Graduation Craziness!!!!

Our youngest graduated high school last year, with HONORS, no less!!! Proud mama here! It's kind of sad to see her grow up but I am so happy she is doing so well.

We threw her a simple graduation party at a beautiful nearby park. It overlooks the lake and there was a TON of room for the volleyball and horseshoes we set up. The day turned out perfectly, thank you, God! It was sunny and warm but there was a lovely breeze that kept most of the flies away from the food and the bees away from our guests.

I made all of the decorations and most of the food. I planned and prepared all of the games and basically wore myself the heck out!!! But my daughter had a blast, everyone who came said they had a great time and the food was a hit, so it was worth it!!!

Anyone who knows me knows I DON'T DO SIMPLE. I never have, and never will... so I had to do it up right! Money is tight these days, so I had to figure out ways to cut corners. But I don't think it affected the end result too much.

Yes, I'm taking a moment to pat myself on the back... after all, if I don't do it, who will??? LOL It was a TON of work but I am proud of myself for the way everything turned out. I wish I had taken these pics with all of the foods and such at the time of the party but I was so insanely busy I never thought to take any. Oh well, such is life. So I'll just show you what I can now...

Hot Dog Bar

We had a hot dog bar, per my daughter's request. You have to imagine all of those little labels each behind a small bowl of that condiment. It took up a whole HUGE table! It was a LOT of work to make all the signs and labels, and then to set it all up, along with the other dishes and dessert. 

My Mom, Mom-In-Law and myself made lots of yummy side dishes & desserts. Hubby and my Dad cooked up the dogs and some burgers too. I was SO thankful for everyone's help!!!

I didn't really get to socialize at all at the party *insert sad face* but it was for Baby Girl so I didn't mind.

Cupcake Stand

For the first time EVER, I made my own frosting!!! And it even turned out great! I piped them on some homemade cupcakes.

I also made the cupcake stand. Found the idea on Pinterest (of course!). I cut some cardboard circles from a big box, some pattern paper, ribbon and 3 small glass candlesticks from the Dollar Tree to connect them together and WAA-LAA! a super cheap alternative to the really expensive cupcake stands I kept eyeing. Super easy and I think it's adorable. As you can see, there are frosting smudges on it, a tell tale sign that there was actually some yumminess there at one time!

The Money Box

I made this money box out of a regular cardboard box and just decorated it with a few embellishments and empty gift boxes I wrapped up in pattern paper. 

I used my Cricut to make the numbers and picture of the adorable little owl.

Table Decorations

These were on each table (8 OF THEM!). Again, I just used my Cricut and some empty glass jars, sucker sticks, ribbon around the top and some glass marbles inside to help keep everything in place. I love how they turned out! :)

Luminaries

Each of these luminaries are actually a single die cut from the Cricut 'Happy Graduation' cartridge. I backed the sides with tissue paper on one and turquoise cardstock on the other. These were also on the tables.

Graduation Party Invitation

Again, Cricut to the rescue! Her school colors were red black and white so I stuck to that for the cards and money box. But then I did all of the decorations her favorite color, turquoise. For the card, I used my Sizzix Big Shot to make the criss cross embossing and the Cricut 'Happy Graduation' cartridge for all of the images. Pretty simple really, but I made 60 of them so you can imagine how long that took!

Whew! Glad it's over!!! LOL

I also made a graduation photo board but I already put the pictures back in their albums so no pic. I wish there was, it turned out really beautiful and Sarah (she will always be Baby Girl to me) loved it. There were some tears by some of her aunts and grandmas as so many memories came to mind. 

So that about sums it up... there were a few other miscellaneous things I made for the party, but I think you get the gist. And I think you can see my obsession with my favorite toy. MY CRICUT makes me smile. :)

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will leave me a message and let me know what you think or just to say hello. I love to meet new friends. :)