** UPDATE: Upon hearing about the small issues experienced below, both companies reached out to me within 24 hours and offerred replacement of the items, free of charge. Their prompt action goes to show the quality of customer service and credit should be given to each store for this :) **
There is something special about custom, handmade products.
I've always been a fan of giving and receiving something a bit more personalised & thoughtful -
but if you're anything like me, finding the time to create these things can be a challenge in itself.
Lucky for you (and me!) I've come across a couple of perfect ideas to help you out, and next time you're facing the "what to buy someone who has everything" question, you'll have these options in mind!
The best part is, they are made with love, delivered right to your door, and are local & Aussie based so waiting time for postage is less than a week!
Funny Little Things
I was drawn to this little online store via
Instagram where someone reposted the cute, hand poured, unique crayons. With a wide range of shapes and sizes to choose from, these are ideal for children's parties and gifts - what kid would not want a dinosaur shaped crayon?!
To make things even more appealing, owner Tess uses natural and sustainably sourced waxes and pigments, so big tick safety-wise from Mums and Dads.
I find these super adorable, even as an adult, so these are not exclusively for kids! And I instantly thought of a couple of adults who I knew would appreciate a certain red hippo...
To make matters even better, Tess is an absolute pleasure to deal with. From answering initial enquiries via Instagram, to responding super quickly via email after the transaction was finalised, she even checked up again once the delivery was complete - she is the perfect example of good online customer service! It makes all the difference in such a competitive market.
If I was forced to provide anything negative to say, it would just be that one of the hippo's little tails fell off in transit. The packaging was well done (tissue paper over the crayons, customised calico bag, bubble wrap padded bag), however the padded bag didn't seem enough for poor hippo to save his tail. This is a minor detail though, and because of the overall experience of the transaction, and quality of the product, I would overlook this seemingly insignificant factor.
You'll see that the little calico bag the hippos came in was customised with recipients' names as well - super cute! Tess also does whimsical cards, gift tags, paper garlands, and framed paper art work, so there's an abundance of items to choose from here - completely customisable and if not, Tess is more than willing to help you out with finding the perfect gift. I would repurchase from Funny Little Things in a heartbeat.
You can check out the online store
here.
ChocoLab
Okay, I will admit that this was a little suspicious to me at first. I saw a sponsored ad via
Facebook "We believe in making your chocolate dreams come true" (clearly my dessert enthusiasm is recognised by those sneaky marketing people at FB headquarters), and went over to the website to check it out.
You can normally tell when something isn't trustworthy, by having a look at the comments on FB, a quick Google search, and an Instagram stalk. Everything seemed positive, so I didn't hesitate to start creating my own, custom made chocolate bar! SO. SUPER. ADDICTIVE.
It was loads of fun to mix and match, and create crazy concoctions. The beauty of this is that you can pick your recipient's favourite lollies/fruit/nuts/etc and create something they'll really love.
 |
| L-R: Nutella Chocolate Block (milk chocolate, Nutella, wafer) // White chocolate, Oreo sprinkles // Milk chocolate, caramel fudge, sea salt, almonds, pretzels, rice puffs.... drool... |
The Nutella Chocolate Block is by far the winner here - imagine if Ferrero Rocher was a chocolate bar, and this is it. My entire family loved it, and I would highly recommend it! ChocoLab uses high quality Belgian chocolate in their blocks too, so the taste is fantastic in any creation.
There are only a couple of negatives worth mentioning - The third block in my order stipulated caramel fudge included in the price, and this was completely absent in the chocolate block delivered to me. All other ingredients were there though, and given that there were quite a few ingredients, they may have just forgotten to throw it in. Nevertheless, it was a disappointing exclusion, so I would urge the ChocoLab team to be a bit more attentive to this!
Price-wise, you're looking at spending a bit more than retail chocolate blocks (ranging between approx. AU$7.00 - $15.00 for a completely customisable block with 5 possible toppings), so that is a downside. But remember you're paying for the service and ability to pick and choose, so it's worth it.
I did take a photo of the packaging, however it was taken with my phone and I didn't love the quality. I didn't include it in this blog post, but if you want to have a squizz, you can find it on
my Instagram page. Shipping was via a box and a loooot of bubble wrap. No issues with breakage here!
If you want to send the fun, delicious, and completely Instagrammable gift of ChocoLab chocolate blocks, you can find them
here.
I hope this helps you during your next gift-giving, mind-blank occasion!
As mentioned, there were a few little issues, but overall both really good ideas and great online stores. Very quick production of the items (especially being made from scratch & time taken to customise), and fast shipping - convenient if you haven't got the time to make yourself.
Have you purchased from either of these stores? Have you got any more ideas for unique, customisable, handmade gifts? Let me know!
J x
