CrystalPlus.com- Personalized Awards & Gifts

Graduation is a huge milestone in a persons’ life; perhaps one of the biggest. The two things that a fresh graduate wants the most are a vacation and a job. Chances are you probably won’t be gifting either of these things, so you are left to go through gift catalogues to find the perfect graduation present. Here a couple gift ideas that should help narrow down the choice:
– Gadgets: New graduates are well aware of technological developments and love to have the latest gadgets. Few things bring as much joy to young people as the gift of technology. If you are aware of something particular that they want, that will make your shopping task even easier. The gift will be both, functional and thoughtful. Just be forewarned that gadgets do not usually come at the cheap end.

– Crystal Award: A gift for all budgets is some sort of a personalized award. Traditionally, personalized gifts involved coffee mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads and photo frames; all well-meaning, but very tacky to be considered as graduation gifts. A crystal award or trophy makes a much more elegant and sophisticated statement.

You can have the crystal award etched with a personal message, and even incorporate a clock or photo frame into it. You can find many retailers offering great deals on crystal products around graduation time, but consider online retail stores for best prices and a wide collection to choose from.

Awards and trophies are the ultimate symbols of recognition and usually reflect the proudest moments of people’s lives. An award cannot be any more elegant or sophisticated than a crystal trophy. For a crystal award to look at its best, it will require proper care and maintenance.

A frequent dusting can be very beneficial for the crystal surface. Any dust that settles on the crystal is easily visible and diminishes the lustre. While dusting, be gentle with the crystal. Any roughness may cause latent dirt to scratch the surface of the crystal. It is a good idea to wipe the crystal once a month with a cleaning agent; regular domestic glass cleaners will do just fine.

When handling the crystal award, it is best to grasp it at the wooden or metal base. If the trophy is all-crystal, beware of thumbprints. The latent moisture from finger smudges can cause the crystal surface to fog –up. While cleaning, always use a soft cloth, preferably microfiber.

Getting an enclosure for your crystal awards is the best way to protect them. If you have many awards and trophies, you can even invest in a display cabinet. The enclosure will ensure that dust does not accumulate on the awards and that people do not start handling the trophies. An added benefit is that an award in an enclosure is a lot less likely to get knocked over.

Most fathers have lowered their expectations after years of receiving ties; or cufflinks if they’re really lucky. Surprise your dad with one the following non-traditional gifts that he will be sure to appreciate:

– Adventure Activities: When a man becomes a father, he often has to make a lot of sacrifices. His interest in adventurous activities is usually one of the first things to disappear, as he puts his family before him. Let your dad know that it is alright for him to be adventurous again, with a day-of-adventure gift certificate. Whether it is skydiving, bungee-jumping, or rock climbing, you’ll always be able to find something that will capture your dad’s interest.

– Golfing Lessons: If your father enjoys golf, chances are he has always wanted to take a few golfing lessons so that he can show his golf partners a thing or two. The only thing keeping him away from the lessons is what his friends would think if they found out. Gift your dad golfing lessons; that way he can claim to be taking them just so that you don’t feel bad about your gift going to waste. That way, he gets what he wants and saves face.

– Crystal Trophy: Instead of the customary coffee mug or t-shirt that proclaims him to be the world’s greatest dad, gift your father a crystal trophy with your message etched onto it. It won’t be hidden away in a cabinet or closet, but proudly displayed on the mantelpiece.

Motivation is the great driving force behind achieving excellent results from employees. And there is no greater motivation for an employee than receiving recognition for the all the work they do. Here are a few ideas for awards that will make for a happy employee, without disrupting the budget:

– Crystal Trophy: A trophy is the ultimate symbol of recognition and a deserved award. A crystal trophy looks great and can be proudly displayed by the employee on their mantelpiece. The crystal award doesn’t have to be only ornamental, it can be functional as well (embedded clock or photo frame). A number of online retailers provide custom crystal trophies for award purposes and usually have something to suit every budget.

– Gift Certificates: Many workplaces have been experimenting, successfully, with the concept of letting employees choose from a wide range of gift cards. Companies can usually open a corporate account with gift certificate corporations; this will allow the company to buy various gift cards in bulk at heavily discounted prices. Even the employee will enjoy the freedom to choose according to their own preference; the last thing you want to do is give a white water rafting gift certificate to someone looking forward to a relaxing day at the spa.

Buying a present for Mother’s Day can be an intimidating adventure. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to cash in, shops are loaded with a plethora of gifts that can drive you to sensory overload. The following ideas should help you narrow down your choice and enable you to pick a gift that is sure to make you mother very happy:

– Dining Out: A gift does not always have to be something physical, something solid that has to be given to someone. If the thought behind it is appropriate, even an experience can become a gift. In general, we are failing to spend quality one-on-one time with the individuals we care about the most, in order to keep up with our overbearing hectic lifestyles. Mother’s Day offers us the wonderful opportunity to spend as much time as we can with our mothers. Take your mother out for lunch or dinner (or brunch; all moms seem to be into “doing brunch” these days). It won’t necessarily be about the quality of food or the e ambience of the restaurant/cafe, but more about the time that you spend with her.

– A Day at the Spa: Our modern lifestyle can be very stressful, and no one gets more stressed out than mothers. The best way to beat the stress is a relaxing day at the spa. Gift your mother a day at the spa; she will be pampered, coddled and emerge completely refreshed.

– Engraved Crystal Piece: Usually, a gift is accompanied with a message in a card. The card goes missing after some time or simple deteriorates (it is made from paper after all). But how about combining the gift and message into one? You can have a beautiful crystal showpiece etched with your message that she can proudly display on her mantelpiece.

If you are looking to buy a trophy, you are well catered for, especially on the Internet. Irrespective of the reason why you are purchasing a trophy, or where from, there are a few important points to keep in mind:

– Occasion: You would not buy someone a present without putting any thought into it, so why present a trophy that has been purchased without giving any thought or consideration into it. Victors of a sporting event won’t be too happy to receive a trophy that looks like a dolphin. And your star-employee will really feel like one when he sees his star-shaped trophy. Getting the right trophy for the right occasion makes all the difference.

– Functional or Not: A trophy does not have to be purely ornamental; it can be functional as well. A functional award gives the recipient an excuse to look at it every day, and have others take a look at it as well. Functional trophies usually incorporate some sort of digital or analogue clock, photo frame or calendar.

– Budget: Ultimately, it is the budget that decides what sort of trophy will be purchased. The wide variety to choose from may tempt you to spend that little bit more, but don’t fall for it. Set a budget and stick to it.

Whenever people think of personalized gifts, the first thing that comes to their minds is tacky caps and t-shirts with the recipients’ name printed on it. However, that is merely a misconception; the idea of gift personalization stems from the thought that all efforts should be made to make a gift unique for an individual person, to show how much thought was given while purchasing the gift. Following are two gift ideas ideal for personalization:

– Engraved Crystal: Engraving or etching something is the ultimate way to personalize a gift. Crystal pieces not only look good, but lend an air of elegance and sophistication. Online retail stores have a large variety of crystal gifts to choose from; much larger than the stock carried by retail stores or booths at the mall. Buying and having the crystal etched from the same online store guarantees for a much better quality.

– Gift Cards: Getting a personalized gift for someone can be quite difficult if it is almost impossible to shop for them, or if you are a lousy shopper yourself. If either of the scenarios applies to you, then the gift card is your saviour. Almost all retail stores offer gift cards in various denominations. Many malls offer gift cards as well, which can be used in any store or booth in the establishment.

Crystal awards and trophies are the perfect way to recognize achievements; they are magnificent to look at and embody something special that no metal or wooden trophy or plaque can replicate. Where crystal and glass awards excel in looks, they sadly do so at the expense of ruggedness. The worst case scenario would have you waking up to see a crack in your crystal award. However, cracks in crystal and glass trophies can be repaired.

The key to repairing any kind of glass is acrylic glass glue. It works perfectly well on crystal as well; after all crystal is nothing but glass with certain predefined refractive properties. Acrylic glass glue is generally available in home improvement stores and the stationary section of most department stores.

Manufacturers of glass glue package it in tubes, which make it very convenient to apply. Simply use a pin to pierce a hole at the top of the plastic tube-end and squeeze out a thin layer of glue over the cracked surface. If one pass over is not enough, squeeze out more layers of glue on the affected area. Once applied, do not disturb the bonding process.

As the glue seeps into the crack, it will begin to harden. For best results, leave the crystal overnight in a dust-free environment; it should be more than enough time for the glue to cure. Glass glue can be harmful to human skin, so make sure you avoid contact with it.

An award is something to be proud of and its location in the house is often someplace where all eyes can gaze upon it. However, this also means that the award is sitting exposed and is collecting dust. Maintaining a frequent cleaning schedule will allow you to ensure that the award always looks at its best. Here are a few tips on how to clean your precious crystal trophy or plaque:

– Always use a dry soft cloth (preferably microfiber) to wipe the crystal. A soft cloth will not only lift all the dust, but will also prevent smudging. For any hard to reach areas, use compressed air cans; they are readily available in computer and hardware stores.

– The commercial brand of cleaner you use to clean the windows in your house is good enough to be used on crystal as well. Another alternative is to use white vinegar, and you will find many people who swear by it. However, using white vinegar as a cleaning agent can be a bit tricky.

Vinegar, on its own, is acidic enough to corrode the surface of the crystal. Before it can be used, it needs to be diluted. Getting the vinegar-water solution down to the right pH level is the tricky part; too acidic and the vinegar will harm rather than clean. Not acidic enough and the white vinegar won’t be a cleaning agent at all.

– Never spray the cleaner directly onto the crystal; spray it onto the microfiber cloth and then wipe the crystal. Just like your car windows, putting the crystal award under direct sunlight after cleaning will cause unsightly streaking on the surface.

Different materials used for making trophies and awards have their own pros and cons. The most predominantly used materials for making plaques and trophies are metal, crystal or regular glass, and wood. Every material lends something unique to the trophy.

The budget is often the deciding factor in determining which material to choose. Trophies made from metal and wood are usually more expensive than those made using crystal or regular glass. In spite of being the cheapest option, crystal and glass trophies come in a wide variety to choose from, unmatched by their metal or wooden counterparts. For those seeking custom trophies and plaques, pieces made from crystal are ideal due to their low cost and superior quality.

A critical component for creating any award is the engraving that goes onto it. The engravings in wood or metal fade over time, despite all measure taken. In contrast, the writing is not engraved but etched onto the surface of crystals and glass; anything etched does not fade in the same manner as something engraved. If maintenance of the trophies is to be considered, crystal and glass turn out to be the hands down winners.

Awards made using poor quality metals are prone to rusting, while those made out of wood are vulnerable to termites. Unlike wood or metal, crystal does not have to be regularly polished; a simple dusting routine will ensure that crystal awards always look magnificent.