Hey Friends!
We can all agree it's been a wild year and a half defined by unprecedented events, cancellations, and changes. However, there are many really great things that have happened as well. We may have to think waaayyyy back there, but there's bound to be something.
In my life, we have been celebrating graduations! My brother graduated from high school, and my sister graduated from college. We were unable to have my brother's graduation ceremony & party until about a month ago so I thought I would share a little of the party planning process with y'all!
I LOVE to plan a party. Like love, love, love. Planning is my jam. And the planning process for this graduation ceremony and party was an epic event that started over a year ago. I had a list on my phone of different color themes, food, cakes, ideas, etc. we discussed off and on and really narrowed down the details a few months beforehand. My brother had few, albeit, VERY specific requests. The color theme was green and white, and it was to be simple. Nothing over the top. (Which promptly deflated the balloon arch I was mentally planning in my mind. I pushed hard, but confetti cannons were also declined...)
Check out out a few of the details below:
Centerpieces:
Centerpieces were the most difficult items to decide on. This party was very casual and very simple and, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit extra. My brother wanted no flowers or greenery. As we are big baseball fans, we ended up "tossing around" (see what I did there) the idea of incorporating baseball into the party theme, which ultimately led us to baseball centerpieces as shown below.
The containers came from Hobby Lobby & I painted them gray as shown. We cut Styrofoam sheets slightly smaller to fit inside the container and placed a piece of artificial turf (which you can buy a whole roll of on Amazon and cut to size) on top to resemble a baseball field. The foam elevates the baseballs a bit so they are visible from afar and not just sitting in the bottom of the container. Place a few baseballs inside, and Voila! The perfect centerpiece for a baseball fan! We also let the baseballs serve as a sign in for guests. We taped a note on the container that read "Please autograph a baseball", which was a huge hit! People enjoyed coming up with fun notes & messages for the grad!
Snow Cone Machine
Could we have rented a snow cone machine for the day? Yes. But, Amazon has everything, right? And now we can have snow cones on any day! I love a good snow cone, but I am also of the opinion that less mess is best. Which is why we used the snow cone machine to crush ice and fill a foam cooler just before party time. We filled up the squirt bottles (also from Amazon) with syrup and labeled the flavors accordingly. Guests could grab a cone, scoop some ice out of the cooler, and prepare their snow cone over the foil pan, leaving any messes contained in one disposable pan. And it was a hit. Again I say, less mess is best.
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Window Decorations
Okay, so this isn't the best photo, but you get the idea. The window decor was a late addition the the decorations. The building where we had the party had several big windows that I was afraid would look empty. Enter one of my many Hobby Lobby trips. I purchased a pack of medium sized blank canvases & picked out bible verses to write on them. My sister did the writing, and they looked amazing! We hung them on tension rods with fishing line to give the appearance of floating in every other window. The beautiful concept behind this is that the whole room and everyone in it was surrounded by the words of the Lord.
Party Favors
For party favors, we went with "One Smart Cookie" bags. We purchased several containers of chocolate cookies from Costco and stuffed them into plastic bags, sealed them up, and put a One Smart Cookie sticker on them. I found the stickers on Etsy, and they can be personalized with the name of your grad.
My brother was homeschooled so we had a small ceremony for him, and then, in true Texas fashion, had way too much barbeque. Ultimately, we could not have done it all without the help and support of our AMAZING family and friends!!! They are truly angels on the Earth.
I'm definitely no expert, but I enjoy sharing some party ideas! I also spent a lot of time on Pinterest and at Hobby Lobby & Party City.
I'm so grateful that we were all able to gather, celebrate, and realize how truly blessed we are after everything we have all experienced in the last year and a half. And I firmly believe God has a plan in it all.
Until next time,
XOXO
Shelby
And a later post will feature my sister's college graduation party. Three words. Cow. Print. Balloons.