A perfect, customized dinner party!

When you invite guests over for dinner, preparing a nice table is a nice way to welcome them.

Using the best table cloth, plates and glasses you have is a way to make your guests feel you care about them. 
Next time you invite your friends over, you could surprise them even more – you could customize your table and set it up it in the way you like it or...in the way your guests may like it!

Etsy.com is a good place to visit, when trying to find personalized items. Just as Nu-nomad offers customized bags (also!) on Etsy, so do other shops.

So, here are some interesting Etsy shops offering customized options to amaze your guests with a great table setting.

LovelyHomeIdea´s customized tablecloth

First thing you want to do is to cover your table with a nice table cloth. 

Cannot find in shops a colour you like in the size you need? You could have your new table cloth made by LovelyHomeidea. Select the colour you prefer, among the fabrics offered by the shop - all beautiful and elegant linen - and tell the measurements which you require.

TheBirdsEye´s cinderella tags

 Second thing you may want to do is to tell your friends what the menu will be.

 Though displaying a menu with food courses is something usually reserved for big events (like weddings), it could be fun - for once - to do the same for a more informal dinner party.  If you like fairy tales, you can have your customized food tags at TheBirdsEye. Cute tags, shaped like Cinderella ´s dress and princesses´crowns, will bring some joy to your table. And, of course, you will have them in a colour matching your table cloth.

Mollie´s hand painted glasses

If you were thinking about giving your friends a small party favour, maybe you could give them the glass they will be using to drink. A funny idea would be to have your friends´portait painted on wine glasses. Mollie´s would do that for you.

Plates by Zinniadesignstc

Or - if you prefer something more classical - you can have the names´ initials of your guests painted on the glasses. This is GlassPizzaz ´s specialty!

 

You could even go further and have names´initials also on the serving dishes. How? Ask Zinniadesignstc to paint them for you!


And now the final classy touch – a customized beaded serving set. This is what the shop  Weavesbeads offers. Choose the set you need (forks, knives, spoon, cake sets) and the beads´colour you like and you will have a perfect match for tablecloth and food tags. These serving sets could be also a good idea for a wedding gift or - also - to personalize your own wedding. 

But more about customizing your wedding will come in a future post...

So...ready to host a memorable dinner?  

"It is all in the shape". Customized jeans!

We all love jeans and we all know it is not always easy to find a pair which perfectly fits.

Let me correct: it has not been easy...until now!

Levi's® Curve ID line utilizes a unique, custom fit system focusing on a woman's shape and proportions. Here is the key to perfectly fitting jeans: not the size – it is all about your body shape!

When visiting a Levi´s shops offering customized jeans, a Levi´s fit specialist would take your measure and determine where your body shape falls. There are four categories: Slight, Demi, Bold and Supreme. 

The beauty of customized jeans is that you will not only find jeans fitting your body at best - you can also select your favorite wash or leg opening!

And if you do not have a Levi´s shop nearby, do not worry: you can still go online at www.us.levi.com. Here, you can take the (well made) online test to determine your shape and then decide model, color and size and...done! Your new customized jeans will cost you only around $ 50.

Now, Levi´s invented jeans, and with no doubt the brand is at the vanguard for improving the clothing piece and the shopping experience of it.

However, when making a google search for “customized jeans”, you will find a good number of online shops offering the service.

We will here review three, but you can see more of them in the links at the end of the article.

Make Your Own Jeans is one of the first shops to appear in the search. The shop offers a good selection of models, which will be made to your measurements. Pictures will show you how to take measures of waist, seat, tights, knee and so on.

Apart from jeans, at Make Your Own Jeans you can customize other clothing items, like vests, skirts, shorts, jackets.

The shop targets both women and men customers. 

On the the same line is also Indi, whose slogan is “Perfect fit Promise”. 

You start by choosing your jeans´style, you the select the fabric you prefer, the stitching thread colors and how the jeans should fit on your waist (low, average, high). 

Your selections will then be saved. Therefore, next time you want to order, you will not need to re-insert all of your information.

The last review is for Z2jeansco.com, which offers free delivery worldwide. The shop probably has the widest selection of fabrics among the reviewed shops – more than 100 variations of blue denim. 

Compared to the other shops, Z2jeans.com also allows customers to choose the type of fly, hem, style of the pockets and loops, thread and button colors.

After designing your model, you need to write down your measurements, following the instructions provided.

Our review ends here, but as already mentioned, there are many other shops offering customized jeans. 

Here is a list for additional info:

http://www.domyjeans.us/

http://www.pimpmyjeans.com/custom-shop.html

http://www.mycustomtailor.com/

http://www.ujeans.com/

Customize your time – 3 ways to create a personalized watch!

Customization is spreading around – it is now possible to personalize your watch!

There are at least three online shops which allow you to create your own time reminder.

Whatever your budget and style, you will find something suited for you.

Chances are the first bell to ring in your head when hearing the word watch is “Swiss”.

Swiss watches are known for their quality. Perhaps, they are even considered “The” quality watches.

In order to be named "Swiss-made", a watch has to carry an official certificate to demonstrate its origins. The designation is protected and regulated by the Swiss Watch Industry and is given following some quality criteria: the watch´s movement should be Swiss, it has to be cased in Switzerland and the manufacturer should carry out the final inspection in the country.

If you are looking for top quality watches of the kind, then you should visit www.121time.com.

121Time specializes in custom Swiss-made watches.

The offer is for both men´s and ladies´watches, with a good selection of models - both casual and elegant - which can be customized by choosing bezel, dial and hands, and strap.

Prices may be a bit high 

($ 396 for the man´s watch in the picture above), but you will be sure to receive a top quality, officially certified Swiss watch. 

The one on the left is an example of a customized lady´s sporty watch – no doubt the result is promising!

If you are instead looking for a nice and fun gift, you will likely find something suitable at www.designawatch.com. 

The selection is wide and it includes interesting choices, such as images from space taken by the Hubble Space Telescope; religious patterns; designs for special events - like birthdays and anniversaries - and even characters from the famous comic strip “Peanuts”.

Once you have chosen the image you want and the watch model you prefer, you can go on and choose your favourite strap and – if you like – add up to two lines of engraving.

The final product will be something like the watch in the picture here on the right. An image with Snoopy was here selected, to be complemented by a yellow strap. On the back, the text “Nu-nomad” has been engraved.

The last shop which will be reviewed allows you to recycle an old watch of yours. A watch with a broken band or a watch which is no more fashionable can be revived by adding a customized band.

This is what the Etsy shop Top Knotch offers: send them your watch and wrist size, choose among the over 30 available colours and get a new watch with a paracord band.

You can read the available cord colours at the following link:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75679370/paracord-watch-band-custom-colors

The big plus is here the price: only $ 15 for the restyling!

Now you know where to customize you shoes, your make up, your bags, your watch and even your food. 

Any suggestions about what you would like to customize next?

Stop dreaming about perfect shoes - make them!

In the last blog post we discussed about matching colours.

Here is a good way to apply our tips: try customize your shoes!

Nike was probably the first among big companies to go for shoes customization. 

NikeID was in fact released in 1999.

The service allows to design your own running shoes, choosing among the brand´s models.

Since then, other famous sportswear brands have started to offer the same service: Adidas, Puma, Rebook, Vans, Converse...

You would be surprised to know, however, that not only sneakers can be customized.

Women will be especially glad to know that there are quite a good number of online shops which allow to create your own sandals, party and ceremony shoes, flats and much more. We all know that especially when it comes to shoes to wear at a wedding party, it is often difficult to find a pair to match your special dress! Well...problem solved!

But let´s first start with non-ceremony shoes.

In Nu-Nomad´s Facebook page, there is a photo album called “How many combinations can you create?”.

Today, I uploaded a picture of a bag made with Japanese fabric. 

Well, at Zazzle.com it is possible to have shoes matching basically...whatever bag! 

The customization service is here very advanced and it was possible to have shoes matching my bag.

Ok, you can choose only among canvas shoes, of the type that Converse fans would probably like. But the great thing is that you can have on them whatever image and text you want, for a very good price. In the image on the left, you can see my fabric´s picture.

The resulting shoes are shown in the lower side of the picture. The cost for the service is only $ 60. 

If you are a high heels addicted, there are some other website you do not want to miss.

Milkandhoneyshoes.com has a huge variety of materials to choose from. 

Decide what type of shoes you need (sandals, flats, pumps) and start scrolling down all materials´offer they have – you will find whatever you may like! You can also choose details and embellishments. 

I chose to create shoes which would be perfect for a ceremony outfit. And I added a flower clip. 

Here is the result, which would cost me $ 285.

The same service is offered by Shoesofprey.com. Compared to Milk and Honey, Shoes of Prey offers cheaper solutions, but at the same time less variety of materials. 

For examples, there are not many offers for non-leather materials. But, on the other side, the base model you select can be modified quite extensively. You can also choose among many variations for tips, heels and embellishments. 

Here is what I designed. For € 130.

The two websites above both offer a preview of the created shoes which may not satisfy many customers. The previews are in fact drawings and not real pictures. 

If you are one of those who need a real picture to get an idea of how the final product would look like, Ninashoes.com is a good alternative.                           Nina Shoes has very nice previews. You can see the image of the pair you have just created from every angle.

The selection for customizable shoes is smaller than at Milk and Honey and Shoes of Prey, but you can still create very nice footwear, like this one on the right.

Sandals, flats, pumps...these are shoes you may want to wear especially in the summer.

When the chill comes in autumn, you may start to think about getting good boots.

We all know that Timberland is a good brand when it comes to boots. 

Timberland now offers customers the possibility to customize their own boots!

The offered models are the brand´s classical ones.

I tried to create a long boots pair. Maybe the customization choices are not wide, but for sure their preview images are very detailed and neat.

Also, being the brand very known, the quality of the final product is guaranteed!

Next time you do not find the perfect shoes, you will not need walk for hours, going from shop to shop in a exhausting hunt...just browse around!

Customize your Beauty!

 A post dedicated to women:

When it comes to beauty products, the choice we women have is extremely wide.

From luxurious brand like Dior and Givenchy to more affordable ones such as Maybelline, Rimmel and MaxFactory, you can find what best suits your needs, your age, your style and your skin type: smoothing cream if you have started to have wrinkles; eyelash extenders if you do not have sexy enough eye-look; an infinite number of foundations in cream, powder, sticks.

However great the available selection, it is not for granted you will find what best suits you.

An example? I have an uncommon skin complexion and texture, so it is not easy to find a good foundation to match my needs and a lipstick in a colour which would not make me look like a (weird) doll.

I bet you know what the solution could be, here. Yes! Customized items!

Let' s start from what you need in order to have a perfect facial base.

At Giella.com (www.giella.com) you can have a personalized foundation, powder, bronzer and highlighter. You start by selecting the colour matching your skin and then you choose what type of "function" the product should have. For instance, if you have oily skin, you may choose to mix it with tea tree oil or oil control; you can then choose if you want the product to have a medium or full coverage, if you want some shimmering in it and if you prefer to have it in a bottle or in a pump.

When ordering a foundation, you can even select the texture your prefer: liquid, cream, coloured cream or concealer.

Once you have your perfect facial base, move on to the blush page (http://giella.com/productList.aspx?c=262). Over 60 tones to choose from and - again- the possibility to select mixers, coverage, garnish.

If you, like me,  have a preference for organic and vegan products, have a look around at Etsy.com and stop by at La Mellite (http://www.etsy.com/shop/lamellite). La Mellite allows you to customize three products: glow face and body bronzer, lip shimmer and body butter shimmer with 24K gold. For all three products, you can have them scented or added with perfumed oil, essential oil or certified organic essential oils, such as lemon, sweet orange, peppermint and basil.

For a  feminine look, how about a nice lipstick?

For this, you can either go back to Giella.com or

you can try Lilie (http://www.liliemakeup.com/).

At Lilie, you can customize lipsticks, lip polish,

stackables and lip pots. You select the colour pigment you like and then customize it by choosing: type of base (cream, matte, butter), frost or toner (if you want a slightly different tonality), add-ins (lip plumping, moisturizer, sunscreen and others), flavours and essence (carrot cake, chocolate, vanilla and many more), foils (if you want a shimmering look) and ayurvedic essential oil, if you like it.

In case you had in mind a specific lipstick colour from a specific brand which is not easy to get, no problem: Lilie would recreate it for you! Just send a sample or find the brand and lipstick among those listed on the website.

After a nice day with a nice customized make up, time to sleep comes.

Before going to bed, you will likely need a face cleanser. I bet you will not find a more natural cleanser than the one Grateful Body (direct link: http://www.gratefulbody.com/CustomCleanser_p/hc.htm) offers: certified as cruelty free (not tested on animals), vegan, environmental friendly and organic/chemical-free,

the cleanser can be customized according to your skin type. You can then add in appropriate boosters, such as skin detox or anti-bacterial and then choose a scent. The base cost for the cleanser is $ 24, with each additional feature costing between $ 3 and $ 4.

If you are a big fan of customized items, then the next step could be to make your own beauty products. Considering the number of books Amazon offers on the topic, it seems like there will be a lot to say about it.

Well...let's save it for another blog post!

Sofia of Nu-Nomad

Tailored-Made...Food!

When you go to a restaurant and you don’t really like an ingredient in the dish you are ordering, in most cases you can ask the chef to remove that very ingredient from your dish. 

Have you ever wondered if there is any similar option for food sold in shops? 

In many supermarkets in Sweden, you can make your own breakfast muesli. Big plastic jars in shops display a good selection of cereals, nuts and dried fruits that you can pick and mix at your own taste. Which is a good way to have muesli not only in your favorite ingredients’ combination, but also in the quantity most suitable for your needs.

In a time when one can order food online, also people living outside of Sweden can now enjoy to personalize their own food. 

So, here are some shops found on the internet which allow you to personalize your food. The shops listed have been selected  - among others - for two simple reasons:

1. Products are shipped internationally. But especially and most importantly...

2 ....their website was in English, hence accessible to the writer of this article !

After a "google" look around, it seems like food personalization is offered mainly in sweets. 

 Customized chocolate bars makers deserve a star for the variety of ingredients one can choose from.

At www.myswisschocolate.ch, for example, you can add to your favorite chocolate base (white, milk or dark chocolate) various spices and ingredients. You can find common ingredients like coconut flakes or banana chips, but also uncommon ones, like curry and blue poppy seeds. You can then decorate your bar with real lavender flowers or even edible golden flakes. If you wish to make it a gift, you can add a “Happy Birthday” writing and wrap your creation in a personalized paper.

Similar offers come from www.chocri.co.uk, which add to golden flakes also edible silver flakes and the possibility to enrich your chocolate bar with ingredients such as tiny cookies or tiny pretzels. If you feel lost in front of all the potential combinations, get inspired by the recommended creations and you won’t go wrong.

Youbars (www.youbars.com), instead, allows you to make your own energy bar. Also here, the selection is wide and as a plus, there is a Nutrition Fact Calculator to calculate the nutritional values of the bar you create. So, for a bar made of organic dates, soy protein powder, almonds, apples, agave nectar, vanilla extract and rice cereals, I got a 154-calorie bar. You can see how bars are made in this video, from the shop’s website: www.youbars.com/press/

Continuing with our list, Myowncookie (www.myowncookie.com) gives you the possibility to personalize your own fortune cookies. You can select the dipping you prefer and insert the fortune message you prefer.

Need an appropriate drink to serve your personalized cookies? 

Go visit www.adagio.com and create a tailored tea blend. You can mix up to 3 tea types and choose among blends which have detailed descriptions and reviews. Once you have made your selection, you can give your new blend a name and write a short story about it. And as final step, you can add your photo on the tea package that will contain your new creation. 

Could it be more personalized than this?

Now, if you live in US, have also a look at the following article: http://mashable.com/2011/01/24/customize-food-online/

You will find a list of interesting options which are – unfortunately - available only for shipping within US.

There surely are many other shops where you can customize food that I have not yet stumbled upon. 

Do you know any?

And there are for sure many people who have already had the experience of buying customized food. 

Are you one of those?

If your answer is Yes to one of the above, please share your experience with us!

Sofia of Nu-Nomad