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Tips And Ideas For Buying Custom Gifts

By P. Aggarwal

Gift giving is an activity that makes both – the giver and the recipient – happy. The person giving the gift gets to enjoy the shopping and planning experience and the recipient enjoys the gift of course. With advances in technology and printing, the nature of giving gifts has also changed. Where earlier people bought each other practical gifts for the home or office, gifts have now become a way to express your emotions and feelings. Practicality may be appreciated, but innovation is lauded.

What are custom gifts?

Custom gifts are gifts that have been personalized for the recipient. They require some input from the customer before they can be packaged and sold. Unlike retail gifts that are manufactured by the hundreds, the charm in custom gifts is the fact that they are one of a kind. In addition, custom gifts flatter the recipient because they use the recipient’s name or initials or a photograph.

Why give custom gifts?

Custom gifts are highly valued for the caring they depict. Most individuals feel flattered when they see a gift that has their name or initials engraved on it or their photograph printed on it. Additionally, custom gifts show that the giver has obviously gone through some effort to buy the gift. Unlike retail gifts that can be purchased, stored and used as and when needed, custom gifts by their very nature demand that the giver know the recipient intimately or make an effort to find out the required information.

Are custom gifts expensive?

That’s the beauty of it. Custom gifts vary just like other gifts and can be as cheap as $5.00 or as expensive as $500.00. You can find a custom gift to suit pretty much any budget.

Can I give custom gifts to anyone?

Yes, you can. However, the level of personalization differs depending on your relationship with the recipient.

For very intimate relationships like your immediate family, you can choose any kind of custom gifts that you like. With close family there really is little that you need to worry about. The same is true for your spouse. Engraving tongue-in-cheek messages on the gifts or using an embarrassing photo is acceptable too. Using nicknames instead of given names is an option too.

However, with friends and acquaintances you need to be a little cautious. Going overboard and engraving pointed messages may not go down well with your friends. Also, make sure you pick a photograph that flatters the recipient and not yourself. If you are going to use a nickname skip the unflattering ones – fatty, short-stuff and baldy don’t make a gift look great.

For more professional relationships, opt out of using any messages. Simply stick to neutral personalization like using the initials of the person or their complete name. Using photographs may be seen as intruding in the recipient’s personal space and be unwelcome.

What kind of gifts can be customized?

With the advances in technology, you can customize pretty much anything. Here are some great custom gift ideas.

• Pens, key chains and baseball caps: Customized pens generally have the name or initials of the recipient. Customized key chains and baseball caps can all be personalized with lettering, messages and photographs. These custom gifts are fairly economical and make great wedding party favors.

• Custom t-shirts: Custom t-shirts are a popular gift for dads. Having a photo of the kids on the front and a message at the back works great as a Father’s Day gift. Custom t-shirts are also popular for a group of some kind: little league baseball teams, reading groups, spelling bee groups and other similar groups.

• Personalized roses: Here’s a way to add a touch of modernity to the traditional gift of roses. You can personalize roses or bouquets by having a short message printed right on the petals! Now when you want to tell someone you love them, you can actually have the roses speak for you.

• A gift of poetry: We may not all be Keats or Byron, but customized poetry can be ours for a small price. There are people who will write customized poetry for you based on the information you provide about yourself, the relationship with the person you want to gift the poem to and the occasion. A perfect custom gift for a spouse. They can even help you write your wedding vows and include poetry.

• Customized novels: These are one of the most unique personalized gifts you are going to find. You can actually have a classic novel like Romeo and Juliet customized so that it features you and your spouse! The book is printed like a genuine high quality paperback, with the option of the cover page customized so that it features a personal photograph. You can even choose a book like the Wizard of Oz to feature your entire family, or Sherlock Holmes for the detective amongst you.

Here’s a quick list of some available custom gifts options.

• Customized gifts for men & dads: Golf balls, t-shirts, caps, key chains, calendars, glass paperweights, photographs, photo frames, pack of playing cards, placemats, mouse pads, mugs, wallet cards, photo movie DVDs and CDs all make unique personalized gift ideas for men of all ages.

• Customized gifts for women & moms: Tote bags, aprons, photo frames, magnetic fridge frames, make up bags, photo cushions, family photo quilts, cashmere scarves and gloves, I love mommy collages, sterling silver bracelets or pendants, monogrammed terry white robes and pretty much anything that comes from the heart. Women love personalized gifts anyways so it’s not difficult to please them!

• Customized gifts for kids: Furniture, bags, sleeping bags, wallets, ornaments, luggage, dolls, Christmas ornaments, sports bags, embossed bible covers, sports balls, labels, stickers and stationery are popular with children of all ages.

The trick with custom gifts lies in the message or photograph you choose to personalize the gift with. While choosing the gift and the personalization message you must keep in mind the personality of the recipient. In the end, it’s all about letting your custom gift express your feelings.

See Also:

Custom Jewelry, Information And Buying Tips.
Custom jewelry includes any jewelry that is made according to design details provided by the buyer. There are various reasons why jewelry buyers opt for custom jewelry instead of buying standard ready made jewelry.

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P. Aggarwal is a successful freelance writer who enjoys providing tips to consumers about birthday gift ideas such as personalized birthday presents.