According to Laura Bright, an associate professor of communication at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth; “Personalised products and experiences make us feel unique in a sea of sameness.” It’s one of the main reasons why people like receiving personalised gifts so much; because it makes them feel connected! Studies have shown that when a person feels a connection to a gift (because it’s been tailored to them), something in the brain allows the receiver to reflect positively on the item and the situation surrounding them. 

So in short, by taking the time to add a touch of personalisation to your gifts, you can potentially give a person years and years worth of good memories – all from one gift.  Talk about a ‘more for less’ deal!

With that being said, we’ve prepared this blog on 6 Ways to Personalise Your Gifts to help give your presents a little more ‘oomph!’ factor. Trust us, just by adding some of these thoughtful, little details, you can elevate your gifts to the next level and render your gift receiver to a (happily) sobbing mess!

Idea 1: Write a Note on Postcards

Instead of settling for a store-bought greeting card, why not try making your own by personalising a postcard instead. As many of you know, a postcard features an image on the front and a blank, writable side on the back. With the personalisable postcards that Pixajoy offers, you’ll be able to design a custom card featuring your favourite photos, illustrations or even creative text messages. Additionally, the postcards can also be personalised to suit any/every occasion – be it birthdays, anniversaries, graduation or more.

The best thing about pairing up a hand-penned, personalised postcard with your store-bought gift is that you’ll be able to give your recipient the opportunity to vividly recall a past happy moment – thus allowing them to associate the ‘feel good’ feeling to your gift. 

Just imagine – you pass on your present to your intended recipient. They receive it with good graces and notice the postcard attached. Seeing the photo on the postcard, they can’t help but grin – recalling the moment when it was taken. 

They take the card, flip it to the back and read the fun message you’ve jotted down – rehashing a funny moment from when the photo on the postcard was taken. They’re delighted! And it feels like you’ve given them two gifts instead of one – doubling their happiness and cementing your place as ‘best gifter’.

Pro-Tip: Besides the standard ‘well-wishes’ message, you might also want to consider writing down something creative on the back of the postcard-like a short poem or limerick, a sassy comment or even share one thing that you like about the receiver to give them the ‘warm fuzzy feeling’ when they see your postcard. 

Idea 2: Pair your gift with prints.

Want to effortlessly add a thoughtful touch to your gifts without seeming too sappy? Consider pairing your wrapped gifts with photo prints. If you were to open your camera gallery right now (or browse through your social media account galleries) you’ll probably find hundreds, if not thousands of photos. Surely, you’ll also be able to find plenty of photos featuring you and your intended gift receiver. 

Once you’ve found some suitably heartwarming (or just plain funny) photos of you two together, create a set of photo prints (we recommend using the 5”x5” prints) and use double-sided tape to secure the prints onto the gift wrap. These prints can also double as a ‘seal’ or ‘indicator’ of who certain presents are for (a great hack during gift-giving holidays like Christmas). 

Idea 3: Include a Dedication Page.

Book dedications are one of the first things you’ll see when cracking open any sort of published books or journals. Authors often use dedication pages to thank, praise or otherwise give spotlight to the people in their lives who have been a great help to them in creating the book – either by sharing their opinions, helping with research materials or simply motivating the author to do their best.

While most dedication pages are personal and heartfelt, there are those who decide to go on a different route; infusing humour and creativity into their dedication pages. 

(See:  50 Most Creative Book Dedication Pages Ever).

So if you plan on creating a photo book for someone, why not take a leaf out of published books and include a special dedication page of your own. Since there’s no specific format on how to write a dedication page for a photo book, we’ve even prepared a loose guideline that you can follow:

• Mention the occasion in which the photo book came to be.
• Show them your gratitude and appreciation for their continued friendship.
• Write down your well-wishes; for example ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Happy Anniversary’, ‘Wishing you well till we meet again’, etc… — whatever will help to convey the intentions behind why you’re giving them the photo book as a gift in the first place. 

This personal touch is especially handy when you’re duplicating a single book to give to many people, making each one feel unique to the recipient. 

Idea 4: Pair Story Tag Cards with a Desk Album

Know someone who’s very much into the 70’s era aesthetic? Surprise them with a set of Personalised Story Tag Cards. What makes the Story Tag Cards so different from our regular photo prints is that besides being able to personalise them with your own photos and illustrations, you can also add on text and backgrounds to make them even more unique. Additionally, the Story Tag Cards also come packed in a cute and unique keepsake box that people just can’t get enough of.

Now you might think that giving someone their own set of personalised Story Tag Cards is good enough. But if you want to go that extra mile really leave a lasting impression, try pairing up the Story Tag Cards a Desk Album. Made of hardcover chipboard, this handcrafted, writable, add-on accessory is durable, lightweight and can transform the Story Tag Cards into a stylish book or photo display. 

To top it off,  the desk album also gives your receiver the added flexibility to change the look and feel of their photo display – allowing them to easily swap out old Story Tag Cards for newer additions based solely on their mood and creativity.

Idea 5: Add Photos & Dates to Calendars

When you think of gifts, calendars aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind. But with a bit of personalisation, your gift recipient will definitely appreciate receiving a personalised calendar – especially when it doubles as a thoughtful cheat sheet to make their lives easier and their days more interesting! 

Use one of our many stylish, pre-design templates and fill them with unique images or graphics for each month. For example, you can include sweet or funny photos, pretty illustrations or even inside jokes and frequently said phrases that the two of you share that’ll surely make them giggle. 

Besides the photos, you can also pre-load special or important dates into the calendar; marking down birthdays, anniversaries, special milestones, funny holidays (international Cat day, anyone?) or pre-planned trip dates so that they’ll have something new to smile about each month throughout the year. 

Idea 6: Kickstart their Baby Diary 

One of the major selling points of the Lifestyle Books is that it can be gifted as is – with no prior personalisation required. Unlike the standard photo books that you can find on the Pixajoy website, the Lifestyle Book comes pre-designed with helpful prompts and questions, productive activity templates and guides, and was designed specifically to be writable. 

In short, the Lifestyle Book was created to make journaling a whole lot easier – especially for first-timers. If you’re looking for a gift for someone who recently had a baby or is expecting, you can’t go wrong with a Lifestyle Book. 

As mentioned earlier, the Lifestyle Book makes for a great gift right out of the box; but if you’d like to give it a special spin before passing it off, you can slip in a photo or two that you took with the baby or the expectant parent inside the book. After all, who wouldn’t be pleasantly surprised by a sweet little something from Aunty (or Uncle!) inside?

So to sum it up, personalising your gifts is a great way to leave a lasting impression.  Even if you end up buying a non-personalisable gift – like electronics, cookware, branded perfume and the likes – by adding small touches like a personalised greeting card or getting crafty with the packaging, you’ll be able to elevate your gift and take it to the next level.  

Of course,  if you’d rather get your loved ones something personalised from the get-go – go for it! If you need some suggestions, check out our other blog post on The Best Personalised Gifts for Every Zodiac Sign – 2021 Gift Guide. If you’d like to check out something different, do give our website a visit and check on our latest promotions.