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You know what isn’t fun for most kids? Going back to school. I have racked my brain and tried to think of something, but there is just nothing that beats that elation of summer, then borderline depression of going back to school. Schools have tried to ease into it (starting the week on a Thursday so kids won’t get overwhelmed, half day Friday), but really, can you just “ease” into skimming the 3 novels you forgot to read while you were making s’mores and getting your swim on?

Since around 1810, German parents and grandparents have tried to help by creating a schultüten. Schultüten, or back to school cone in English, is a sort of anxiety-easer for kids on their first day of school. Here’s an awesome vintage picture of a little Hans with his schultüten:

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I made some for my cousins who have just begun their school years!

One for Ian, who is going to be in 4th grade, and one for Jen, who will be in her 3rd year of college.

I wanted to make two with a lot of differing factors: age, gender, grade levels, maturities (wait, no, neither of them, or anyone else in my family, has matured past seven! We like it this way.). So, I put a little bit of everything in there.

Let’s start with the little one’s cone o’ wonders. I love my little cousin. He tastes are similar to mine in that he also likes doodling, aliens and jokes about boogers and farts. Apparently some people grow out of those things? Anyway, that makes it super-easy to put my head to the task of figuring out what he would like. So I filled his cone with fun pencils (if I had more time, I would have ordered some with his name on them), a drawing book that uses your fingerprint as the base for doodles, a little playtoy, some granola bars and a reusable plastic cup (the cone, in this case) to use for his after-school granola (or cookies!) and milk.

For the older cousin, I have a lot of ideas, but haven’t been able to hunt down everything yet, so this one is a Polyvore set:

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bathtub tea, neuro sleep/sonic, lavender aromatherapy candle, “i can’t sleep journal” for late night insomnia, Field Notes mini notebook for people watching, magnesium vitamins (magnesium helps regulate sleep) and lucha libre key covers for her new apartment. It’s all housed in a reusable shopping tote! Also a letter from me, telling her how much I miss her and how when she needs a break to call me up and we shall escape to my favorite candy shop smeeks!