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
planning and shopping now.
Graduates appreciate something heartfelt as well as practical. To help you with your
shopping, here's a list of our online partners who offer fun and unique
Graduation Gifts for all budgets:
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Carlson Craft ~ graduation picture frames and memory
books.
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OneShare.com
~ one share of stock in over 100 popular companies like Nike,
Microsoft, Starbucks, Disney, and Yahoo! to name just a few. This is
one of our favorite gifts to give. Finding one share of stock is
very hard to come by. These can be matted, framed and engraved too.
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Amazon
~ graduation books, inspirational jewelry, digital frames and
key chains, cameras & accessories, iPods & accessories,
laptops & more.
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Lids.com ~ college hats, t-shirts, hoodies and more.
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Snapfish.com
~ memory books, photo posters, photo collages & other 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:
- Photographs: 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.
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- Personalized items: Put
monograms or the grad's name on bath towels, flannel blankets, coffee mugs, key
chains or frames.
Carlson Craft offers picture frames and memory books that can be
engraved and personalized.
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-
 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.
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- 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 personalize with photos and text.
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- Gift cards to a
bookstore, the local mall or a major retailer. How about
an Amazon Gift Card
or a
LIDS Gift Card
- the perfect gift for those whose head size you aren't too sure about!?
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- Sweatshirt, t-shirt or hoodie 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!
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- Books: We
suggest something that graduates can treasure over the years: such as
poetry books or motivational books, a quality dictionary, or a leather bound
journal. Go to our
Amazon
store where we feature a fun selection of handpicked (and
affordable)
graduation-related books.
- Graduation inspired jewelry & watches from
Amazon,
including:
* Bracelets
* Necklaces
* Charms
* Ladies Watches
* Mens Watches
- The latest in electronics from
Amazon,
including:
* cameras
* iPods & iPod
accessories
* computers
* Swiss Army flash
drives
- Digital photo products from
Amazon,
including:
* digital
photo key chains
* digital photo frames
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-
 Write a check for an
amount equivalent to the graduation year (e.g. $20.09).
GraduationParty.com sells graduation themed pillow boxes you can use
for your check or gift card.
Click here to see our selection.
- Gift Cards are a very popular choice. Choose an online
retailer like Amazon.com,
a store the grad likes to shop at or a store close to the college
the grad will be going to. Give the gift card in a
graduation pillow box or gift card holder.
- 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. One friend found a company that scanned photos onto
fabric
and a different person to sew the quilt.
- A quilt made with your graduate's sports or school jerseys.
There are several online companies that do this or you can easily do
it yourself if you sew.
- 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
- Digital camera or disposable cameras
- A subscription to your hometown newspaper or to the graduate's favorite
magazine.
Graduation Cards
 You may also want to 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.
Don't forget to get greeting cards for your graduate to give to
their friends, too.
Our
online store has
fun and unique packages of
greetings
cards. Or check out your local card shop, although they
usually carry single cards only.
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Thank you etiquette
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After the ceremony and 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 each person who gave a graduation
gift.
To make this task easier, order
personalized thank you notes well in advance of graduation.
You can also
order graduation themed return address labels and envelope seals
at the same time. These are good for thank you cards as well as
invitations.
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 and unexpected
touch by using these one-of-a-kind stamps on your thank you cards
and invitations. |
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Photo Confetti & Wordfetti
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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, you can
also sprinkle it on your tables the day of your party. |
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