Personalised Christmas gifts that aren't another mug

Most personalised gifts are a standard object with a name printed on it. Mug, cushion, phone case, keyring. They are fine, and they are also what the recipient got last year, from someone else.

The difference with 3D printing is that the shape itself can be built around the person — their pet, their house, the joke only your family understands. That is not more expensive than people expect. It is mostly a question of having the idea.

What works as a personalised Christmas gift?

A figurine of their pet. From a few photographs. One of the most-requested pieces we make, because it is unmistakably about one animal and nobody else could have bought it. More on what makes a likeness work in how much detail a printed bust can capture.

A miniature of their house, or a place that matters. A family home, the church they married in, a holiday house. From photographs and a rough idea of proportions.

A photo relief. A favourite photograph turned into raised, three-dimensional form — or a lithophane, a thin printed panel that shows the image only when light passes through it. Both make the familiar photo look new.

A dated ornament. A tree decoration carrying a name and the year, or marking a first Christmas — a new baby, a new home, a new couple. The kind of gift that comes out of the box every December afterwards.

A portrait bust. The most ambitious option, and the most memorable. Takes the longest, so it is the one to order first. See how to photograph someone for a bust.

The in-joke, made physical. The family catchphrase as a desk piece, a model of the car that broke down every holiday, a trophy for an achievement nobody else would recognise. Often the most loved, and impossible to buy anywhere.

How do you choose between them?

Start from the person, not the object. What do they talk about, collect, worry about, laugh at? The gift that lands is the one that shows you noticed — the longer version of this is how to choose a personalised gift.

A practical filter: where will it live? A shelf piece, a desk piece, a tree ornament and something carried every day all suggest different sizes, materials and finishes.

When do you need to order for Christmas?

Earlier than for a bought gift, because there is a design step and you will want to see it before it is printed.

Roughly: the more modelling a piece needs, the earlier it should be ordered. A name ornament is quick. A pet figurine needs photographs, a model and your approval. A bust needs all of that plus painting time. If the gift is travelling — to family in Italy, the UK or elsewhere in Europe — add delivery time on top, and order in November rather than December.

We ship across the EU with no customs between member states, so a gift made in Malta reaches family in Milan the way it would from a local shop. Details on shipping.

What about a gift for the whole family?

A single design personalised for each person — the same ornament with a different name, a set of figurines of every dog in the family — costs much less than separate designs, because printing has no tooling. Changing a name is a change to a file. Useful for siblings, cousins, or everyone at the table.

What do you need to send?

• Photos, if the piece is of a person, a pet or a place
• Names and dates to include
• Roughly how big
• When it has to arrive, and where