Grads Will Thank Me Later!

As the days grow warmer and the day­light stretches longer, we all rec­og­nize that the lazy days of sum­mer are upon us. Wait a sec­ond! L-a-z-y? No way! There are sun-filled days at the beach, pic­nics in the park, back­yard bar­be­cues, pool­side bashes, and grad­u­a­tion par­ties to be planned. The first few things are con­ducive to the laid back atmos­phere of sum­mer, with lit­tle or no plan­ning involved, but when it comes to grad­u­a­tions, there is more plan­ning to done. For­tu­nately for me, I have another whole year to worry about plan­ning a grad­u­a­tion party. But this year, we have three grad­u­a­tion par­ties to attend, one for a mid­dle schooler, one a high school grad, and the other a col­lege grad. So I need to get busy in the gift buy­ing depart­ment. The gen­eral con­sen­sus among the ‘young folk’ is that cash or gift cards are a favorite. I can under­stand the rea­son behind that since it allows the recip­i­ent to get exactly what he or she wants or needs but for the gift giver that can be kind of bor­ing. Today’s blog is about adding a lit­tle flair to a cash or card gift to make it more per­sonal and cre­ative.

Click here for sev­eral gift card selec­tion ideas.

One way to present gift cards is to buy a cute wal­let and put a few cards inside. This doesn’t have to be expen­sive. Set your bud­get and divide among a few gift cards. A cash gift can also be put into a wal­let. As an extra touch, include a few inspi­ra­tional quotes or tips tucked away into the wallet.

I scanned my photo from my high school year­book and made it the cover of the music CD for my grad. Inside he will find his iTunes gift card and a burned disk of favorite songs from my high school days. Every­thing 80’s is hip again so one never knows, he may actu­ally enjoy some of the songs!

Meet Colleen, a.k.a. my “older” sis­ter.

She will be a con­tribut­ing author for Style­bag­gage. Her tal­ents are end­less, so I won’t even attempt to list them…she’s a mother of a 17 year old son and a wife of a 43 year old guy. (remem­ber Pool Boy Roy?)  Although we are total oppo­sites, we’re like peanut but­ter and jelly, we just go together!