.00 minimum for free delivery and you’ll want to check the fine print to make sure your items are eligible and in stock. Order by 5:00 PM M-F for next business day delivery.

This feature is actually designed for small businesses, but anyone in a “Gift Emergency” can take advantage of it. Next day delivery is expensive — over $30 on average. So if  Office Depot has an item on your gift list, free next-day delivery may be worth going without the gift card and bow. You can wrap it up when it arrives.

And if you’re shipping the item directly to your recipient, you will probably want to notify them that it’s coming. Free email gift announcements are available at Lastminute-Gifts.com .