Penguin Personalization Review and Giveaway

This review has been a long time coming, folks. Five months in the making.

Mommy blogger FAIL.

But now, the stars have aligned. Megan over at Penguin Personalization is ready, I've actually remembered to sit down and do this, and all systems are finally a go.

REWINDING... I had so many ideas in my head of what I wanted Nora's birthday party to look like. I settled on an ice cream cone theme pretty early on, and started envisioning the details--the invitations, the food, the cake, a perfect sundae bar with fixings set up straight out of a magazine, the decor... and the birthday girl's outfit, of course.

Because of the timing of our move, I had to let pretty much all of it go (except the outfit!). It was still a nice party and everything was cute--but it was thrown together last-minute and it just did not completely live up to my Martha Stewart-like expectations for myself. But I long ago decided to give myself a break given the circumstances, SO I DIGRESS.

Anyway, a week or so before the party, I realized that I hadn't yet figured out what I was going to do for Nora's outfit. I had found a cute jean skirt I wanted her to wear, but I was at a loss for the t-shirt. I had been searching for something that would tie into our ice cream theme, but hadn't had much luck in stores. Online, I had pinned a number of options, but... I certainly hadn't left myself very much time.

And then I remembered Megan, who started up her own little business, Penguin Personalization. Megan and I "met" 4+ years ago when we were both planning our June 2008 weddings--hers in Louisiana, mine in New York. I shot her a quick e-mail asking if she would be able to do a custom embroidered t-shirt for me, and she not only agreed to get it to me in time for Nora's birthday (only about a week away), but also offered to give the shirt to me for a review AND sponsor a giveaway on my blog. That Megan; gotta love her. Seriously, though, at that time in my life I was possibly more stressed than I had ever been, so Megan was honestly a lifesaver. I almost cried. :)

So, point #1: Megan is flexible, friendly, and a doll to work with.

Once I described to Megan what I was looking for--a colorful shirt with an ice cream cone, perhaps Nora's name, and I liked the idea of a cherry on top--she went to work, creating several custom designs for me. She e-mailed me the concepts, and I was really impressed with her creativity. For one of them, instead of just a plain ol' cherry on top of the ice cream, she had made the "cherry" a #1! How cute is that? Of course, we picked that design.

Megan was also really helpful in determining the best size t-shirt to order for Nora. With inconsistent sizing among clothing brands, it can be really difficult to order things sight unseen, but Megan did her best to relay the brands and sizes to me in ways I could relate to (i.e. I was somewhat familiar with Walmart's sizing, and Carter's).

When the t-shirt arrived in the mail just a few days later, I was thrilled with the result. The applique/embroidery is of great quality, and done in a way that doesn't cause any "puckering" or other unsightly problems with the t-shirt fabric. We couldn't wait for Nora to wear it at her party.

As you might know by now, Nora's party was a success, and we received many compliments on her t-shirt. She wore it several more times throughout September, and the embroidery held up just fine in the washing machine.

If you're looking for custom t-shirts for your babes, I highly recommend Megan and Penguin Personalization.

And, she doesn't JUST do t-shirts; Megan has a variety of personalized products available, such as hats, towels, blankets, bags, handkerchiefs, and more. Peruse her website and Facebook pages to see some of her work. If there's something you'd like but don't see, or it's listed as out of stock, be sure to contact Megan directly at penguinpersonalization@gmail.com. One of the biggest advantages to working with her is that she can do pretty much anything (after all, it's personalized, y'all). Here is just a selection of the things she can do:

THE GIVEAWAY
Now... Megan/Penguin Personalization has offered to give away a MINT (brand) Cosmo Bag with an embroidered initial to one lucky Heather Drive reader! These bags (shown below) are really versatile, as they can be used as a makeup bag, wipe case, purse organizer, a case for pens and pencils, etc. Surely you could find a use for it, or give it away as a gift!

Giveaway Prize:
(1) MINT Cosmo Bag, embroidered with an initial from Penguin Personalization

Please make sure to follow the entry instructions carefully. They're not difficult, but you must follow the instructions in order to be eligible to win.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite item/design from Penguin Personalization's website or Facebook page. Also, please leave an e-mail address where you can be contacted if you win.

Limitations:
Only one comment/entry per person. Giveaway open only to residents of the United States. (Sorry to all of my international readers!)

Deadline:
This giveaway will end at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, January 27. Entries left after the deadline will be ineligible to win.

Winner:
One winner will be chosen using random.org. The winner will be announced on my blog and will be e-mailed notification of the win. Winner has 72 hours to respond to my initial contact, or a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Disclaimer: Penguin Personalization provided Nora's custom birthday t-shirt at no cost to me, in exchange for my review of the product. However, opinions expressed within the review are my own. (I hope you know me well enough by now to know that I wouldn't positively review a product that I wouldn't back anyway, whether I paid for it or not!). Penguin Personalization is also sponsoring the MINT Cosmo Bag giveaway.