Graduation party decorations are a must-have for any good party! 2020 is such a big year (new decade, new life) and you need to commemorate this year’s graduation with the best party you can have. And what’s the best party of the year without the best graduation party decorations? Not only are these decorations easy to find or make, but they’ll look great in all the Instagram pictures you’ll post later!
What better way to make a great first impression on your guests than to greet them with a lovely painted board welcoming them to your party? If you or someone you know has a knack for art, then feel free to DIY your own design onto a crafting board and display it proudly front-and-center.
If no one you know is all that craft-savvy, don’t worry: you can purchase custom-made graduation signs online. All that’s left to do is prop it on an easel at the door to let guests know they’ve come to the right place!
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Show off your school colors with these gorgeous paper flowers that you can arrange on a photo-friendly backdrop, like a table centerpiece, or strung throughout the house or building as a reminder of spring and new beginnings.
Fortunately, this is another craft you can DIY if you want to save money. There are plenty of free online templates for different types of flowers and for different sizes, but a good rule of thumb to save time is to make them as big as possible. Different templates recommend different types of paper that you can choose according to your budget. If you’re looking for something simple and affordable, you can shop card stock in any shade you prefer.
As to the backdrop, it can be anything from a blanket you’ve stapled your flowers on to a giant poster or corkboard you’ve taped, glued, or tacked the flowers to.
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Don’t forget to include your friends and family by sharing all the wonderful memories you’ve made with them over the years! Make your memories a beautiful display that you can hold onto well after the party ends: photo garlands are cheap and simple to assemble with the ease of photo printing, which you can do at home with your printer and photo paper or at major retailers with photo kiosks.
You can string your garland across banisters, walls, trees, or you can upgrade them to fairy light garlands for extra flair. Another adorable idea is to hang your photos inside an open frame like the one pictured below.
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What could be better than a bunch of balloons? Confetti balloons—that’s what. They’re fun, festive, and filled with whatever color confetti your heart desires. Feel free to cluster them around your food displays, add them as a centerpiece to dining tables, or just have them free-floating around like a bunch of beautiful, shimmery orbs.
Luckily for you, plenty of retailers sell these cheaply by the pack. Check out your nearest dollar store or shop Amazon for these party favorites.
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What’s a summer graduation party without s’mores? Let guests build their own from this adorable s’mores bar that’s as aesthetically appealing as it is delicious! Entire s’mores stations are available for purchase on Etsy, but the cheaper alternative is to set up your own station using whatever fancy boxes or plating you have available.
All it takes is a huge pack of jumbo-sized marshmallows (or several, depending on the size of your guest list), Hershey bars, graham crackers, and some sticks for roasting. Feel free to assemble ingredients in a wooden box as pictured or to put them in mason jars. Grab a couple burners and you’re ready to start making s’mores!
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You might not have thought about having a guest book for your graduation party, but I’m here to tell you those aren’t just for weddings—they’re for any memories you want to keep, period. Graduation is all about celebrating memories and starting new ones, so let this be a cute way to mark your first step into a new life by remembering everyone who came to celebrate with you.
Instead of signing a guest book, guests simply write their name on a wooden heart and drop it into the shadow box. It’s a lovely keepsake to display wherever you go and one day when you’re feeling nostalgic, you can sort through all the names of the people who love you.
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Why make your own graduation scrapbook when you can have the guests make one for you? Set up a scrapbook station with a blank scrapbook of your choosing, some colorful sharpies or pens, a stick of glue, and a Polaroid camera. Guests can snap a picture of themselves, you and them, or some aspect of the party they love best.
All they have to do after that is shake the insta-print, glue it into the scrapbook, and write a note for you to look back on later! It’s more personal than a signed yearbook because these pictures will be from your party and feature notes written by people who truly care about and know you.
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This is your graduating year and you want to display it loud and proud! Show those numbers in giant (literal) block letters by covering some boxes in wrapping or craft paper with your school colors and gluing cutout numbers on them. All that’s left to do is stack them and pose for pictures! You can reuse this idea for more than your school year if you want to spell out your name, a quirky phrase, or just leave them out for guests to assemble their own message to pose with.
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