Starbucks - Seattle, WA Review

Living in Washington, we have more than our share of Starbucks! When my kids were small, they would have the steamed cider or hot cocoa. As they got older, it moved to some of the fun kid's drinks - complete with odd colors, flavors and sprinkles. Now my three oldest know the menu by heart and always ask for Starbucks gift cards for any and all gift occasions.

Trying to get a jump on the holidays, I went to Starbucks.com to order some of the Holiday Blend for my friend who moved to a tiny non-Starbucks city in the South. While there, I noticed they had a new product: customized gifts cards! For a $4 fee, you can design a truly unique, fun Starbucks gift card which works exactly like their regular card.

Making the card is fun -

1. Choose a theme. You can use your favorite drink, the original design or My Story.

2. Customize your card I choose my story which starts by having you pick a background from the beach, a Starbucks store, snow etc. Then you choose a male or female, glasses, skin color, hair color and type. You then pick the type of shirt, its color and if you want to add headwear (bike helmets, beret, cowboy hats etc.) and neckwear. Now to fill the hands, in the one you put gear (cell phone, camera, briefcase, passport etc.) and in the other, their Starbucks drink, hot, cold or for here cup. Now add in your message which is printed on the card.

3. Add money They have 3 choices, $10, $25 or $50 I did the card last night and am not sure if the lowest amount was $10 or $15. Now the card is made! The cost is the amount put on the card plus the $4 customizing fee. I was not charged tax which is always nice. It says it will be here before two weeks which will work out fine since it is going into a stocking.

Now for my one little complaint - there are not a lot of choices and so it won't end up being really close to a lot of people. My daughters for example. I tried a few different combos and none of them came close enough to scream "buy me" I think if they let you put in eye color, face shape, body position or give more neckwear selections, something to help distinguishes them. That being said, I did buy one for a friend that has triplets, I got as close to looking like her as I could and then put in all three of the girls names in the message which I figured would count for a lot.

I also got one for my 16 year old son (but couldn't match his twin sister) which turned out really good. He has long hair and while the long hair option didn't look right, I put in the dregs option and it looked closer. I put in a long sleeve black shirt, tie and a fedora hat which he actually wears when his band plays. Then added in a guitar and put him in the city at night and presto a perfect card! Check out the picture I posted to see the final card.

If you want to order their coffees, teas or other items you can do all that at starbucks.com too. You can get the coffee ground or as beans and also pick up cups and equipment. They also offer seasonal items; I picked up one of their Advent Calendars for my sister. Each of the boxes has a chocolate and one you remove it, you turn the box around and a scene develops. She can add her own candy next year and reuse it. Starbucks.com has a set shipping fee of $6.50 which always makes me add to my order since the shipping fee stays the same.

Kristy's Final Viewpoint:

Using the Starbucks website eliminates having to stand in the long lines at their stores. It also allows you to make the unique gift cards. I am sure I will end up making more of them and they will hopefully bring enjoyment to those that receive them.