Perfect Personalised Christmas Gifts from ASDA Photo

I love giving personalised gifts for presents to my family. Sometimes you're just not too sure what to get someone as it feels as if they already have everything but who doesn't love photos of their nearest and dearest?

I've used ASDA Photo quite a few times over the years on both gifted projects and ones I've paid for as I know their quality and trust their products. Here, I have rounded up some of the items that I have made as there is such a great variety available nowadays. I hope this helps you to choose something suitable for someone you love. 

ASDA Photo Cushion - £26.00

I've made a few cushions over the years and the ASDA one is by far the best. Miss M just created one for herself this year and it isn't what I'd have chosen but it suits her personality and makes her smile, so that is what is important. I wasn't sure how well it would turn out as she used lower quality photos than ASDA recommends but actually it is fine. See below -

The images are not anywhere near as crisp as Miss E's cushion below, as I used much higher quality ones when I made that cushion. Miss E has had this cushion for over 3 years now and it is still in perfect condition, despite her sleeping with it each night. She really loves it and the suede martial is so soft to the touch. The size is 25" x 14.5"  and the cover is removable for washing at 30 degrees.

Photo Gifts from Funky Pigeon for Fathers Day and Beyond...

Fathers Day is fast approaching (21st June, in case you were wondering) and I always like to be a bit organised for these kinds of events so when Funky Pigeon got in touch to see if I'd like to try out a few personalised items, I was very happy to say yes. My Dad is the kind of man who wants nothing for any occasion such as his birthday or Fathers Day, but he does love his family, so anything with photos is a massive hit with him.

I have to admit that I didn't realise Funky Pigeon did anything more than cards, so it was good to look through their gifting range and they have a great variety of items, including alcohol, which goes down a treat with most people.

Let me share with you what I chose -

Full Photo Upload Socks - £14.99

These socks are great fun and I showed them to my husband and son and they both agreed they love the feel of them. They are totally seamless and I was worried that as they are 100% polyester that they may lead to sweating but, Funky Pigeon has that covered as they are infused with antibacterial agents and are sweat-wicking.

You can choose any full photo you like or there are other socks with smaller repetitive photos on them and they come in two sizes 4-7 and 8-11. We just love them! I think my Dad will crack up when he sees his dog on his socks!

Review: Photo Canvas from Wallcreate

Last week my Mum went in for an operation on her foot and now she is resting up in bed or on the sofa for the next few weeks and whilst I might think all that enforced rest is a good thing as it means I could ignore the kids and their constant demands, it seems my Mum is bored already.

I'm off to visit her tomorrow to provide some different conversation and to give my Dad a rest from the cooking, washing-up and ironing and I thought it would be wonderful to take Mum a gift.  We have already sent her cards and some flowers from our family but I now have a beautiful photo canvas to give her.

She has a space on the wall at the end of her bed and maybe she might just like gazing up at her daughter and grand kids whilst she rests up?  I'll soon find out tomorrow!

Above is the photo canvas that I am going to be taking down to Mum. It is 20 x 30cm and retails for just 14.97 with a 2cm depth frame or 16.97 with a 4cm depth frame from Wallcreate.

I was very pleased with this canvas and for the price it is fantastic value. It has been a couple of years since I last got a photo canvas but I'm sure they were not as cheap as this site.  Often cheap equals low quality but that does not appear to be the case here, the photo canvas is perfectly good, the colouring is accurate, it is finished well and you even get a couple of little fixings for when you want to wall mount it.

I like the fact that there is a whole variety of sizes available from Wallcreate (rectangles, squares, long rectangles) and I really adore the 3 canvas panels, where you have one print split over three different canvases. As I mentioned the prices are superb and the postage is reasonable too at 4.97 within the UK. They estimate that delivery will take 2-5 working days and mine did indeed take just 2 days.

I was happy enough with the packaging that the canvas arrived in, it was in bubble wrap and then sellotaped in a cardboard box. On the website it says there would be more card protecting it but I did not find that and frankly it didn't really need it anyway.

As well as the photo canvases Wallcreate also sell canvas wall art with famous pictures, pop art, cute images and so much more. It is definitely worth a good look around and see what you fancy.

Overall I'm very happy with my photo canvases and I'd happily buy from Wallcreate again.

Disclosure: I was sent 2 identical canvas photos for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Bonusprint Personalised Photo Gifts

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.