A Personalized Christmas - Complication: I want to shop from my butt.

November 29, 2015 10:07 AM

It is my niece's very first Christmas this year, and I want to use her image and make personalized gifts for everyone: Mugs, Shirts, Calendars, phone cases, etc. I've used Walmart to make personalized mugs, but they were expensive and really annoying to order from (I'm ordering from Ontario, Canada). Can anyone recommend a reputable personalized-gift website that can take orders online? It would be great if they had a wide variety of items to personalize. Thanks in advance!!!
posted by Dressed to Kill to Shopping (11 answers total)

I use Shutterfly for this, and have been very happy with the results. Their stuff is pricey when it's full price, but they frequently run major sales (for example, if you order today, everything is 40% off). I have personally ordered the calendars, hard cover books, and water bottles. They also sell pillows, mugs, phone cases, etc.
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:12 AM on November 29, 2015 [3 favorites]

ArtsCow has all kinds of stuff, and everything I've seen has come out nicely. They also regularly run big discounts.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:14 AM on November 29, 2015

Best answer: I have used Zazzle to make personalized t-shirts and onesies. I've been very impressed with the printing quality--it's not thick and plasticky feeling or cheap transfer feeling like a lot of other services I've used. I've also used them for personalized mugs--quality on those is perfectly adequate. Certainly nothing wrong with it, but nothing to write home about if you know what I mean. No experience with phone cases, etc.
posted by phunniemee at 10:22 AM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have ordered t-shirts and mugs from Zazzle and can confirm they are quality. I'm actually really impressed with the mugs. Ours have lasted through many a dishwasher cycle going on four years now.
posted by Dragonness at 10:42 AM on November 29, 2015

ShutterFly can have a huge undisclosed duty charges.


Vistaprint has a decent reputation
posted by Ftsqg at 10:45 AM on November 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

I used vistaprint for magnets for my mom's business and was pleased. I'm also from Ontario, Canada (eh).
posted by DorothySmith at 11:07 AM on November 29, 2015

Best answer: I've used Vistaprint and Zazzle, and I'd highly recommend Zazzle for T-shirts and postcards. The paper and print quality on Vistaprint was disappointing, even though the price was good (though the magnets of the same image did come out well).
posted by limeonaire at 11:43 AM on November 29, 2015

I found this Etsy shop via the MeFi Mall a few years ago. Beautiful custom candles. I got one for my mother with one of her favorite family pictures. I was quite impressed how wonderful it looks, especially considering how pale my sisters and I are. It's still one of my mother's favorite gifts ever and is proudly displayed, unlit, in a prominent place in living room.
posted by MuChao at 12:35 PM on November 29, 2015

Staples has online ordering for this type of thing. You can either pick up in store or have them delivered. Not the largest selection, but one of the few places I've found that's actually in Canada, so you don't have to worry about the border.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:42 PM on November 29, 2015

we use Printerstudio 'round my house all the time for things. (hint: the coasters are really nice!)

you can ALWAYS find a good coupon, don't order anything unless you can find a good coupon for % off part of your order and free express shipping. We live in calgary and the express shipping is sometimes like 3 days and production like 1. They can be very fast, but the slow shipping is VERY slow.
posted by euphoria066 at 12:33 PM on November 30, 2015

Response by poster: I used Zazzle - came out good, except they sent me 2 of everything (!!) and I had to pay an extra $30 shipping...

Thanks all!
posted by Dressed to Kill at 6:32 AM on January 6, 2016