Gift Giving and Receiving
If you have a few special graduates in your life, you may want to put some
extra thought into your gifts. Start
shopping now!
Also, stock up
on graduation greeting cards. Order now so you don’t find yourself paying top dollar at the
card store at the last minute. Get a pack of greeting cards for your graduate to give to
their friends, too. Our
online store has some packages of
greetings
cards or check out your local card shop ... although they usually only have single cards.
Graduates appreciate something heartfelt as well as practical. To help you with your
shopping, here's a list of online stores that offer fun and unique
Graduation Gifts for all budgets:
-
Carlson Craft ~ Picture frames, laptop cases, tote
bags, piggy banks, key chains & more.
-
OneShare.com
~ one share of stock in over 100 popular companies.
-
Amazon
~ Graduation Books, Jewelry & Watches, iPods & Accessories,
Laptops & more.
-
Lids.com ~ College hats and t-shirts.
-
Snapfish.com
~ Memory books & photo products.
By clicking on any of the links above, you can browse the graduation gifts
that are available and order directly from these companies.
We've also prepared a list of
graduate tested and approved gift ideas. For more ideas order our
Graduation
Planning Guide.
- A collage of photographs, a class or group photo framed with personalized writing on
the frame, a tailor made shadow box, or framed
photographs will all be greatly appreciated.
Carlson Craft offers a
"Signature Frame" (with or without engraved nameplate)
that can be signed by the graduate's friends and family
as well as a wide selection of unique graduation picture
frames.
Or check out our
Snapfish.com page for other photograph ideas.
|
 |
- Personalized items: Put
monograms or the grad's name on bath towels, flannel blankets, coffee mugs, key
chains or frames.
Carlson Craft has a number of items that can be
engraved and personalized including picture frames, key
chains and
photo albums.
|
 |
-
 A
unique gift of one share of stock in popular companies
such as Microsoft, Apple, Nike, Disney, Yahoo, and many
more! Check out these cool stock certificates
(with or without museum-quality frames) at
OneShare.com.
|
 |
- Memory books:
Carlson Craft has some wonderful memory books that
can be personalized with an engraved name plate.
Snapfish.com
also has some great Memory Books and Flip Books that you
can create online and order multiple copies.
|
 |
|
|
 |
- Sweatshirt
or t-shirt from the college your graduate is going to.
Lids.com is a great place to find college hats and tees to your grad's new or
favorite college!
|
 |
- Write a check for an
amount equivalent to the graduation year (e.g. $20.08).
- Cell phone with a
service plan or calling cards so they don't have to worry about
roaming charges. Let your grad know you want to stay in touch.
- A quilt made with scanned
photos. Our friend found a company that can scan photos onto material
and a different person to sew the quilt.
- A quilt made with your graduate's sports or school jerseys.
- Large bag
for dirty clothes, along with a box of detergent and quarters.
Consider getting the bag personalized with the grad's name.
- Snake light or flash light
- Camera with battery and film or disposable cameras
- A subscription to your hometown newspaper or the graduate's favorite
magazine.
Thank you etiquette
 |
After the ceremony; after the party; there is one last detail that the
graduate needs to take care of… Sending thank you notes. It’s customary
for the graduate to thank all the people who gave them a graduation
gift.
To make this task easier, order
personalized thank you notes well in advance of graduation. And consider
ordering the graduation themed return address labels and envelope seals.
Thank you cards, envelope seals and return address labels can
all be ordered online from
Carlson Craft. Our
online store
also has a wide selection. |
Saying “thank you” is easy…
Never written thank you notes before? Don’t worry. Just follow our
simple guidelines. If you’re still stuck, check out our
sample letters
for some great ideas.
- Every gift, whether
received by mail or in person, should be acknowledged with a thank
you note.
- Don't limit thank
you notes to people who have sent gifts. Now is the time to remember
and thank special teachers, coaches, relatives and friends from high
school or elementary school.
- Send thank you
notes promptly. Start right away and finish no later than one month
after graduation.
- Always hand write
thank you notes and hand address the envelopes. E-mail is not
appropriate.
- Mention the gift
specifically in the note and express appreciation.
- When you receive money as a present, don’t mention the amount. Do,
however, mention how you plan to spend the money.
- Avoid making thank you notes look like form letters by adding a
personal reference to each one. See our
sample letters.
Money as gifts
“Before the
cards started arriving, we talked to our son about how he was going to
spend the money he received as gifts. We agreed that he could have half
of the money, but the other half went into his savings account. I taped
the checks to a cupboard and he was allowed to deposit them when the
thank you note was mailed. I’m glad we discussed it ahead of time.”
Barb in Dallas, Texas
PhotoStamps!
Don't forget to
get stamps, too. The latest trend in celebrations is
PhotoStamps. You can
turn your grad's photo into real US postage using
PhotoStamps.com.
Add another fun & unexpected
touch by using these one-of-a-kind stamps on your thank you cards
and invitations. |
 |
Photo Confetti & Wordfetti
 |
Some people like
to spice up their thank you cards and invitations by including a
little bit of confetti in them. Why not go the extra step
and add some
Photofetti or Wordfetti!
Photofetti
is photo confetti made with your
snapshots and
Wordfetti is made with congratulatory messages,
mixed with colorful accents.
In addition to
including it in your thank you cards and invitations cards, you can
also sprinkle it on your tables the day of your party. |
|
or a