7 Last-Minute Gifts, Made Meaningful
In the midst of trying to adapt to the changes and challenges of the new normal post- Covid, (be it for work, home life or education), even the most diligent of people have found themselves leaving certain things to the last minute. Between trying to wrangle the kids in for their online lessons, near-constant zoom or google hangout meetings and trying to balance a functional ‘work from home’ schedule, we totally understand how time can just sort of slip by – and before you know it BOOM!
You have birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and the holidays creeping around the corner and taking you by surprise.
That being said, even if you can only spare a couple of minutes to prepare a gift, you should allow for heartfelt sentiments to fall on the wayside. In this blog post, we’ll be listing out some easy to make gifts from Pixajoy that you can create and make meaningful in minutes.
NOTE: Want to send a gift directly to your friend’s /family’s place? Pixajoy has introduced a new, optional ‘Greeting Card’ add-on at Cart to make your presents seem more ‘gift-like’.
When In Doubt, Duplicate
Does your dad flip through that family travel photo book you made with wistful nostalgia? What about your mom? Ever catch her sighing dreamily when she sees your wedding photos up on display at your home? If you’re short on time, why not give them a slightly personalised copy of something you’ve already made and know that they’ll love.
By making some tweaks – like adding or removing photos, rearranging layouts, editing captions or throwing in an entirely new dedication page to a project you’ve already made – you’ll be able to save time as you won’t need to build your gift from scratch.
To duplicate your orders, all you have to do is follow these steps:
1. Sign in to your Pixajoy Account
2. Click on ‘My Project’
3. Click on ‘Ordered’
4. Click ‘Duplicate’ on your chosen project.
Once your project has been successfully duplicated, simply navigate to ‘In Progress’ to make you tweaks and edits.
Pro Tip: To ensure that each duplicated work still retains a sense of personalisation, you can choose to swap out photos or include your gift receiver’s name in the newly duplicated project.
Try Text in Frame
Have you ever noticed how everybody seems to have a favourite quote or saying that they seem to live by? Things like; ‘Everything happens for a reason’, ‘Aim for the stars so you’ll land on the roof’ or (the author’s personal favourite) ‘Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever you were going to do anyway’.
One of the easiest, last-minute gifts to make (that is still surprisingly thoughtful) is to create a unique, framed print of your gift receiver’s favourite quote or saying. It can be something that you always hear them, their favourite idol quote or if you want to make it even more personal – a heartfelt message of gratitude from yourself.
In any case, these printed words will evoke that heart-fluttering effect in your receiver as it showcases how deeply you understand a person.
Note: Besides utilising the framed prints, you can also opt for other projects such as:
No Photo? No Problem
Did your friends or relatives welcome a new baby recently? Why not give them something that will remind them of how small and precious their baby was at birth. Not only is this a ‘make you cry’ (but in a good way) kind of gift, but the Miracle Baby Poster is one of the few projects that you can make on Pixajoy without the need for an actual photo.
As mentioned before, with Covid still running rampant, we’ve all been busy adapting to various new SOP’s and practices. One of the areas that are greatly affected is being able to travel to visit family members. We’re sure that given the fact that newborns are more vulnerable to sickness, most new parents aren’t really feeling up for visitors.
In fact, given the current situation, visiting your friends or family members within the first 6 months after the birth of a new baby is a strict ‘no-no’ in our books.
This is why, whatever photos of the baby that you might have, will probably come from social media, WhatsApp or even Telegram. Since images taken through social media tend to be compressed and smaller in size, they might look blurry when printed.
With the Miracle Baby Poster, all you need to do is fill up the details given and our editor will take care of the rest to make a 100% unique, 1:1 scale art-illustration piece that your gift receiver will adore.
Simply Picture Perfect
Have a bunch of photos stored up on your digital devices or social media accounts that you know someone would enjoy? Print them out and give them as a gift. In this day and age, people tend to upload their photos online rather than getting them professionally printed out.
‘I’ve already uploaded to Instagram? Why get them printed?’ is a common thought.
But the thing is, seeing a photo online and holding them physically in your hands give off a completely different feel. When people receive a printed photo, the image becomes 100% more precious as it is tangible. Plus, you tend to look at it more as it’s physically present.
By gifting someone a set of photo prints, you’re gifting them tiny snippets of fun-filled memories that don’t necessarily have to be tied to formal events. Pictures like a trip to the beach, fun hangout sessions, goofy selfies, or of them striking their best ‘model pose’ for the gram are more than enough to make the cut and leave your giftee feeling giddy with joy.
Try Mini Flushmount
Photo Books are always a great gift option. They’re thoughtful, personal and can really grab the attention. A standard sized photo book also makes for a really great coffee table book and can be seamlessly incorporated into anyone’s home decor.
But the thing about the standard sized photo books is that they often require a lot of photos to be truly worthwhile. So if you find yourself wanting to gift a photo book, but are lacking in photo quantity, there is an alternative. Say ‘hello’ to the Mini Flush Mount Photo Books!
The Mini Flush Mount Book is just like any of our other photo books – only on a smaller scale. Compact in size (measuring at only 5.7″ x 4.2″), this miniature photo book comes with a sturdy imagewrap hardcover as well as 16, premium flush mount pages to give it a luxurious look and feel.
Due to its smaller size, you won’t need to use as many photos! For example, you can choose to use 1 or 2 photos per page (thus only needing between 16 – 32 photos in total).
Furthermore, they’re also very lightweight and portable – meaning that your giftee can easily carry the book around with them (maybe to show off to other friends and relatives) anywhere and everywhere if they should wish.
The Gift of Style & Function
Another good alternative for when you want to create something personal and sweet but do not have any photos (or an abundance of photos) to use, is to create a personalised tote bag. Depending on if you want to do single or double-sided printing, the tote bag only requires between 1-2 photos at the minimum and can take as little as 5 minutes to make. That’s a little less than the amount of time you need to wait for your drink orders at Starbucks.
Tote Bags are quickly becoming a daily staple. You can use them as grocery bags, overnight bags, picnic bags or even bring them with you to work.
Some of the key features that make the customisable tote bags from Pixajoy a perfectly thoughtful yet functional gift is that they are:
- Very roomy
- Can be personalised with graphics, photos and/or text
- Available in dual or single sided printing
- Comes with dual handles (you can carry it over your shoulder or in your hands)
- Can hold up to 10kgs
Something to take everywhere
When you think of keychains, you often think of the (somewhat) tacky looking things you would get at gift shops. They don’t sound like a good gift at first – but take it from us. A personalised keychain just hits differently. A personalised keychain can serve as a function yet fashionable accessory. Besides being used for their original purpose (which is to keep keys intact) they can also be attached to bags, wallets, lanyards or even on purses to instantly make the item look more stylish.
Moreover, keychains are something they can be carried around anywhere – thus ensuring that your gift receiver is constantly reminded of you (and of the moments you spend together). For a fun little twist, you can also choose to personalise the keychains by using photos of your gift receiver’s favourite superhero, Korean or Hollywood celebrity, band members, anime characters or even an avatar (think the Snapchat avatar).
In conclusion, just because you’re busy or are running out of time, doesn’t mean you have to toss out the idea of presenting something with a thoughtful, personalised gift. A majority of the items listed above take as little as 5 – 10 minutes to make; roughly the same amount of time to get the laundry started or to take the dog out on a walk. If you’re having trouble picking out a gift (like so many other people out there in the world), you can take a look at our other blog post on The Best Personalised Gifts for Every Zodiac Sign – 2021 Gift Guide to help get you started.
In any case, be sure to check out our website or visit our promo page to sneak a peek at some of our latest deals!
