Classmates who move overseas won't forget you or their home with these handmade mementos
Scrapbook
This is a visual collection of you and your friend's time together. For this, you will need a blank notebook in which to stick photos, drawings, movie tickets and so on. If your friend has a soft spot for any cartoon characters, be sure to get them a notebook with that character.
For the main content, put in lots of photos - and sticky pics - of you and your friends. You can also stick in show tickets, or any other memorabilia that remind you of times with your friend. Add in captions and blessings. You can also add some postcards from Ocean Park or the Peak, so your friend has a piece of their homeland wherever they go.
Storybook
This is a more literary collection of memories.
Here you can record how you met and what you have done. Write about your impressions of your friend, express your support and give advice.
Prepare a notebook; pick one with a cover that you can write a title on. Don't get a big one. For example, get a small notebook with a wooden cover so you can draw on it with coloured pencils. Prepare some photos as well.
Because this is a story, it is better to lay it out in chapters. Find a few friends to complete this with you. For each chapter, include at least one picture of you and your friend together.
Write about the purpose of the book in a prologue at the beginning.
Signed T-shirt
To show your friend how much they will be missed, get their school uniform and ask your other friends to sign it, using a black permanent marker.
Plant
Plant a seed in a pot of soil and give it to your friend to grow.
Get a card to go with the plant. It can serve as a birth certificate for this friendship plant.
Stationery shop Kelvin Collections offers a card and seed pack that make this gift easier to put together. The seeds grow in wet cotton, and the pack includes growing instructions.
Cuddly toy
If you have deft hands, warm your friend's heart on a cold winter day overseas by making a stuffed teddy bear.
Easy-to-use kits can be bought at Jusco. First, take the wool from the pack and cut out shapes for the head, the arms, the legs and the body. Stuff each part with cotton. Then stitch them together.
You can find detailed instructions in the kits.
Give the teddy bear a little card to hold, and dress it in doll clothes.