Happy May Day

Today is May Day, a traditional pagan religious celebration which honours the first day of the summer. The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It has since been amalgamated with Christian traditions and has lost many of its original pagan inferences. Some which have remained include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a Maypole. These traditional British May Day rites and celebrations come from pagan Anglo-Saxon customs. Whether you enjoy these traditions or not one thing we all hope is the weather will start to become more summery!

Now you may or may not have known that the first of May is May Day but maybe you weren't aware that it is also New Homeowner's Day. This is a day dedicated to celebrating the delight and joyfulness of buying a new home. However moving house can be very stressful, in fact research has shown that the anxiety of moving house is one of the most stressful events that can occur throughout your life. It can be on a par with divorce and bereavement with all the inescapable tension and anxiety of the build-up to the actual day of the move itself. That's why if you have a friend or family member who is acquiring a new home it's a lovely idea to get them a nice personalised house warming gift.

National Honesty Day

Now the 30^th of April may seem like an unimportant day for our calendars but did you know that today is National Honesty Day. National Honesty Day is a day dedicated to encouraging us to be honest, honestly you couldn't make it up!

The day originates from an idea had by M. Hirsh Goldberg, former press secretary to a governor of Maryland and author of five books. He invented National Honesty Day in the early 1990s after spending four years researching and writing The Book of Lies (Morrow). The idea behind the day came because he felt that the month of April, which begins with a big day of lying (April Fools Day), should end on a higher ethical note.

We here at Personal Touch Gifts think that honesty is an outstanding virtue. If we want people to believe us when its consequential, then we need to be open and honest all of the time. We all know about the boy who cried wolf. When a wolf actually appeared, no one believed him! So we say Celebrate National Honesty Day in a completely open and honest way. There are few regulations for this special day......just be honest.

Why not visit us today at and we honestly think you'll find the perfect personalised gift for that special someone! 

There's been some big historical events on this day too. On this day in 1789  George Washington, the great military leader of the American Revolution, was inaugurated as the first president of the United States in New York City. It was cause for celebration   The inaugural ceremony was performed on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street, and a huge crowd cheered after he took the oath of office. The president then went indoors to read Congress his opening address, a low key speech in which he spoke of "the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." The evening celebration was opened and closed by 13 skyrockets and 13 cannons. Now we know that skyrockets and cannons might not be quite practical for your celebrations perhaps a personalised banner might more be in order!   

The Hen Do

The last days of residing in singleton village and It's time to see them off with a bang! The Bride needs entertaining and there are numerous different types of amusement to choose from.

It all depends on what the arrangers think will best please their guest of honour.

While notions of a hen party as a night of drunken debauchery persist in some social circles, this doesn't necessarily have to be the case. When held in a private venue, such as the hostess's home, the party may take any form that pleases the hostesses and recognises the bride-to-be. Dinners and cocktail parties, which provide homely chances for participants to talk or to give intimate advice to the bride-to-be, are widespread.

Other hostesses choose a themed party with guests indulging in spa treatments, or a cooking class, or perhaps even a pole dancing lesson!

While proposing a toast to the bride-to-be is common at most hen parties, some focus on drinking games. That's when a personalised wine glass or personalised shot glass is a must!

Participants are often all women. Bridesmaids (if any) are typically invited, but any of the bride's close friends may be included.

This party is typically hosted by one or more members of the wedding party, although it is possible for any friend to host a party in honour of the bride-to-be. Formally, a party in honour of the bride-to-be is never hosted by the bride-to-be, although she may participate in its planning.

When planning a hen do make sure it's personalised. One way to bring a great unity to the party along with a personal touch is with matching personalised hen do T-shirts.

Whatever you decided to do, whether it's paint the town red or keep it more low key, make sure you add a personal touch to you hen do with personalised gifts. 

Britain is the online retail capital of the world

Figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that six out of ten Britons shop online. Britons spend at least twice as much online when compared to other OECD member states which include the US, France, Germany and Australia.  With British adults spending on average £2,180 and closest rival Denmark averaging  just £1,000. Coupled with the fact the population of British adults buying online is double the average of the 34 OECD member states, it becomes clear that Britain is clear front runner in the online retail market.

So with news like this you’d expect Britain’s businesses to be at the forefront right? Erm actually wrong, The UK has the fifth lowest amount of businesses using the internet in the developed world. Now the more astute among us will see this as an opportunity not to be squandered. Online retail has many advantages - particularly in the UK where recent news is hinting at a damaging reassessment of business rates by government. This added to the other overheads of a physical shop makes the pressures worse!

So what makes a good online shop? Well the old values of putting the customer first and good customer service naturally still apply.  Making sure the site looks appealing is another obvious factor, however this leads to one design element which is often overlooked. How does the site look on a smart phone? Nearly nine out of ten UK residents look at shopping websites on their phones.  With 79 per cent  of those having already bought something online.

So now we can clearly see the market is there and all this without the disadvantages. This makes is a great opportunity for the young entrepreneurs of the future. Without needing huge loans to set up online or the risks traditionally associated with starting up a new high street business. Learning the skills associated with online business could be a valuable asset for any school leaving youth of Britain today. With so many facets to online business the younger generation don’t all have to be budding entrepreneurs they could settle for learning the various marketing techniques associated with online businesses or maybe even allow their creative instincts to flourish by web designing.    With the economy as it is this really could be the future for Britain and the world.  I predict the future of Britain is of an online retail paradise.

And where better to shop online than PersonalTouchGifts?

Keep Calm and Carry On!

Keep Calm and CarryOn!

Keep Calm and Drink Wine

How very British. This famous phrase has turned into its own brand in the 21^st century. When it was first used during the onset of World War II the ministry of defence used this to try and boost the morale of the British Public who was in fear of a Nazi invasion.
Luckily we did keep calm and we carried on. The poster was planned in April of 1939 and was only ready for print 24 hours before war broke out. They produced 2,500,000 copies of this but very little were distributed publicly; hence the tiny amount of original posters around today.

It was believed only 2 copies remained until this year the daughter of a service man brought in 15 original to the Antiques Road Show. The poster's popularity has been attributed to a "nostalgia for a certain British character, an outlook" according to The Economist, that it "taps directly into the country's mythic image of itself: unshowily brave and just a little stiff, brewing tea as the bombs fall."

These particular posters were designed as "a statement of the duty of the individual citizen", un-pictorial, to be accompanied by more colloquial designs. The "Your Courage" poster was much more famous during the war, as it was the first of the Ministry of Information's posters

I find it a great motto to live by. When it gets bad, just crack on and deal with it. Don’t panic, just carry on, we’ll deal with the problem. Positive thinking.

Find lots of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ products at personaltouchgifts.co.uk, the U.K.s top personalised gifts website.

Keep Calm Sweet Jars

Keep Calm and Save

Personalised Manchester United Football Club Gifts

Manchester UnitedFootball Club

Manchester United, the giant football club, the club with the biggest following in the world, valued at $2.3 Billion, The ‘Red Devils’, actually started out life as a department team of railway workers called Newton Heath LYR F.C. in 1878.  The Red Devils began wearing green and gold shirts, the colours of their railway company.

The team changed their name to Manchester United in 1902 and relocated to the now famous Old Trafford in 1910. Previously playing only other railway teams, Manchester United first proper football match came against Bolton Wanders in 1880 and were destroyed 6-0!

Today Manchester United is an enormously successful team under the long term management of Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex took over way back in 1986 and has won 24 major honours during his time with Man Utd.

In 1958 Manchester United suffered a terrible tragedy in the Munich Air Disaster which claimed 8 of its players. But Manchester are true champions and in 1968 they became the first English football club to win the European Cup.

Their amazing success includes a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and a record 19 FA Community Shields. The club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the club won a Treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club.

Any Manchester Utd Fan is bound to be proud of their team. Why not help them show it off with a unique personalised Manchester United gift. Treat yourself or a fellow fan to a Man Utd  Pen engraved for free with your/their  name on. Or a nice set of Man Utd  cufflinks, a personalised ManUtd  mug, even a personalised ManUtd  iPhone case, or a great Man Utd  personalised book.  We have lots of gift ideas for Man Utd  Fans that they will love, treat a friend of loved one to one of this quality branded gifts. Everything can be given that ‘personal touch’ to make it unique and it will be cherished by the crazy Man Utd Fan.

Personalised Cartoon Characters

We have a range of fully licensed cartoon characters, Including children's favourites such as Peppa Pig, Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob and many more...