Category: Design

There are times in life where you always ask yourself, “What can I get them?” We’ve all been there, especially if you’re the primary gift giver in your family. There are always a few different ideas that come to mind. But then the question becomes, “Will they like it? Or do I just like it?”

When I graduated High School, the one gift that I didn’t appreciate at the time was from my maternal grandfather. Granted it was probably the first time that he gifted a gift alone without my grandma’s thoughts. And I can actually smile at the memory now, because I understand his thinking. But it wasn’t the best graduation gift. I was gifted a set of pink towels.

Yes, you read that right.

I can smile now because from the perspective of a well over retirement age widowed man, I’m sure that towels were a practical gift that he thought he nailed. Everyone needs towels. It’s a necessity. And with college coming up, a graduate is going to need towels. And now that I think about it, maybe my grandma would have approved of the gift.This set of grandparents was very practical at gift giving. There had been a childhood Christmas where I was gifted underclothes. That was definitely NOT what a child expects or wants to open up on Christmas, but it was definitely practical and a necessity at that Christmas.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not mentioning these gifts to say that they were horrible. Neither am I saying, if anyone is thinking of gifting a graduate towels, that you should reconsider. I am mentioning this because what may seem logical, well thought out, and well meaning in your intentions and thoughts, it might just be seen in a different light by the recipient.

It’s this kind of disappointment, written all over the face of the recipient, that prompted and bolstered sales of gift cards for somewhere around two decades now. Also, there’s the fact that some people are just difficult to buy for. Thus the thought of, it’s just better to give a gift card or cash (or some generations prefer gifting checks). You express your desire to love on someone and they get to pick out exactly what is going to make them happy.

Or let’s be honest. There are also times that life happens and you didn’t make it out to the store or missed buying with enough shipping times (or as we’re seeing unusual delays in shipments). What do you do now?

How do you gift cards or cash???

That is the number one reason why I drag my feet so much in gifting by cash or gift card. I love giving meaningful gifts. I love finding a gift that represents a small part of me, but screams that other person’s name. What am I going to do with cash or gift card, slap it in a card and call it day? That’s just not me.

So, here are two ideas that I’ve used.

Explosion Box

This one is actually my favorite right now. Growing up I was always taking pictures. I still have those pictures. I have inherited pictures. And I bless the day that digital cameras were created, because I could take pictures to my heart’s content, see the shots without having to wait for film to be developed and printed, and capture moments that I can relive forever.

If you are like me, love pictures, or you are a memorabilia collector this option is absolutely perfect for you!

There are many options to choose from. You can have many box arms that unfurl for you. You can have a single layer or many layers of box within boxes. There are many “accessories” you can find that comes with different boxes.

By accessories, I mean what is included in the base design of the box. This year, my graduation boxes feature Polaroid picture frames. Last year my graduation boxes were on the life stages of butterflies. (The first layer was designed with caterpillar shapes. The second layer was all about the chrysalises. The third layer was designed after the butterfly.) Also, this year I’ve focused on the school monogram, school colors, and mascot. You can have just picture frames in the boxes. Or you can have holders that you can store ticket stubs, gift cards, and folded notes. Think memory box and different organizational devices to keep these memories organized.

That is an explosion Box. It is completely customizable. And even when boxes are cut from the same file, the variety of materials available makes them all unique. Even if a few people bought the same explosion box for a person, it’s not like you bought them the same card. The uniqueness of the box is what you put in it. Your shared memories with the recipient are going to be different than the shared memories of the recipient with a different gifter of the same gift. And then the fun begins, because you can compare all the different things that you’ve shared with the same person!

Money Card

This item is the newest fad in giving of cash. I’ve only recently become introduced with them, but I’m sure that they’ve been made for a year or two.

At least, this is the newest rendition of this form of giving money. I’ve seen enough chatter in the crafting groups that money cards are not readily available in certain global regions. And in those areas, which do not have designs reflecting their cultures, they will use a beautified envelope.

There are two different versions of the Money Card that I see right now. One is using a plastic shell inside a card stock holder. Imagine the plastic shell used on your favorite tube of of Chap Stick that’s sealed in between two thin pieces of card board. That is one version of the Money Card. This one is great, because if you want to secure the cash, so it doesn’t slip out in your purse when you pull the cash card out, this is what you’re looking for.

Another version of the Money Card is where there are two tabs with circles. You roll up the cash that you are given and you slide it through the holes in the tabs of the Cash Card. This version is great, and my preferred one, because once the cash is given, the card can then be used again. For example, the Money card can have the tabs flattened and then be used as a book mark.

I love books, so yes I went for second use as a book mark.

This second version is not destroyed to remove the plastic shell holding the money. So it also makes it have the added bonus of being saved as a memory. It’s not that often that people receive notes or letters from loved ones. So here’s one option where a grandparent, aunt or uncle can leave a hand written note for their graduate. And having lost several noteworthy people in my life I can finally tell you from experience that having a hand written letter telling you that your loved one is proud of you and that they love you is something that will NEVER go out of style. It’s something that you pull out and relive the love of that person.

So please don’t underestimate the power of a cash gift that carries your handwriting and love with congratulations. You may think that you will be around forever. But there really is a day that someone will miss you. And with the increase of stories of students dying to suicide or from accidents caused by other, maybe your note of love is something they can tangibly hold. Maybe a note from you keeps your loved one from escaping to drugs or running away and living on the street. Never ever ever underestimate the moments in life where you can lift someone up and tell them just how proud you are of them.

I wish you could see me right now, while I’m typing. If you are crying you’re in good company. I can’t keep the tears out of my eyes. I know my graduates are in secure families, but my heart is breaking in this moment for those graduates that are going through a rough moment that no one knows about. Yes, I have a mama’s heart and I wish I could give those graduates a great big hug, look them in the eyes, and tell them that they matter. They have purpose. The world needs them. And they can make it past this moment.

Please forgive that rabbit trail. I try not to pass up moments that matter. And I never know who reads this blog. But if you needed that last paragraph, know that it was meant just for you.

Money Leis

This was a thing that started back when I graduated High School, at least in my area. I first noticed it was with the year that graduated with me. And I’ll be honest, I so wanted one of those. So thank you Pacific Islander families who introduced this graduation gift to me all those years ago.

I’m sorry that I’m not able to instruct you how to make this item. But there are plenty of videos on YouTube that can walk you through those steps. And know that one of these days, I will learn how to make them myself. In fact, I’ll go ahead and put it on my to-learn list for this year. That way I can come back for 2023 Graduation season and have some input on tips and what steps to avoid.

Money Arrangements

Very similar to the Money Lei is the Money Arrangements. I’ve seen many crafters fold money, like the Money Lei, to make flowers and topiaries. I’ve also seen people roll up bills. These rolled bills are then arranged into different shapes. You could use the rolls to make a graduation cap, graduation cake, or just about anything you have the imagination for.

If you’re interested in making making money topiaries, I did find a pictorial tutorial that looks very user friendly for those who might describe themselves as craft challenged. Here is a link to Sugar Bee Crafts. As of the writing of this post, I have not had contact with this craft blogger. Nor do I receive any compensation for this mention. I bring this to you, to be of service and help you come up with new ideas for your gift giving.

Now that I’ve given you some ideas on meaningful ways of gifting cash to your graduate, here is a little tutorial on how to make a quick tassel to dress up any graduation craft.

How To Make A Tassel

My collection of Embroidery Floss was not locatable when I was making my nephew’s graduation box. So I did the next best thing. I used my sewing thread that was in his school colors. And this was absolutely perfect, because I needed a small tassel and sewing thread gave a more sleek appearance that was proportional to the final product.

What I used:

• Two different colored spools of thread
• (1) 2 inch wooden ring
• (4) crafting clamps
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun and glue for application

1. Place the clamps on your ring so that you can keep your thread centrally located.
2. Take the ends of your two threads, leave a tail at the top of the ring, and start wrapping your thread around the ring.
3. Once you’ve reached your desired thickness, cut your finishing tail on the same side of the ring.
4. (Left Top) Remove the clamps, slide the thread off the ring, and hold one side of the loop. Make sure to keep the other side open.
5. (Left Middle) Wrap your tails around the open end of the loop and carefully tie your tails in a knot. If you pull too tight, you will distort the lengths of the thread. When this happens, keep calm and finish the knot. We can fix this when we trim the bottom of the tassel.
6. (Left Lower) Place your scissors in the center of the loop and pull them to the opposite side, away from the knotted end.
7. (Right) Take both tails and wrap them around the tassel head, to desired band thickness.
8. (Bottom Left) Tie the tails with a couple of the tassel strands. This will become the back of your tassel that you will glue to your project.
9. The tassel strands that you tied to the tails (and the tails) will all be pulled up to the top of the tassel to form the cord. You can choose to braid these. I opted to coil the threads by twisting them. (I knotted the end to just maintain order, especially for gluing.)
10. Trim the bottom of the tassel to make all ends even.
11. (Bottom Right) Glue your tassel to your project.

Further description of how I applied the tassel on my project:

On my nephew’s explosion box, I marked with a pen where I wanted to add my thread tassel. I started by hot gluing the tassel body in position. With the body in position I twisted the tails/cord, applied a thin row of glue on the pen line and laid the cord. Once the glue cooled, I trimmed off the knot and too long bits of thread. These ends I then hid under a colored foam ball that I stole from a silk flower arrangement.

Tip: The thinner you can keep your glue, the more it will hide. So try to be stingy on the glue. There will be more than enough glue to hold the tassel in place.

Tip 2: If you have a small crochet or tatting hook, you can make a seamless tassel by pulling the tails down into the center of the tassel and trimming off any length longer than the rest of the tassel.

I hope that you enjoyed these ideas and you find that you have a couple more options for gift giving this graduation season!

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