Graduation Gift!

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One of my little brothers is about to graduate from high school and being the overly-prepared crafty person I am, I couldn't just give him a check and send him on his way. He will be going away to school, being away from home and in a dorm room for the first time, so I wanted to give him some things he could take with him and use in the fall. Some of these items are things that I didn't think to buy and pack when I went away to school, so I thought I'd help him be more prepared than I was and save him my Step Mom some time shopping!

I debated between using a shower caddy and a laundry basket to hold all of the items and ultimately decide on using the shower caddy. While it is the smaller of the two (and holds MUCH less), I thought back to the different dorm rooms I had and I just wasn't sure he'd have (or want to use space) for a big laundry basket. So the shower caddy won, even though it was a little difficult to fit everything in, I know he will use it and it's small enough to slide under the bed  and out of the way when he's not using it. 

Speaking of showers, I got him a bath towel and hand towel in his favorite color! I also included body wash, a razor, shave gel and Q-tips. A manicure set was also something I wanted to make sure he had as nail clippers are an important, but frequently forgotten item!

I knew he would need something to hold dirty laundry and found a pretty cool collapsible basket at Walmart  (I couldn't find the one I got on Walmart's website, but it's like this one.)that can either be stood up (in a corner out of the way), or laid on it's side and kept under the bed. It also zips totally closed so taking his laundry to the laundry room (or home on long weekends) to be washed will be much easier since it won't fall out all over the place! I also included a few basic laundry items, including a small bottle of Tide, a Tide-to-go pen, and a lint roller.

Most boys don't like cleaning, but they tend to be pretty messy and smelly, so Clorox wipes and Febreeze Air Freshner were at the top of my list! I stuck with the pretty neutral "clean linen" scent as I'm not sure what he likes or doesn't like.

I also grabbed a few office supplies I thought he'd need for all of the studying he will be doing! Sharpies, highlighters, scissors and Post It Flags were added! I remember moving into my dorm for the first time and did not bring scissors, so all of the other new items I had were difficult to remove from the packaging! (A trip to Walmart followed!)

Tylenol for the late night study headaches and a mini first aid kit just in case!

Lastly I included some Command Hooks which I not only used at college, but still use in my home for random things. A place to hang a backpack, for the towel on the back of the door, or just using the strips to hang up some posters or wall decor!

As I was typing this blog I had a few more things pop in my head that I should have added! I guess my brainstorming session was not quite long enough before my shopping trip!

- Power strip/Extension cord - for the many electronic items kids have these days!

- Clip on reading lamp - For when your roommate wants to sleep and you need to study!

- Shower Poof - To go with the other shower stuff I got (I had intended to grab one of these but totally forget!)

- Toothbrush cover - if he keeps it in the shower caddy and falls to the floor, you don't even want to pick it up, let alone use it again! Those shared bathrooms can get pretty gross!!

- A pair of cheap flip flops as well (for the same reason as the toothbrush cover).

Here's the breakdown of the cost of these items (everything was purchased at Walmart for the ease of one stop shopping!)

Bath Towel - $3.97

Hand Towel - $2.97

Post It's - $3.24

First Aid Kit - $.97

Pop Up Hamper - $7.44

Lint Roller - $2.88

Tide To Go Pen - $2.94

Scissors - $1.88

Command Hooks - $5.88

Febreeze - $2.68

Manicure Set - $.97

Shower Caddy - $2.67

Tylenol (travel size) - $1.97

The rest of the items I had in my couponing stockpile, so they didn't cost me anything! :) I'm glad I could save some money since I clearly didn't do any strategic shopping for the rest of the items! 

Stockpile items:

Lysol Wipes

Sharpies

Tide Detergent

Old Spice Body Wash

Q-Tips

Gillette Shave Gel

Schick Razor

So in total, this only cost me about $40.00 (it would have been a little more had I thought of those extra items sooner!), I'm pretty happy with that and can still afford to give him a little chunk of cash! I saw this super cute way to fold the money so it shows "2015", so I had to get the correct bills to make that happen! (A check is so boring!) Ignore the scribbles on the card, my 3 year old had to sign his Uncle's card too!

Putting this all together, realizing that it was for my little brother was soooo weird. I remember when he was born, then watching him grow up, and just can't believe he's heading off to college in the fall!! Very proud big sister right here!!

I hope this has either helped you put together a gift or just gotten a better idea of some things needed for kiddos heading off to college!

-A