Everyone likes to find that extra special gift that demonstrates your feelings for a loved one and a personalized product says that very…personally. It also says that the gift didn’t come from your re-gift stash! Most of all, it says you care enough to think ahead to buy their gift.

Rachael received a catalog from them and instantly fell in love with dozens of their items. So she called and we decided to do a little digging and see if their reputation was OK, and – most importantly – were there any coupon codes available? I did pick up an affiliate link, so you know up front about that-but you know we’ll be honest anyway.

Rachael really loved the ornament and photo frame selection. What I really, really, really liked is the selection of items that seemed to fit those hard to buy for people on my gift list. I think the “Family of Characters” is really cute, and it’s looking like they are pretty popular this year, and Personal Creations has a big selection of items you can put your family look-a-likes on. They say it’s exclusive to Personal Creations-but I’ve seen versions of the family characters other places, so beware of imitations. We’ll have to explore that further and let you know.

Here’s a few of the Family Characters:

Create your own family ornament by choosing from Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Baby Brother, Baby Sister, even a dog and a cat. You have your choice of ethnicity (Caucasian, African American or Hispanic) hair color (red, brown, black, blonde or bald) and pet color (yellow, black, grey or white). Add any 1 line message up to 20 chars.
Other Family Character selections: mugs, doormats, sweatshirts, magnets, cookie jars, cutting boards, mouse pads, note pads,gift labels-well, you get the idea. Their prices are pretty reasonable, and there is a coupon code for up to 20% off, which helps.

Some of our favorites:

Personalized Fill Our Home With Joy Print ($19.95)

Give Thanks Serving Tray ($24.95)

Wouldn’t this  make an awesome hostess gift?

Personal Creations checked out pretty good with the major review sites:

BizRate gave them an overall good rating, between 8.1 and 9.1.

Epinions gave them a 4 out of 5, with the main complaint was some minor customer service issues and high shipping charges (see coupon code for free shipping)

Pricegrabber gave them better than 4 out of 5 stars (however, it was significantly affected by a woman who gave them 3 stars out of 5 because she was on the phone too long and it made her late for a dr’s appt…I’d say that might be poor planning on her part, don’t you?)

Pros: Incredible selection, great customer service and big savings on coupon codes (that’s what got our attention!).Turnaround time is faster than any other service rated, and photo upload is easier than most. Most of the reviews raved about the cool selections, and the customer service. I didn’t see one review complaining about getting the order wrong. They only charge shipping to Illinois residents.

Cons: Confusion over shipping and personalization charges, coupon codes not working like they thought (see our note on how this can be prevented) Also, if you have a photo image put onto something, be sure it’s a good quality photo (5 megapixal or better). If there is a flaw in the picture you send, it will show up. Most of the complaints were on the prices and shipping charges-so make sure you have those coupon codes.

Coupon Codes: Make sure the code you entered adjusted the price before you check out. There is an additional $1.50 personalization fee added. If the code didn’t take, call and place your order by phone, telling the rep your problem. (just the problem with the code, not all your problems…)

On sale, $11.98

Save 10% off any size order at PersonalCreations.com. Use code: AF0933

Save 15% off any order of $59 or more at PersonalCreations.com. Use code: AF0928

Save 20% on an order of $75 or more at PersonalCreations.com. Use code: AF0935

Save with Free Shipping on any order of $59 or more at PersonalCreations.com. Use code: AF0927

Whether you buy or not, you have to check out the Christmas Ornaments they have…(I noticed one of the clearanced ornaments were priced wrong- $59.50  instead of $5.95 -oops!