Graduation Gift Ideas: Shortbread and More

It’s May, and you know what that means: graduations are upcoming! High schools and colleges around the country (and world) will soon be releasing a new class of graduates to go forth and conquer.

That means it’s also time to drum up some unique graduation gift ideas for students. Walker’s has your back. Finding the perfect gift can be tough, but we have some great ideas.

Walker’s Shortbread Graduation Gifts for Students

Walker’s Shortbread cookie gifts, tins, and gift bags, of course also make graduation gifts. Here are some of our top picks.

• Stag Icon Tin: Full of masculine vim and courage, the stag has long been a symbol of strength and courage for wayfarers, and what are graduates but intellectual travelers? Moreover, the stag is also symbolic of a spiritual journey or transformation. Altogether, these considerations make our Stag Icon Tin a thoughtful and highly symbolic gift tin for graduates, especially since the tin can be kept and reused (see our inspirational blog post for fun and useful ways to reuse Walker’s tins for ideas).

       

• Glenfinnan Viaduct Shortbread Tin: This gift tin showcases the likeness of one of the world’s most scenic train routes (also the inspiration for the Hogwarts Express, featured in the Harry Potter films). But, as a graduation gift, this Glenfinnan Viaduct Tin is a thoughtful offering because, like all lasting examples of civil engineering, it is a testament to hard work and dedication - like, no doubt, the student invested in their education.


• Gluten Free Gift Bag: Know a graduate that has gluten sensitivities or Celiac? Make a gift of our Gluten Free Gift Bag. Full of the rich, all-butter taste of Walker’s Shortbread, it makes a lovely token of appreciation, and comes with a reusable Walker’s tote.


• Simple Pleasures Gift Basket: This cookie gift basket is 56 ounces of all-butter bliss, and comes complete with assorted shortbread, rounds, fingers, chocolate chip shortbread, and vanilla shortbread. It makes a great graduation gift for anyone that’s a Walker’s fan (or who loves traditional shortbread!) and it comes with a large, reusable basket.

              



• Taste of Scotland Gift Basket: A Walker’s Taste of Scotland Gift Basket contains a cross section of the essence of Scotland, with Shortbread Rounds, Highlanders, along with Stem Ginger, Vanilla, and Salted Caramel & Milk Chocolate Chip Shortbread - and more. Also, like our other gift baskets, it comes with a reusable basket.


• Best Seller Assortment Gift Bag: Packed with Assorted Shortbread, Fingers, Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Rounds, Highlanders, and Vanilla Shortbread, our Best Seller Assortment Gift Bag is tough to beat, and contains just about everyone’s favorites. Who knows, the lucky recipient might just discover a new favorite - plus, it comes with a reusable bag!


• Afternoon Tea in a Box: Shortbread makes for a wonderful pairing with tea, and our Afternoon Tea in a Box contains not only a carefully curated selection of our finest shortbread, but comes complete with Twinings Teas - perfect for anyone that appreciates tea and the luxurious all butter taste of Walker’s.

           

Custom Diploma Cases

Personalized gifting can be hard, and often requires you to go back to the drawing board and think about the recipient’s dearest interests and pursuits.

However, custom diploma cases are a universally great gift idea for graduates. Whether the intended recipient will be leaving the stage with a GED, a bachelors in liberal arts, or a JD, he or she will be carrying a diploma.

Which makes customized/personalized diploma cases excellent graduation gift ideas, pretty much across the board. Many can be customized with names, dates, potentially even school names, courses of study, and more. Some may even be configurable with inset slots for pictures, or with dedicated spaces for the graduation tassel.

Personalized Jewelry

Personalized jewelry makes a great gift for students of all ages. Engraved with years, dates, school names, and more, personalized bracelets, necklaces, and even rings can be excellent graduation gifts.

Personalized Picture Frames

A close second to a custom diploma case, it’s hard to beat a personalized picture frame with a date. You might also choose to have the frame printed or engraved with the name of the student, the school, the course of study, or with a favored inspirational quote.

Whether or not you choose to include the picture is up to you - it might be better to let the student choose it for him or herself!

A Customizable Travel Map

After graduation, many students get their desire to travel out of the way. Some estimates suggest that more than half of all young adults are frequent travelers. This makes a customizable travel map - complete with pins to mark their destinations, a unique and particularly thoughtful, not to mention a dynamic, gift.

Travel Bags

High-quality travel bags from RIMOWA, Paravel, Samsonite, Tumi, and Away (to name just a few) also make great graduation gifts for students that love to travel - customized or not!

Luggage tags are another great gift for travelers, and are a great add-on to travel bags. High-quality luggage tags made from metal, leather, or silicone are durable and  help keep travelers organized, with their personal belongings clearly marked and identifiable.

Portable Power Banks

This is another gift that makes a great gift for travelers, but is by no means restricted to them! Portable power banks are highly utilitarian and thoughtful gifts for just about anyone in this fast-paced modern world we all live in now, especially to be plugged in 24/7 for their post graduate employment. A portable power bank will provide an extra charge on the road.

Engraved Bookends

It hardly matters what the student’s course of study was - engraved or otherwise customized bookends make a generally thoughtful and practical gift. Even for students that don’t have particularly full-fledged libraries, they can make unique shelf or desk decorations, particularly when made of steel billet, glass, crystal, brass, marble, or some other high-quality material. Plus, they’ll look great in the background of your home office, especially if you work remotely and join a lot of meetings on Zoom!

Flowers: with a Personalized, Commemorative Vase

Flowers are a classic graduation gift, but if you want to give something that will never fade or wilt, present the flowers in a customized vase, engraved with the recipient’s name and their date of graduation, if not also with the institution’s name or motto for a gift that can last a lifetime.

Better Graduation Gifting Starts Here!

Hopefully you found some unique gift ideas for students in this brief guide and are going to top off the whole package with something sweet - a pack of all-butter Walker’s Shortbread, or better yet, a whole cookie gift tin or basket.

Whatever you ultimately choose, make the memories bright, and congratulations to you and your loved ones. The road to graduation is never easy and should be celebrated.