Koira Throw Blanket (and Giveaway!)

If you follow this blog on Facebook, you may have seen a picture of Koira laying on a giant Koira face. Well, that giant Koira face is actually my new throw blanket from Vision Bedding. Vision Bedding gave me a discount code that partially paid for the new throw blanket in exchange for my fully honest review here on the blog. They are also going to provide one lucky reader a $75 gift card code to their website!

Tiny Koira on huge Koira throw blanket

I've been drooling over custom throw blankets for ages, really wanting one, but not wanting to pay the prices. Blankets to me are all about feel, and I can't feel something on the internet. And in my house, how hair-magnetic a fabric is ends up mattering a lot when it comes to how often something actually gets used.

Well, I've had my new Vision Bedding throw blanket (I chose the Vision Select Photo Blanket 50x60) for a bit over a week now to completely test it out, and I have to say, I pretty much love it. The photo I chose to use was from a hike I took up to Drift Creek Falls on the coast last fall.

This photo of Koira while we hiked last fall is what I chose for the blanket

I wasn't sure how the photo would turn out printed large on a blanket, especially a fuzzy kind of blanket like fleece. Well, it turned out amazing. The throw blanket has two sides, with the picture on the top and then backed with a different fabric. The top fabric with the picture on it is super soft and kind of smooth like a high quality performance fleece. The photo printed on it great. The colors printed true to life, the picture is just as I submitted it to the company, and I really have no complaints at all about it. The smoothness of the top fabric even means that while of course it can get some dog and cat hair on it, the hair doesn't stick, and it doesn't end up nasty looking even with a white cat sleeping on top of it for a week.

My original plan to photograph the blanket didn't have Koira laying on it, but she didn't want to move.

I chose burgundy for the backing fabric color. I liked how it played off the earth tones in the photo I chose for the front. I was a little nervous that it would be too red but it turned out really nice. The backing fabric is more plush and less smooth than the top fabric. When I first unwrapped it, my immediate thought was that the backing fabric would attract pet hair like crazy. But I'm happy to say I was wrong. While the hair sticks a little more than to the top fabric, the burgundy backing still isn't a hair magnet, and the hair is easy to shake off or get off with a sticky roller. I do take the precaution of folding the blanket with the picture side out when I'm not using it so if the cats decide to sleep on it, they sleep on the side less likely to get hair stuck to it. This also has the benefit of being able to see at least part of the photo while the blanket is folded up.

Now, I will say that I had a couple of minor things while ordering the blanket. Vision Bedding just switched to a new online ordering system and I did encounter a few bugs. The main one was that while my house number appeared for ordering, the street number didn't show up in the shipping address even after I went in and changed it (they sent me an email telling me of the issue). When I was contacted again saying the address was faulty, I replied saying I had fixed it in their system. I was told it was likely a bug or glitch with their new system, and they just had me email the full address. The blanket arrived just fine at that point, with pretty fast shipping. While no one enjoys having problems ordering something, I was pleased with how well and quickly it was handled, and I wouldn't hesitate to order with them again. I feel like having that small problem gave me a chance to work with their customer service (who I don't believe were aware I was reviewing this product publicly).

So now, on to the part that you all are waiting for- the giveaway! While I totally love my new throw blanket, the lucky winner can use this $75 gift code towards anything they want on the Vision Bedding website.

a Rafflecopter giveaway