College Exam Care Package

My oldest child is finishing up his first semester in college and final exams will be starting in a few days. I had a last-minute thought that it would be nice to send him an exam care package. But then, the issue is, what to put in the care package and how to get it to him in time?

I ended up with this exam care package.  Once I found some ideas, it didn't take long to put together and I had fun shopping for the items to put in the box.

Search for Exam Care Package Ideas

I looked around on Amazon and there are lots of college care boxes available to be shipped with Prime so they will get there fast. So, even if you are totally last minute, Amazon can ship a package overnight!

Since I have a few days, I decided to make a box to ship via USPS Priority Mail.  By using one of their flat rate shipping boxes, it’s one price to ship no matter what weight is in the box.  The box itself is also free from USPS.  The idea of selecting the items for the box was also appealing.

Searching around the internet, there are some cute ideas of how to make a custom box and how to make it special.  Look at the end of this article for links to a bunch of different box ideas.

I came across a box by “The Downsized Life” and liked their ideas of putting scrapbooking paper and messages inside the flaps of the box. But they used sticker letters and came up with punny sayings for the items in the box. 

So, after looking at all of the boxes made by other people, I have an idea for my box.

Searching for Sayings and Puns

I am really no good at coming up with puns or cute sayings to put on items in the box.  Are you like me? 

So, my search continued to find a printable with cute sayings to put on the items in the box.  Etsy is always a great source for this, and the sellers there didn't let me down. I found a fun printable by Bellamy Designs Shop.  It comes with over 5 pages of sayings including 6 customizable cards. It’s only $4.99 and I thought that was a good price considering the time it would take me to make something like this up myself.

So, now I have ideas and sayings.  If you'd like to see a video about making this exam care package, click the link below to watch in YouTube. 

I decided to make my own printable for the box flaps instead of using the sticker letters.  I'm providing the printable download for FREE to you!  It includes several messages that can be used for the flaps so you can customize your box.  Get the link to the printable below in the "What you Need" section.

The message included in the Free Printable Download are

• Final Exams Suvival Box
• Exam Snack Attack Box
• Good Luck on Finals!
• You'll Do Great
• Hang in there... You've got this!
• You've got this!
• You rock!
• Sending lots of love! (and a few other things)
• Don't stress... do your best!

Using the printables and scrapbooking paper will make it quick to make up one of these boxes yourself.

What to Send in the Box

What items do you put in the box?  The Bellamy Designs shop has suggestions of what items go with each of their cute tags.  Look at the photos on the listing to see what goes with each tag.  Here are some of the ideas:

now & later candy	chex mix	twix candy	goldfish	100 grand candy
cookies	doritoes	airheads	airheads extremes	butterfinger candy
rice krispie treat	m&m's	bag of nuts	kit kat bar	smarties candy
whoppers	nerds	bag of chips	almond joy candy	energy bar
rolo's	hershey hugs & kisses	mounds candy	starburst candy	skor candy bar
tootsie rolls	granola bar	mints	good & plenty candy	gummy bears
reese's pieces	fast break candy bar	extra gum	sticky notes	lip balm
lottery ticket	gift card to favorite food	starbucks gift card

WHAT YOU NEED to make the finals care package:

• Medium or Large USPS Flat Rate Box (or other box)
• Scrapbook paper
• Printable for the Box Flaps Sayings
• Printable from Bellamy Designs Shop
• Items to put in the box.
• Scissors or Paper Cutter

INSTRUCTIONS for the exam care package

STEP 1: Print and cut out the cards and sayings

Select and print out two pages from the College Finals Survival Kit Printable to use for the box flaps.  We've provided several different messages to choose from.

Print the cards from the Bellamy Designs downloadable.

If you have a paper cutter, it makes cutting out the cards and scrapbook paper very fast.  Otherwise, use scissors to cut out the cards and around the sayings.

Select pieces of scrapbook paper and cut them to the size of the flaps.  Four pieces of scrapbook paper are used for the box.

STEP 2: prepare the shipping box

Use tacky glue or Elmer's Glue to adhere the scrapbook pages to the inside flaps of the box.

Next, glue the sayings to the flaps.  For the sayings, I used a glue stick but you can also use white glue for this step.

I placed some paper for a cushion at the bottom of the box.

STEP 3: tape sayings to items

Tape the sayings onto the purchased items.  Each cute saying corresponds to a specific candy bar or snack item.  If you are unsure about which sayings go with each item, look at the photos in the Bellamy Designs listing.

Below shows the items I included and the sayings for each.  I added a few extra items to my box of things I know my college student likes.

STEP 4: Place items in the box

Arrange the items in the box nicely and place some extra packing paper over the top to fill the remainder of the box.  This will help keep the items from shifting around too much during shipping.

STEP 5: Tape closed and address the box

Use shipping tape to close the box.  Tape well so it doesn't come open during shipping!

I like to create a label from the USPS site so I can just drop the box off at the post office.  To print a pre-paid shipping label, go to USPS.com and select "Send" and then "Click-n-Ship" from the site menus.  You will need a login to USPS site to create your own label.

As a bonus, you may be able to schedule a pickup and skip the trip to the post office!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this College Exam Care Package I sent to my college freshman and use it to make one for your own child or grandchild.