Inexpensive Graduation Party Ideas

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We finally got around to hosting a graduation party for Mariah over the weekend. After already hosting one big party this summer, I was a little worried about finding the desire to pull off another. But, since you only graduate high school once, I put on my superhero mom cape and got it together. To save on time, I decided to skip baking my own food, especially since I ordered a huge cake, and stuck with making a few crafts and party props that would help the guests have a more memorable time.

I did buy a bunch of decor from the $1 store to perk up the house, but I also quickly whipped up this ribbon wrapped wreath to add a more personal touch to the decorations. If you are planning on dollar store decorations, buy them as soon as they hit the shelves. Most of the items were gone within weeks of my store putting them out on the sales floor.

Using cheap graduation streamers from Walmart (97¢ each), I hung them on the wall to create a small photo booth area. Top with balloons and inexpensive photo booth props from Amazon, guests had fun posing for silly snapshots.

We also made a frame with a piece of foam board from the $1 store for more photo opportunities. Dress it up with a little ribbon and graduation year numbers cut from decorative paper.

I found this decorative box for $7 at Michael's Craft Store and dressed it up with some heat transfer vinyl for a keepsake that Mariah could take to college. I printed out some index size cards that I had the guests write out advice and well wishes to the graduate so she could have a little love from home with her while she's so far away this fall.

I knew there were going to be a lot of kids at the party, so with inspiration from Pinterest, I set up a candy station that I knew they would love. I found the tins for $2 each at Michael's, but I'm sure you could get them for $1 at the $1 store as well. I created some labels with cute school phrases I found on Pinterest to accompany each candy flavor.

Having the party in July helped keep costs down. I was able to find a lot of decorations for 1/2 off since most grads already had their parties earlier in the season. I found 12 packs of graduation bubbles for $1.25 each that the small kids really enjoyed playing with.

I did splurge and bought the largest photo cake at the bakery. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't fill up the bottom portion of the cake with more flowers or use bigger lettering to fill in the extra white spaces, but as quickly as it was gobbled down, it really didn't matter in the overall scheme of things. Instead of writing the standard congratulations greetings, I had them put a quote on the cake from Mariah's favorite film, Peter Pan.

Including the cake and cookout food, we were able to stay under our $250 party budget. I'd call that a success!

What are some of your favorite party activities?