Happy Graduation "Smarties"

I know a couple of kids graduating from high school this year.  It's a fun, momentous occasion that deserves a special gift.  I'm not one to give practical gifts like towels and mattress pads.  And God forbid I stick a gift card in an envelope.  Nope, it must require ribbon, scissors, glue and since I write a food blog, some kind of food.  Candy of course.  Kids love candy.  I saw this idea a while back and knew I wanted to do something similar to it.  It's recycled, clever, and best of all can be customized for any graduate from Kindergarten to College. 

This is what I came up with. 
I actually made two of them
One for a boy and one for a girl. 
They attend the same high school
so I was able to use the same colors
of ribbon for accent.

I originally saw this idea on Crissy's Crafts Blog. 
I want to give her full credit
for the idea and inspiration. 
Be sure and check out her blog.
She's very talented and has lots of great ideas,
especially if you like to upcycle objects
that might otherwise
get thrown away.

The materials I used were a tube
that a decorative wine glass came in. 
(I just couldn't bear to throw it out.
Crissy used a paper towel tube
that she decorated with graduation-themed
tissue paper, which was a great idea.
I just happened to have a couple
of these wine glass tubes waiting
for the perfect crafty project.)
Black gift wrap, double sided tape,
Smarties of course, ribbon to tie around
the "Smarties Diplomas," ribbon to decorate
the tube (in the graduate's school colors),
scissors, and print outs from the computer bearing Congratulations.

Crissy was gracious enough to provide the print outs on her blog for the
"diploma wrappers."  I was extremely grateful for this,
because I was too tired to
figure out the measurements myself!

I used my paper cutter to cut the wrappers
for the Smarties.  Wrap each package of Smarties
in a wrapper and tie with ribbon
to look like a diploma.  (This will take a while,
so find something to watch on tv.) 
I used black and orange ribbon,
their high school colors.  Get these done and
set aside until you are ready to fill the tube.

Wrap the tube in paper. 
Use the double-sided tape
to help hide the seam.

When you get to the bottom
of the tube, cut small slits
all the way around. 
This will help them fold evenly to
the bottom of the tube.

Work your way around,
adhering each little section.

When you are finished,
the bottom of the tube should
look something like this.

Cover that mess by sticking
on a circle of wrapping
paper cut to fit. For the top of the tube,
just cut little slits the same way
and adhere them to the interior
of the tube. 

Cover the lid in a similar way. 
Start by making a circle
a little larger than the lid. 
Adhere it down and cut little
tabs to make the folding neater and easier.

Work your way all around the
sides of the lid, sticking the
little tabs down.

Cut a strip of paper the width of the side of the lid
and adhere in place to cover the sides and make
them look neat.

In addition to the "Smarties Diplomas,"
I wanted to add a little something else
to the gift tubes.  I had these pictures
made of the graduates.  I got the pictures from
their Facebook pages, and designed
the mock magazine covers at Walgreens.com 
in the photo department.   I was able to do
all of this online, and then pick the prints up
later at my local Walgreens store. 
There was also an option to have
the pictures mailed to me, but I didn't want
to pay the shipping. 
AND I like instant gratification, so I
wanted to pick them up right away.

I slipped the magazine photo
into a little protective sleeve
before placing it in the tube.

I rolled it up and slipped it inside the tube. 
Then I added the piles of Smarties
wrapped to look like diplomas.
(Don't you just love the lapboard
my friend Sandy made me? 
That's what you see in the background. 
She made it for me last year after my car wreck.  |
It has been a life saver. I use
it almost daily.)

Decorate the outside of the tube
any way you'd like.  I simply wrapped the tube in ribbon and adhered a computer print out that said,
"Congratulations Class of
2011 Smartie." 
So cute! 

Again, thank you to Crissy of Crissy's Crafts blog  for the cute idea!