When I was a small child, it was all the rage to have a personalized nameplate for your bike. There wasn’t a card or gift shop in those days that didn’t have a spinning wire rack full of small, brightly colored, plastic, “license” plates, with the names spelled out in letters an inch high. Then there were the personalized pencils, pins, necklaces, barrettes.

Of course none of these tantalizing displays ever had my name. Lots of Marias, Marys, even Maureen. Never Maura. So the first time I ever owned something personalized, a pair of jeans with my name on the back pocket, I was so happy and proud.

It’s not just children who enjoy receiving gifts that have been personalized. As the word implies, personalization adds an extra touch of the personal. It is a gift that was made exactly for that person. It is a gift that the giver clearly went out of their way for.

Kitsap County offers a number of resources that gift givers can use this holiday to add that extra, personal touch to their purchases.

Things Remembered, in Kitsap Mall, specializes in personalized gifts. Popular as a place to buy gifts for bridesmaids and groomsmen, the store offers a wide range of products, from bracelets to baby blankets, from pen sets to keepsake boxes, that are appropriate gifts for nearly any occasion. Every item that they offer can be personalized either with engraving or embroidery.

Although the store will only embroider merchandise that it sells, it does offer engraving services for customers who have purchased items elsewhere. Turnaround times for engraving range from around one hour, for items purchased from Things Remembered, to around 24 hours for items purchased outside of the store. Embroidery services usually take seven to ten days. Those times may increase as the holidays approach, depending upon the number of orders they receive.

Many jewelry stores in the area offer engraving services, as well, including Ben Bridge Jewelers in the Kitsap Mall and Blue Heron Jewelry in Poulsbo. Frequently you can bring in items that you have purchased elsewhere to be engraved, although the stores will normally give priority to customers who have purchased merchandise through the store.

For monograms and embroidery services, there are a number of businesses in the area, including Unique Experience of Bremerton, Yes USA of Poulsbo, and BigFoot Promotional Advertising, Screening, and Embroidery of Silverdale. These stores offer a range of products, such as shirts, towels, hats, bags, and so on, that you can order and customize, or you can purchase your items elsewhere and bring them to their shops for personalization.

Turnaround times generally range from one to three days, but may be longer if the item you wish to customize has to be ordered. Be sure to take holiday volume into consideration, as well.

“It’s always safe to give a couple of extra days around the holidays,” said Tracy Hatch of BigFoot Promotional Advertising, Screening, and Embroidery.

If you’re looking for a personalized gift that’s slightly less traditional, you could visit a paint-your-own ceramics shop, like The Dancing Brush in Poulsbo. They offer a wide selection of pieces for you to purchase, including bowls, banks, dishes, cookie jars, and mugs. An additional hourly fee gives you access to their space, paints, brushes, and other decorative materials, and also includes the cost of firing the completed piece. Give yourself at least five days from the time you head to the studio to the time you want to give your gift, as firing takes five days.