Want an easy DIY back to school gift? Make my you are awesome back to school gift created in partnership with Gift Card Mall.
Back To School is here. It is undeniable. And as a parent you likely fall into one of three categories:
- You’re singing “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” at the top of your lungs.
- You’ve got your pouty lip out in protest of the end of summer.
- You’re wishing for endless summer but also slightly excited and terrified that your formerly tiny human is headed to school.
Hand raised extra high for category three. Which of course means I like to put positive vibes around back to school even if my feelings are a bit mixed. Therefore I present my You Are Awesome Back To School Gift. Super easy to make and very fun to receive.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- A set of markers, crayons or pencils. I used these fun scented markers.
- My printable for the flags and pencil box cover
- A small pencil box
- String
- Scissors
- Tape
- Glue stick
- A gift card from Gift Card Mall. You know, the big gift card area in your local grocery store or online. I used a Toys R Us gift card for this project.
I knew a Toys R Us gift card would be the ultimate for Kayla because…hello! She’s seven.
You can download the “You Are Awesome” printable here and the little individual words here. Once you print them you can cut them out. It only takes a few minutes and I left you a couple of choices on how you word it. Of course you can always come up with your own wording and forego the printable.
I glued the ” You Are Awesome” piece on to the pencil case with a glue stick. Next you’ll want to tie your markers together with the string. It’s a simple process and goes quickly. I left about six inches of string between each marker to allow them to be positioned in the box with leeway but didn’t actually measure my string, I’m all about eyeballing things.
Next you simply take some small pieces of tape and stick your little flags onto the markers, pencils, crayons or whatever it is you’re using. I ended with the gift card.
As you put these into the pencil case you start with the gift card and work your way backwards until you get to the first word. This way your child will pull out the markers in order and find the special surprise at the end.
To say that Kayla was excited about the Toys R Us gift card is an understatement. Like most kids, while she can be a handful to us as her parents she is a totally different child at school. Incredibly studious, rule abiding, self-motivated and hard working. While I’m not the kind of parent to laud her every accomplishment and tell her she is smart on a daily basis, I believe strongly in acknowledging special moments and achievements and giving her confidence to start the year.
So this gift card was the perfect way to tell Kayla I’m so proud of how she finished out last year and excited for her to start this year. We have a mutual understanding that when she gets a gift card it’s hers to decide how to budget, spend and evaluate if something is a good value and an item she will care about in a week or a month. A lesson in itself. My job is to zip it with the exception of confirming her math. Also a lesson in itself.
Gift Card Mall has a ton of gift card options including Toys R Us like our gift card as well as others like XBOX, VISA gift cards and Fuel Everywhere VISA gift cards. Whether you’ve got a second grader like me or a child heading off to college, there is bound to be one (or five) that would make their day!
