Know a Grad? These Easy College Gift Bags Only Cost Reader Michelle $3.50 Each to Make!

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More Happy Friday

gift bags with flip flops and monogrammed towels

Attn: parents, relatives, friends, or anyone who knows a grad.

This week’s Happy Friday idea comes in from Hip2Save reader, Michelle, and she put together some cute and easy graduate gift bags for only $3.50 each!

flip flops with university logos

Thank you for the $1 flip flop deals! I made these cute flip flops for some high school seniors. I cut out the university logo using heat transfer vinyl and just heat pressed them into the heel.

towels with custom embroidered names

I am coupling these “shower shoes” with an embroidered bath towel with their name for a nice grad gift!! I picked up the towels at JCPenney with a $10 off of $10 coupons (with the help of my husband and daughter). Each towel cost about $2.50.

line of assembled graduation gift bags

Total cost for each grad gift was $3.50! I am so excited to give these away! Thanks, Hip2Save!!


What a thoughtful gift!

Not only is this college-ready gift bag such a sweet gesture, but we also love that Michelle upgraded her frugal finds with personalized touches. What a fun way to send those recent grads off to college.

Thanks for sharing your adorable gift idea, Michelle!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Do you have a funny, “Hip”, or unique photo or tip to share?! Fill out our Happy Friday form. Every Friday, we post one photo, submitted by a Hip2Save reader (view past submissions) that gives us a glimpse into their frugal lifestyle or simply makes us smile. If your photo is published on Hip2Save, we’ll email you a $10 Amazon e-card!


Submit your Happy Friday post HERE!

Want to recreate this yourself? Check out where to get the cheapest flip flops!


About the writer:

Emily obtained her Bachelor's degrees from Clarkson University with 5 years of content writing experience specializing in health, beauty, fashion, home, & living frugally. Connect with Emily on LinkedIn


Join The Discussion

Comments 39

  1. markiesluv

    Such a great idea Michelle!! Those shower shoes are awesome and the monogram towel will help with the disappearing act of their towels that sometimes happens at college! LOL! You rock!

    • Michelle

      Thank you for your kind words! 😊

  2. SJ

    How creative and super cute!

    • Michelle

      Thank you! I am so happy you like the idea!

  3. Sandy

    Awesome gift idea!! Nice work!

    • Michelle

      Thank you, I am so excited to give them away!

  4. Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

    I love your gifts Michelle!! Great work ❤️🙌

    • Michelle

      Thank you, Lina! You are the queen of fun, frugal gifts! 💕

  5. sara

    I love this!!

    • Michelle

      Thank you😬

  6. K80

    Love it! I always envy people who can be soo easily creative. Such a unique idea but also simple and not pretentious. Nothing beats the feeling of a cool gift that everybody who sees it talks about. This IS that gift… 👍👍

    • Michelle

      Thank you, this made my day! ❤️

  7. Angelica

    Did you get them embroidered or did you do it yourself?

    • Michelle

      I embroidered the towels myself!

      • Evan

        What did you use to embroider the towels if you don’t mind sharing. Thanks!
        This is super! I’m looking for ProGrad gifts & this would be a winner!

        • Michelle

          Hi Evan, I have a Pfaff Creative 2144 sewing machine that I purchased 15 years ago. Still works great! Maybe you could find a used machine. Otherwise, you could find a local embroidery place that would embroider a name onto your towel for less than $10. Just an idea to check out.

  8. shelly

    Michelle, what brand of vinyl transfers did u use? I know some are not that good. Are these ones I can pop into an inkjet printer or are these cricut ones? Thank you!! Love your idea!!

    • Michelle

      I use siser easyweed HTV. I cut it with my silhouette cameo. Super easy. Just heat press for 10 seconds, doesn’t require a lot of pressure. Hope this helps!

      • Mel

        Super cool idea. What do you use to heat press?

        • Michelle

          You can use an iron or a heat press. I have a heat press that I bought on Craigslist, but I know cricut has a craft press that is reasonable. For this small project an iron would be just fine.

  9. Tina

    How creative! And useful!

    • Michelle

      Thank you!

  10. Shirl

    How perfect! Great job!

    • Michelle

      Thank you for the sweet comment!

  11. Gisette

    Love this idea!

    • Michelle

      Thank you!

  12. Mimi

    Such a great idea and something they will use daily!

    • Michelle

      I sure hope they use them! Thank you!

  13. Patti Smith

    Wow, so very impressed! You did a super job, thanks for sharing!

    • Michelle

      I am glad you like them! It was a fun project!

  14. Dawn

    These are gifts that will get used again and again. I love personalized embroidered towels!

    • Michelle

      Me too! Thank you!

  15. Tammy

    This is so creative. Love your personal touches on these. It adds so much!

    • Michelle

      You are so sweet, thank you!😊

  16. Angela V.

    Wow, these turned out great! You are so creative! The towels would make an awesome wedding gift too! 🙂

    • Michelle

      Yes, I have made these towels for wedding gifts too! They are also great for birthday gifts at any age!

  17. Katherine

    I don’t have a way to embroider but I can use my cricut for the flip flops. What would be something else that I could make that is inexpensive to go along with some flip flops?

    • Michelle

      You could personalize a make-up bag, or a laundry basket. If you find a towel that has a non-loop stripe, you could use HTV to personalize instead of embroidery. Or personalize a pillowcase using flocked HTV. I have also made university logo car window stickers using Oracal 651 adhesive vinyl. Or customize a small dry erase board for them to hang on their dorm room door.

      • Katherine

        Wonderful ideas. Thanks so much.

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