Your Surprise  has a range of gifts available for any occasion, and they have 10% off everything for PlayPennies readers.

A gift for every occasion

• Discount: 10%
• Expires: 16 May 2012
• Discount Code: YourSurprise2012

We’ve featured Your Surprise and had so many discounts from them over the last year that I kind of feel like I’m introducing you to someone you already know!

If you’ve not been to the website yet, pop over for gifts for him, her, baby, couple and everything in between. There’s edible gifts, from delicious Belgian chocolate and wearable gifts in the form of t-shirts and so on. There are games, engraved gifts, personalised beers and absolutely tons more!

In fact, I’ve rarely looked at Your Surprise.com and not found something for the occasion I was trying to find a gift for!

Postage varies depending on your items, but if you spend more than £50, you only pay half the delivery fee.

Being a photographer, on the odd occasion,  in my offline line, I LOVE to see people actually do things with their photographs.  Far too often they just sit in the 'My Pictures' folder on their computer and rarely see the light of day.

You could buy a photo album, buy some photo paper, stock up on printer ink (which is dead expensive and often costs more to replace than the printer cost to buy - what is WITH that?!) then print your photos, cut them out and stick them in.

But WHAT a faff!  It will also, most probably, cost more than creating a personalised photo book with BonusPrint and won't look anywhere near as good. I know this because BonusPrint asked me to go through their 'create a personalised photo book' process and let you know how I got on.

I adore making photo books, I adore flicking through photo books and I'm sure you'll adore taking advantage of 25% off all photo books at Jessops Photo.

• Click HERE to get 25% off all photo books at Jessops Photo

Photo books are just fabulous; they make fabulous personal gifts, they are a fabulous way for recording special memories or simply for keeping photographic records as the years go by.

There are six covers and eight sizes to choose from, you can have either glossy or matt pages in portrait or landscape and prices start from just £6.

If you're going to create a photo book to give as a Christmas gift then you'll need to make sure you get yourself sorted before the 14 December - that's when the 25% off all photo books offer expires and you must remember to enter the code RUDOLF into your basket.

You can either arrange to have your photo book delivered to your home, or you can collect them from your local Jessops store - all the various price options and delivery times are HERE.

Remember, this 25% off all photo books offer ends on 14 December - that's this coming Wednesday.

Thanks to missgem at HUKD

Tomorrow's the last day to take advantage of a 70% off offer at Photobox – and there’s good news. You just have to buy your credits by midnight Sunday. You still have two weeks to get your personalised gifts and keepsakes uploaded, so there’s no need to cancel your plans for tomorrow!

• Grab up to 70% off personalised gifts at Photobox

The magic words are up to in this case, and in the fine print you’ll find up to 25% off cards, 35% off calendars and diaries, 45% off canvases, 50% off photo prints, 60% off photo books, and 70% off wall décor.

So some of the must have offers in this deal are the XL Poster Prints reduced from £24.99 to £7.49. You can choose from 40x30 and 45x30 in size.  If you prefer collages, you can bag two 30x20 collages for £17.49 instead of £34.98.

For Photobooks the best offer is 60% off the large square photobook - £74.99 down to £29.99 – and there’s 55% off the Classic Photobook with 100 pages for just £36.22 instead of £80.49.

Calendars make fantastic gifts all year round, especially the ones with photo days – days with a picture in them, for example of people who have their birthdays on that day – and you can have 3 Double Page Calendars for £38.96.

So… that’s me for the next two weeks. I’ll be building photo albums and calendars, if anyone needs me!

I use Poster XXL for large canvas printing and they've never let me down; large canvas prints are expensive though but if you  take advantage of this Groupon deal then you'll save 76% off the usual price.

• Click HERE to go over to Groupon

Two canvas print sizes are available for you to choose from:

• £9 for a personalised photo on a 40cm x 30cm canvas (76% Off)
• £18 for a personalised photo on a 80cm x 60cm canvas (75% Off)

You need to buy your Groupon voucher before 11.59pm tonight and then start thinking about which image you'd like to use for your canvas.  Your voucher will activate at 8pm on 31 October and you'll have until 30 November to place your order with Poster XXL, paying the £9.99 postage.

Your picture will then be printed and stretched over a 4cm deep wooden frame - this depth of frame looks really good - and be sent to you within 10 days from you placing your order,

So, to recap:  choose your canvas size and buy your Groupon voucher before midnight tonight; choose the photograph you'd like to have printed and place your order with Poster XXL anytime between 8pm 31 October and 30 November.

All you'll need to do after that is decide where, in your home, to hang your canvas print!

We've featured a fair few photo book deals here on PlayPennies; if you've missed them all so far then here's another chance to save some money and put together a unique and special present for someone...or just make one for yourself!

• Click HERE to grab this Groupon deal

Now, most photo book deals have a limited time to put everything together and place your order, which may be why you've missed them so far, so take heart - you just need to place your order before 11.59pm tonight  but then you can relax and start musing through your photographs.

Your Groupon code will activate at 8pm tomorrow evening (Friday 28 October) and then you have a whole FOUR MONTHS to put your book together and place your order, so you've got plenty of time to gather together lots of special photos and create a book for Christmas or a forthcoming birthday, anniversary, wedding, whatever.

The usual cost of this 20-page, hardback covered photo book is £36.99; with this Groupon deal you can have one for £9.99 along with £5.95 for safe packaging and delivery of your book.

I adore photo books and so does everyone who receives one - remember, you just need to place your order through Groupon before the close of play tonight, then you can take your time and create something fabulous.

Happy Photo Choosing! 

If you're quick, you'll be able to save 40% on personalised gifts, stationery, calendars and diaries from Photobox.

• Click HERE to go to Photobox

I'm a huge fan of personalised gifts, there's just something that little bit extra special about them.

There are all sorts of places that offer the same services as Photobox, and whilst I'm sure their service is good, I can't vouch for them the way I can with Photobox.

Their prices are extremely competitive, their service is exemplary and I've never had cause for complaint regarding the final product(s).

The creation and ordering process is very simple too - they really can't make it much more straightforward for you.

Simply choose the gift item you want to personalise, decide what you'd like to personalise it with - you don't have to use a photograph of people/someone, a photograph of your child's artwork or a letter can work really well and makes for a really unique one-off gift - and then upload it.

The personalised gift range from Photobox includes mousemats, mugs, keyrings, coasters, cushions, placemats, jigsaws, fridge magnets and that's just to name a few!

Personalised calendars always go down well with grandparents too; let's face it, anything to do with their grandchildren is always a winner.

To claim your 40% off simply enter the discount code HOLIDAY when you're prompted to - you MUST use it before MIDNIGHT TONIGHT though, so if you've been umming and ahhing about something for a while, now's the time to finally get it sorted and ordered!

I’m not big on crowds, so internet shopping is one of the best things about living in this century, in my view anyway.  But internet shopping can be really hit and miss too – some sites just don’t offer what they promise, and sometimes you have to think twice before submitting your bank details!

However, My 1^st Years is a lovely site, with beautiful and quality products, an easy to navigate layout and great service.

We were offered the opportunity to order and review some of the items on My 1^st Years, so we asked new mum Denise Bell to give it a go and tell us what she thought.

“Everything about My 1st Years is simply beautiful,” Denise gushed. “The website, packaging and items themselves all look like they are labours of love.”

Denise agrees with my findings of online shopping too. “So often I shop online and get my items through the post in cheap plastic wrapping. As a mum with a new born baby shopping is a rarity” she told us. And to Denise, having a quality shopping experience online is really important. “Being able to shop from home and still be able to take delight in the overall shopping process keeps me feeling a little less mum like and a lot more like the old me.”

Last month we offered readers a 15% discount on items from Your Surprise, and I ordered a personalised book for my daughter. I’ve always wondered what they’re like and how they read, and since she is really into animals at the moment, we ordered her the Farm Animals Personalised Book.

There’s a great selection of personalised children's stories on the site, including a baby’s birth story, football and princess stories.

Getting the order done couldn’t be easier. Once you’ve chosen your book, you answer a set of questions such as ‘what is the leading figure’s first name, age, sex, and where do they live'. You can add additional information, like three of your child’s friends, family or favourite people, and then also a personal message.

The personalised book arrived less than a week later, nicely packaged and in a bag you really could use as gift wrapping, if you didn’t want to buy extra.

It is a hardback book, with a glossy cover and is what I consider good quality. It definitely can withstand a bit of playroom rough housing, but of course, the idea is that it is a special gift. On the inside page was the personalised message to my daughter, with the date.

The story itself is quite cute – all about a visit to and subsequent overnight stay on a farm. Her ‘friends’ are included in the text, such as ‘I only wish Dee, Abbi and Lindi could see me now’, or ‘Can’t wait to tell Dee, Abbi and Lindi all about my visit to the farm when I get back to London.’  So, it’s quite cute and my little girl was intrigued by her name coming up in the story.

The only thing that would make it better would be having an image of her included somehow, but still, not only is the book good quality, but the images are too. Actually, the artwork really impressed me.

So, all round, I think it's reasonably priced and am very happy with the quality, and I suspect it’s the kind of book my little one will enjoy more and more as she gets older and really understands the personalised story.

Have you got your head around Groupon yet? If you haven't and have been looking at photobook albums, now's the time to grapple Groupon.

• Click HERE to go to Groupon

So here's how it works:  you buy a deal through Groupon and you'll pay less than you would if you didn't.

That's about as tricky as it gets but you have to be quick as most of them only have a 24 to 48 hour lifespan, when the clock stops ticking you've missed out.

That said, you've got a little longer to take advantage of this Photobox Groupon deal as the time doesn't run out until 11.59pm on Monday 27 June.

So with this Groupon deal, you pay £9.50 for an A4 photobook, that you create from your own photographs, from Photobox instead of £31.99.

Your book will contain up to 26 photographs, they'll be printed on 170gsm glossy paper and it will be bound in a glossy hardback cover.

At 2pm on Tuesday 28 June your voucher will become active and you'll be able to go to Photobox and start creating your book; you have up until the 29 September to do this, so there's no howling rush if you want to take your time or haven't taken the photos you might want to use, from a forthcoming wedding for example.

That's really all there is to it - you pay £9.50 for an A4 Photobox photobook that should cost you £31.99; marvellous!

Happy Photo Choosing!

There are just over two weeks left until Father's Day (19 June) and if you're really stuck for an original pressie then a personalised Bobblehead doll might solve your problem.

• Click HERE to bag a Bobblehead

Ok, the usual price for a custom Bobblehead doll is £59.99 but if you buy this Groupon voucher you'll be able to pick one up for £29.99, saving yourself £30.

I'd not come across these Bobblehead dolls before but having had a look at their website - click HERE to go there - I'm rather taken with them; they're funny and TOTALLY unique.

You choose the statue body you want, send in a photograph of the person whose head you want to adorn it and then 1minime do the rest!

They'll create a model of the head from the picture you give them and within 48 - 72 hours you'll have your very own minime - or mini-someone-else -  back at home with you.

There are lots of bodies to choose from ranging from sporty bods, hobbies, work bodies and even ones for weddings if you've got Father's Day covered already.

All you have to do is buy this £29.99 deal through Groupon BEFORE 11.59pm on Friday 3 June (that's tomorrow) - the clock is ticking.

Your voucher will activate on Monday 6 June, you won't be able to place your order before then, and is valid until 6 September; you'll have to pay for delivery which is an addition £13.90, I imagine that's to make sure your minime arrives in one piece so won't be by standard 1st Class mail via the posty!

Happy Bobblehead creating!

With Father’s Day fast approaching, I’m thrilled to have this 15% off voucher from YourSurprise.com at my disposal.

Personalised gifts for Father's Day from YourSurprise.com

• Discount: 15%
• Code: PlayPennies
• Valid On: Father’s Day items
• Valid Till: 19 June 2011

YourSurprise are a Dutch company, based in the Netherlands, but serving the UK public. While they offer the usual ‘personalise a pillow, soft toy or greeting card’ service, they also offer a few other unique twists on the theme – such as a label for a bottle of wine, chocolates with a photo or text, creating your own song, and loads more.

I’ve ordered a personalised story book for my daughter, who currently loves seeing her name or her self in books and videos, and as you can add characters, Daddy and child can be heroes of a personalised bed time story! While the book itself is £11.95, the 15% discount brings the total for the book to £10.16.   Shipping from Holland is an additional £2.95 via a courier service, and you can choose your delivery preferences when placing your order.

It’s also an ideal way to send a gift directly to someone, as it can be gift wrapped.

My favourites from YourSurprise for Father’s Day are the photo beer mug, which will cost you £12.28, and the personalised Zippo for £30.56.

And, to add to my list of things I like about YourSurprise.com is the fact that you can pay by PayPal, so no finding your card, entering your details and faffing around with all that – just simple and easy, browse, buy and pay.

Samigail's is the sort of 'rags to riches' business story that I love.

Founded by 'accident' by a stay-at-home mum who's gone on to build a successful mail order company, it doesn't get much better.

Samigail's Handmade Personalised Gifts was founded by Fiona Morris and has had an online presence since February 2009, although she's been selling her beautiful personalised gifts since the end of 2007.

The gifts are made from wood that is decorated and has the personalisation burned onto them, using a process called pyrography.

We sent PlayPennies mum, Tamara, two personalised gifts from Samigail's to review; here's what she said...

"I received a stunning book bag tag and personalised wand from Samigail's," reports Tamara.

"Now you'd think that such things are silly fripperies that cost money for no reason, but I have to tell you that they are SO not!

The personalised wand is too beautiful with a stunning detail on both sides and the engraved quality looking almost burnt in the wood."

Tamara confessed that she loved the way the wand looked so much, she was actaully incredibly reluctant to hand it over to her almost five-year-old daughter, "I know she adores wands but this looked to pretty to give to a child!"

But being the doting mother, and dutiful reviewer, Tamara did give the wand to her daughter who, reportedly, ran of with it literally screaming with delight and joy.

Since then Tamara has been turned in a frog countless times and is of the opinion that this personalised princess/fairy wand from Samigail's is simply genius, not to mention robust!

"My daughter has has stood on it, dropped it, kicked it, hidden in and sat on it and the entire thing remains solid, unbroken and with the decorations still solidly stuck on; I'm pleased to report the wand is in perfect working order."

I saw the Samigail's gifts before we sent them to Tamara and they really are lovely; simple but full of charm.

The personalised princess/fairy wand retails for £5.50 and would make a perfect, and special,  gift for any little girl on her birthday, or for an expectant mum who's about to have a little girl.

Ahhh the infamous book bag - we didn't have those when I was at school but now no self-respecting primary school child is seen without one.

The trouble is they all look the same, so all hail the Samigail's personalised book bag tag (£2.00).

Tamara also thought the book bag tag was great, "It snapped easily onto my daughter's school book bag and has remained there for the past month," she tells.

This has also been stood on, dropped, kicked and disregarded as brutally as the book bag itself - you really wouldn't want to be a book bag would you, talk about abuse! - but Tamara told us the tag has endured this torture with courage and fortitude, "It still looks as fresh and pretty as the day it was made!"

Tamara loved the Samigail's personalised book bag tag so much she says she would happily get one or two for herself.

And in fact, I think I might join her - neither of us have school book bags (I checked with Tamara, she doesn't have one) but we do have various bunches of keys that could use something to identify them so we can quickly see which set we need to grab.

The applications for these are endless really - birthdays, Father's Day (don't worry it's not until 19 June, you're alright) anniversaries, births or for something 'just because' and at £2 each you really can't go wrong.

And finally...

Tamara and her daughter were completely enamoured with the Samigail's handmade personalised gifts they were sent; both stood up admirably to the rigours and abuse of an almost five-year-old and are price pitched perfectly in our opinion.

There are over 100 other gift ideas over at Samigail's and we were impressed that Fiona makes sure the wood she uses come from sustainable sources only.

The final word to Tamara...

"I give this shop at least 8.5 out of ten for originality, beauty, reliability, value for money and product robustness. A definite, screaming YES!"

www.samigailsgifts.co.uk

If you've never been to My 1st Years before then you're in for a treat and are going to be spoiled for choice.

The lovely people at My 1st Years have given PlayPennies an exclusive 10% discount code which can be used across their entire range; perfect timing for Mother's Day.

• Discount: 10%
• Discount Code: playpennies
• Applies to: everything
• Expires: 07 April

Click HERE to go to My 1st Years

I love personalised things, they just add something a little extra special to gifts and that's what My 1st Years will do for you - personalise gifts and baby outfits to make them just that little bit 'more'.

There's a vast amount to choose from and that is going to be your only 'problem', choosing which gift to choose and for which occasion.

Mother's Day is rapidly approaching (Sunday 3 April in case you weren't sure) and a bear with a personalised jumper for mum from baby will, I can guarantee, melt her heart.

Birthday presents, Easter - if you're not of the chocolate present giving persuasion, Christening gifts or Just Beacuse pressies; the opportunities are endless.

Clothes, shoes, bibs, blankets, hooded bath towels and the most adorable teddy bears are all options for you to choose from, I'm in love with the bears I must confess, and everything comes beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and packaged in a My 1st Years gift box.

You can order online, or over the phone, and next day delivery is available if you're in a bit of a rush.

Don't forget to take advantage of our exclusive My 1st Years 10% discount; simply enter playpennies into the discount code box on the shopping cart page and enjoy!

I'm sure we've all seen those books where your child becomes the main character in a book, simply by changing the classic hero's name to your child's name? Well, It's Your Story is a similar concept, but takes it up a step – your child's picture is added too.

Intrigued by this, we asked PlayPennies mum Tammy to select a photo, order a copy and let us know what she thought. As it was in time for Christmas, Tammy selected the book XYZ Name's Snowman – so if your child’s name is George then it will be called George’s Snowman.

“I’ve always been quite sceptical of the whole “plonk your photo into a software programme that will turn you into a book” thing. So it was with some reluctance I agreed to do this review. The first problem I hit was finding a good full frontal head shot of my child. It appears that my husband and I are far too arty with our shots and have none that could be seen as boring old generic shots. Finally I managed to scuffle one out of a hole somewhere and send it across.”

Easily rectified by a quick click of the ol' digital camera, so we were still hopeful for this product.

“I also had to submit my address and the name of one of my child’s dearest friends. It took a while for the book to arrive. In fact, I’d forgotten about it! It was about a week and a half I think. But some of that delay could have been my faffing about with photos.”

It is worth noting that It's Your Story have predetermined posting days, for whichever reason, and they only seem to let you know when the 'next' one is.

“When the It's Your Story book did arrive, I was really pleasantly surprised. Yes, it is staple bound so the centre of the book bulges out a bit and looks a bit tacky, but the rest of it is rather enchanting. I thought it was nice. Not earth shattering or moving but nice.”

And while we definitely value a parent's feedback, what we really wanted to know was what Tammy's daughter, Gloria, had to say about it.

“Then my daughter saw it” says Tammy with a bit of a smirk, “And in that moment the book went from nice to amazing. She LOVED it. She was “oh Mummy that’s ME!!!” Look Mummy that’s ME!!!! That’s Santa talking to ME!!!!”

Throughout the book your child's name and photos appear and they are really quite cute, according to Tammy.

“It was rather sweet seeing my child’s face peering out at me from a little elf suit. Then there were some other great touches. The fact that they mention your address, that they talk about her best friend, saying something like “they arrived at X’s house to drop off her presents”. The child sits next to Santa, flies on a bus, and saves Christmas.”

It’s cute. For a jaded old git like me it was all about using software to do something clever. For my daughter it was an amazing adventure.

There are a few books to choose from in the range, with specific categories like First , Second or Third Birthday books, books for girls, books for boys, animal lovers, Christmas, and even wedding or anniversary books for adults.

Some books offer text and image options, others are text-personalisation only. The books vary in price, and Gloria's Snowman would have cost Tammy £17.50 (plus £2.50 postage). Tammy thought this was a bit expensive, really.

“I’m not sure I would spend £17.50 on one of these. I know that my husband liked it and said he would spend around £15/16 but I can’t help feeling that it is a bit too pricey for what you get.  I honestly don’t like the fact that it’s staple bound. I’m a book snob so maybe that’s me but for £17.50 I’d ask for something a bit fancier. “

She does have good things to say about the book itself though: “There is a personal message from you to your child at the front of the book, which is a plus and the paper quality is very good. Laminated and sturdy it has withstood four playdates and "The Chocolate Milk Incident of 2010". (We didn't ask!) It’s definitely strong.”

It seems that for pure novelty value and as a keepsake this book is lovely, if you are happy with the price.

AND FINALLY...

So, Tammy's final verdict? Well, she certainly echoes our sentiments above. “For pure novelty value and as a keepsake this book is an entirely different story (excuse the pun), on this point I’d say it is borderline good value for money.”

And a final word of advice? Just please make absolutely sure that you use a very bright and crisp photo of your child.

I love personalised things.

There's a fine line between naff and tacky personalised items and those that are beautiful and will be treasured for many years to come.

Alphatastic is a new company who make personalised name prints and they are STUNNING!

They ship worldwide, you can buy gift vouchers and whilst the starting price isn't cheap - £34.95 - BOY do you get what you pay for and I defy anyone not to be hugely impressed with the quality of their artwork.

Go and have a look; see what you think.

Yes, we're all about saving money here at PlayPennies but sometimes I come across things which aren't cheap, but are so good I want to share them with you.

DNA Art is one of them!

I am a huge fan of personalised gifts - the most ordinary things can be made special and very personal, with a little bit of thought.

But having a piece of art work made using your DNA has to be the ultimate and I'm utterly obsessed with it.

If this had been around when all of my children were born, I would have had a canvas print of each of their DNA made.

The Teenagers are 16 and 15 today (in fact, for seven and a bit hours they are both 15 and 15!) and I'd love to be giving them their own unique piece of DNA artwork for their birthdays - I found this a bit too late for that though.

AND...with prices starting at £295 for a 60 x 40 x 3.8cms canvas, buying two at the same time is just a bit painful.

I did SAY they weren't cheap, but they aren't small either and you can go really big if you want to!

This will only appeal to unique art-lovers who want something that's really special, will be a talking point, and something to treasure, for years to come.

I'm getting married in a few weeks time and a side-by-side 'Mr and Mrs' canvas print of our DNA would make a fantastic wedding present too.

If you're happy with a mass edition printed canvas from Ikea, then great! Pop along there and enjoy, along with some meatballs and chips in the restaurant not forgetting to buy at least two bags of 100 tealights, that you don't need, on the way out.

But if you want fancy saving up, or have some money stashed away, for something r e a l l y different, and VERY arty, then explore DNA art a bit more.

Here's a Bookadoo discount code for you that will give you 25% off the rather fabulous Bookadoo products.

• Discount: 25%
• Minimum Spend: £0.00
• Promotional Code: BELLABOOK

Click HERE to go on over to Bookadoo

Well now, I was rather pleased when I came across this Bookadoo discount code this morning as I was lucky enough to be sent one to review a couple of weeks ago!

Bookadoo books come in hardback or softback covers and the star of the story can be anyone you like - yes, there are books for grown ups too!

If you're looking for a special and unique gift then I really suggest you have a look at these - you send Bookadoo a picture of the person the gift is for and with a bit of magic jiggery-pokery their head is super-imposed onto the main character's body. There are choices for girls and boys (men and women) and they also do height charts too.

I had the review book made for my youngest and he absolutely ADORES it - when he saw his face looking back at him from the pages as 'Superkid' he just beamed, that smile was utterly priceless.

Whilst I'm on the subject of price - the softcover books retail at £17.95 and the hardcovers for £24.95, so make sure you add the BELLABOOK Bookadoo discount code to get 25% taken off those prices.

Thanks to PaulDoc666 over at HUKD!

It's Friday - already! - so thoughts naturally turn to chocolate!

• Click here for this cute deal

OK so it's not actually a chocolate deal per say...but it's linked to chocolate what with Easter rapidly approaching; sorry chocolate fans this deal is for a personalised letter from the Easter Bunny for your child.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to personalised letters like these: 1) it's money for old rope and you can jsut as easily write your own or 2) they are GREAT!

I've done both and the kids, who were really quite young at the time, saw right through my homemade one, I thought I'd done a great job but clearly not; rumbled by a 4 and 5 year old!

All you need to do is provide your child's name, date of birth, names of three friends, various other details and let the Easter Bunny take care of the rest.   You can also include a PS message to go at the end of the letter too - this is possibly my favourite bit as it can be anything you want and gives you the chance to make it really personal.

These are the sort of little things that childhood memories are made of - the teenagers still talk about the personalised letters they used to get and how they REALLY believed they were from the Easter Bunny, Father Christmas et al.

I know Easter's a couple of weeks away but don't dawdle - this offer EXPIRES on MARCH 26th or when stocks run out!

Thanks to Vickiv55 over at HUKD!