Going Away Present

One of my friends got an awesome opportunity to move to Toronto for a year for a temporary job assignment. Although I was super excited for her, I was bummed she would be leaving. I racked my brain for a cute going away present, and this is what I came up with.

Materials needed: A bag or bundle of suckers, a piece of foam, a mug, some sort of stick (see below, I used a pen!), and paper. 

I decided to use one of the Starbucks "you are here" mugs. I would've gotten a Toronto mug, except it's impossible (maybe not impossible, but expensive) to get one of the mugs if you don't actually go to that city. Since her home was Chicago, I thought it was a good choice. I took the piece of foam that I got and cut it to fit in the mug.

Next I needed to find something to hold the sign that I made. I was not as prepared for this craft as I should've been, so I had to improvise.

I used a pen wrapped in washi tape since it was all I could find.

I stuck all the suckers and the pen into the foam. I tried to mess around with the spacing so that you couldn't see the foam. I used blow pops, but you could also use something like dum dums that may help hide the foam better! If you don't use blow pops you could change the phrase to "The fact that you're leaving totally SUCKS"

I printed a note and taped it to a piece of cardstock. 

I used a hot glue gun to attach the sign to the pen.

The result turned out super cute!

So, there you have it! A cute going away present that acts as a little reminder of home when dismantled. I highly recommend these Starbucks "You are here" mugs, but they may be difficult to find at this point.

Here is a version I made for a male co-worker who was leaving the company for a new position. I used all the same materials, except I used a cylindrical piece of foam and I actually got some craft sticks instead of using a pen ;)

Happy well-wishing!