Hello, everyone! Today I am excited to share my cousin's graduation party. I wanted to do something original, like others on Pinterest have, such as the ones I found online, including "The World is Your Market" (Farmer's Market theme), "Donut Forget Me" (Donut theme), and "Down the Rabbit Hole" (my favorite!). For mine last year, I created a book-themed graduation party (see here). After a lot of brainstorming, I came up with a "Reach for the Stars" theme. The color scheme was pale purple, light pink, navy or sapphire blue, gold, and silver. I've always wanted to do an astronomy party, so I had fun with it. Every banner, sign, placecard, and hanging decoration was handmade. I watercolored everything with purple and pink hues. The stars were just recycled cardboard painted gold. The star balloons were from Amazon. I made the round wreath by wrapping a hula hoop with blue fabric shreds and gluing on a hand-painted poster cut into a banner. I embellished it with branches that I partly painted with gold or silver paint and a white rose. The moon was made with stick-on vinyl I had bought a long time back for $0.50 on cardboard. I used my tye-dyed fabric as a photo backdrop. My grandparents made the cake. If you're wondering, the cake was also celebrating her 18th birthday which was the same week she graduated. I made up the poem that goes with what I called her "Dream Jar", and it says: "We wish upon our star / as she prepares to shoot afar / Placed in the jar, each written line / is a wish that will help her shine." The guest would write wishes/advice and leave it in her jar. I painted constellations on the mini globe, and for the party favors I invented "Star Dust Sugar Scrub" which I will share in more detail in a future post. The flowers were beautiful and fresh on Saturday, but I left them out Sunday morning until late afternoon, so they sadly wilted. They were really pretty before though, and I bought them at the Clarkesville Farmer's Market from my favorite florist. The business is called Currahee Gardens, so if you ever need flowers, check it out. Since I had almost all of the supplies on hand, the total cost was maybe $2 plus the bouquet.
-Lauryn