I have forever been the party house at graduation time. Years ago, even if I didn’t have a graduate kid or grandkid, I still held the grad party for our local church because I worked with the youth group. The last few years, the youth group has moved to my niece’s houses (after 40 years at my house), so I have been hosting the party for my grandkids, who seem to be graduating at warp speed (Seriously, can they just stop growing up!!!).

In my earlier years of hosting grad parties, I would pick a theme and solicit (which means beg) help from other innocent and talented church members to pull off my elaborate party dreams. Over the years, I have had such themes as Cruise Ship Fun, Hawaiian Days, Fifties Rock and Roll, Mid-Evil Times (complete with draw bridge on my front porch), and the Wild, Wild West. It was so fun for the kids to dress up and participate in our wild dreams for their graduation party. I’ve included a few pics from the past so you can see how elaborate we used to get. 

But, I’ve slowed down a bit (age and wisdom will do that do you) and now I stick to a Crawfish Boil theme party every year. I recycle party decorations as much as possible and keep the menu short and sweet.  One of my greatest finds is Walgreens. What? You say. Yes. Walgreens photo department. They are so fast and easy and good. I simply have to upload my pics and click what pics I want and what size, then by the end of the day, they are ready! The very same day!!! How amazing is that?? I can’t tell you how many trips I used to make to the photo lab days after I put my “film” in (Kids today don’t know what film is. They have it so easy!!) hoping it was ready. Now, it’s so simple anyone can do it. (Side note. My husband wanted to do a special pic for all the moms this year. I helped him and when it came in it was not right. THE DAY BEFORE MOTHER’S DAY. So, I quickly redid it and we picked it up later that same day. YAY! Walgreens.) Okay, back to the party. I even used Walgreens for my invites. As you can see from the pick, they turned out so cute. Quick and easy, so if you find you didn’t order enough, just order more and pick them up later that day. 

One of my favorite parts of a grad party is the pics. I always print several pics of the graduates from their baby years to today and mount them on cardstock for a more finished look, then I display them everywhere. I get the cardstock from Hobby Lobby in the precut 4.5 X 6.5 size, which is perfect for displaying a 4 X 6 picture. Picture displays become part of your party entertainment as your guests roam around the room looking at pics. (A sidenote: It’s funny how all us “old” folks are trying to get all our “old” pics done digitally, while all the young folks are now trying to print!) 

For the menu. This year I will purchase pre-cooked crawfish (ordered from one of the restaurants in town). My mom will make salad and garlic bread. My aunt will put together an amazing fruit display. I’ll order the cutest cupcakes from the best cupcake maker (and a good friend) in our town. I will add corn on the cob, baked beans and serve sweet tea, unsweet tea, water bottles and lemonade. Done. And. Done! 

Decorations will include red and white tablecloths that I ordered from Oriental Trading (another favorite) and large mason jars filled with yellow daisies (bought from the local wholesale florist) will go on each table. Flowers can’t be too big with crawfish because they are the main attraction on each table. Speaking of, each table will have a bucket for crawfish shells and paper towels for washing up. Again, super simple. 

In spite of recycling nearly every decoration (See Welcome sign which has been used for going on four parties. I just keep painting over it and changing the date. lol), I have made something new this year. It’s a party favor for all the special guests coming to celebrate our graduates. I took a small glass jar (from WalMart) and filled it with candy. Then I cut out a small square of black poster paper (just turn the jar upside down to get your needed measurement) and one strip (about 1/3 of an inch of the black paper long enough to go around the top of the jar. (I used poster paper so it would be stronger). First, put the long strip around the lid of the jar using your glue gun, then put the black square on top of the lid, making the cap. Again, use the glue gun to make sure it sticks well.  To make the tassel, I used gold embroidery thread and bundled up about six or eight threads, then folded them, matching ends, leaving a loop at the top. I took another piece of thread and tied it in a knot close to the top to make it look like a tassel. Then I just glued it to the middle of the cap. Super easy and super cute. An easy way to do this is to wrap the thread around two fingers and then cut one end of it, leaving one end connected for the loop.

I still have a way to go but I’m happy to have gotten a lot of it done this past weekend. The party is next week, so I’ll be sure and post pics of the decorations up. I’m still thinking through the obligatory photo booth back drop and a few others things, but basically, I’m ready to go.