How to Personalise Your Gifts: Tips for Adding a Special Touch

Last updated on February 3rd, 2025 at 10:03 pm

Whether it’s for the festive season, birthday, or any special occasion, gifts have become a standard way to show appreciation and love. 

The concept of giving has been there from time immemorial, however, the art of giving has been lost. Gifts are increasingly becoming bland and ordinary, without a feel of genuineness even for expensive gifts.

Why? Because many have no personal touch. Which means you can easily stand out by going the extra mile and personalising your gifts. Now it feels special no matter the size or monetary worth of the gift.

Looking to personalise your gifts to that special someone? Here is a guide that shows you how to. Gives you tips on how to transform regular gifts to memorable items people never forget. 

Ready to get started? Here are some ways to personalise your gifts and make them special:

Understand the Recipient

We’ve established that personalised gifts can elevate its value but this is only possible if you know the recipient. 

You can understand the recipient better by asking simple questions like who are they to you? Friend, family, partner, or coworker? What are their interests and hobbies? Sports fan, loves a particular musician?

This is how to understand the person better and is the first step to giving them something with a personalised touch. Figured out what they love now, right?

Pick a Theme

Now that you have identified the recipients’ interests, you can choose a general theme for your gift. Make the theme a combination of their hobbies or interests and the occasion. 

Say it’s the birthday of a sports fan, the theme can be related to the recipients’ favourite club. The idea is to create a general idea that any gift can fall into. You show how well you know them by making the general concept based on their interests.

Add a Name/Photo

Instead of sending general gifts, add the recipient’s name and possibly photos to them. It will instantly elevate the gift from general to personalised. Adding names and photos to practical items like mugs and water bottles helps with differentiation in shared spaces.

It is simple but has a huge impact on how a gift is received.  

Use Personalised Words/Phrases/Numbers

We somehow always have a favourite word, saying or even number at every particular point in time. If you know the recipient well enough, and know any particular word they love saying, now’s the time to put it to use.

Add it to your gift to put the personal touch. It will make the gift thoughtful and can even make them laugh. But one thing is certain, they’ll know you really had them in mind. 

Avoid Cliches

The enemy of personalisation is cliches, it weakens your efforts and just makes you gift seem bland. I know it’s tempting to buy that trending item that was mass produced , but don’t do it. Put a little more effort in your gift and choose an item that is practical for the recipient and unique.

Do they love playing tennis? How about some tennis bats with their initials engraved at the back. 

Gifts like this show you were paying attention instead of purchasing the trendy t-shirt that will become awkward after a short period. 

Showcase Your Effort

Let them know the effort you put into making the gift. Showcase that effort as it adds to the allure and makes it even more valuable to the recipient. 

Hand-crafted wool sweaters? Mention it! Share your story about the gift, why you chose that colour, why you added that line or quote, your favourite part about putting the gift together. 

By doing this, you’re creating a narrative, one that boosts the gift’s value and shows your thoughtfulness. 

Include a Handwritten Note

Adding a handwritten note is simple, often overlooked, but works wonders in personalising a gift. Sometimes a gift does not completely convey how you feel and that’s where the handwritten note comes in. it allows you to tell a story, share more details in your words and writing.

Keep it handwritten, nothing personalised about typed out text. Tell a story appreciating the recipient and how you came about the gift. Here’s your chance to showcase your effort in putting the gift together.

Want to personalise it even further? Include illustrations and drawings and then end with your signature. 

Final Thoughts

While everybody takes the easy route and gives bland gifts, you can stand out and make yours special by adding some personal touches to your gifts. 

Your gifts don’t have to be expensive to mean so much to the recipient. You can send a simple item that is highly personalised and have the recipient gushing over it for years. The key is to understand the person, their interests and hobbies.

With this information you can make themes off of their likes. Some other times all you need to do to personalise the gift is adding their names or photos. Basically adding that personal touch will elevate the value of whatever gift no matter the occasion or cost.