Graduation Party Decorations {Centerpieces and Wrap-Up}

Today I'll share the last of my DIY decorations I pulled together for Erin's graduation party.  When my son graduates in two years, I'll be able to whip these out in no time, even reusing the Congratulations banner and the buckets with flags {thanks for all your sweet comments on those, by the way!}.

For the centerpieces, I pulled out my glass hurricanes (Willow House Hawthorne and Hemingway), juice glasses, paper shred, and three more flags on spray painted dowels.  My mom and I picked up daisies and yellow and red roses at WalMart for just a few dollars a bunch.  I wanted two centerpieces in yellow and black for the food table and one in red and black for the cake table.

We started by putting a layer of white beans in the bottom of each hurricane to anchor the juice glasses, which held the water for the flowers.  We (Mom) combined some yellow and black paper shred and then some red and black paper shred and we tucked it around the juice glasses.

Here you see them without the flowers, but with their own little flags added.

Flowers added...

And here they are on the food table and cake table.

To share a few other quickie decorations, remember these letters and the gold stars from WalMart?

They became this little banner on my family room mantle.  I put one of her baby pictures and her senior portrait up there, too, since it was all about the girl.

And a couple of final touches...

Letters from Old Time Pottery for $1.99 each... they're now in her room. :)

And I think this is my favorite.  My Southern Living at Home Dress Me Up Platter (now retired), red ribbon from WalMart, and a snapshot of her at 6 months {wasn't she a cutie?}.  I simply used a couple of photo mounts to adhere the pic, dry erase marker for the message and a simple Pier One plate stand to prop it up.  You spied it earlier by the cake... this one drew rave reviews.

Whew!  So there you have it!  Party decor on a dime... hope you can use some of these ideas for your next celebration!  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll be happy to answer.

Happy Decorating and Happy Celebrating!