Graduation Party....DONE!

We had J1's graduation party this past Sunday. Whew!! It was a lot of work and anticipation! Today, we are feeling like we can now look forward to the rest of the summer and the new school year. I could not even think about curriculum until after the party was over. It was also hard to blog about anything! Graduation planning was numero UNO. I'm actually excited to sit down and start investigating curriculum choices now.
Today I spent the whole day gardening! What a joy! I've missed it terribly!

I thought I'd share some of the ideas we used for the graduation party. I wish I took more pics. (something I need to remember to do at J2's party)
We decided to have a backyard BBQ theme. I scoured the internet for ideas and thankfully found some at Hostess With the Mostess.
She had found some great ideas for having a gourmet hot dog bar which J1 really liked. I was able to download all the printables for free.
It was 92 degrees on Sunday so we set up all the food in our sunroom.

Then I found desert table ideas from Paisley Petal Events which lead me to
Frog Price Paperie
I purchased her 2011 graduation set on her Etsy site in black and red.
I wish I had found her sooner because I did'nt have much time for all the cutting!
I think it still turned out wonderful!

Also, I stole an idea from Thoughtfully Simple ....her leave a note idea.

I bought a cookie jar from Target and cut peices of twine for people to tie their notes up like a diploma.
Finally, Creations From My Heart inspired my centerpieces.

Almost everything to put hese together was from the dollar store except the chalk boards (Jo Ann Fabrics) and the buckets (Hobby Lobby for $1.20 clearance). I filled the buckets with play sand, hot glued everything onto dowels, and stuck them right into the sand. The weight of the sand kept the table clothes in place. (Yes, even though it was 92, we had a breeze)
I would recommend if you use the candy idea and it's hot out the day of your party...take it out! We had milk dud mush!

Hope you enjoyed the pics...I'm heading back to the garden!