Retiring so soon, Mr Beckham?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

As David Beckham retires from a glittering career, we’re thinking it would be nice to send him a retirement gift. After all, the end of an illustrious 20 year career should be marked with something special, don’t you agree?

Bearing in mind that most retirees are somewhat older than Mr Beckham, we offer a wide selection of age appropriate gifts, but our range would surely make David smile. Perhaps an engraved cut glass bottle stopper or a floating pen set. The natural choice would be a selection of personalised photoblocks, so he can display pics of his winning shots all around his lovely home.

And for Sir Alex Ferguson, how about an engraved glasses case – elegant, personal and useful? Isn’t it great when you can chat about football and it counts as working?!!

Beat the exam stress with a nice jar of personalised sweeties

Posted on May 15, 2013 by admin

GCSE exams are underway and all over the country we can hear the rustle of students frantically turning pages in a last ditch attempt to cram it all in. We’ve had a run on personalised sweets being sent as good luck gifts – so if you’ve walked past a school and heard chomping, that’s the reason!!

Engraved Keyrings have been popular this year too. Well, they’re cute for any occasion, and more practical than a lucky gonk! One customer told us she always sends keyrings because they’re easy to post… so we reminded her we can deliver direct to any address in the UK, next day if you order by 2pm!!

What’s been your luckiest gift? From teddies to jewellery to lucky pants – tell us your favourites. Tweet your replies to @ihugtj and we’ll retweet!

A holiday you’ll never forget

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

The gorgeous bank holiday seems to have propelled everyone into holiday mode, and we’re hearing discussions all over the place about booking summer holidays, planning day trips and organising weekend getaways. So where are you off to this summer?

According to the national press, there’s been a surge in biking holidays, and we can see why! The UK is beautiful when the sun shines, and we’ve got it all: highlands, lochs, lakes, beaches, mountains, marshlands – what a wonderful way to tour the country.

But every time people get back from wherever they’ve been, don’t you hear, “I’ve forgotten it already”?! Well here’s a novel way to remember the lovely scenery you enjoyed on your trip… personalised wallpaper that brings the beach right into your home. Wherever you’re heading off to, bring a piece back with you. All you need is a camera and we’ll do the rest!

Piggy banks fit for a prince

Posted on April 30, 2013 by admin

The Duchess of Cambridge was pictured this week shopping for baby things with her mother in the Kensington sunshine. One thing the new prince or princess will definitely need is a money box to store their riches. Maybe not large enough for the Royal treasury, but who could fail to love our cute engraved creature money boxes?

Did you know that the traditional piggy bank probably stems from a language misunderstanding? In olden days, potters used an orange clay known as Pygg to create jars which people used to store their coins. Sometime during the 17^th century, a potter designed a jar in the shape of a pig, possibly misunderstanding the meaning of a Pygg jar! Now piggy banks are also known as money boxes; they come in all shapes and sizes and are one of the most sought after gifts for a new baby or a Christening. Take your pick!!

Gifts for golfers

Posted on April 18, 2013 by admin

Calling all golf fans!! We loved watching The Masters and it’s got us recklessly swinging our clubs around the warehouse. Now all the golfers we know are busy shining their irons and counting the tees…

A quick survey found that, even if people don’t like golf, they know someone who does! The calm and tranquillity of the rolling landscape, the gentle exercise, the inviting clubhouse at the end!!

So we’ve put together a range of gifts for golfers – personalised golf balls, golf bag towels, engraved hip flasks. These make ideal pressies for any occasion – and with Father’s Day on the horizon, what could be better?

Let us know if you get a hole in one – we’ll tweet you our congratulations!

Graduation celebrations come around to grip the nation!

Posted on April 8, 2013 by admin

Graduation time has begun! One of our friends celebrated her ceremony at the Barbican this weekend – Open University students graduate earlier than other unis! Her photos on Facebook prompted loads of comments about the streams of graduates planning their ceremonies this summer.

One of the most popular gifts chosen last year was our personalised wall clocks – complete with graduation photo! An excellent idea for helping young people wake up in the mornings for their 9-5 – something that comes as shock to most of them!!

Personalised landscape wall art is also popular, and a fantastic way to display a treasured photo of a group of friends celebrating their big day. If you know someone graduating soon, do let us know so that we can send them a congratulations message on Facebook or Twitter!

Happy Paper Anniversary Ricky and Jo!!

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin

Jo and Ricky are celebrating their first wedding anniversary this week and all of us here at ihug wish them a wonderful party next Saturday! As you may know, each anniversary holds a special significance and we like to give anniversary gifts that are appropriate for the occasion.

The first anniversary is Paper, so we’re giving Ricky and Jo an elegant guest book with a gold swirl design and a matching pen – personalised, of course. They can put it out at the party for all their guests to sign, then they’ve got a lovely keepsake of their first wedding anniversary.

We might also chuck in a couple of celebration banners – they’re not actually paper, they’re made of vinyl – but they look fabulous to brighten up a party wall. Happy anniversary you two – wishing you many happy years together!!

A record-breaking Easter gift

Posted on March 24, 2013 by admin

The world’s largest Easter egg was built – and eaten – in Argentina.

What a gift that would be!! Last year, 27 bakeries spent two weeks creating the enormous egg. 800lbs of chocolate were set into blocks, and these were attached to a wooden frame towering over 27ft high. The delicious 16ft wide egg was wheeled in to the annual Chocolate Festival in the city of Bariloche where it hovered precariously over a sea of spectators waiting anxiously for a lick.

A sunny day meant that crowds didn’t have long to admire the egg before it started melting, so the chefs used cranes to break off chunks of the chocolate to hand out to the crowd.

You might not be planning to give a 27ft chocolate egg as a gift this Easter, but you can’t go wrong with a bar of personalised chocolate. With various designs to choose from you can delight children and adults alike – and so easy for TJ to deliver anywhere in the country!

And for every bar you send, we’ll make a donation to a national charity. So order today, and give your friends and family a real feel-good personalised Easter treat.

Gifts for the Hollywood Greats

Posted on March 8, 2013 by admin

We’ve been talking about which A list celebrity we would most like to choose a gift for. There’s a bit of a debate going on about the relative merits of Hugh Jackman compared to Ben Affleck. Hugh’s winning, but that could all change…

Based on their recent film success stories, we were thinking that, as the mayor of a 19^th century French town in Les Mis, Hugh would probably like a Crystal decanter – perfect for entertaining his friends. Ben, on the other hand, as a 1970’s CIA agent turned film producer in Argo might prefer these cool Formula 1 cufflinks.

As for the ladies, Jennifer Lawrence, who looked stunning collecting her best actress Oscar (despite tripping up), could dress up any red carpet outfit with this Sterling Silver T Bar necklace.

Who would top your list? If you’re not planning to send any personalised gifts to Hollywood this week, remember we offer next day delivery on many products within the UK. Check out our lovely range, or call us for advice on 0845 6014011.

What famous mums might like for Mother’s Day…

Posted on February 26, 2013 by admin

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, our thoughts have turned to the type of personalised gifts some famous mums might like to receive.

Victoria Beckham would look even more elegant taking a personalised diamante perfume atomiser from her handbag, while Marge Simpson would probably love the chance to relax away from her whacky family, being thoroughly pampered at a luxurious spa day.

A less well known mother you may not have heard of: Valentina Vassilyeva – she no longer walks among us, but no doubt her descendants do… this astounding Russian woman who lived in the 18^th century gave birth to…. 69 children!! 27 births produced 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets between 1725 and 1765. She could definitely have done with a selection of engraved photo frames, if for no other reason than to remember her kids’ names!

And not forgetting the mums-to-be! Kate Middleton, or Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as we should correctly call her, couldn’t fail to be delighted with an engraved fine English pewter teddy egg cup and spoon… talk about “being born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth.”

Mother’s day is March 10^th – order now for next day delivery with free gift wrap and tag, and make sure your mum has a super-special day.

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Unique personalised gifts for all occasions