The Graduation Party

We had a graduation party here Saturday for this gal.  There was a ton of food, and everyone seemed to enjoy the celebration.  I thought you might like to see some of the photos and details from the party.

My ever-obsessing-with-details self needed a theme for this event…looked at waaaay too many ideas on line.  I finally decided it needed to be a “school” theme (real original for a graduation party, huh?).  Martha Stewart’s site seemed to have the most do-able ideas, so look there if you ever need inspiration for a celebration of this kind.  It was my springboard.

I set up this table in the greatroom/living room (whatever you want to call it room).  Obviously it had various photos of my daughter, a stack of children’s books, a jar full of Smarties, pencils and pens, a chalkboard, chalk, and a notebook. The chalkboard directed guests to leave a note for the graduate in the notebook.

 I used the front half of my daughter’s thank you notes as the label on the cover. She is going to use the notebook as a graduation scrapbook – taping the cards that she receives inside.

Now to the food…..

As I said, the theme for this was “school” so I found plates that looked like school lunch trays – complete with “milk” imprinted in one of the compartments.  (By the way, my oldest son did not pick up on the theme, and commented to his younger brother, “Aren’t these plates a little cheap looking for Mom?”  Little brother then informed him of all the school decor around the room…)

I rolled up the flatware in white cloth napkins tied with a black ribbon to look like diplomas, and I tried to include some foods that would be typical of school lunches (and yet be tasty).

Here was the menu:

Little brother also informed me that if the schools had served this kind of meal when he was there he would have eaten in the school lunchroom more often. ha ha. Here is another view of the table (before the baked beans were put in their serving dish.)

I thought the centerpiece for the table turned out nicely….lucky to find all those daisies at our local Walmart.  I cut some leaves from one of the holly trees in our yard to mix in with the flowers for a little greenery.

The globes came from the boys’ bedroom.  I used an old rectangular vase for the pencils.  The yearbooks also belonged to our sons, and  I stole the pencil sharpener from the study.  My favorite part of the arrangment was the Jones Soda box that I covered with parts of my daughter’s graduation invitation.  She loves the cream soda, so the box will be a neat memento for her to keep from the party.

We used the island for the drink serving area.

And this old cabinet worked well for our desserts.

My mother made the rice krispies treats. (Thanks Mom!) A friend of mine made the brownies. (Thanks Paulette!) My niece had an oreo stacked “cake” as the groom’s cake at her wedding last fall, and I thought it would be a neat thing to have for this party.  So I had the fun of snacking…I mean stacking the oreos on the cake stand.  That was about as fancy as it got for this celebration.  (While I am thanking folks, thank you Julie and Sandy for letting me borrow a few of your serving pieces!)

The grad with her gift from us.

And one last check in the mirror before she left for the commencement ceremony.  She and I both think that the person who designed graduation caps must have been bald.  How in the world is your hair supposed to look good when you wear those things on your head??

 Happy graduation.