Freshman Year Survival Kit

Giving gifts stresses me out. I want it to be personal and creative. I want it to be useful and practical. I want it to be pretty. But I am poor so ultimately I would like it to be affordable. This is a hard combination to land on and frankly I do not often succeed. There have been a few knock out gifts that I could not help but share the idea. Honestly, I get most of my basic ideas from pinterest and modify it. My all time favorite present was one we blogged about over on my best friend and I's blog and it was "19 reasons I'm glad you were born" for my best friends 19th birthday. This next present is another idea I am proud of. To be fair, I stole it from pinterest but I honestly cannot find the original post or else I would give credit. However, this is my modified version of a "Freshman Year Survival Kit" This one is the first of 3 or 4 I will be giving this year. I have quite a few high school graduates in my life this year and I wanted to do something special.

Each 'kit' is going to be different, as most of this one was created on the fly. This is what I did for my first one!

Shopping was the best part. I went to Target and Five Below mostly. For some of the other kits I went to walmart and for this one I went to Foot Locker too. For the 'Survival Kit' I wanted to include some fun things as well as things the graduate actually needed. My favorite part is that it is put in something more college students will need. In this case I used a storage container. You could also use a shower caddy, a plastic storage container, a dorm room trash can, a decorative basket, etc.

I did not end up using everything pictured below in this particular kit. For this one I got some of the graduates favorite candy, some running things (we're training for a half marathon), some school supplies and some fun extras.

Next I split the kit in to categories for humor, organization and presentation. I used rubber bands and paper clips to give it that 'back to school look' (also because they were quick). This first bundle is The things that always disappear- lip glass and hair ties.

 I thought of these categories on the spot as I was looking over what I had purchased. I was also thinking through how I would present these in the letter I gave her. Lip gloss and Hair Ties seems to be essentials that girls are always asking a friend for because theirs are missing.

 Next bundle is some stuff I didn't know I would need- Thank you cards and a sewing kit. I have said in previous posts, I was severely unprepared for my first semester. These were a few items I did not show up with. I added some insides jokes with the notes I put about these items.

 Next up is the necessities- chocolate, chocolate and chocolate. This needs no explanation.

 This next one was just a common thing we say to each other wanna go for a run? With some of the items we had said we wanted to get for our training- running socks and an arm band for music.

 Last and kind of least is The boring stuff.. a.k.a. school supplies-Post its, glue, high lighters, index cards and pens.

 It took me a solid 20 minutes to display this the way I wanted it and I was even late to the party. It was worth it.

 I also printed out the little sign and typed up a note explaining each bundle, added in some insides jokes, ended with a serious sentence or two and BAM- Freshman Year Survival Kit. 

Some other things I wanted to add: 

• Small blanket
• A journal
• A planner
• Make-up bag
• Shower flip flops
• Gift cards
• Flash Drive

Have you ever given a gift like this? What is your favorite graduation gift? What would you add to the kit?