Graduation Gift

My family and I attended a graduation party on Saturday for my husband's cousin's son (say that three times fast!), Thomas.  He's a great kid, and we enjoy visiting with him and his family whenever we get the chance.  We brought a gift for him, of course.  Can you guess what it was?!  Money!

What newly-graduated teenager doesn't want money?!

I wanted to do something a little special though instead of just handing him the cash and saying, "Here" so I started thinking about some different, more unique ways of giving him money.  While I was looking around on the internet I kept coming across various quotes, relating to graduation.  Several examples:

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
- Milton Berle

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland

“I hope your dreams take you... to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known.”
- Author Unknown

“Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”
- George Bernard Shaw

I started thinking about how I could maybe use some of these quotes and this is what I came up with:

Supplies:

Jar
computer
$1 bills

I purchased a jar from Walmart for $5.84 and picked up 30 $1 bills from the bank.  You could put any amount of money in the jar but you might want to purchase a smaller or larger jar, depending on how much money you want to give in your gift.

I then searched the internet for more quotes, printing each of them out on regular paper but each with a different font and style.  I wanted every quote to look different.

I cut out each quote and then began rolling them like little certificate scrolls.  I also rolled the dollar bills.

This is what they looked like.

I then placed them into the jar, alternating between the quotes and bills.  I ended up with a present that looked compact and elegant, without just being the standard cash inside of a card.

I don't think there's anything wrong with money in a card and, in fact, Thomas probably would have appreciate that just as much as he did this, but I felt better giving him something that felt a little bit special.

Congratulations, Thomas!