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25 Personalized Gifts That'll Make Them Feel Special

These custom gifts are made to leave a lasting impression.

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custom gifts

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Flowers and candy are fine and dandy—but let’s face it, they can also make a pretty boring gift. Giving your loved ones a custom present shows them how much you truly care. Not to mention it feels fantastic to receive one and realize the person really knows you.

Our top picks:

As a shopping gifts writer and self-professed great gift giver—which has been verified multiple times by my mom and best friend over the years—I pride myself on finding personalized presents that will truly wow the recipient. Right now, I’m especially obsessed with this one-of-a-kind watercolor date venue portrait and a personalized cookbook to hold every family recipe, but I rounded up custom gifts across home, fashion, beauty, and travel, which everyone on your list will actually, truly want.

Years ago, I bought my brother Evan an oversize neon “E” sign for his apartment, and he still hangs it with pride in his home. This custom neon sign will instantly jazz up your their bedroom, and it can be customized with up to three lines of text and a handful of colors.

What’s better than a painted version of a treasured portrait or photograph? An artist will hand-paint your photo in watercolors on archival watercolor paper before framing it in a miniature gold frame with a ring-linked chain. Your recipient can keep their loved ones close by hanging the 2" x 3" portrait on their car’s rearview mirror.

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That guy in your life who always says he doesn’t want anything is going to love these silly socks. Simply upload a picture and the crew socks will be printed with it from calf to, well, toe. There are 13 colors to choose from. The company recommends using a photo with only one face, so just keep that in mind when customizing.

No matter how many totes I accumulate for trips to the grocery store, I always seem to need just.one.more. Is it wrong that I want to gift myself this canvas tote, which can be embroidered with a monogram or name in a variety of colors and accented with a matching bow? Your friends who love having their name printed on things will adore it.

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My grandparents gave me an engraved bracelet for my birthday one year, and I still treasure it to this day. Mejuri’s delicate ring-linked bracelet is crafted in 14K yellow gold, which you can customize with the recipient’s name or a just-between-you message engraved onto the dainty bar.

I’ll solve the puzzle of what to get the puzzle-lovers in your life: this personalized jigsaw puzzle, of course! Whether you pick a picture of them by themselves, with their friends or family, or with a beloved pet, they’re sure to smile once they finish sliding every piece into place. You can make it as easy or difficult as you’d like, too, since the puzzle comes with as little as 120 pieces or as many as 1,500.

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Whether you first met at a restaurant, bar, or the beach, this customized watercolor portrait will commemorate the moment you two found something special. Simply select the number of characters, size, and type of portrait, then include the text and font you’d like, and voila. Talk about a meet-cute.

Want to really win the whole anniversary gift-giving thing? Give her a frame filled with customized brick figures. Build your own brick figures designed to look like her favorite people—choose anywhere from one to seven. You get to choose the hair, face, clothing, and accessories, and personalize it with names and dates.

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Claw clips have been popular for years, especially with ’90s-inspired fashion hitting its peak. Take them up a notch with this personalized version, which is laser-engraved with your name of choice in a variety of fonts and colors.

This leather case will keep his treasured watch in pristine condition while he travels. It’s laser-engraved with his name or initials in a variety of fonts, and holds between one to three watches.

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What’s better than a customized cocktail—especially when it’s named after your BFF? Whether she likes her cocktails shaken or stirred, she’ll adore this book customized with her name, zodiac sign, and photo, which are all turned into a signature cosmic cocktail. The fun doesn’t stop there, since the 46-page book also includes information about the zodiac sign and a host of other fun cocktails. You can include a dedication, too.

This customized Yeti tumbler will make drinking eight glasses of water a day much more palatable. Choose from 62 different designs like cups, tumblers, even wine bottle chillers, and then get to customizing with your choice of design, text, or monogram. The options are pretty much endless.

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This engraved compact mirror will be her go-to for fixing flyaways or reapplying lip gloss, and it’s small enough to throw in a tiny purse. There are tons of designs and fonts to choose from, and it slides closed to keep the mirror from getting scratched.

Is it a dazzling sequined pillowcase or a portrait of your pet? Good news—it’s both. While at first glance, this pillowcase is liberally covered in colorful sequins, brush them to one side to reveal a portrait of your choosing. Now this is a housewarming gift with pizzazz.

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If you have a friend or family member who loves collectibles and fandoms, this is right up their alley. I actually squealed in glee when I got to create my very own Funko Pop, since you can truly customize every inch of it—think hair, facial features, skin color, clothing, accessories, and hobbies—and it’s presented in a personalized box.

The Brat Pack-obsessed girl or guy in your life is going to flip over this customized viewfinder that they’ll, ahem, flip through. It’s designed to look like the iconic one from the ’80s, with a custom reel filled with personalized pics. What a Kodak moment.

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My Swiftie friends are all getting this custom beaded stretch bracelet, but anyone can appreciate a personalized accessory. This one has a mix of soft gray and white beads, but you can choose any combination they’d like best. Then, add up to 13 letters. It comes in sizes XXS to XL.

This square-shaped, stoneware trinket box will look so gorgeous sitting on a dresser or nightstand. Each one is designed to look like a quilted square with a needlepoint-like monogram in the center. It’s delicate, yet large enough to hold a variety of items like rings, necklaces, and lip balm.

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Don’t let your family’s treasured recipes go to waste. Your favorite home chef will cry happy tears (no onions required) when you present them with this personalized cookbook, which can include up to 400 pages, a name for the front cover, and customized inside message. Then, all that’s left is to gather old recipe cards and write them into this book for safekeeping (and handing down through your family, of course).

Whenever I find out someone’s fascinated with astrology, I immediately gift them this zodiac candle. In fact, I gave it to my brother’s wife two years ago, and she couldn’t stop raving about it. In any case, there’s a specific candle for each day of the year and have an 8-hour burn time.

Headshot of Jamie Sanders
Jamie Sanders
Contributing Writer

Jamie Sanders is a Los Angeles-based writer with over 20 years of experience in fashion, beauty, and home goods. In addition to Good Housekeeping, her work has appeared in InStyle, Shape, People, WWD, TODAY.com, Well+Good, Insider, Byrdie, BuzzFeed, Harper's Bazaar, Allure, Glamour, and more. She also runs her own site, The Beauty of Life, which she started in 2007. 

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