Graduation Gift Ideas

Today, I want to talk about what’s taking up a lot of space in my head these days…graduations!

Over the last couple of years with graduations becoming a more regular thing in our house, I’ve reached out asking you all if you had favorite gift ideas. Typically, we have tried to come up with a gift we can give to both our boys and girls when they pass through one of these milestones. For example, in 8th grade, we gave our kids a phone. For high school graduation, the kids get a laptop to take to college. For college, we’ve bought them their class rings (I think Notre Dame is unusual in that most kids get and actually wear their class rings).

When I asked, you all had so many wonderful ideas graduation gift ideas and many of you asked for me to please share them. So here they all are, in no particular order.

Gift Ideas

A family heirloom or a piece of heirloom jewelry that is repurposed specifically for your graduate
Signet ring (a number of you said that Lake Forest Jewelers has a lovely selection)
A custom-made flag or football from your graduate’s school
Monogram ring from Therese Crowe Design
Strand of real pearls
A nice watch
A quality necklace that can be worn everyday
Personalized stationery (the notecards from Fiore Press are so special)
One-on-one vacation with your graduate
College or sorority-themed jewelry
A pendant necklace or earrings with school colors or birthstone
A designer work tote or sleek backpack
A leather portfolio for a notepad (I ordered this for my nephew and it shipped so quickly and was packaged very nicely)
Charm bracelet
Any piece of jewelry with engraved message on underside
A piece of artwork (I personally love pieces from Joey Hartman, Katie Brickman and Kristi Kohut)
A piece of artwork showcasing something local by Mark McMahon
Open a Charles Schwab account or something similar
A Tervis cup with the college logo of the one they’re attending (like those sold at Initial Choice in Lake Forest) with gift cards for Uber and their food places of choice