Baby's first Christmas: seven keepsakes worth keeping (2026)

Updated
Round Baby's First Christmas ceramic ornament on a red ribbon with a sleeping bear, the name Isla and the year 2026

A baby's first Christmas produces plenty of photographs and almost nothing that lasts. The baby will not remember it. The parents will remember it as a blur. A keepsake is the thing that fixes the day in place, and the good ones are the ones that come out of the decorations box every December after.

In short:

Here are seven, in roughly the order we would buy them. Each is personalised with the baby's name or the family's names and printed to order in the UK. The last order dates for Christmas are on our Christmas order deadlines page.

1. The ornament with the name and the year

Start here. Our Baby's First Christmas Ceramic Ornament reads Baby's First Christmas above a small sleeping bear, with the baby's name and the year beneath. It is a round ceramic ornament 7.5 cm across, and the same design is printed on both sides, so it reads whichever way it turns on the tree. It comes with a red ribbon for hanging.

It is a good one to hold up in a photo each year, and a simple gift from the grandparents.

2. The photo ornament

If you have a photo already, and you will, the Baby's First Christmas Photo Ornament prints it in a circle on a round ceramic ornament 7.5 cm across, with the baby's name curving along the base and the year just above it. The same design is printed on both sides, and it comes with a red ribbon for hanging. Use a photo with the face near the middle and plenty of light; a newborn photo from a phone, taken by a window, works well. If the photo is too small to print well, the product page will warn you before you add it to your basket. It slips easily into a card or a stocking for the grandparents.

Both ornaments are in our Christmas Keepsakes collection.

3. The birth details print

The details that are easy to lose once the first weeks blur together. The Personalised Birth Details Print sets the baby's full name at the centre with the date, time, weight and place of birth in a ring around it, inside a fine botanical wreath in sage, blush, sky or sand. Only the name and date are required; fill in as much as you know. It is printed on 220gsm smooth matte fine art paper in 12 x 16 in (30.5 x 40.6 cm) or 8 x 12 in (20.3 x 30.5 cm), supplied unframed.

If you want to frame it before you hand it over, note that it is slightly larger than 30 x 40 cm (or 20 x 30 cm), so choose a 12 x 16 in (or 8 x 12 in) frame. This is the one to give if you are buying for new parents rather than for the baby, because it is the gift they did not have time to make themselves.

4. The nursery name print

The Personalised Nursery Name Print with Bear puts the name above the cot: a sleepy bear in a soft circle of sage, blush, sky or sand, with the baby's name beneath it in a rounded serif. The colours are the same four as the birth details print, so the two hang side by side. Calm, uncluttered, and it will still look right when the baby is six. Same paper and sizes as the birth details print.

5. The photo blanket

The Baby Photo Fleece Blanket prints the baby's photo across a soft fleece with the name at the bottom and the date of birth beneath, if you add it. At 30 by 40 inches it is a pram or cot-top blanket, and later the one they drag round the house. It is polyester fleece, printed on the front. It needs a larger photo than the ornaments, at least 2,040 pixels on the shorter side, so use the original file from the phone or camera.

It is as much at home on the grandparents' sofa as in the nursery.

6. The family ornament, with a new name on it

If the family already has a names ornament, this is the year it changes. The Personalised Family Ceramic Christmas Ornament prints the surname across the top above a sprig of holly, as The Patel Family, with every family member's name beneath and the year lower down if you add it. There is room for up to eighty characters of names, so the dog can go on as well as the baby. The same design is printed on both sides. Buy one each year and watch the list grow.

7. Something for the new grandparents

The parents are not the only ones marking this Christmas. The Personalised New Grandma or Grandad Mug reads Promoted to Grandma, or whichever title you choose from Grandad, Nanny, Nana, Granny, Grandpa, Auntie and Uncle, with the baby's name in italic beneath and the date of birth in small capitals if you add it. It is an 11oz white ceramic mug, printed on both sides, dishwasher and microwave safe, and it may well be the mug they use from then on.

The whole range for new arrivals is in our New Baby collection.

Getting the details right

The baby's name is the one thing on these keepsakes that cannot be changed once it is printed, so check it. Ask the parents how it is spelt rather than working from a text message. Decide whether you want the full name or the everyday one. For the date, use the format you would say aloud, and write the weight the way the parents say it, in pounds and ounces or in kilograms.

We print your wording exactly as you spell it, and some designs set a line in capital letters. A personalised item cannot be returned because you have changed your mind. We do not send proofs, and orders go to our printer within about 10 minutes of payment, so check everything before you pay.

Order dates and delivery

Everything here is printed to order in the UK and sent by a tracked service (usually Royal Mail or Evri, chosen by the print partner). Delivery times and charges are on our Delivery page, and the last order dates for Christmas are on our Christmas order deadlines page. If you order more than one item, they may arrive as separate parcels.

Damaged or misprinted? Your right to a free reprint or refund, made easy: send us a photo within 30 days of delivery. Full details are on our Returns page.

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