DIY College Care Package Idea

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College can be a scary time for freshman or anyone transferring into the four-year university model. What better way to soften the transition than with a DIY care package?

I am modeling this off of my own college care package that my aunt gave me for my first quarter of college almost twenty years ago.

Twenty……..

I think she ordered the decorated paint can through a vendor at an art show or market.

Either way, it was a very thoughtful gift that was full of cute items and some essentials.

What You’ll need….

• One gallon paint can
• Glue Adhesive
• Yarn to Decorate the handle and lid (school colors are a bonus)!
• Multipurpose Scissors
• Scrapbook paper
• Construction Paper
• Cardstock
• Alphabet Stencils
• 3D Stickers
• Goodies to fill your paint can

Decorating Your Paint Can

When you have all of your aesthetic ingredients, you can get focused on the layout of how you would like to decorate the paint can.

Start by tracing the stock paper and construction paper with the wanted stencil.

For example, You could stencil someone’s initials and their college letters.

From there, you can get really creative.

The background of the can can have scrapbook paper as the initial background.

Scrapbook paper tends to have really fun prints, and you can really personalize it with the print that reminds you of the person you are gifting it to.

Next, once you have your basics mapped out and cut out, start gluing.

Finish with tying on string to the paint can lid’s handle.

Filling Your Paint Can

I love this part.

This is where you can get really creative.

Here are some things I think could be really neat to put into the can.

For reference, mine had like twenty dollars or more worth of quarters for laundry. I think I had enough quarters for my entire first year of school.

Calling cards to call long distance. IYKYK (1-800-COLLECT…..).

Today, you could probably just put a burner phone in there or an amazon gift card.

Socks.

A cute game.

A fanny pack for campus errands.

An amazon or coffee gift card.

Silk pillow cases.

A planner.

Good Luck Care Bears Pens.

And a Spa Headband.

Get creative.

The dollar store is also a great place to get a deck of playing cards and fun weird fillers like candy or snacks.

Let me know if you make and send one in the comments.

xx

Nikita