15 Holiday Hostess Gifts From Zazzle
I'm really excited to share my 15 favorite gifts from Zazzle because I've recently fallen in love with this site. It's bananas, it's just tops! I've now managed to turn most of my friends onto it and they are ordering and experimenting with putting their designs and photos on products too. And for the holidays, it's a great place to shop, especially if you are looking for the perfect gift for a host or hostess since so many of us are invited to lots of soirées this time of year. You can shop Zazzle anytime of the year though whether you need some goodies for yourself or dear friends. Zazzle is the place to go!
When I first came across the site I didn't know what to think - there was so much and I didn't "get" that everything could be personalized and I do mean everything. But then I placed an order (I live in Germany and got everything within 3-4 days!) and fell in love with my loot - I ordered cards and address labels, a blanket for Aidan, a custom poster for his room, etc.
Then Zazzle was nice enough to send me some products of my choice from their site to test so I'm sharing those in addition to some of my loot below. I tell ya, because you can personalize gifts on Zazzle, you can totally impress your friends with this stuff. It's so much more thoughtful than to just throw whatever from some big store into a gift bag at the last minute, right? You can put your own graphic designs on things, photos, you name it. If you're a graphic designer or take decent photos, this is a dream come true. I am already dreaming up some ideas!
1/ Custom Merry + Bright cards, signature matte, 5x7 2/Envelopes 5x7, in Caspian 3/ Forest return address labels. I am in love with my non-holiday cards this year. With so many being of different faiths, or none at all, I like to just send notes at the end of the year to send my love and greetings from my heart. These are perfect and such great quality. You can add images to the flip side, but I just kept mine in standard solid yellow because it's cheery and I can write a message there.
4/ Panda pattern pillow, lumbar 13x21, grade A cotton in mint (D9ebdd) 5/ Cute Dots throw pillow in black and white, 16x16, grade A cotton with zipper 6/ Mustache little man baby blanket 7/ Modern Navy Blue Peach Watercolor Block Stripes Fleece Blanket 50X60. I definitely know my way around any home product or store and therefore, I know quality (or not) when I see it.
The mustache blanket for baby is really good - thin but strong - and very black and very crisp white which I love. Aidan loves it! The watercolor blanket is super cozy for watching French films (I'm a junkie!) on cold nights. The two throw pillows are just gorgeous - the colors, the fabric, really great for the price. The dots will go in my work studio and the pandas in Aidan's nursery on his black Eames rocker.
10" diameter Melamine plates: 8/ Light as a Feather 9/ Pink Lemonade 10/ Paradise Floral 11/ Cat Lady - I am a total fangirl of melamine now since having a child because I know these will become our dinnerware of choice for the first several years - so my little boy gets the cats because he gets super excited over anything black and white right now due to his age, he is so attracted to very graphic patterns.
12/ Sturdy iPhone 6 plus case in gold dots, tough. I tested it by doing what I do best, dropping my phone a thousand times. Yup, the phone still works.
13 / Merry & Bright cheeseboard, Ventana with black handles. I can't wait to use this, I know I'm an adult but I've never owned a cheeseboard like this with actual tools in my whole life!
14/ There is always room for more cake tea towels - and they are those great waffled-cotton kind. So pretty. 15/ OMG Cake baking pan with lid. Could this get more cute (or accurate)? I can't wait to bake a cake to take to the next ladies club meet-up in my city. They all speak English and will totally get this expression, most of my German friends wouldn't understand.
I've photographed everything above a bit more moody because we have zero natural light today, it's very stormy, plus I reasoned that Zazzle has everything on their site true-to-color and professionally shot so why do over what they've so expertly done? I thought instead to share my own creative touch and since product shots can be boring why not add a filter and have some fun! But please note, some of the colors you see above are not exactly as they are on the site, so just look at the product on Zazzle for the true-to-life tones.
Also, when ordering pillows I highly suggest buying the best grade fabric you can afford like mine above. I also must add that the Zazzle pillows include zippers which was a big bonus for me because you can put in your own goose down inserts if you want squishier pillows though I really like the Zazzle inserts because they weren't overstuffed so the pillow still had some squishiness to it. And with zippered cases, you can easily toss them in the wash. When it comes to ordering the best quality you can afford, the same goes for paper products, always order the best. Paper and fabric are the two materials that you just can't mess with because they are so tactile and when it comes to paper, you want it to feel good in your hands and with fabrics, you want something like a pillow to feel nice against your face when you are watching a film on the sofa.
Have you entered the Zazzle giveaway yet? You have until the 12th to enter HERE.
This post is brought to you in collaboration with Zazzle.com. All content and words are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that allow me to earn a living doing what I love.
(images: holly becker for zazzle)