Personalized Sharpie marker pens

You love Sharpies. I love Sharpies. Who doesn't love Sharpies? I don't know, and I'm not sure I'd want to know.* These permanent markers are as popular with artists and crafters as they are with movers, and you should definitely have at least a pen or two of their type in your DIY toolbox.

Now you can order custom Sharpies: the prices are reasonable, and there are plenty of choices. These Sharpies are kind of like the personalized M&Ms candies that Francesca Clarke posted about a while ago, except that they're more useful and they don't taste as good.

Learn about options and considerations after the break, where you'll also find suggestions for a Valentine's Day edition.

While you can only customize the popular fine-point version of the marker, you have:

• Eight ink color options: you can choose for your pens to be black, red, green, blue, turquoise, purple, lime, or magenta. You have to order a single color per batch, and the custom printing is always in black (like the Sharpie logo on the body of the pen).
• Ten font options, with a range of moods: masculine, feminine, artistic, quirky, serious, and more.
• Two lines of text to play with.
• Clip art: this goes on the side between the Sharpie logo and your message. There are a number of choices, mostly appropriate for holidays and special occasions, but a few are just for fun (like a pirate skull).

I don't see any reason why you couldn't get text without clip art, or vice-versa.

Before you get too excited about the variety of choice, think about what you want to print. Sanford, the company that makes Sharpies, will refuse certain customization requests: anything obscene, and a list of other possibilities that seems to amount to "anything referring to an entity that might create and sell its own promotional pen, or that might more appropriately order from our corporate sales department" (colleges, sports teams, landmarks, events, businesses, etc).

Prices seem reasonable, with a batch of 6 going for $11.99. Quantity discounts further up the line culminate in 100 markers for $149.99.

Why would you want that many? The clip art, with wedding, graduation, baby, and Halloween designs available, suggests that a marker might make an interesting party favor; Christmas designs in smaller quantities could be fun stocking stuffers.

You might consider doing a batch for Valentine's Day:

• Red pens
• The Cupid, Girly Note, or French Script font (Cupid has hearts in it, but the letter-forms don't scream "romantic")
• The Hearts or Mother's Day Rose clip art (all the clip art options are line art with no text)
• A message that reminds the recipient of your love every time they use one of the markers (the Sharpie site suggests "Will You Be Mine?")

The processing time for these markers is 7-10 days, after which they will be delivered to you by FedEx. That means you need to order by February 2 to receive the markers by the 14th.

*All facetiousness aside, it would be understandable if parents of small children prefer washable markers. Sharpie ink can usually be removed with rubbing alcohol, if tattoos or home redecoration have been attempted. On another note, I don't know if I'm the only one who's ever had the misfortune to smell a Sharpie that's gone bad... if you haven't yet, you'll know it when you smell it. It's uniquely rank.

[Thanks, Ryan C.!]

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