By:  Tiffny Hagan, Happy Thought Books  

It’s Springtime! This time of year, we love to celebrate our student’s special accomplishments, prepare our high school seniors for graduations, and commemorate their journey as they head into the next chapter.  With those milestones, parents often look for a meaningful keepsake to give our children. Below are some great gift options for parents to create those keepsakes without having to be super crafty or eloquent with their words.  

Photobooks are a great way to showcase favorite photos of your student in the activities they participated in, fun times with friends and family and special birthdays. Photobooks from companies like Shutterfly or Snapfish are an easy project parents can assemble online. With different choices for size and style, parents can reminisce while selecting favorite photos for their custom book.  

If you’re feeling even a little crafty, scrapbooks are a fun and personal gift. Searches of online sites like Amazon and Etsy even produce kits complete with album pages, stickers, photo holders and pens. Affix favorite photos, a playbill from a musical the student starred in, and even bulkier items like a graduation tassel. You can even add a handwritten note for that extra personal touch. 

Another option is to create a personalized memory book that is part journal and part scrapbook. These unique books do not require a lot of work for the parent and they are the perfect way to gather words of encouragement, along with love and advice, from family and friends. You can start your creation online by uploading a favorite photo and then when the book is delivered, offer friends and family members a page from the book to share a special message with the graduate. Collect the pages and add them back into the book and you have a meaningful keepsake to give. 

Celebrating our high school seniors and commemorating their journey as they head into the next chapter is important. It’s a milestone for them. From here, they get to move into the world to decide what it is they want and who they want to be. A meaningful keepsake from their parents is the perfect way to show them how much they are loved and to remind them of the impact they’ve already had on the world.