v 4 issue 20: Make it Personal

This week we review products that are personalized for your little ones. Products include clothing, music, room decor and more.


Cover by Julie Cruz









1 The Little Elephant Company offers adorable wooden wall letters for making room decorating personal. Each 9 inch letter is hand-crafted and comes in a variety of styles which compliment popular bedding style themes. Really cute!

2 A precious box for storing special memories. Add a name, date, or monogram. Each hand-painted wooden box is 10" x 8" x 6" and comes with acid-free paper envelopes for storing life's little treasures. $80 at staciedaledesigns.com

3 Start with a shoe, add a color, a name...and you have one uncommonly cute shoe. Personalize to your heart's desire, and see what your shoe will look like in the end-with the build-a-bootie function. How neat!

4 Need a little help getting kiddos to eat all their veggies? A little enticing with a magical fairy and a membership to the clean plate club just might do the trick. Each 10" melamine (BPA free!) plate you find at My Clean Plate Club can be personalized with a name or a monogrammed initial.

5 Three burpcloths, one bib, and one hooded towel come in the Essential Pack from Punkin Seed. Each item in the pack can be customized to your liking. Choose names, colors, designs, or a combination of themes.

6 Customized cuteness from baby candy couldn't get sweeter. The shirt includes the name of each parent, along with the year of baby's birth, in a sporty "property of" design. Available in all 10 tasty colors on soft cotton tees for tots, or onesies for infants.

7 Children's favorites like Elmo, the Wiggles, Disney princess...sing-a-long to your child in personalized CDs. Enter your child's name at Kidz Unique Boutique to sample a piece of the musical action. It's the real deal-the licensed characters are used for all the recordings.

8 While scoping the scene for great personalized gifts, we stumbled upon this precious set from Olive Dimpleton's. Each personalized set comes with an organic tie top hat monogrammed with baby's name, and an organic onesie with a single initial accented by adorable coordinating fabric.


Interview with Emily Tanner of Em Tanner Designs
We recently interviewed Emily Tanner, the founder of Em Tanner Designs. EmTannerDesigns is well known for their stylish lunchboxes, plates, tee's and so much more. Her personalized designs are totally unique, original and so much fun.



What inspired you to start your business?
Honestly, it was pretty much an accident. I was doing childrens photography and stationery and was on a mission for personalized tees with all these simple and bold designs that were in my head and I never saw to purchase so I randomly called this place after searching and giving up for 5 years and get Laura on the phone, who seemed to know exactly what I was wanting. Together we designed and made 12 tees (that was the minimum) for my kids and friends kids and seriously there hasn't been a week since without orders. It was crazy how fast it started spreading around Knoxville, then everywhere! still blows our mind! It has been a year and a half since we have had a day without multiple orders on our site. Laura has since become my sole manufacturer and moved all her equipment and business into our building. We're just one big (well not that big, 4 employees) happy family now.


How do you manage juggling mom/wife/entrepreneur?
Well I have to say this one is still in the works. I'm getting better though but i must give the credit to my mom (aka "Nana") for helping w/4 kids and school stuff ALL THE TIME. My hubby Kris for putting up with my stressed out and grouchy attitude that creeps up on us a little too often when i am stressed out, and my CPA (aka "Dad", and "Pawpaw") for helping w/basketball and baseball practices while Kris is out of town, financial backing and keeping our books and all in line!Would never have gotten where i am without all of their unconditional (and BELIEVE ME ITS A GOOD THING...) love and support!

Greatest success professionally?
I guess it would just have to be pulling this whole thing together and getting it "out there". Laura and I are dangerous together. I guess I just happened to target the exact right markets, people,etc along with a little luck. I seem to know where to go with it and what look i think people need and want and Laura is the one that tells me how it's gonna work. I am the unorganized, frustrated creative one and she is the stickler that tells me when i am being stupid and something simply will never work. We just clicked and both seem to have the skills we needed to pull it all together. It was definitely HARD work though! Blood, sweat and TEARS...lots of tears! The crazy part is that i majored in Finance and she majored in Architecture???go figure!

Most difficult challenge?
Probably balancing it all. Taking it all so personal. Many people do not have a clue just how many orders we are processing these days and they want custom items turned around instantly if that is what they need. We are getting a new site that will actually work better than what we have! (My Christmas gift to me) We all really do care and do our very very best to keep all our clients happy!

What is unique or special about your biz that gives it an edge over competitors?
Well i would have to say that every design, color scheme, etc. comes straight from my head, not an inspiration from someone else's line. I keep seeing lunchboxes and tees popping up that are way too similar to mine but i suppose its the finest form of flattery but i just feel like I am already onto my next idea when something starts getting "duped".

Advice to mom wanting to start own biz?
First off....BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! Really, never in a million years did I think little me here in "Knoxvegas" would frequently be shipping to Sweden, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Ireland, last week Will shipped something to UZBEKISTAN!!! WHAT?! Never in my wildest dreams! Which leads me to the main advice....Before you dive in you must be prepared to INVEST, INVEST INVEST because if it does take off you have to be prepared to be able to keep it running. If Kris and I were depending on Emtannerdesigns to feed our family in the beginning we would have been in trouble. So just be prepared to fork it out to keep it going, have a plan in case it gets crazy!

Showcase: Lucy Ann


It all begins with you... Memories of the special ones in your life... Lucy Ann is here to help you create the perfect keepsake. Together, we’ll create wonderful jewelry for extraordinary people.





Lucy Ann, a real mom, began her drawings at an early age. She drew the charming little characters for her nephew’s first birthday party. Little did she know that these characters would soon blossom into such an inspiring jewelry collection.






What makes Lucy Ann personalized keepsakes so special and unique is how it touches the lives of others. From the birth of a new child to surviving the loss of a loved one, Lucy Ann is not just a piece of jewelry with a name on it. It becomes a symbol to each individual of what is truly heartfelt to them.





The Lucy Ann Collection is the first to ever mass-produce personalized products with the unique process of custom hand-stamping designs into precious metals, creating a one of a kind keepsake that is made specifically for that person. Choose from our wide selection of charms, accessories and specialty items.




Create your keepsake today at www.lucyann.com!
Enter Code: TT1208 to enjoy a Free Large Polishing Cloth with your $50.00 minimum purchase.