Graduation Party: Cove High School

My cousin, Taylor, graduated from high school this past weekend and his family planned a fun open house to celebrate.  There were so many fun pieces to this party!  The inspiration was, of course, graduation, but Lisa (Taylor's mom) chose to stick with the school colors and focus on a walk through Taylor's life up to that moment.

In blue and yellow, the decorations popped and there were small touches throughout the party that added to the fun.  I loved the "centerpiece" above the table.  This was no "small thing" but it sure was fun!

  I also loved the ribbon and labels on the silverware jars.  Silverware can be left as boring or made to pop with just a few pieces of ribbon!

 

And, of course, the food was fabulous with pops of color brought in throughout.

One of the highlights were these fabulous cupcakes!  They were made by one of Taylor's cousins, so it was not only a fun touch, but special, too!

Because this was an open house, there weren't any organized party games or activities.  However, I loved this "Advice & Memories" jar.  Guests were encouraged to give advice for the journey ahead as well as share a memory of Taylor from the journey behind.  How sweet is that?

Another special piece to the party was the use of pictures throughout the house.  Pictures frames were filled with pictures of Taylor from baby to graduate.  This is an easy way to personalize the party as well as put the focus on the graduate's life rather than a theme.

There was also a fabulous picture wall created by Taylor's sister, Reilley.  This was a guest favorite but also a hostess favorite.  When asked about it, Lisa replied, "I loved the picture wall and I loved that Reilley created it for Taylor.  All those years of sibling rivalry and she still loves her brother."  Special indeed!

There were so many things I loved about this party!  But I think the best part was celebrating Taylor and his life to this point.  I loved that the focus was on how much we love him.  I asked Lisa what her favorite part was and she responded, "The best part of the whole party was seeing all of the people who came to help us celebrate Taylor's graduation.  It was awesome to see how many people love Taylor and also to watch him with all of those people.  We are pretty proud of that boy!" 

What a great party!

Holiday Party: Snowflakes

For the past several years, our good friends have a holiday party to celebrate the season with good food and friends.  This year, I helped with the decor and had a blast!  We provided a few desserts (like some delicious peppermint patty balls) and asked the guests to bring a dish to share.  The colors were blue and white with pops of red.  We hung puffs from the ceiling and placed small snowflakes throughout the house.  A fun find was a felt snowflake table runner we used on the coffee table.  This small touch of snow was on sale and perfect for tying the rooms together!

 The main activity for the party was a cookie bar.  We made simple sugar cookies and frosting and had guests decorate their own.  Because the party guests were all ages, this was a big hit!  The kids loved it and the parents appreciated having something festive for their kids to do.

 We sent each family home with a bag (or two) of homemade puppy chow.... the snack, not the real thing.  It was a delicious and inexpensive small thing to say thank you for coming.  We used blue cello bags with red ribbon tied around them.  I found a bag of little wooden white snowflakes in the craft section at Michael's and hot glued them on to tie into the snowflake theme.

We had a great time planning this gathering and a great time attending!  Guests enjoyed the casual atmosphere, good food and friends!  It was a perfect way to kick off the holiday season.

What are your holiday party plans?