Activity Awards

Introducing our New Championship Belts, just in time for Football and Chili Cook-Off Season!

Margene looks great modeling our new Championship Belt!

We are excited about our newest award, a full leather, 6 pound, Championship Belt! These belts are made by our supplier Simba, who is based in California, Texas, and North Carolina. What is great about these belts is that they are unique awards, something different than a trophy that will get your fantasy football, poker tournament, chili cook-off or sales team motivated to win it!

These belts are made of 100% leather, in a choice of black or white. The medal finish on each belt features over 46 crystals, along with heavy duty snaps in the back, adjustable so that the belt is one size fits all.

We offer belts specific for Fantasy Football, Chili Cook Offs, Poker Tournaments, and Sales Teams. There is also a more comprehensive “Championship” belt that is awesome for any occasion! Check out our new belts and let me know what you think!

Cheers!
Jessica

Sublimation is the hottest technology in the awards industry. This plaque looks eye-catching in full color!

We are excited to announce a new technology for creating awards - Sublimation!  While the technology isn't really new, as we've been using it for years, the quality and price has recently improved substantially.

What is great about sublimation is that this process allows us to create nearly endless possibilities of awards and gifts.  Each sublimated award is full color and completely customized to our customer's need or event. Available sublimated items are numerous and expanding; our suppliers continue to offer new and innovative products that we can bring to market.

How Does Sublimation Work?

Sublimation uses ink, heat and pressure to transform an item. Using a sublimation printer, an image is printed on special paper. This paper is then placed on the product and heated in a high pressure press. Through this high heating, the ink changes from solid matter to gas, where it permeates the product, creating a full color image.  Sublimated inks can't be washed off, as they actually bond with the substrate.

What Items Can Be Sublimated?

Sublimated trophies are awesome for schools, as the mascot can be placed on the insert!

Hard items with a special polymer coating can be sublimated. The items that we offer include:

• Full color plaques
• Trophies with sublimated inserts
• Acrylic Awards
• Full Color Name badges
• Luggage Tags
• Photo Panels for walls

Have a unique idea? Make it a reality with sublimation! Want to learn more?  Email me at Jessica@trophies2go to discuss your project.

Cheers,
Jessica

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming the first week of May!  As parents, we trust teachers to provide guidance, teaching, and care to our most precious resource - our children. Yet how do we show how much we value the time and energy teachers put forth for our kids?  Below are some ideas to honor your favorite teacher!

6 Gift Ideas for Teachers

One of the many cute teacher gift ideas found on Pinterest.

Idea #1: Check Pinterest. Looking for cute, clever and inexpensive gift ideas for your favorite teacher? Check out our Teacher Appreciation pinterest board - I've shared my favorite ideas there!

Idea #2: Engraved Apples.  We offer a number of cute apple themed awards, perfect for teacher recognition.  Popular choices include our 3-D Apple Plaque, our Resin Apple and our new Crystal Apple.

Idea #3:  Pool Your Class Gift Money. Many students give small gifts to their teachers, especially during the holidays, during teacher appreciation week, and at the end of the school year.  Consider asking the parents in your class to pool gift money together and purchase a larger item for the teacher, such as a larger classroom supply or a gift certificate to a versatile store, such as Amazon.  That way the teacher can buy a larger ticket item for their home or classroom. A gift card is always appreciated, as the teacher can use the it whatever way they want.

Idea #4: Give your time in their classroom. Many teachers stay after hours planning lessons, grading papers, and attending meetings in order to keep up with changing student assessments and standards. By volunteering in the classroom, your time spent and tasks accomplished means less work for the teacher. You are giving the gift of time!

For Outstanding Educators!

Idea #5: Nominate your teacher for an award. Many PTAs honor an Outstanding Educator each spring, and some community groups also recognize exceptional teachers. We sponsor the 'Teacher of the Week' by Star 101.5 radio station. When a teacher wins an award, the public recognition will make them feel appreciated!

Idea #6: Participate in National Teacher Appreciation Week. During the first week of May, communities honor teachers. Most schools take this time to shower their teachers and staff with flowers, goodies, notes, meals, and other gifts. If you are organizing your school's Teacher Appreciation Week activities, the National Education Association has some great ideas.

I hope these ideas inspire you to reach out to that special teacher or educator in your life and thank them for the positive impact they make!

Cheers!
Jessica

Are you a music teacher hosting a recital for your students?  Perhaps it’s a piano recital, a vocal recital, or a violin recital?  Are you thinking of giving music trophies or other awards to your students?  Maybe you want something that isn’t too competitive, but will keep your students motivated to continue playing and practicing?  Here are some recognition ideas for your upcoming performance.

Trophy and Award Ideas for Music Recitals

Music medals make great awards for recognizing musical achievements.

Music Certificates:  Great participation awards, music certificates are extremely popular and low cost.  A certificate is a great way to recognize recital participation or a year's worth of lessons.  Student can add it to their music portfolio or display it in their room.  Be sure to include the student’s name, recital date, and songs performed.

Music Buttons:  Another low cost option, music buttons are another a fun way to reward participation. At some studios, teachers make buttons for every event a student participates in.  The more the student performs, the more buttons they collect.  Buttons are fun to display on a bedroom bulletin board or on a music case or bag.

Music Medals:  Medals are a cost effective and popular option for celebrating musical accomplishments. Acknowledge outside competitions or events that the student has performed at by giving a medal.  Kids feel like champions when a medal with a neck drape is placed over their heads!  Medals don’t take up a lot of space to store and can be easily displayed by clipping to a backpack or mounting in a shadowbox.  See how I displayed my daughter’s music medals in a shadowbox here.  When purchasing medallions, engrave the student’s name, name of the event and the year on the back of the medal.  Check out our selection of music medals here.

Music Trophies:  Trophies are a great way to motivate students to improve and to celebrate musical accomplishments.  In a range of styles, sizes, and prices, there is a music trophy in every budget.  Read below for suggestions of when to give music trophies at your recital.

When is it appropriate to give music trophies?

Unless the students are very young, don’t give music trophies and medals to everyone, as then they can lose their value. Instead, only give trophies for earned achievements.  Here are some ideas of when to give awards:

- Mastering Scales – Major or Minor

- Timing Tests

- Years of Playing

- First Chairs in Orchestra or Band

- Best Performance in a festival or state audition

- Participating in a music club

- Winning a musical event

- Other musical challenges you invent – be creative!

Music trophies and music medals are a very cost effective way to motivate students (and their parents!) and to add value to your music studio.  I would suggest buying music awards from a reputable trophy company instead of a music supply store.  Not only will the quality be better, but the price will likely be substantially less, and you will be able to get the trophies and medals engraved with your students names and event details. Many times this engraving will be included in the price of the awards.  When buying music trophies from an awards company, here are the most important questions to ask to make sure you are getting a good product at a fair price.

As the parent of a musical child, I appreciate all that my daughter’s teachers have done to develop her skills. I hope this post helps you with choose the perfect music awards for your next recital.  As always, feel free to comment or email me at [email protected] to share your awards story!

Cheers!
Jessica

Top 6 questions a customer should ask when purchasing awards

Don't mess up your order or pay too much -ask the right questions to ensure accurate awards within your budget every time!

Whether you are ordering championship trophies for your kid’s sports team, elegant awards for a corporate gala, or an engraved gift for someone special, all customers buying awards should expect them to be high quality, accurately engraved, and delivered on-time. Below are  questions to ask when purchasing trophies or awards.

Question #1:  What awards are most popular and new?

For a first time buyer, ask the staff at the awards company what is the most popular award for your particular event.  They will know through experience what sells well. If you are ordering online, read the customer reviews before deciding what to buy.  Learn what has worked well for other shoppers and repeat the positive experience!

If you order awards on a regular basis, especially for kids who participate in sports or activities, take a new look at the new awards offered by your retailer. By choosing a new award, you can ensure that the kids won't already have the award on their trophy shelf!

Question #2:  When will the awards be in my hands?

Most of our customers have an event, whether for a business or for a sports team, where they will be presenting their awards.  If you are buying from a local trophy company, when placing your order, ask when the awards will be ready for pick up.  Be sure to plan plenty of time before your event, in case there is a misspelling or you need to add an extra trophy – things come up!

If ordering online, make sure to ask about production time (how long it takes to make and engrave the award) plus shipping time.  The company should be able to tell you the expected delivery date and then send you a tracking number after your order has shipped.  That way you can track the package yourself to ensure on-time delivery.

Question #3:  Can I engrave different names on each trophy?

The answer to this question should be “yes”; personalization is the reason you would buy an award in the first place!  If the answer is “no”, I suggest finding a different company to work with.

Question #4:  Is personalization included in the price?

Many awards companies include personalized etching in the price of their awards.  Here at Trophies2Go, all engraving is included, and if we can fit the words onto the award, then we will engrave as much (or as little) text as you want - we don’t count characters.  Some companies charge set up fees or price per letter/character – be sure to ask, as these costs can add up.

Question #5:  How do I get my engraving information and artwork to you?

Personalization is what makes trophies and awards so special. When ordering an award, it’s important that the engraving is accurate and correct.  Ask your trophy provider the best way to get engraving information to them.  Many will ask you to email the engraving, as cutting and pasting your text electronically into their engraving equipment minimizes spelling errors.

Also, if you are adding a picture or a logo to your award, most engraving machines, such as laser engravers, require camera ready artwork. High quality and high resolution, this type of artwork includes eps, ai or jpg files.  Lower resolution files, such as bitmap, png, and some jpg files, are highly pixilated and don’t engrave well – the logo turns out fuzzy and distorted.  Scanned images cannot be engraved.

For sublimated products (that’s for full color stuff like photos), a high resolution jpg works well.  Many phones now take high quality photos which work great for sublimated products.

Question #6:  Can I see what the engraving will look like?

Here is an example of an engraving proof created for a customer by Lori, one of our laser engravers.

Most trophy and awards companies should be able to create a proof of the engraving before they actually engrave the text or logo onto the award. Some companies charge for this service; others do not. We offer free proofs for any order over $50 and for AwardPerks loyalty members at any price. This gives customers the option to work directly with the engraver to ensure perfect engraving every time; it's piece of mind that everything is spelled correctly and looks fabulous.

Being in business since 1987, we know the questions customers need to ask to ensure their awards are on time, on budget, and perfect every time. Give us a call at 877-926-4700 anytime - we are here to answer your awards questions!

Cheers,
Jessica