I like big (magical) cups and I cannot lie

If you receive gifts from me on a regular basis, you’ll know that I love to buy original, fun gifts. (Don’t ask me to wrap them nicely though, it’s not one of my many great talents). Well, it won’t come as a surprise that I also love to pick original gifts for myself. A few weeks ago, Studentendrukwerk asked me if I wanted to review a product of their webshop. I was intrigued, because I was not familiar with their webshop. Besides that, I may look forever 23 but I haven’t been a student for quite some time now.

When I checked the website, I was pleasantly surprised. The webshop is not only for students, but for anyone who is looking for personalized printing products/gifts. And they have many print options. You can print a book, a magazine, or of course your thesis. On the other hand there are many other options that you can use as a (business) gift like pictures on canvas, menu cards, (christmas) cards and wine boxes. I decided to go for a cup. When I was scrolling through the cup category, I saw that I had two options: a regular cup or a ‘magical cup’. Say no more! If I have those options, I will always choose magic.

So why did I choose a cup?

First of all, I like big cups and I cannot lie. Secondly: You can never have too many cups. And last but not least: a personalized cup seemed like a fun idea. I’ve never had a personalized cup before, so now seemed a good time to do so.

I chose the picture of my blog banner (above) for the design of my cup. A few years ago, Bethany Joy Monsted (@bethanyjoymonsted), designed this beautiful high-quality banner that looks exactly like me. Which is pretty impressive since she lives on the other side of the world and she had only seen my pictures on Instagram. She also designed the banner exactly like I had in mind. Which is even more impressive, because that’s the most difficult thing to do. Anyway, I am still very happy with her design and I felt that this banner deserved even more than a place of honor on my blog.

How to create your magical cup

I created the final design for my magical cup in a few easy steps.

• When you’re on the cup category page on Studentendrukwerk.nl, you can start to design your cup right away. You can either upload a finished design or create your own design on the website. I chose the last option. I added my (transparent) banner picture, added some gold sparkles and the words ‘Oriental and Vintage’. There are a lot of editing options when it comes to color, font style etc, so you can go crazy.
• I also created an account so I could easily save my design and come back later to finish it. Which I definitely did during those busy December holidays.
• Last but not least: check your design and also check your text for writing mistakes. Also make sure all the content is between the print lines and then your design is good to go!

The delivery was also super fast, eventhough I created the design around Christmas. I received my cup within a few days and of course I had to test this magical cup right away!

So, does this magical cup really work?

I have to admit that I was a teeny, tiny bit skeptical and the question above popped up when I unwrapped my cup. At first glance, it was a big, black cup and it looked nothing like my design. So in the famous words of The Witcher a.k.a. Geralt of Rivia, I was like: ‘Hmmm’.

The idea is that your design ‘magically’ appears when you pour in a hot drink. I put my electric kettle to work and tried it. And immediately my skeptical thoughts magically disappeared. As I was pouring hot water in the cup, I saw my design – and in this case myself – within seconds. It truly seems a bit magical when your picture/design slowly appears as you’re pouring a hot drink/hot water.

The cup itself is made of high-quality ceramic. This cup is also dishwasher proof. Personally I wouldn’t put in the dishwasher, but that applies to almost every cup with print. I wash those cups the old fashioned way, because I believe that the print will last longer.

What I also find super useful, is that the cup slowly turns dark again as your drink gets cold. Especially when you’re drinking tea, you may tend to leave it for a while until it gets a bit colder. Or you’ll leave it too long and all of the sudden you have ice tea. So, it’s actually a nice reminder to not let your drink get cold. In other words, it’s a great gift and a fun twist on a regular, personalized cup.

I’ll also definitely keep Studentendrukwerk.nl in my favorites, because I’ve noticed that you can also create personalized t-shirts. Baby Yoda t-shirts, anyone?

* The cup is gifted. This blog is written in collaboration with Studentendrukwerk.nl.