I love personalised books. There is something special about a book that feel like it has been made just for you. We have read (and loved) a number of Penwizard Books before, including a Personalised Peppa book when Erin turned 1, and the personalised Potty Training Princess book, which was a huge help when we transitioned to big girl pants when Erin was 2.
With Erin starting school in September, we have been working really hard on letters and numbers, and practicing visually recognising different letters on a page. I was asked if I wanted to review the new addition to Penwizard’s personalised range – Peppa’s Big Adventure to find [Your Name] and I didn’t take long to say yes!
About the Product
Big Adventure to find [Your Name] – allows children to follow the story of Peppa and George, collecting letters on their journey to spell out your child’s name on their treasure map. At the end of the story Peppa and George meet your child, and their own personalised character features in the illustrations too – looking just like them!!
Available in both soft paper back and hard back covers priced at £17.49 and £22.49 respectively.
The personalised element is really interactive, enabling you to specify not only their name, but their skin tone, eye colour, hair style and colour.
Our Experience
Erin is a big fan of Peppa Pig so as soon as she saw the book she was keen to sit and ‘read’ it with me.
As the story progressed, Peppa and George started to discover clues in the form of letters, – in our case just four – E, R I and N. When reading the story to Erin, I pointed out the different letters and asked if she knew what letter it was. The E she knew right away and said E for Erin!
The book not only visually shows the child the letter but also the story links it to an object beginning with that letter, which is a great way of reinforcing the link between letters and words.
Erin loved seeing the map that spelled out her name near the end of the book – and recognised the word almost straight straight away.
When Erin was introduced in the book she smiled and we talked about how it looked like her! She loved that Peppa and George had met her in the book, and enjoyed looking back at her favourite characters after we had finished reading.
From a parents point of view, I think this is a fun story that Erin would enjoy having read to her, and I really love the fact it not only reinforces the letters but has a character that resembles her too! 🙂
I do wonder how the story would differ for a child with a longer name (as obviously both of my girls have short names) and whether the book would be much longer in comparison?
At £22.49 for the hardback version, this isn’t a particularly cheap book, however I would personally pay the extra for a personalised book and opt for a hard back every time, as it makes it just that little more special! This would make a lovely gift for a special child in your life, particularly for a christening or naming day present.
Want to win your own? Penwizard have given me one book to giveaway to a lucky reader! Use the app below to enter! GOOD LUCK!
This Christmas is a particularly exciting Christmas. Firstly, it’s our first one as a family of four, and secondly, my three year old completely gets it now, making the whole process exciting from start to finish. A few weeks ago, we wrote our letter to Father Christmas, and toddled off to the post box to send it on its way. Every day since, Erin has been asking when he will write back, and was getting more and more impatient by the day. Whilst the free Royal Mail letter is lovely, it is obviously a templated letter, and not personalised in any shape or form. Last year we came across Classic Santa, and have never looked back. A truly magical personalised letter – I now post off to the royal mail, but share the Classic Santa reply with my daughter instead! 🙂
Classic Santa offer three different types of letter types –
Classic – fully personalised with a north pole marked envelope, wrapped in beautiful red band foiled with gold.
Original – as above but with the addition of a stunning real wax santa seal
Luxury – as per the Original but with the addition of a personalised Nice List Certificate
The prices are £4.99 – 6.99 respectively.
Classic Santa also offer a Baby’s first Christmas option – this is much less personalised than the others but still features beautiful words and their name – something they can look back at when they are older!
Our Experience
The Classic Santa letters are very easy to create online, even for someone who is lacking in technical skills! You simply complete the details at the top of the page and a ‘live’ template updates on screen so you can track the impact of your edits.
The personalisation includes not only name, age and address but also:
Who they will be with on Christmas Day
Where they will be on the day (great for separated families or those who will be staying with grandparents etc)
Achievement during the year
What they have asked for this year
What they received last year
What they will be leaving out for Father Christmas
Whether they have written to him
Whether they have been naughty or nice – great for encouraging good behaviour in last few weeks
Whether or not they have a chimney
Using the mocked up letter, you can then change each paragraph to your preferred phrase or tone – with each paragraph having at least 4 options. By using the live template, you can ensure you have written your personalised elements in the correct tone/tense/phrasing, and can tweak and see immediately the impact it will have.
One thing I LOVE is the fact you can choose between Santa and Father Christmas for the sign off as a lot of letters pick only one and each family is different. We have always referred to him as Father Christmas, where as I consider Santa to be a bit more American. I also love that by specifying you don’t have a chimney, the child can be reassured that Father Christmas has other means of getting in, and be comforted by the fact it wont prevent him from getting in! 🙂
The extensive personalisation really adds to the authenticity of the letter.
Our letter was posted on the first day of Classic Santa deliveries. They only deliver from the 5th December, so even if you apply early, it doesnt get sent early. Erin was SO excited to see it land on the doorstep. The envelope looks very official and posh, with beautiful branding that almost glistens on the mat! 🙂
When opening, you need to very carefully peel away the wax seal – I recommend that Mummy and Daddy help with this bit as you don’t want to wrip the letter underneath! 🙂 Last year my other half was a bit heavy handed and slightly tore the paper. I think he was as excited as Erin was!!
We sat and read the letter outloud to Erin and her little face was a picture. She was also very pleased to see that her baby sister hadn’t been left out too – despite only being 3 months old! Father Christmas thanked her for her letter and advised her that he was aware of the items she had put on her list! In this case, a hatchimal (thank god mummy went shopping early!), paw patrol mashems and a Elena of Avalor dress! 🙂
Her nice girl certificate is a lovely touch, and we pop this into her Christmas Eve box to remind her that she is still on the good list! 🙂
Overall we are chuffed to bits with the Classic Santa letters, as we were last year, and will definitely continue to order year on year as our girls grow up! Classic Santa are the most authentic looking letters we have seen for a long time and made the experience just magical for our daughter.
Pros:
Extensive personalisation
Authentic looking design including North Pole postmark and wax seal
Great value for money
Luxury letters include nice girl certificate which is a really lovely extra touch
Can make completely unique
References the child’s friends adding to the authenticity
Can track the changes you make immediately so there are no surprises or errors when the letter arrives
Deliveries start from 5th December, so you can order early but not receive it too early!
Ordering process very straightforward
Cons:
As lovely as the wax seal is, you do have to be quite careful when peeling open the letter as the seal backs on to part of the letter itself, so any heavy handedness could damage the letter itself which would be a real shame.
Some people might want the letter to be the beginning of their Elf on the Shelf tradition, in which case the first postage date of the 5th December would be too late. I would personally recommend that Classic Santa offer delivery from the 1st.
*Disclosure – we were sent a Luxury Letter for my daughters in exchange for this review, however all thoughts, opinions and images are my own.*
I have always been a massive fan of Made4Keepsake, having previously reviewed their Personalised Birthday T Shirts. When I was expecting Neve, I fell in love with the idea of my two girls – my two daughters, having Big Sister/Little Sister outfits, so the idea of personalised ones was particularly appealing. The siblings sets from Made4Keepsake feature classic yet striking designs and we couldn’t wait to get a set.
About Made4Keepsake
I first came across Made4Keepsake on Twitter, and was immediately impressed with the wide range of keepsake items on offer, including Keepsake Bears (made from babies sentimental first clothing), Date of Birth Prints, Christening Prints, and Handmade Personalised Photo Albums. Made4Keepsake was created by Leanne, who as a fashion designer, has created and designed all of the artwork and imagery for every single one of the products on offer. She wanted to create products with an added personal unique touch so that important moments can be cherished forever.
Our Experience
We ordered a Big Sister / Little Sister sibling set from the Made4Keepsake website. My eldest daughter is on the petite side, so despite her being three and a half, I ordered her tee in a size 2-3. I then ordered a 0-3 vest for Neve who is now almost 12 weeks. Both fitted perfectly.
The order process with Made4Keepsake was quick and easy, we simply completed the online form outlining my daughter’s names and selected the size of vest and tshirt we wanted to order. We received a confirmation to advise that our order had gone through successfully. Note – it is crucial that you check the accuracy of the spellings you submit online.
The postage was very quick – our set arrived just 7 days after order (Made4Keepsake advise 7-10 days), which for an individually personalised item is a really fast turnaround. The items were wrapped in tissue with a Made4Keepsake tag making them perfectly well presented to send as a gift.
The vest and t-shirts are both soft to the touch, with no rough texture where the design is present on the fabric. Unlike some of the other Big Sister t-shirts on the market, this design is classy and subtle, and is perfect for doing your own mini photoshoots, something which I am very fond of doing! (Even better if you can get someone better to take the photo for you!).
I took a number of photos with the girls in their outfits and I absolutely love the final effect! 🙂 I have had loads of lovely comments about them, and this is a photograph that I will cherish for years to come! 🙂
Overall, I was really impressed with the sibling set and for £20.95, I feel they are excellent value for money, particularly for a personalised product. The t-shirts are available in ages 1-6 years, and the vests from 0-12 months.
Pros:
The designs are subtle and beautiful!
I have very rarely seen what I would describe as ‘classy’ sibling tshirts, as some high street “big sister’ tops can be a little on the tacky side!
Personalised with your children’s names.
Good quality vest/tees – both have washed well and have not cracked or peeled.
Completely unique, you won’t see them on every street corner!
Available in the size of choice, so if your child is small or big for their age, you can find a vest or tee to fit!
Great value for money!
Make a great outfit for a photo card to announce the arrival of your new child!
Cons:
Not a con but a suggestion – don’t leave it to the last minute to ensure you have item in time! Products are sent by Royal Mail and delivery in our case was very quick, but to be on the safe side I would recommend that you order early particularly around Christmas.
The smallest size vest at the moment is 0-3 so if you have a very teeny baby you may need to wait a few weeks like we did before taking this shot! 🙂
I absolutely love personalised gifts and making memories! When our daughter was born we started a bit of a tradition by making a calendar every year for our family. The response we got and still get now is magical. We have done it for the last 3 years for the grandparents and it has been very gratefully received, to the point that my mother in law recently asked me if we were still intending to do one for 2017 – in other words, a not so subtle hint! 😉
The idea behind the calendar is simple – we work to a theme for each month such as Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Summer, Valentines etc and take photos of our children (their grandchildren) to celebrate each month. The recipients love nothing more special than seeing the smiling faces of the kids each month and they really look forward to turning the page over as each month passes! 🙂
The photo taking experience can be at times a challenge (try getting two children to smile and look in the same direction at the same time!) but we have hours of fun dressing up and doing mini photoshoots to get each month’s photo.
We recently ordered this years calendars from Snapfish and this year, opted for a larger size photo calendar to really showcase our photos to the max! 🙂
Our Experience
Snapfish offers a huge range of personalised photo products – everything from prints to personalised mugs, cushions, greeting cards and wall art. The calendars are available in various different sizes and styles including desk calendars, wall calendars and kitchen (slimline) calendars.
We opted for the Large Wall Calendar – which is 11 inches by 17 inches and therefore a really impressive size for showcasing your photographs.
The creation process is really straightforward. A template of your design is shown on screen so you can see the effect of your changes as you make them. You simply drag and drop the photos that you wish to use into each page of your calendar. You can then zoom in and out and change the size of the image as you wish.
My advice would be to ensure you have chosen all the photographs you wish to use and uploaded them to your albums first before you begin creating your project. I didn’t have them all ready and the process took a little longer as a result – as photos need to be added to an online album before you can apply them. I was making two different designs, and on creating my 2nd calendar I was much more efficient, having learnt from my first mistake! 🙂
When creating your calendar you can add different backgrounds and themes to match the personality of the recipient or even the room setting in which it will be hung! You can also add embellishments such as symbols or words to the photos. We chose to have a theme which represented the seasons and months, and added the occasional embellishment in the form of Happy Easter or Merry Christmas text.
Snapfish will highlight if the image you are using is of low resolution, which can be the case if taken on your phone. I was warned that one of mine wasn’t particularly high quality however decided to risk it and proceed to order anyway. I am glad that I did – the finished print quality is still perfectly clear, so I believe there is a fairly low threshold for highlighting it.
Another feature which I particularly liked was the fact that ‘special days’ can be added into the calendar using additional photographs. I chose to use photos and text to mark important dates such as the kids birthdays, and those of close family and friends. The text when the calendar arrived was slightly smaller than I anticipated, partly I think because you write the words on a ‘zoomed in’ version of the screen. That said it was still perfectly readable and didn’t detract from the finished piece in anyway.
Before ordering, you have the chance to virtually flick through your finished design, and double check that the text and photos are accurate and as expected on each page.
The calendars arrived quickly after ordering, with emails advising us about dispatch. They were well packaged in thickened card so to not get bent in transit.
My first impressions on opening were really positive. They look fab! The larger size is much bigger than the kitchen style ones we have had in previous years and is definitely worth the slightly higher price. I cannot wait to give the calendars as gifts this Christmas, and I know that the grandparents will be chuffed to bits to receive them!
There is currently 50% off EVERYTHING on Snapfish until Monday 28th November 2016 as part of their BLACK FRIDAY deals. This makes the large calendar I ordered just £9.99!!! Simply use the Code BLACK116 at checkout.
You can see the calendar and the full range of products on the Snapfish website here.
Here is my favourite month – a Halloween photoshoot for October! 🙂
Pros:
Quick delivery
Good value for money
High quality item
Mocked up on screen
Not only one main photograph but special day photographs as well. Can add as little or as many as you wish.
Can upload images from your computer or from Instagram, facebook, etc.
Make a great stocking filler with more meaning than an “off the shelf” gift.
Cons:
Some of the resizing of images and zooming in and out can be a little temperamental and if you have a pop up blocker you will need to tell it to allow for Snapfish, otherwise uploading images can become a little long winded!
The text on the special days was a little smaller when printed than I expected, probably because you see a zoomed in version when allocating the image.
Need to invest some time beforehand deciding on all the different images you are going to use.
Whoever said “never work with kids or animals” wasn’t wrong. Getting the pics you want might make you tear your hair out!! 🙂
*Disclaimer -We were given Snapfish credit in exchange for an honest review of their personalised products, however all thoughts and opinions are our own.*
Erin is a MASSIVE fan of Despicable Me – so much so, that whenever we go anywhere, she appears to be able to pick out a Minion from a mile off – most recently in the supermarket! With Father’s Day fast approaching, I wanted to get Daddy a card from Erin & Bump that featured her favourite characters!
There are obviously a number of online card retailers at the moment, so knowing where to start to get the design you want can be a bit of a minefield. We were introduced to Personalise.com – the home of official licenses to personalise the most popular music acts, football teams, games, tv programmes and films around. We loved the range of Father’s Day cards they had to choose from – including Minions, Fireman Sam and Wallace & Gromit, as well as more grown up themes such as football teams, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Family Guy and Only Fools & Horses.
They also offer FREE UK MAINLAND delivery which is an added bonus. Orders are dispatched the same day if ordered Monday to Friday before 2pm.
We decided to order a Minions card for Daddy! 🙂
Our Experience
The ordering process at Personalise.com is VERY straightforward, so much so that even a non tech savvy person would be able to do this without much of a struggle. Firstly, you select the design that you want, and the online template appears. This clearly shows you which parts of the card are personalised, and allows you to flick between the front cover, inside view, and back view. You can then simply type in the details you wish to display on the card. Once you have done this, you simply press the Preview Now button, and the template updates automatically, enabling you to visually see how your finished design will look.
Cards are available in two sizes – standard (£2.99) or large (£4.79) and this is the total price as delivery is free of charge.
We opted for the larger size card, and added it to our basket. Checkout and payment was quick and easy, and we ordered before the cut off time of 2pm, meaning our card was dispatched the same day.
The card arrived the next morning. It arrived in a reinforced envelope to protect the card inside, and we were really happy with the finished design! 🙂 Erin is VERY excited about giving this to Daddy on Sunday! 🙂
You can see the full range of personalised cards available at Personalise.com. Personalise.com also offer a range of personalised gifts – perfect for football fans as virtually every team is listed! We opted for a Villa mug for Erin’s granddad *no judgements please!!!* – he will be chuffed to bits! 🙂 These are sent separately from the cards, but also benefit from free UK postage. We are looking forward to receiving it! 🙂
*Disclaimer – we were sent a Personalise.com card free of charge in return for this review, however all opinions expressed are my own*.
If someone asked me to write a list of my favourite things, up near the top, after the obvious friends and family, would be photographs and books. I am a stickler for both. Despite my daughter being too young to read on her own, I have read a book to her pretty much every day of her life so far! Now she is nearly 3, her imagination is really coming to life, and she enjoys sitting on her chair in her room and “reading” to me, making up her own stories as she turns the pages. It is a lovely sight to see. She is also starting to recognise letters and their shapes, and therefore is showing signs of understanding how different words are formed.
Erin also loves looking at photos of herself and her family. If she walks into a room where there is a framed picture of herself or one of her parents / grandparents, she will suddenly spot it, smile and say who it is – she recognises most of our wider family, and remembers the situation shown in the photographs. If ever she is grumpy and needs cheering up, I simply show her a picture of either a) Daddy or b) herself, and her signature grin is soon plastered back on her little face.
When given the opportunity to review the Love2Read personalised photo books, these seemed just perfect to combine my love of both books and photographs, and I couldn’t wait to design my book.
The Product
Love2Read was created by Caroline, who had the idea to use photos to create personalised reading books in order to help her middle child, who has special needs, learn to read. She made a book using photos of her family and it was a real hit, so she made some more using different words. She then noticed that her youngest child, who was only two at the time, was always picking up the homemade books and was reading them to anyone who would listen. Friends starting asking her to make books for their children and so Love2Read was born.
To create your book, you simply select from a range of template designs including My Daddy, My Mummy, I love… and My Special Day. With over 80 templates to the Love to Read site, there are plenty of options to choose from.
Once selected, you simply upload 10 photographs that you wish to be the imagery for your book using the webpage software provided. As you add your images you can see how they will appear on the page. The first four images used in the book automatically become the front cover of the design.
Underneath the images you can then add the narrative of your choice, as well as personalising the inside cover with a This book belongs to… and any message you wish to document.
The books cost £14.99 or reduce in price per unit when more than 2 books are purchased.
Gift vouchers are also available should you wish to purchase for someone else – but allow them to create the books themselves.
Our Experience
We decided to create a My Daddy book as a Father’s Day gift from my daughter to her Daddy. Although she is not of reading age, she is a big fan of a bedtime story, and loves it when Daddy and her have pre bedtime stories and cuddles. Having photographs of her favourite person inside was bound to make it a real hit, and I knew Mike would enjoy the experience.
Using the Love2Read website, we selected, after some long consideration, the 10 images we wished to use and uploaded them to the webpage, carefully selecting which four images we wanted to be on the front cover, and as such, in the first four pages of the template. You can rotate the images you want to use so they can be either portrait or landscape – this was handy as for some reason most of mine are portrait (probably as a lot were taken on my phone).
We made the story to be about Daddy and Erin’s adventures, and used semi rhyming narrative to describe the images (I’m no poet but this bit was fun!). I would’ve liked a couple of extra pages at the end as I wrote the poem in rhyming couplets, but that wasn’t a major issue! 🙂
Uploading photographs was really easy, even for those who are not particularly confident on the computer, and once we had finished our design, it was great to be able to virtually flick through the book and get a real feel for what the finished product would look like.
The book arrived around 2 working days after my order – I believe they offer two print runs a week, but either way, the turnaround time was very quick. As the book is paperback and not particularly thick, it was able to be delivered by royal mail straight into my letterbox which would’ve been perfect had I not been at home.
Once I tore open the envelope, I was really pleased with the My Daddy book inside. With a gloss front cover, and high quality print, and some of my favourite photographs printed inside, I couldn’t wait to show it to my daughter and see her response. It was exactly how I anticipated. As soon as she saw her Daddy on the inside of the pages, her face lit up, beaming from ear to ear and chuckling contently as I read her the words on the page. She also talked around the situations pictures, and what she could see, and after a few times of reading it, she would then talk me through it herself! 🙂 She particularly liked the photo of when Daddy saved her from the muddy puddle!
Overall we are really pleased with our Love2Read book, and think it is a perfect gift for anyone who wants a bedtime story to treasure for many years to come. The template nature of the design, means the books are perfect gifts for a variety of special occasions such as Valentines Day, Mothers/Fathers Day, Child’s Birthday or a year in review. We look forward to Erin giving her book to Daddy on Father’s Day! 🙂
Pros:
Very simple to create, using the website template provided.
A wide range of templates to choose from, meaning something to match every occasion.
Narrative is bespoke, meaning you can write very personal and unique content based on your own experiences.
High quality printing – the colour and sharpness of the photographs is very good.
Reasonable value for money, particularly if you buy more than one at a time.
Can be delivered through standard letter box – no need to wait in for delivery.
Quick turnaround time.
A perfect gift for special occasions or for anyone responsible for a bedtime story!
Not limited to one age group, as the content and difficulty of words within and up to the discretion of the author!
Great for children who may be struggling with separation anxiety, as a childminder or nursery practitioner could read it to them for reassurance.
Cons:
As a soft back book, if your child is very young like mine, the book could become a little dog eared and well loved relatively quickly. It would be great to see a hard back or board book version of the same design.
The book is bound using staples in the central fold of the pages. I would prefer it if the book was glue sealed as there is a small risk a younger child could reach out and touch the pages. However, a younger child is unlikely to be left alone reading it.
Hi, I’m Lucy, a thirty something mum of two from Birmingham. A memory maker, tradition keeper, stationery addict and Mr Men fanatic. HR Advisor by day and sleep deprived Mama by night!
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Underneath the images you can then add the narrative of your choice, as well as personalising the inside cover with a This book belongs to… and any message you wish to document.
