DIY Graduation Gifts
updated May, 2025
Skip the cliché cards and overpriced mugs! These DIY graduation gifts are actually useful. Printable quote cards, college survival kits, and gift card hacks for grads who need more snacks and less sentiment.
Sure, you could just write the happy grad a check, but where’s the fun in that?
Between our four kids, their friends, and our church teen group, we’ve given over a hundred graduation gifts the last decade plus. And look, I’m all for meaningful, heartfelt gestures… but I also like gifts that are practical, budget-friendly, and don’t require a second mortgage or a last-minute run to Target.
This post is packed with my go-to graduation gift ideas that check all the boxes:
- Printable cards with inspirational quotes
- Gift card tips that don’t feel lazy
- DIY college survival kits that cost about $15 and are actually appreciated
These gifts are easy to prep in batches and genuinely useful, especially when May hits and you realize you’ve got three parties this weekend and a to-do list longer than your grad’s walk across the stage.
Greeting Cards vs. Gift Cards
Unpopular opinion: graduation cards are basically $4 envelopes with glitter you’ll be vacuuming until Thanksgiving. Hard pass.
Instead, I design and print my own cards using my personal treasure trove of quotes on life, love, goals, faith, friendship, finances… you name it. Before Pinterest, I had three-ring binders and notebooks full of clippings. Yes, actual binders. Let’s all take a moment to be thankful that kind of clutter went the way of floppy disks.
Graduation is the perfect time to hand over some hard-earned wisdom. I print four cards per page on heavy cardstock and customize the colors and quotes depending on the vibe (school colors vs. education level). And instead of a check, we usually tuck in a gift card for gas, fast food, or a store where they can buy towels and ramen.
Of course, most grads would rather get an extra meal than a sappy drug store card they’ll read once and toss in the back seat of their car.
If you’re handy with the free Canva website, you can make your own printable cards similar to these and add your favorite quotes.
Here you go! Easily printable grad cards. Yay!
Just download the PDF and print on the front and back of a sheet of white cardstock.
Gift Cards They’ll Love
Gift cards are the MVPs of graduation season. You can scale the amount based on how well you know the grad and tailor it to something they’ll actually use. Think: Taco Bell, Starbucks, gas stations, or a Target run where they can impulse-buy storage bins and emergency chocolate.
Do I overthink gift cards? Absolutely. I treat matching a grad to their ideal fast food chain like it’s a personality quiz. And yes, “gifts” are my love language. Don’t test me. I have a label maker.
DIY College Survival Kits That Don’t Suck
For in-person gifts, I swear by my go-to: the DIY College Survival Kit. I’ve made dozens of these over the years, and students always tell me they actually use the stuff inside. Dorms, apartments, off-campus housing—these kits fit any living situation.
Here’s how it works:
- Start with a shoebox-sized plastic bin (the kind with snap lids and side flaps. Trust me, they hold up better)
- Stock it with practical, low-cost items from Dollar Tree, Costco, or wherever you like to bulk shop
- Toss in some snacks, highlighters, and maybe a lint roller, because adulthood is weird
- Add a gift card or a bag of homemade cookies if you want to level up
Total cost: about $10-$15, depending on how fancy you get.
Total impact: massive, especially when they realize they need scissors at midnight and you already thought of that.
What Goes in a College Survival Kit (a.k.a. The Grad Gift That Actually Gets Used)
Here’s what I usually include in each kit and no, none of it is fancy. But it is exactly what a new grad will dig through when they suddenly need a lint roller and a snack.
The Essentials:
- Index cards (because in person speeches are still a thing)
- Lint roller (because adulthood = lint you never knew you had)
- Mini first aid kit or a few bandaids
- Individual drink mix packets (hydration but make it flavored)
- Granola bars or Rice Krispie treats (sugar solves everything)
- Small tissue pack (for sneezes or surprise homesickness)
- Scissors
- Pen and highlighter
- Tape
- Safety pins (you’ll be a hero, trust me)
- Command strip hooks (mount things like a grown-up)
- Stain remover wipes (because spaghetti)
- Gift card (Target, gas, fast food—you know the drill)
- Homemade cookies (because food is love)
Pro tip: Start grabbing items at the end of April and do an assembly line. You’ll have a neat stack of kits ready to roll when the graduation party circuit kicks off in May.
If your own kid is the honored grad, I’ve got a full Pinterest board stuffed with party planning tips, tricks, and probably a printable or two.
And yes, I know it’s weird to get this excited about graduation season. But I love all the pomp and circumstance, and once you hand out your first kit and get that “Whoa, this is actually useful” look, you’ll love it too.
Want a printable version of this list to take with you to the store or share with your grad-gifting crew?
Tape it to your fridge, stick it in your purse, or forward it to that friend who definitely hasn’t started shopping yet.
Kelly Brakenhoff is the author of 17 books and a seasoned ASL interpreter. She splits her writing energy between two series: cozy mysteries set on a college campus and children’s books featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.
In 2025, two of her children’s books were selected for the CBC Favorites Award Lists, honored by teachers and librarians nationwide for excellence in children’s literature. Parents, kids, and educators love the Duke the Deaf Dog books and activity guides because they introduce ASL and the Deaf community through engaging stories.
And if you enjoy a smart female sleuth, want to learn more about Deaf culture, or have lived in a place where livestock outnumber people, the Cassandra Sato Mystery series will have you connecting the dots faster than a group project thrown together the night before it’s due.
A proud mom to four adults, head of the dog-snuggling department, and grandma to a growing brood of perfectly behaved grandkids, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.