CafePress {Review & Giveaway} Customized Porcelain Ornaments - 3 winners!

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

Every year when it's time to put up our Christmas tree, I am excited when it's time to begin the process. Then, by the time I've strung rows and rows of lights (stress on the I because my husband wants no part in it) and dug through the bins of ornaments, much of the enthusiasm has faded.

Our ornaments are a mix of old and new, plain and fancy, and it seems like every year there are less of them that I find as interesting as I did before. Does that happen to you? What ends up happening is that my critical eye leaves a large portion of ornaments in the bins because they're just not personal enough or attractive enough or, in general, deemed "good enough." What I really would love are ornaments that mean something, ones that I could unwrap and hang with fondness year after year.

Now THOSE are ornaments that I'm going to love seeing on my tree every Christmas

The ornament designer on CafePress is just about the most user-friendly program I have ever worked with. Whether you are a computer expert or a novice, as long as you can double-click, you can design your own photo-personalized porcelain ornament that will withstand the tests of time (even if you're picky like me).

Step 1: Choose which of the 30+ photo styles of ornaments is your favorite (there are also 5 non-photo designs, if you choose to go that route). The task of selecting a favorite is harder than you would think because as well as all of the colorful holiday styles that come in round or oval, there are many that are specialized for occasions such as Baby's 1st Christmas, World's Best Dad or even a few for Twilight lovers.

Step 2: Upload your picture (The image you get while your picture is loading gave me a good laugh - see left). There are handy arrows that allow you to adjust your photo to line it up just the way you want it on your ornament, as well as the option to increase or decrease the size and rotate to the left or right.

Step 3: Insert text. There is plenty of room to write Merry Christmas or I Love Grandma or Family Name 2009 or anything else that will customize your creation to fit you best.

Step 4: Preview your order (see below). I love this step, as not only is your ornament complete, but CafePress shows you what it will actually look like hanging on the tree so you can really get a feel of how great it is going to look. The cute red ribbon for hanging it is even included with your order.

Step 5: Your personalized porcelain ornament will arrive right at your door and will quickly become the favorite on the tree. Sorry plain, store-bought, generic ornaments. This one is much better. For $12 per ornament, a custom design from CafePress may cost a little more than traditional ornaments, but this is one that will be cherished much longer in your own home or make an amazing gift for any loved ones.

I really can't imagine ever having a cuter ornament on my tree

If a really cool photo ornament isn't on your gift list this holiday season, CafePress has such a wide variety of other items for the people on your list that you're sure to find something else there. Their slogan is "The world's favorite place to find or make unique T-shirts and gifts" and their selection can keep you discovering new ideas for as long as you continue to look. Using the same great personalization available for the ornaments, you can create a custom wall clock for only $15, a one-of-a-kind 1.0L SIGG water bottle for $25 or a teddy bear wearing a shirt with a certain cute little sister on it for only $16.

From custom art to Flip camcorders to shirts for your dog, CafePress has it all and you can express yourself in almost any way possible. Even if you aren't looking to be a designer, there are great pre-made options to choose from for all ages. I think the "I'm This Many" shirt (shown at right) would be adorable for Little Sister B's birthday next year and even though I'm not into the whole Twilight thing, I'm sure the Twilight Life Button (shown at left) would be a big hit as a stocking stuffer for many of the fans out there.

Be sure to keep up with CafePress on their blog, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for all the latest and greatest information - and you never know when a great deal will be announced! Now, are you ready to give your ornaments an upgrade? Or create a great gift this holiday season? Thanks to the generosity of CafePress, 3 people are going to have new and improved Christmas trees from this year on, because...

3 lucky people will win personalized porcelain ornaments of their own!

To enter to win your own custom ornament from CafePress: Visit CafePress (the designer takes a minute or two to load) and tell me which ornament design is your favorite AND who this receive this great gift - if it's you, that's okay! Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted. For example, if you subscribe, leave one comment saying "I subscribe #1" and a separate comment saying "I subscribe #2")

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow CafePress on Twitter or sign up for their newsletter (found on the lower right of their homepage).
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway. See the list on the top of my right sidebar - there are some really great ones going on right now and coming up!
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

CafePress ornament giveaway (3 winners)! Amazing photo porcelain ornaments! @thxmailcarrier @cafepress http://bit.ly/4TFeGr #win #giveaway

2 Extra Entries per follow method (leave 2 separate comments for each type) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect (see sidebar), subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and CafePress. Please leave an address where it can be found.
5 Extra Entries (leave 5 separate comments) if you make a purchase from CafePress during this giveaway! Let me know what really great item(s) you chose.

Giveaway will end on December 14th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to CafePress for providing me with the amazing ornaments I designed as well as 1 ornament for 3 lucky giveaway winners. I LOVED creating them! The opinions shared are my own and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.