Graduation Gift Ideas

Two of our grandsons graduated from High School  this week.  It was a very exciting time especially for them,  and for the whole family as well.  The whole family was and is extremely proud of them.

It is always hard to think of just the right gift for someone to help celebrate the special times in their lives.  Both grandsons received very nice thoughtful graduation gifts.  I wanted to share some of these gifts with you in case you too are looking for good graduation gift ideas.

Both grandsons received a computer with Office capabilities to help them with their college classes.

Computer

A good book is always a very nice gift.  Stuff Every College Student Should Know by Blair Thornburgh has a lot of very good advice for the young student just entering into their College days.

A review from Amazon says it best:

From the best-selling series of how-to guides comes "Stuff Every College Student Should Know," the ultimate reference for every part of campus life. Packed with tips, tricks, and handy lists, the book gives college kids the lowdown on everything from pulling all-nighters to navigating dorm room drama to actually doing their own laundry. Covering everything from move-in day to graduation, this pocket-size handbook is the perfect gift for high-school seniors . . . because textbooks can teach you only so much.

And, yes it was a very much appreciated gift from a good friend.  I looked through this book and one of the topics in the book was "How to cook with a microwave."  And, another one was, "How to cook if you don't have a microwave."  Another cute topic was, "How to ask a girl for a date."  And, many more helpful and interesting topics are covered.

And another wonderful graduation gift from my sister Betti and Uncle Jim to both nephews is GOD'S PROMISES for GRADUATES Class of 2015.

A review from Amazon tells about this book far better than I could:

A bestselling inspirational book for graduates year after year!

To be successful in life, high school and college graduates need to stay in step with God. At each turn there are new challenges. What better help than this small scripture book to bring guidance, comfort, and encouragement straight from the Word. Scripture is from the New International Version translation. 

For more than thirty years, the God’s Promises series—which has sold more than 15 million copies—has been guiding and comforting people through topically arranged scriptures addressing many facets of life. This book includes topics graduates will need such as character, integrity, loyalty, focus, respect, perseverance, and more. This keepsake gift has “Class of 2015” stamped in platinum foil, ribbon marker, and silver-gilded edges.

Year after year, God’s Promises for Graduates is the bestselling title for the graduation season!

Another gift book they received was,  The Road to Character,  as seen in the below photo.

Looking online for a good review of this book, Wikipedia 

the online Encyclopedia, gave a nice review:

Published in 2015, the author says, "I wrote it, to be honest, to save my own soul." According to The Guardian, Brooks decided that he had spent, "...too much time cultivating what he calls “the résumé virtues” – racking up impressive accomplishments – and too little on “the eulogy virtues”, the character strengths for which we’d like to be remembered."

As you can see in the below photo they received another nice graduation gift book, The Total Money Makeover:  A Proven Plan For Financial Fitness.

Again I went searching for a review of this book and found this quote on Amazon:

Okay, folks, do you want to turn those fat and flabby expenses into a well-toned budget? Do you want to transform your sad and skinny little bank account into a bulked-up cash machine? Then get with the program, people. There’s one sure way to whip your finances into shape, and that’s with The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition.

This sounds like a good book to advise young high school graduates of the best way to handle their finances; a very nice gift idea.

And as seen in the photo below is another really good gift idea for the High School Graduate called, The Graduate's Survival Guide-Setting You Up For Success in College.  The review of this gift item is included in the next paragraph.

Rachel Cruze is excited to introduce The Graduate's Survival Guide. No incoming college freshman should leave home without this gift, which will help prepare them for many of the dangers and unanswered questions they have about college. The Graduate's Survival Guide includes a book, presented in a fun and easy Q&A format, that will quickly become a trusted companion.

And as seen in the below photo is another really good idea for the beginning college student.  They received a set of monogrammed towels.  I especially love anything monogrammed.  But, this is such a good idea when going off to college because it helps them not get their towels mixed up with a roommate in the dorm or apartment.

I failed to snap a photograph of the wonderful monogrammed gift towels they received, so I found some on the Internet to show how they looked.



And then another special gift given to grandson John Scott was a quilt his mother made to give to him on his Graduation Day.  She spent many days making this special quilt.

For many years she saved all of his special sports-events t-shirts and other important and fun t-shirts he had worn and loved over the years.  Any item with his name she also saved; like an old towel he used at the beach many times and an old Halloween shirt.   He wore a special Astros t-shirt we brought back to him from a trip to Texas until it had holes in the sleeves.  She even found a recent Class of 2015 graduation shirt she included in the quilt.

She cut each t-shirt the same size and used an iron-on backing for stability of the fabric.   She then sewed all of the t-shirt squares together across, and then up and down.  Then she used a soft fleece backing which turned all of the squares into a very nice quilt.

High School Graduation Gift Quilt

John Scott was really proud of this graduation gift quilt.  He says he will keep it forever.  Each square was cut from one of the special t-shirts or mementos.   Each quilt square tells a story.  Most of the squares are associated with sports of some sort.  Down toward the bottom of the quilt in the below photo you can see the yellow square with "John Scott" embroidered on the square ... That is his old beach towel.

In the below photo John Scott is standing on a chair in his dining room holding up the quilt so I could get a really good photo of all of the squares of the quilt.

I love meaningful gifts like this that someone can keep forever.  John Scott is the first in his family to graduate from high school of the four brothers.  His mom has also kept all of the other brothers special t-shirts through the years so that they too can have a wonderful keepsake quilt like this on their high school graduation day.

There were also many cards with checks, money, and gift cards which is also a nice idea for the beginning college student.

To you and the possible graduates in your life we wish you many blessings and much happiness wherever you may be.