Personalized Gifts for Little Girls

Are you stressing over the perfect birthday present or holiday ideas for a little girl? Perhaps you've gone through all the Barbies and baby dolls and rejected all of them, deciding you want something more unique, more personal. Have you considered a personalized gift? Little girls love these types of presents! My granddaughters just can't seem to get enough of them! They have all kinds of items displaying their names and their initials, and most of them are proudly displayed in their room - either on a shelf or hanging on the walls. Personalized gifts can be really special for the recipient!

A personalized gift makes the recipient feel special. After all, this kind of gift is very personal. It shows the little girl that it is truly theirs. It wasn't just grabbed in haste from a Walmart aisle. Parents usually appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the gift, too.

One suggestion for a personalized gift is a canvas wall hanging with the little girl's name. These are super popular now, and you can find them in all kinds of different designs. You can have one custom made in the colors she uses in her room, or you can use a theme that reflects her hobbies or interests. Many of these canvases are done in wild colors and funky designs like polka-dots, swirls, and wavy stripes, and the girls like these, too.

Another idea is a small piece of luggage or a carrying bag with her name or initials on it. The lettering is usually done in rhinestones, but some are painted. More expensive items like this often use embroidery for the lettering.

Large towels and beach towels are also hot items. You can order these online or from a catalog. A cheaper way to go is to purchase your own colorful towel and take it to an embroidery shop and have them put the girl's name on it. This way is probably quicker, too, in case you're in a hurry.

Personalized jewelry is another way to go. Choose a bracelet that's engraved with her name, or a necklace with her name or initials. If she has a common name, you can find such items ready-made off the shelf. Necklaces with a dangling letter are easy to find. The little diva will love showing off her new jewelry at school!

Litle girls love stickers that display their name, too. Many gift shops carry these in a wide variety of names. I've found these at several stores and bought them for my granddaughters. They immediately proceeded in placing the cute little stickers on everything they owned!

Another idea is a personalized assortment of small, inexpensive items. Buy a metal bucket or some kind of wooden box and put the girl's name on it using colored stones, or just write the nameon the item using paint pens. Fill it with personalized stickers, pencils, notepads, and maybe a piece of inexpensive jewelry. You might want to consider putting something like "Lexi's Stuff" on the bucket or box instead of just the name. She can use it in her room for holding small items like crayons, hair bows, or small toys.

You can make your own personalized gifts at home. Even if you're not especially talented in the art department, many do-it-yourself personalized gifts are easy to make. A little creativity and a few simple ideas can go along way. I'm going to provide you with a few gift ideas for little girls to get you started.

Let's say you found a cute hoodie or jeans jacket for the girl. You bought it off-the-rack, so it's not personalized. You can easily add her initials or her first name to the clothing item. To accomplish this, you'll need some chalk, some Swarovski rhinestones, some E6000 glue, a sheet of paper, and a wooden toothpick.

Lie the apparel flat on a table and smooth out the wrinkles. Think about where you want to place the letters. Play around with it some and place the rhinestone letters in different places, without gluing them down, of course. Place a sheet of paper inside the item so the glue won't soak through to the other side of the garment. Once you make a final decision, lightly trace the letters onto the item with the chalk. Place dots of glue on the item with the toothpick, doing just three or four at one time. Press a stone onto each glue dot and press firmly. Continue until the initials or name is complete. Allow the glue and rhinestones on the clothing item to dry overnight, in a warm spot.

You can also personalize items with paint. In most cases, I use puff fabric paint, slick fabric paint, or acrylic paint to accomplish this. Sometimes I use a combination of all three types of paint. At other times, I might use a combination of paint and rhinestones. You can freehand the letters or use stencils.

Personalized gifts don't even have to include names or initials, either. You might just prefer making the item unique by adding some "bling" to it. Embellishing clothing and other items to make them unique is fun and easy. Use stones and glue, wooden beads, rhinestones, fabric paint, iron-on appliques, ribbons, buttons, or fabric glitter paint.

Perhaps you'd rather give personalized wall decor instead of clothing. If that's the case, do something for the little girl's bedroom. If you don't know what theme her room is decorated in, find out. You'll want the decor to match or compliment the kids bedroom decor. An easy decorating project is to make a wall hanging with a stretched or flat canvas. Use the colors and patterns from the bedroom decor for the background, and add the child's name or initials. In the photo at the top of this article, you can see a canvas wall hanging I did for my granddaughter's zebra-themed bedroom.

You can use this process on all sorts of items: shirts, jeans, handbags, beach bags, cell phone covers, totes, sneakers, hair bows, bookbags, etc. The possibilities are almost endless! Once you learn how to personalize gifts, you'll probably want to do it over and over.