Graduation Gift Idea for Boys

 Hey, everyone! Here's a quick little gift idea I did for my brother's graduation gift last year. This can be easily customized. I titled this as a gift for boys, but it could also be a gift for girls too, of course. My gift had four parts:

1. A lunchbox (which my brother was in need of and got to use at an upcoming camp. This could be replaced with a different sort of tote, bag, backpack or suitcase.)

2. A water bottle (again, this was something I knew my brother needed, but could be replaced with a mug or even kitchen appliance.)

3. A card (I hand made mine to make it more personal.)

4. A gift card/certificate (I did one to my brother's favorite smoothie shop, A to Zinc. Go by what you know the person loves, and conceal it inside of the bag/lunchbox.)

That's it! 

If you're looking for a last-minute, easy but personal graduation gift, I hope this comes in handy!

-Lauryn

Jacob's Music-Themed Graduation Party

 Hello everyone, here is one of many, many events from a while back (this was from June) I am trying to get caught up on. This was a surprise graduation party for my brother themed around his passion, music. It was not as big and grand as I hoped, but I did what I could. I had tons of help from friends and family who deserve credit for many of the great puns, who helped with the photo display, favors, displays, balloons...actually everything. (Thank you Jessica, Bernice, Robert, Edwin, Mont, Lillie, Morgan and Hayden!) They did a great job of setting up. I was foolish and made the mistake of putting out a record to sign (and forgot the pen to sign it with) in the sun, so that melted into a weird,  crumpled shape. I also used candles as part of the party favors. Shockingly, they too melted in the approximately ninety-eight degree weather and ruined the favor bags. The beautiful cupcakes came from our local Cornelia Sugartopia (I don't remember if the toppers were from somewhere else, though). Despite some chaos and mistakes on my part, I think my brother had a great time. The color scheme was mainly gold, dark blue, with some added pops of dark red and black. 

Thank you for visiting! I hope this at least gives you some pun ideas for any music graduates you might know!

-Lauryn

"Reach for the Stars" Graduation Party

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. 

I took as many photos as I could, but unfortunately I did not capture the main meal and side dishes. Anyway, I think the graduate enjoyed it and the weather was fair, so I would call it a success. I hope you enjoyed and look forward to sharing more with you soon!

-Lauryn