DIY Graduation Party
In 2024 my oldest step daughter, Emilee graduated from High School and we threw a soccer themed graduation party at our home for her. Read all about our, decor, menu and all the details!
Graduation Decor
Since Emilee had played soccer growing up and had received a scholarship to play soccer in college we added a bit of a soccer theme to the party decor. Her high school colors were purple, white, and black and her college colors are navy blue, light blue, and white so that was the color palette I used.
Centerpieces/Floral Arrangements
The party was in early June so the peonies had been, and were in full bloom! For a couple of weeks prior to the party I collected all of my white peonies as they turned to “marshmallows” and I kept them in the refrigerator until the week of the party. The remaining flowers and fillers I snipped from our yard as I was making the bouquets. I had plenty of cylinder vases left over from our wedding in various sizes so I used those. I also had several clear glass aquarium marbles I used in the bottom as filler and I added soccer bouncy balls to keep with the theme and add pattern to the look! When I placed the vases on the tables I put artificial square turf mats underneath for a special touch!
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Vase Fillers
The graduation vase fillers, a diploma tied with ribbon, graduation year in glitter and graduation cap were made on my Cricut machine using cardstock and skewers. You can DIY or find them soon in my Etsy Shop!
Silverware Details
To add to the decor and theme, we wrapped the plastic silverware in napkins and tied them with curling ribbon with an added graduation cap charm!
Card Box
Her card box was a DIY graduation cap I made out of cardboard, cardstock, embriodery floss, and spray paint.
Balloons
We had Congrats Grad & 2024 balloons from the Dollar Tree above a table with her childhood, school photos, and memorabilia. I also bought a balloon arch kit and soccer balloons. We used a balloon pump and filled them with air to create the arch from the kit then added the soccer balloons throughout. Unfortunately there is no photos of the completed arch but you can see it on the floor in the photo below!
Congrats Grad Table & Balloons
Guest Book
The guest book was a shadow box I transformed. I used my Cricut to cut out and etch soccer shapes from very thin wood pieces. This was difficult as I do not have the newest Cricut so I had to use extremely thin wood sheets that I would not recommend. The idea was cute but it was harder to execute than I anticipated. I added a persaonal touch with a vynil design on the outside of the glass. The guests used thin sharpie pens, signed on the wooeden shapes and pinned them in the shadow box around the wooden soccer field in the middle.
Graduation Guest Book
Next Chapter Sign
On the table with her card box, and guest book was also a framed piece of digital art I created in Canva that said “Emilee’s Next Chapter Begins at Iowa Central Where she Received a Scholarship to play Soccer!” If you are not the creative type, you can find the sign with and without scholarship information in my Etsy Shop for instant download to edit yourself and print at home! Next to the sign we placed a hat and sweatshirt for her college that her Grandmother had gotten for her as a gift!
Card Box, Guest Book, and Next Chapter Table
Menu
Main Dish
For the main dish we went with a classic Taco in a Bag. We bought bulk boxes of Doritos and Fritos and hung them on an old wooden bunk bed frame! We hung them using twine with clothespins and in the middle was a chalkboard with directions I had written using Sharpie chalk markers.
Taco in a Bag Chip Board
Dessert
For dessert instead of cake with went with a variety of ice cream treats and popsicles. We had a freezer next to the food with a sign on the outside that said “Graduation is Sweet, Please Enjoy an Ice Cream Treat.” (This sign can also soon be found in my Etsy Shop to download and print).
On the top of the freezer we taped images and logos of the available treats. You can see the freezer in the image of the “Card Box Table” above, it is in the far right of the image.
All of the Supplies
For a complete list of all of the items I used or recommend check out my Amazon Storefront and Graduation Party Idea List.
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Xoxo, B
