Community Corner
Graduation Gift Guide for the Thrifty Shopper
Don't know what to get your special graduate? Check out these gift ideas that are great for any budget.
Graduation season is upon us. If more than one of your friends and family members are walking the stage this year, buying presents for each graduate may seem daunting. But with a little creativity, you can find a special gift without breaking a sweat or your bank account.
Scrapbooks
A personalized scrapbook or photo album is a great gift. Choose from a selection of scrapbooks at in or in Union City, then fill it with high school memories. Great materials can also be found at Our Paper Place, a locally owned scrapbook store in Newark. If you don't have enough time to make a scrapbook yourself, give your graduate an empty one he or she can fill with pictures during the college years.
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Picture Frames
Give your graduate a picture frame and include a favorite photo of the two of you together. Purchase a metal frame at in and have it engraved.
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Gift Baskets
Fill a gift basket with both practical and frivolous items. If your graduate is going away to college, stock a laundry basket with soap, fabric softener and dryer sheets, then add items like a map of the new college town, a T-shirt or sweatshirt from that college or a collegiate throw blanket.
Edible Gifts
Does your graduate have a sweet tooth? Give custom-made chocolates he or she won't forget. Create personalized M&M's at http://www.mymms.com, and include your graduate's name, school colors, even a photo!
Reading Material
If the graduate is heading to college, choose from among the many college survival guides or a guide to the student's new city. A subscription to the graduate's hometown newspaper can ease homesickness; one for a newspaper in the town or city where he or she will attend college may help in acclimated to their new surroundings.
If he or she is looking for a first "grown-up" job after graduation, try a job-hunting book like the classic best-selling What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers or a book focusing on how to write an efficient resumé.
Does your graduate want to travel the world after commencement? Give him or her a guide to his or her top travel destination, or a book like 1000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List to spark some travel ideas.
