Manager Andrea Damian with Owner Ellen Daigle. CLICK FOR VIDEO GIFT IDEAS

Here's a great gift-giving idea which – especially in this year's challenging times – adds sparkle to your company's marketing efforts at the same time it delights your friends, family, and customers.

The idea is to adopt "branding," used so successfully in the fashion world, and give out promotional gifts which are functional, welcome and subtly advertise your business.

"We offer you the chance to give gifts to your customers, to give gifts to your employees and also to promote your business at the same," says Ellen Daigle of Ellen's Silkscreening in South Pasadena. "When you give a hat with your logo on it, when you give a jacket with your logo on it, you're really sending out a walking billboard!"

The key to making this work is to pick gifts people really want.

Daigle's company offers "A store" quality outerwear, hats, tees, hoodies and other great gift possibilities from respected manufacturers like Nike, American Apparel and others.

Useful items like pens, coffee mugs, T-shirts, key chains, and calendars are complemented by higher-ticket gifts including picture frames, clocks, calculators, or other useful desktop items that the recipient will not only use but probably display.

You don't even have to know what you're looking for: Daigle's design team partners with customers to  create memorable and beautiful gifts.

"Many customers don't know exactly what they want,"says  Manager Andrea Damian, who works side by side with clients to achieve their artistic visions.  "We can help. I think that's what we do best – we solve problems for people."

Damian says she likes to "work backwards – I ask people to give me what their budget is and what their parameters are and then to let me do the rest of the work."

To help customers select great gifts, Ellen's Silkscreening now offers a full color catalog with a wide range of ideas for presents suitable for men, women, children – and even dogs, Daigle says with a laugh.

To get your holiday catalog or for information, call Ellen's Silkscreening at  (626) 441-4415 . 

Ellen's is located at 1500 Mission Street in South Pasadena and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  For more information, see http://www.ellenssilkscreening.com/