2013 in Review: Best Moments Worthy of Custom Apparel

Time to say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014! But before we put on our party hats for 2014, let’s reflect on the moments of this past year that made us laugh or even shake our heads in disbelief. When these “love them” or “hate them” moments happened in 2013, you can bet we were right there offering shirts for you to customize because there is nothing like being the first to wear a new popular trend! To recap 2013, we’ve collected the five biggest moments that were popular enough to cause us (and you!) to base customized apparel and accessories off of.

Twerking

Leave it to Miley to provide us with one of the most shocking moments of 2013. Her VMA performance made everyone well aware of what the term twerking meant, and it also made for some creative custom shirts!

Miley Twerking Costume

Custom Twerking Shirts

Hump Day

Unless it’s Super Bowl time, there is usually no excitement around commercials. But when the hump day camel arrived, everyone in the world couldn’t help but repeat the popular phrase, “Guess what day it is? Hump day!”

Hump Day Camel

Custom Hump Day Shirts

Sloths

Every year it seems like there is an animal that is dragged out of obscurity and thrown into the spotlight. This year that animal was the sloth. Everyone couldn’t help but share photos and create funny sayings for sloths and they were popping up everywhere in the media. Just ask Kristin Bell how cool sloths are as she happily admitted how much she loves them!


Custom Sloth Shirts

What Does The Fox Say?

“Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!” Bet you didn’t know that’s what a fox says. The band Ylvis brought us the funny song and video, “What does the fox say,” in 2013 that let us to believe it could be as big as the “Gangnam Style” trend!


Custom What Does The Fox Say Shirts

Gatsby

When The Great Gatsby movie came out, it had everyone wanting to live the 1920’s lifestyle and party with Gatsby himself. Because of this, it was only natural for us to put some Gatsby designs on shot glasses and stylish apparel. After all, if we can’t party with the real Gatsby, we might as well have the next best thing!

Gatsby Movie

Custom Gatsby Shirts

These are just a few of the moments we have featured on our custom apparel from 2013. What trend or moment did we miss from this past year that you would have liked to see on a custom shirt or accessory?


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Ring in the New Year in Custom New Year’s Shirts

When the countdown to the New Year begins, what will you be wearing? For those celebrating New Year’s, it’s all about having a little sparkle in your outfit to match the excitement of the New Year. If you’re going to be out celebrating the New Year with friends and family and want to have that noticeable New Year’s element part of your ensemble, then customize a New Year’s shirt with us!

At Customized Girl, we have plenty of New Year’s shirts that will not only give you a little glitz and glamour, but these shirts are stylish as well! We know the last thing a girl wants to be seen in at the start of 2014 is an outdated top, but when you customize a shirt with us, that won’t be a problem! We carry many great styles from brands like Bella and American Apparel and only offer the trendiest of the trendy apparel. Before you know it, the New Year will be here, so don’t miss the chance of customizing a New Year’s shirt that will be perfect for after dinner or for partying all night long!

Keep Calm and Ring It In

Keep Calm and Ring It in

Champagne Is Always The Answer

Champagne is Always the Answer

Kiss Me At Midnight

Kiss Me At Midnight

Pop Fizz Clink

Pop Fizz Clink


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Need a Very Last Minute Gift? Electronic Gift Cards to the Rescue!

Christmas is only two days away! Do you still need to find an awesome gift for someone? Well, don’t stress! Customized Girl has gift cards available that are electronic and instant. In just a matter of minutes, you can purchase a Customized Girl gift card that will be delivered directly by email to the person who you’d like to gift it to, with no waiting whatsoever!

Also, the recipient of the electronic gift card won’t even know you waited until the last minute. All they will know is that they have a gift card from you for Christmas and that they can start customizing some apparel! It’s a win-win Christmas gift!

Send a Customized Girl e-gift card!

Customized Girl Gift Card Electronic


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Label Rebels – Muddy Mama’s

There are so many great designs that our customers create using the design center on Customized Girl! We recently reached out to Karri and asked her to share her story behind the Muddy Mama’s design she created. Here is Kerri’s story behind the design and some great pictures she sent!

“I was very happy with the Mud Run shirts I ordered back in April. They were well made and the design looked great! The sizes fit well also. Three friends and I participated in the Palmetto Mud Endeavor on May 18, in Anderson,SC. It was an awesome 5K run with about 20 obstacles. The pink shirts took a beating, but made our team stand out and helped us stay together in the crowded parts of the course. I would definitely recommend you guys to anyone looking to customize shirts for any occasion!”

Before the race:

Muddy Mamas Before

After the race:

Muddy Mamas After

Related Articles:

Label Rebels – Chicks Crushing Cancer

Label Rebels – Hot Mess Express




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Workout Shirts for New Year’s Resolutions

When the bottles have been popped and the confetti has fallen, the next move we all make is putting those New Year’s resolutions into action! And one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions made by many is to get into shape and drop a few pounds.

Some first steps we can take toward that resolution is signing up for a gym membership or starting to eat healthier, but once those steps have been taken, you need to find ways to stay motivated. One way to do that is to create motivational apparel!

At Customized Girl, we have the workout shirts you need to keep you on track to reach your goals! The best part about our workout shirts is how customizable they are, so you can put your own motivational statements on workout performance wear that will keep you focused and energized until you have reached your goal!

Usually the hardest part of any New Year’s resolution is getting started, that’s why you shouldn’t wait to purchase your motivational workout shirts. The sooner you have them available to wear, the sooner you can put your New Year’s resolution into action!

Custom Workout Shirts

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From Beanie Babies to Boarding School – The Beth Masters Story

Statement Maker The Beth Masters Story

Customized Girl is seeking out “custom girls” – women who are doing extraordinary or interesting things. This month, we caught up with Beth Masters. Beth runs the Dikatole Scholarship Fund – a non-profit organization she established to help children get out of the dangerous squatter camps of Johannesburg. Here’s her story:

Where, or what, is Dikatole?

Dikatole is located in South Africa on the outskirts of Johannesburg. It is considered a squatter camp and is riddled with drugs, crime, and extreme poverty. [Squatter camps] are for people with nowhere to go, and unfortunately many orphans are forced to call squatter camps “home.”

What is life like in Dikatole?

The first thing you will notice is the smell – an overwhelmingly terrible smell of raw sewage and garbage. The streets are covered in sewage, and there is garbage everywhere. I’ve seen a stray dog being torn apart by another dog. Drugs and violence are predominant – it’s just NO place for children to live.

Statement Maker The Beth Masters Story2

How did you become so involved with children in South Africa?

It began in 2006 when we made our first trip to South Africa for my son’s (Jake) high school project. While we were over there we saw a small child crying because he simply wanted a toy but there were no toys for him to play with. We realized we could bring these kids joy by supplying a simple toy so we decided to go around and start handing out beanie babies to AIDS orphans in South Africa. We later took it a step further and began throwing pizza parties for the children as well.

What were the children like when you first met them?

At first they were very shy because they weren’t used to being spoken to, hugged, or even read to. They needed to be socialized. One of the women who ran a nursery in Dikatole referred to them as kittens that needed to be loved and cared for.

How did this transition into the Dikatole Scholarship Fund?

After one of the pizza parties on our way back to the airport we saw a boy walking home with one of our bright party bags but he still had a look of desperation on his face. He was walking “home” with his feet in raw sewage. This image haunted Jake and I because we realized this boy had nothing to go home to. On that flight home we decided we needed to stop giving out toys and start giving kids an education to benefit their future.

Why did you decide education was a solution?

These kids needed something more and we felt like we needed to do more and we could do more. They needed a chance to better their future in hopes of getting them out of Dikatole. We just knew that education was one of the most important things we could give them.

Are there public schools in Dikatole? Why not just enroll these children into these schools?

There are public schools in Dikatole, but they are worthless. They are government run schools with no teachers, no books, and no supplies. If children are really going to overcome these circumstances, they have to get into good schools. That’s become our goal … getting these children into great schools.

So what is next for these children?

We decided we needed to get these children to a day school outside of Dikatole. When we started we made a pact with 8 children that if they stayed out of trouble, worked hard, and did well in school we would be there to shake their hand at their high school graduation. This day school wasn’t going to be easy though. They would have to walk 2 miles to school everyday and it was going to cost about $400-500 a year for each student. But we knew we could do it and they wanted to do it. We quickly saw that this day school was a good start but we needed to do more. We needed to get the children out of Dikatole completely. They couldn’t go to a day school and come back to Dikatole with all of the violence and drugs. It is especially bad for the girls because they are endanger of being raped or trafficked. So we needed to raise the bar, from beanie babies to boarding school.

Statement Maker The Beth Masters Story3

How many children have you helped so far?

When we initially started we made a pact with the 8 children who are now about to enter 7th grade. We since then have expanded to 15 children who are slating for boarding school and have an estimated 9 children to actually start boarding school within the next year.

How else have you impacted these children’s lives?

One of our boys, Andrew, was tragically hit by a car and put into a government run hospital with no doctors, no medication, and no help. He was basically left alone grasping for his life. We got him out of this hospital and into a private hospital where he was able to get the care he needed to save his life. We also have provided an eye surgery for one of our girls who had a vision problem that was affecting her education and life.

What have been some of your favorite/most memorable moments?

Well I’ll tell you my funniest moment and my most memorable moment. The funniest moment is when I asked one of our boys if he remembered our promise about graduation and his was reply was “yes” but he was concerned that I would be in a wheel chair when the time came. These kids aren’t used to seeing someone as old as I am. I’m only in my 50’s but they are used to their parents passing at an early age.

My most memorable moment was when NBC was filming our project and they asked one of the boys to tell them something about me that they (NBC) didn’t know and the boy responded by saying that I am a great mother. This really touched me because even though I only see them 3-4 times a year, they think of me as their mother figure. It truly made me realize the difference I am making in their lives.

You’ve talked about so many challenges and hard things that you’ve seen.  Do you ever consider quitting or giving up?

No. Never. I’ve cried a lot, but I never considered quitting. I consider these kids a part of my family and think of them as my own children. You would never just quit on your own child.

What advice do you have for women today?

Your journey will never look like what you thought it would. It will always continue to change and morph. You may not know what your journey is but just go with it, roll your sleeves up and do something!  You have to just get out there, observe your surroundings, and find things that need to be done. Your message and your purpose will come to you.

Beth Masters is a truly Customized Girl making a statement in our world. What questions do you have for her? Ask them in our comments section below!

And, check out her recent interview on the today show

 


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7 Stocking Stuffer Gift Ideas

Time to start your holiday shopping! You have Christmas lists in your hand from everyone you need to buy gifts for this year, but sometimes, Christmas lists are not always helpful when it comes to finding smaller gifts for stocking stuffers.

Instead, what you’ll usually find on the majority of Christmas lists are items more suited for under the tree than in the stocking because of their size and cost. If you’re one of those individuals who are stuck with a Christmas list that have too few or no stocking stuffer gift ideas, don’t fret! At Customized Girl, we have seven stocking stuffer gift ideas that are sure to please those who you are buying gifts for this year!

1. Custom Scarf

Stocking stuffer gift custom scarf

2. Custom iPhone case

Stocking stuffer gift custom phone case

3. Christmas Ornament

Stocking stuffer gift custom ornament

4. Stuffed Animal

Stocking stuffer gift stuffed animal

5. Custom Shirt

Stocking stuffer gift custom shirt

6. Custom Pillowcase

Stocking stuffer gift custom pillowcase

7. Custom Apron

Stocking stuffer gift custom apron

See more stocking stuffer gifts!

Gifts under $35

Gifts under $25

Gifts under $15


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Custom Gifts for Those on the Naughty List

Santa Claus is coming to town, but not before he checks his list twice to see who has been naughty or nice. But what criteria does Santa actually use to determine who is on the naughty list? Since no one knows for sure, we have come up with our own benchmarks of who makes the naughty list. And, unlike Santa, we won’t be suggesting coal for those who are on the naughty list!

To get placed on the naughty list, we think it means you like to break the rules to be a little bad sometimes. But let’s face it, who doesn’t want to be a little bad from time to time? If you are shopping for someone who fits this description and makes the naughty list cut, we have some great gift ideas that will make their Christmas extra special! You can be sure your naughty lister will love any of these edgy designs on a custom piece of apparel or accessory!

Check out our great gift ideas for all of those who made the naughty list this year!

Tequila Makes Me Dance Shirt – $26.97

Believe me you can dance custom shirt

Stay Grumpy And Hate Everything Shirt – $25.97

Stay grumpy and hate everything custom shirt

Have A Nice Day Tank Top – $28.97

Have a nice day custom shirt

You Little Jerk Sweatshirt – $34.97

Look what you did you little jerk custom shirt

See more of our naughty shirts at CustomizedGirl.com.


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