Graduation season is upon us and students everywhere are moving on to the next chapter of their lives. Some are moving into the real world, while others are continuing on to pursue higher education. Either path requires a full amount of support from family and friends... and what a better way to show your support than a survival kit!!
Hope I was able to inspire you to make a stellar gift for a friend!
Enjoy!
-A
Details:
- Price: ~ $21 for basket materials + gifts you put inside!
- Time: ~ 1 hr + time to get all the gifts you put inside!
In my case, my best friend just graduated medical school and will be starting residency in a couple of weeks! So I'll be laying out what I used for this particular gift, but obviously the products inside can be changed depending on person/path.
1. The Materials:
- A basket / bin to put everything in
- Shred to lay at the bottom and around gifts
- Some sort of wrap, I used tulle, but plastic basket bags are also available
- Ribbon / bows to make it look nice
- Optional: Tags- if you want them to know why you're giving them each gift
2. Buy all the gifts! This part takes the longest, thinking of what you want to give someone and why takes a long time. I suggest making a list before you head out but also take the time to look around in case something pops out at you. The other thing to keep in mind is the size of your basket, if you're basket is too large or too small things will look odd. As you can see above, I bought 2 different sized bins because I didn't know which one would fit everything. Lay everything out once you have them.
3. Craft any of the inner pieces! Two of my pieces were jars I had bought with cork lids that I decorated to give purpose. I kept them simple by just wrapping them in some decorative washi tape and adding little slips of paper inside.
- One is a 'Grateful Jar' - because the long intense hours of residency can be tiring and sometimes you need something to brighten your day or remind you why it's worth it. The idea is the write down good things that happen in your day or something you're grateful for and toss the slip into the jar. When you're having an off day you have an entire jar filled with awesome things to lift you up.
- The second is a 'Moments Jar' - because life should be lived and one shouldn't forget that ever! The idea is to write down things you'd like to try, adventures, travels, activities you want to accomplish, etc. When she has a day off, or is feeling spontaneous there's already a jar filled with fun activities to pick from!
4. OPTIONAL - Label things! I chose to label most of the gifts to add some purpose to them and give her an idea of what I was thinking when I got it. Here are a few that I labeled:
- Mini Pinata: For the days you just need to smash something
- Heel Cushions: Because 30+ hour shifts can take a toll on those legs
- Candle: Because bright hospital lights and the smell of rubbing alcohol gets boring
- Wine: Because some nights you just need to unwind
- Epsom Salts: Because you should never forget to take care of yourself first
- Mini Prosecco Bottle: to remember to celebrate the little things in a big way
5. Fill the basket! This part was fun, like a game of Tetris fun. I ended up having too many things to lay in a cute way in the small basket, but they moved around in the big basket. So I went with the small one and started layering. For example, I put a bunch of stuff in the giant coffee mug and made that into a cute piece on it's own. The bigger/taller stuff worked well in the back while the smaller pieces layered in the front. It gave it a good show and didn't look flat.
6. Wrap! I simply placed the basket on the tulle and started to lift the edges to the middle one side at a time so it would make cute platelets around the basket. I then simply wrapped the top with this cool gold ribbon stuff I found and placed a bow on top!
Hope I was able to inspire you to make a stellar gift for a friend!
Enjoy!
-A
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