16th Birthday Gift Idea and Card Design

My son’s 16th birthday was around the corner. Unfortunately, I started illustrating the card just three days before. I’ve had times where a design comes together smooth like butter. But for this one, it took a few iterations. I knew I wanted a car theme since he’ll be old enough to drive (but doesn’t have his license yet). And this is also a card for a guy, so I can’t make a cutesy design. If you look at the cards on this website, that’s why I like to do! So this presented a challenge for me.

I started sketching a road trip scene, with a car looking out the dashboard to the open road. Then I added “You’re Old Enough To Drive Now”. Finally, I added a couple road signs, one said “Speed Limit 16” as a subtle reference to the age.

Then it hit me. Really? Was he really that old? Where did the time go? I couldn’t believe he was already turning sixteen.

Once I finished the design I printed it. But I wasn’t happy with the result.

The text was too far down. Then too much black and gray colors, it created a dark vibe. I wanted it to be more festive, it’s a birthday card after all celebrating an important milestone! Back to the drawing board.

I thought of how I could brighten the mood of the card. I lightened the black and gray. Then I removed the road signs and placed colorful billboards. I also changed the font.

This version was an improvement. But it still didn’t feel “done”. I went ahead and gave this one to my son. The inside says “You went from 0 – 16 in no time flat!”.

I also wrote a note of how proud we were of him, how far he’s come and what he’s accomplished. Hopefully he’ll save it and have something to look back on.

Putting together the gift

With the card done, I started to think about a gift. It definitely was going to have a car/driving theme. So, I searched Amazon for ideas. What came up were mugs and t-shirts. What kid wants that? Lame.

I brainstormed and came up with the following items for my gift: (these are not affiliate links and I don’t get a commission for it)

• Bumper Sticker. You’ve seen theme everywhere – Student Driver Please Be Patient. There are a ton of choices on Amazon. The one I picked has “…And Screaming Parent”.
• Piggy bank that says “New Car Fund”.
• Resqme car escape tool. This is a practical item that allows you to cut a seat belt or break a card window, in event you find yourself stuck in the car.
• Toy Model Car. We don’t have the money to buy a new car. But I know my son wants a truck. He can set this on model car his desk as a reminder to work towards the goal of getting one. And I can always say that I gave him a car on his birthday 🙂

Other items I wanted include, and didn’t have time to get:

• Sunglasses
• Car shaped chocolates or candies
• Water bottle
• Trash can for car
• Keychain
• Prayer coin asking God for protection on the road
• Extra cash to keep in the glove compartment, in the event of emergencies

I ordered the bumper sticker, model truck and escape tool from Amazon. They had piggy banks but it wouldn’t arrive in time. So, I trekked off to Michael’s to get one. Then I got stickers to decorate with.

Once I had everything, I packaged it into a large box. I couldn’t find any car-themed snacks or candy, so just threw some mints and gum into the mix.

Now I was ready with card and gift. My son requested the giant donut from Texas Donuts, so we created a two layer with candles on top.

Overall it turned to be an enjoyable birthday. If I had planned more ahead of time, I could’ve gotten other things for his car-themed gift.

A few days later I took a look at my card design. It’s usually good to walk away for a while, then come back and look at things with fresh eyes.  I wondered “How would it look if I change the car color from gray to orange?”

Then I started to draw balloons tied to the billboard, and a cute bird perched on top. But then I remembered “This is for a boy! No cutesy designs!”. Sigh. I erased them.

Here is the final result, I’d say it’s done. I did sneak in a cutesy element – the license plate on the car says “6TEEN”.

16th birthday greeting card for teen boys

Although this card was created for a 16th birthday, I could also see it being used for something with a road trip theme. You have the open road, view of the horizon. You never know what’s around the corner, what’s ahead. It can be easily customized for that sort of occasion.

If you read this far – thanks! What do you think of the design? Got any 16th gift ideas to share? Chime in below.