Many of you are familiar with VistaPrint as a great source for business cards, pamphlets, and other business literature.  But had you ever thought of them as a great source for personalizedgifts ?  One year we all got “calling cards” (business cards without the business info on them) in our stockings.  I’ve done personalized sticky notes, as well.  These smaller items are great as stocking stuffers or gift basket fillers.

They have larger items, as well, like t-shirts and baseball caps, tote bags, and even hoodies.  Use a custom image or favorite quote that can’t be found on ready-to-wear.  Give Grandma a shirt with Junior’s artwork on it.

Christmas is also the perfect time to give personalized calendars as gifts!  The new year is just about to start, so it’s exactly the right time to pull out a new one.  They come in different varieties, so you can decide what works best for your purposes.  (The wall calendars, with pictures of the kids, make great grandparent gifts!)  You could even use the card-style calendars as your Christmas cards, and give people a reason to hang onto them all year long.

Another option is to combine a personalized element with an otherwise-generic gift to create a top-notch gift package.  Give a personalized mug, but fill it with a bag of hot cocoa mix, with candy, or with pencils.  Giving a new mouse?  Why not include a personalized mouse pad?  Giving a car?  Well, you probably don’t need to take that up a notch. 😉  But you could present the key on a personalized key chain if you did want to go all-out.

How have you used personalized products for gift-giving?