You may know by now that I adore photos and whilst it is fine to look at them on the PC, there is nothing quite like having photos in an album which can be happily flicked through at any time and with minimum fuss. As well as albums I am an avid fan of framed photos in my home and more recently I have started to enjoy some photo gifts too.
I find that photo gifts are something you can make for minimal cost but they are super little thank-yous or token gifts for God-parents. Perfect with Christmas just around the corner.
When
Bonusprint asked me if I would like to review some of their
photo gifts, 'why not' said I! Bonusprint is a company I used to use back in the old days when the only way to see your photos was to send your film off and get it processed, so I knew the name and I used to be happy with their product so I thought I would give them a whirl again.
First things first, take a look around their site and see what I might like to create. I spent a happy couple of hours browsing, uploading my photos and making my gifts online. I found the site easy to use and the instructions were clear. Uploading the photos was easy and quick, unlike some sites I have tried to use before. I had the option to crop or leave my images so they would look right on the gifts I chose. Once I had made up one gift it was then very easy to use the same image on another different gift. Checkout was easy and secure and I was able to pay by any of the widely recognised debit/ credit cards and also use paypal if I wished.
I ordered 4 different types of gifts as well as a couple of photos which I'll be framing as gifts.
Delivery times are clearly stated on the site but I was surprised that my order came out in parts. The photos arrived just 24 hours after ordering and then I received 3 more parcels, all arrived within 7 days of placing my order. I was extremely happy with the time frame and the way the items were packaged but to be honest I would have preferred just one box with the full order as numerous trips to the post office to collect as the packs were too big for my letterbox was a bit of a pain. I did like getting email notifications though, keeping me up to date of the status of my order and letting me know when things had been dispatched.
Let me share with you what I made, these are just a small selection of the photo gifts that are available -
Torch Keyring - £4.99
When I saw this online I mistakenly thought it was a metal keyring but actually just the loop is metal the case is silver coloured plastic. It does feel fairly sturdy but is still just plastic. The torch operates by the black button on the back, it is easy to depress and operate and provides a good light for seeing your lock in the dark. The photos look very good under the plastic cover and I'll be happy to give these out as small Christmas gifts.
Durable Glass Chopping Board - £18.99
Bit of a different one this but I am super pleased with it. My Mum has had glass chopping boards for years but they always have old fashioned and garish pictures on them. Now my little ladies can make me smile as I prepare our dinner! The size is 30cm x 40cm. Very tough glass, it has even been dropped so far and is surviving!
Kids T-Shirts - From £5.99
I am pretty sure my kids will be thrilled to find these in their Christmas stockings. I have such a vain bunch that the idea of walking around with a picture of themselves on their front will be right up their street! I love the idea, the size of the t-shirts are good, as are the printed images but I was a bit let down to find that one of the t-shirts is 100% polyester and the smaller two have a high polyester content too. I would not normally buy polyester tops for my kids. I should have read the description better, it is not as if they hid the fact. However, a good point about it being polyester is that they guarantee the image quality for a year.
Personalised Note Cards - From £2.50 per pack of 8
Getting ahead this year I ordered 3 packs of personalised note cards. There are loads of standard designs you can choose from or you can tailor them to your need. I created Christmas thank you cards and was able to print a message inside every card to ensure that the after Christmas send out will be super easy this year. I will most definitely buy these again. They are pretty small at A7 size but they do the job very nicely indeed.
Conclusion
Quality of gifts 4.5/ 5
Delivery time and packaging 5/5
Ease of use of website 4/5
Value for money 4/5
All in all I have been very happy with my Bonusprint experience and I will happily use this company again. Especially when I see special offers, such as that I spotted earlier. Spend £30, save 10%, spend £45, save 20% and finally spend £60 and save 25%.
Disclosure: I received the items free of charge for the purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.