You really want to win at Christmas this year. I know. I want to too. The odd thing is that the more Christmases I am here for, the harder it gets to find something really wonderful, really fun and within budget. If you're anything like me, you especially don't want to resort to buying generic gift vouchers for your family and friends this year, you want something personal instead. Something that only you would get them and makes them smile when they open this perfect and every time they look at it after the big day.
So here's our top ten of the best personalised prints to help you conquer Christmas.
1. Banish those hard to buy for blues!
We all have someone that we know and love who is pretty impossible to buy for. Maybe they are impulse shoppers themselves and as soon as they know they want something, they head on out and buy it for themselves, leaving nothing left in a useful wish list for us to buy! Or perhaps they have a few interests, but you feel that, after decades of gift giving, you really can't buy them anymore golf socks or CDs!
Worry not. A personalised print is about to come to your rescue. Take, for example, our personalised Retro Cassette Print.
There's not a person I know who doesn't like music of one sort or another, and if you have a proper music lover on your hands and really don't want to purchase them yet another anthology of Bob Dylan songs (because then you might have to listen to it with them for a start!) then a visual representation of the perfect mix tape is just the fun and stylish gift for them. Personalise with up to 16 tracks and choose a title to make it extra meaningful.
We started with a plain white background on all these prints (so classy), but we soon added a variety of fun colours so you can really spruce it up. Choose from "99 Red Balloons" red, "Blueberry Hill" dark blue, or why not "Oliver's Army" green? And if MP3s or Vinyl is more your era, we have prints based on those designs too.
2. Make a photograph, something greater.
According to the New York Times, it's estimated that the citizens of the world will have taken 1.3 trillion digital photographs just in 2017 alone. It's a staggering number of images and all thanks to the digital tech at our finger tips and the amazing cameras we now have on our phones. And actually I think that's an underestimate as NYT have no idea just how many hundreds of images my small one takes of Lego fire engines and odd looking trees he sees on his journey home - hundreds of them - all just a fraction of a second apart.
Releasing the best images from our phones and those seemingly easy to make and yet really time sucking photo books, is no easy feat. That is until you see our Personalised Silhouette Prints. Through the magic of our amazing graphic designer, Rachel (I say magic, I mean years of experience), we take your humble photograph and create a modern work of art for your walls. This works on so many levels! Not only is it brilliant for people who love their family photographs, but actually feel a little bit odd about seeing photos of themselves, or giving someone a photograph of themselves, but you can capture that moment in time and make it work for your interior colour scheme. Always a bonus!
In addition, if the photo means a lot to you, but it's not the best composition or Uncle Ted was blinking, or it's just a bit out of focus, well none of that matters in our silhouette rendition. Suddenly, you are Mario Testino, all hail your photo skills.
3. Create the ULTIMATE memory journey in superb, timeless style.
Your partner can be the trickiest person you know to buy for, and sometimes you just wish you could pull a gift out of the bag that will instantly floor them, possibly make them cry a little bit (in the best possible way) but that is still so achingly stylish that you will want to display it in your home together forever. Enter stage left, the destination print. In our timeless Routemaster style, you can recreate the history and the best places and locations in your journey together. From that restaurant you both loved when you first started dating, to that momentous holiday when you knew this was it forever, celebrate it all.
And the best bit is that we always always always email you a proof of how your print will look before we print it (not all printmakers do this you know!) So if you want to make sure we get the emphasis right - because only you know the most important bits of your story - or just want to ensure you haven't made any excitable typos, you can do that and we'll happily make any changes to get it looking just right for you (not all printmakers do this either).
4. Make Someone Smile (and show how loved they are)
I don't care who you are, you have your own individual personality and someone somewhere knows you really well. Probably inside out. Possibly well enough to nail you and your quirks and have a bit of fun doing it. If there was a universal print that can apply to just about anyone, then this is it. It works for any age group and only relies on you knowing a handful of undeniable facts, to create simply the best Christmas gift this side of Frankincense.
Our Skeleton Anatomy print was inspired by medical illustrations and the poster I always see at my chiropractors. Although, these labels point to personality traits and fun facts about our friends and family, instead of physical attributes. So whether your friend is super caring and has a heart of gold or a heart that belongs to Take That, or their magic fingers are always cooking amazing meals or writing brilliant blog posts or short stories, you can label the physical parts of their body that relate to the best bits of their personality.
5. Appear really cool to that teenager you know
The greatest wisdom of all is contained in the lyrics of pop songs. It was true when our parents were kids and it's just as true now. If in doubt, just ask any Ed Sheeran fan. Our pop wisdom prints can capture any moments of inspired genius from your favourite song writer and display it in very simple, very cool, very ageless classic Scandinavian style. We think the black circle in the middle is reminiscent of an old vinyl LP, but if black isn't your jam, you can choose from just about any other colour you can think of.
This is a brilliant gift for any teen, and will instantly elevate you into realms of cool previously reserved for their friends parents, who always let their friend do ANYTHING THEY WANT. You can choose any song that makes their heart sing, and we'll artwork the lyrics in our unique style. There's even a tagline that you can add to the bottom, so you can reference their teen idol!
Add gig tickets for the same artist for instant hero worship!
6. The perfect portable and postable present
You might do a lot of travelling over the Christmas period to see your loved ones and rejoice in all the wrapping of gifts for them, making those presents so beautiful that people don't want to tear into it and spoil the magic! It really is lovely getting to see family and friends in all their far flung locations, but packing up the car or the rucksack can require military planning and then a decent holiday to get over!
This is when an impactful gift, full of love and grand emotions, but in an itty bitty package is your saving grace. Our unframed mounted prints are available in A4 size and when mounted are ready to frame in a 11"x14" frame. But presented to you in a cello bag, with mountboard stiffeners to protect it in transit, the external packaging is smaller than your average glossy magazine. So easy to either bring with you for the holidays or post to friends and relatives that live too far away to visit. Our bigger unframed prints, A3 and A2, are rolled in a luxury tissue paper and posted in protective cardboard tubes so are equally as easy to transport.
And if you want that really impressive framed print to give as a gift (and who doesn't love impressive), we offer free delivery to anywhere in mainland UK and can easily send your order directly to your gift recipient! FOR THE WIN!
7. Turn those travels into a style statement
They say that travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer. If that's true, then I certainly know some people who should be millionaires in their soul by now - my brother and his gorgeous wife for a start.
Now, I'm a generous sister, but I can't quite stretch to buying an overseas vacation for their Christmas present. What I can definitely do is create a beautiful memory piece for them to hang on their wall that will remind them of all the amazing adventures they have already had. Whether it's a graphic black and white architectural photograph of a favourite landmark in a favourite city, or an airport style travel board print with their top travel destinations of all time, it's guaranteed to make them smile (and possibly reach for their passports again.)
8. Make a meal of it
So, you know how anyone that does anything food related in the kitchen, has a dish that they completely rule at? Some of the most highly overachieving members of society have several dishes actually that can make grown men weep with joy. But everyone has ONE that is regarded as their signature dish. The one. The pièce de résistance of their culinary skills. The one we have all come to expect at any social gathering and are deeply disappointed if it's not there. We might miss the dish more than the person who made it, truth be told, it is that awesome!
Create a gorgeous print for their kitchen and simultaneously let them know how skilled they are at this amazing dish and how much you love to help them eat it. You have the added bonus of needing to ask them for the recipe details for your "secret project" and then you can have a bash at making it yourself if you really have to (in case they emigrate, or worse, decide they are going on a health kick).
For anyone that truly believes they have Masterchef level skills, this is the perfect gift. You never know - they might even make their special dish for you as a thank you for such a wonderful and personal Christmas present.
9. The best love story of all - yours.
It takes a really special and totally bespoke print to capture all the intricacies of your beautiful love story, and we think this is it.
The Story of Us print is designed in a radial shape and captures all the important 'chapter headings' of your story so far. From where you met, to your favourite restaurants, to the funny thing that happened in the bar, to that momentous holiday with the big question!
It's all just about you. This print is one of our all time best sellers and for good reason. It features the best story ever, the story of your relationship, the story of true love. And it's as stylish as you could want for a piece of personalised art.
We hear time and time again that this print makes such an amazing gift for your partner. Seeing your whole history and the fabulous times you have shared, laid out in a one perfect print, well it brings some folks to tears. The good kind obviously. If you want to give a gift that is pure love (and a whole lot of beautiful design) then this is the perfect solution.
You can choose any colours you like for this beautiful print, and match it to your home decor. And did we mention that all our prints have free UK delivery?
10. They say the funniest things
Maybe it's the smallest one in the family that comes up with the 'laugh out loud' statements with their unique and innocent take on a very grown up world. Although the grown up ones also come out with the odd funny statement, they are also capable, in those rare wonderful moments, of coming out with something so profound it needs to be framed and hung on the wall.
Our Personalised Quote Prints are available in a range of colours to suit and even in some gorgeous metallics like copper, gold and silver. They add some serious wow factor to your walls
So that's our round up. We think we have something for everyone, but if you have a particularly tricky person to buy for and you don't see something on our site that is suitable, please challenge us to come up with a solution! Drop us an email on betsy@betsybenn.co.uk with all the details and we'll get our thinking caps on.
Happy Christmas Gifting!
Betsy & Team xxx
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