My niece turned 10 earlier this year, and I wanted to find something truly special to mark her first decade birthday. I searched high and low for something that was personal and memorable--something none of her friends had seen.Ta-Da! I give you this beautiful custom handwriting bracelet from an Etsy shop called SilverHandwriting. Vivian, the artisan, hand crafts custom bracelets using the script you hand write and upload to her site on Etsy.
It is the coolest gift for ages 10-90! You (or your loved ones) can write out anything, and upload it to create a unique bracelet.A few weeks before my niece's birthday, I asked her to write out her favorite saying on a piece of a paper (you can use a sharpie,or any bold pen). I didn't tell her why, and, of course, she forgot that I asked.
On her birthday, I presented her with this special bracelet that read "Rats Rule!" in her own handwriting. This is a treasure she will enjoy now, and keep for her hope chest (I hope!).
I was impressed not only by the speed the order was completed, but also by the high quality of the bracelet. It was something any adult would wear, and you can choose from Silver, White Gold, or Gold--all of which look expensive and well made. (the picture makes the gold look brassier than it is in real life--truly a nice quality in reality).
This bracelet makes a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Birthday/Mother's Day/Bridesmaid gift. Anyone from a spouse writing "I love you", to grandparents signing a special note, to children signing their names side by side for their mother, to a bestie writing an inside joke to her friend, it is a lasting treasure to see your loved ones' handwriting memorialized.
Vivian at SilverHandwriting has a variety of signature jewelry to choose from. This one runs approximately $46.00 and she is running a 30% off special through the holidays.
Collage.com produces pillows with your favorite mix of photos, and helps you easily sort & size them to create a fun collage. Unlike many other photocollage sites, their pillows are printed on a fine canvas fabric. It is something you would be happy to have on your couch or bed (not that smooth cheap fabric that makes the photos fuzzy).
The pillows range in price, depending on size, from $12.00 to $125.00. First time buyers to the site receive 60% off. This pillow was the largest (so I could fit more photos on the pillow) at 26x26. This would be $125.00, but their holiday promo keeps it at an affordable $40.00.
Jazz the pillow up a bit, by adding a fun design pic with their name. I found this temporary tattoo design on the web at Tattofun.com. Fortunately, the design was already available in my niece's name, but Tattoofun.com will custom inscribe/add any name to your selected design.
They were kind enough to send me the JPEG of the artwork, so it was easy to upload to Collage.com for the pillow (better resolution than copying it from the site). I bought a few of the temporary tattoos in this same heart tattoo design for her friends to wear at the birthday party. These were fairly large, and ran $2.95 each. Pretty neat to have all your friends wearing your name in a temporary tattoo!
The coupe de grace: I grabbed a few multi-color fabric markers at Jo-Anns and brought them to the party so her friends could sign the back of the pillow. (Though, I will say that a single black marker will do the trick, and is less expensive).
Whew! Memorable gift mission accomplished!
