Grad Party Decorations

May 2016 was filled with end of the year craziness and graduation parties. It was at that point Emma began thinking about her party this year. I kid you not, parties range from a cake and lemonade to a full "wedding" spread with alcohol and a band. We knew our party would land somewhere in the conservative middle and would require lots of creative thinking to keep costs down. Right away we planned a breakfast themed day and then we jumped on to pinterest which can make a person overly ambitious. My two favorite creations: 1. chalkboard photo booth 2. Giant "E" covered in photos. Both were a labor of love and many people have asked me to make one or both for them. Here's the thing, they can't or don't want to make it themselves but also want to pay me pennies to make them. The photo booth would be $70 to build which doesn't include the artwork and my time. The "E" doesn't cost that much in product but took FOREVER to make.

Below I have attached several pictures of our day, thank you Susan for taking pictures because not only did I forget to take any, I also didn't assign the task to anyone.

my people

Our menu was pancakes (lots and lots of pancakes), 68 lbs of bacon, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, 500 donut holes, cereal bars, cookies, apple juice, coffee and water. I'm so glad we nixed the yogurt bar and egg cups. Keep it Simple!

breakfast goodness

sweets

the Grad

Somewhere there are pictures of Emma and Sierra. I will have to dig them up. The trash can really adds something nice to this photo. HA

emma's table

The pallet with pictures strung across was a last minute alteration. We were going to do a cute thing on the wall but I was afraid of losing our deposit so plan B came into play. Here is an example of why Chris should be happy that I kept these pallets in the garage for the last year. Already the pallets have been borrowed and we may never see them again.

my amazing friends who made
pancakes for 3 hours

I can not thank my friends enough for helping us make Emma's grad party a huge success. Tami and Steve drove from Grand Island, which that in itself is huge but they worked from 9am until 3pm, setting up, cooking and cleaning. I love you guys!! Susan and Jill came through like no other. I knew I could say to them, "take this job and if there are problems just do whatever makes sense to you." As far as I know, there were no problems. Truly a stress free day, what a great celebration for Emma and Sierra.

cello cookies

This may sound strange but these were my pride and joy...edible cellos. My cookie artist, Angie lives in Branson, MO. She shipped 5 dozen (plus an extra 2 doz just in case) cookies and only ONE was cracked. Angie Foley, a sister of a dear friend does this for fun. I paid her but no where the amount she could have charged. Thank you Angie for your attention to detail and amazing gift.

hmm, hanging out at the donuts

we had a great turn out

Our party was from 11am-2pm and between the two families we had a constant stream of guests. My estimation is about 325-350 people came through. That's a testament to our sweet girls!

thank you susan

reagan and friends who helped set up

Reagan had 3 friends show up early to help blow up balloons and hang signs in the neighborhood. What great kids! Obviously Reagan had to be there but Katie, Grace and Aaliah were just good friends. Thanks girls!

On a more somber note, almost exactly six years ago my sweet Aunt Delma died. This lady loved her nieces and nephews more than anything else. She told her everyone, even strangers she met on a walk all about me, my brothers and my cousins in Seattle. Once we all had kids, she had more loved ones to brag on. Oh how I miss my aunt! She cared about whatever I cared about. She was interested in my life. She was excited to learn about my husband and girls. Aunt Delma would be so proud of Emma and all she her accomplishments and dreams. I love you and will see you again one day.

So HAPPY GRADUATION PARTY day to you Emma! You are worth all the work. We love you and are so proud of you. Just a few more senior events then off to graduation, Europe and then the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Much love!