I thought I'd post some pics of our graduation. I loved putting it all together and coming up with ideas. I hope you enjoy the pics... let me know if you have any questions.
Our candy bar: This was one of Kahli's only requests. I had so much fun getting this ready, although it was pretty pricey. Definitely watch for clearance items and coupons. Also, I'm a firm believer in planning in order to save money. Ask early what the color scheme (if any) will be, and watch for seasonal/holiday candy markdowns.
We have friends who have severe nut allergies, so that was definitely a consideration. We obviously choose candies that didn't feature nuts, but most have at the very least been processed with them. So we made sure we had spoons for unwrapped candy to prevent cross contamination, and I drew up this little labels so our smaller guests would be aware of items that contained allergy warnings.
The Dessert Table We also had a tons of sweets beside the candy bar. This was my first shot at working with fondant and while I wasn't completely pleased with the results, I don't think it came out horrible! I used this recipe for marshmallow fondant and was very pleased with the results.
We also had cake pops... yay!!! They were so fun and the kids loved them. I used
a basic recipe from Bakearella, however we used devil's food cake instead of the red velvet. This tutorial helpful also. Instead of Bakearella has an awesome book out showcasing some adorable possibilities for these. You can see lots of fun ideas on her site also. To display them I just used a block of florist foam (styrofoam would work too, just didn't have any.)
Another thing we did was cupcakes. You can't tell from the picture very well but some were in black and white polka dot wrappers, and others were in a black and white swirly wrappers. We also used the cupcake pick kit from The Celebration Shoppe; this site and blog are incredible. I could seriously get addicted to having parties just looking at this site! We complemented the theme with polka dot and swirly beverage napkins from Target and tried to incorporate those designs into the cake.
Lastly, for the dessert table I used a great idea from a dear (and talented) friend of mine. We put down a disposable tablecloth and randomly placed some of our favorite photos of Kahli on it. Lastly I covered it with thin clear vinyl that I got in the fabric section of Walmart. This would be a great idea for birthdays or anniversaries too. People loved looking at the photos and some of old school papers of hers.
One final thing that I'll share are our pom pom's! I love, love, love these. So cheap and so stinkin' cute. They now reside in Kahli's newly redecorated bedroom and we're hanging a few over Z's changing table. The color and pattern options are endless! There are tons of tutorials online so I'll leave you to check those out. Really, stinkin' easy.
I'll leave you with some pics of our friends and family visiting. I wish I had took more pictures of the little details and the guests. I always question whether to run around snapping up photos, or to truly just enjoy being with everyone. It seems like sometimes when the camera is brought out people get nervous and guarded. It was a great day though and one we won't ever forget. There was plenty of food to go around and it really came together with very little stress for me. One last thing we did was to run a slideshow in the living room with childhood photos of Kahli. I'll upload that at a later date.
Thanks for looking at these photos, I hope they inspire you a bit. Max is already planning his 8th grade graduation (which is three years away.) It will look markedly different as he wants a orange and black skeet shooting theme! He apparently has the party bug too though as he requested black and orange whoopie pies to mimic the skeet. Oh boy!
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