I really need some advice. I somehow know about 100 graduates this year (exaggerating, but that’s what it feels like lol) and they are almost all male. I am broke, especially since both of my kids have birthdays this month, teacher appreciation stuff, and all of that.
I need to try to make gifts for some of these male graduates. If they were female, I have many ideas. But aside from something like a leather keychain, I cannot think of anything good for a gift. I haven’t been feeling great, and my brain is just not running at capacity right now. lol
Guys are tough to buy for in my opinion. If these young men are going off to college, maybe some sort of desk caddy/charging station/valet for their dorm desk. If they have cars, maybe car coasters, and leather keychains aren’t that bad of an idea.
I think that a ceramic tile is one of the most impressive and expensive thing you do on a gloweforge.
A commemorative trivet, plaque or coaster.
Depending what you have on a hand, a engraved journal or planner would be nice too. I have engraved on cardstock bound notebooks and leather. You might also be able to replace the cardboard cover with a wood one on a spiral bound notebook.
If you can come up with some veg tan thick leather these pocket dump organizers are quick and the Glowforge will do all the work. I did these for my crew one year for Xmas and were a huge hit.
The hasps are cheap from Lowes or Home Depot.
You can get as fancy with the engraving as you want.
What about baseball caps or beanies with leather patches? Wallets? This is a tough one. My son is graduating from high school, and his friends are all really different. If any of them are tabletop gamers, a dice tower would be cool. Or a custom case for their game pieces. My son has just gotten really into Magic: The Gathering, so I bet he’d love a case to hold his cards.
Focusing on the “broke” part makes some 3 inch hanging ornaments with Congratulations 2024 Graduate and put their high school logo on it. Finish with a piece of ribbon in the right (or close) color.
If you had more time and money I’d suggest other things but these will be good.
I think you have to choose between durable and cheap at some point. Giving a junky item like a rock-bottom price pocket knife is probably worse than giving nothing at all.
If you want to be inexpensive then it’s more of a gesture and maybe people hang onto it if they want then I would probably make some sort of a wooden coin. Done well, even an engraved coin will be really impressive.
Depending on the size of the coin you choose the total material cost to make 100 of them is probably around 20-30 bucks if you use a nice 1/8” hardwood.
Given that you’re sending out 100 gifts to 100 different people, it’s a bad idea to try to please everybody — You can end up with a really boring design. If it were me I would make the coolest design I could that was simple and clear, and would avoid anything that’s strongly themed beyond maybe a school mascot.
Candy bar leis are popular with boys. Might seem tacky, but food is always a winner. But as far as glowforge projects, that simple card holder wallet in the catalog was really popular with the boys we gifted them to. And every year a school ordered mascot ornaments from me to gift to their graduates.
Yup, not sure if i should share my Google search screenshot, but really, wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbons of the school colors, it’s pretty cheap if you buy a box of candy bars at Costco. Though I’ve only ever made money leis for a friend (as in the friend’s money, not mine).
Thank you everyone! These ideas will really help me get started! Sometimes I just need a starting point, you know what i mean? There aren’t actually 100, like I said, I was exaggerating lol it just feels like out of all of the families with teenagers we know, almost every one has a graduate. And they live in different areas, different schools, different very different interests, etc. (2006 was a baby boom with our friends LOL)
I have lots of supplies on hand. Plywood, acrylic, some hardwood, leather (and leather paints), veneer (lots of veneer lol) felt, etc. Lots of hardware like snaps and keyring variations (including some clips). I can’t do any hand stitching, so the wallet is out. (Bummer. @techquest89 ) @bwente I do have some notebooks that I bought for this purpose, but wasn’t sure if that would be something boys at this age would like! @markevans36301 That’s a great idea - I have some leather and I don’t have hasps (ohh that’s what those are called?) but I think I’ve seen those with snaps, too, right?
@ChristyM That would be cool but I do not know if any of them are into tabletop gaming. I know some of them are into video games, but not sure about board games etc. @deirdrebeth Some of them are off to college. Maybe I can combine that idea with the high school logo thought… hmmm… @hansepe That might be one of the easier plans! That might be really nice. I know my husband still has some keepsake ornaments he puts on our Christmas tree in fact, and he’s held onto them all this time. (Not that they have to be for Christmas, they could use them maybe in the car or something, too) @CMadok I love the candybar lei idea but that would not travel well for those I can’t make it to see in person. (There is about 200 mile distance between all of them, they are having their parties this weekend, and my son’s birthday is this weekend, too. Hence my stress hahaha I feel so bad!) (Hmm… my son would like that candybar lei for his birthday if he saw me discussing this LOL)
I think part of me was afraid of spending a bunch of time on something they might just roll their eyes at and toss aside. So I need to make sure whatever I do, it is useful and they think it is “sick” ROFL
(Hmm… my son would like that candybar lei for his birthday if he saw me discussing this LOL)