Friday, May 26, 2017

graduation celebration party with oriental trading supplies

whoa boy what a week!
it all started with this graduation celebration party 
i had for my kids using 
oriental trading company supplies.

i made a bunch of desserts as you can see 
and used supplies like those giant 
2017 yard number picks 
that i didn't use for the yard (lol).
here are a couple close up pics 
if you care to see:
these are favor boxes.
they have peppermint patties in them 
with a grad sticker 
inside gold and black stripe boxes.

i got some cupcake toppers 
that i used and removed the sticks 
to get the decorative fans that i glued 
to the top of the boxes.
the gold boxes with the sticker embellishments 
i had to get last minute 
from michael's cuz i had more guests 
coming to the party the last minute.

as you can see,
i placed the favor boxes on this 
cute graduation stand that
i also got from oriental trading:
ok next up are some dessert details.
         
after decorating some sugar cookies 
with my kids' initials and making 
some brownie bite grad hats,
i also made some easy pecan phyllo tarts 
and topped them with "class of 2017" picks.
 
you get 72 picks in a box but heck 
i didn't make 72 tarts or it would be 
2018 when i got done (lol).

you can see how i made those 
pretzels in my last post.
here i just bought a caramel butterscotch cake 
at our local grocery and topped them 
with some grad picks.
and behind the cake is some crazy fondue 
concoction with way too many fondue options! lol
and for the centerpieces,
i used these awesome celebration flags 
to give them great height.
(you can see the diy graduation diploma centerpieces post here)
i would show you more but i gotta get 
ready for some more celebrating.
i can't skip this event cuz it's the 
actual graduation ceremony!
so hopefully you were inspired to have 
a grand graduation celebration party 
of your own when the time comes 
for those smarty pants.
here are some links to some of the 
oriental trading company supplies i used:








remember, whatever pants you are wearing, 
to me you are oh-so-smart!

for this review i was provided the party supplies free of charge by Oriental Trading Company. 
no other type of compensation was received for this review and i provided my own 100& honest opinion..




Saturday, May 20, 2017

grad hat topped pretzel rods

so i'm still at the dollar tree looking 
at all their graduation stuff and 
i spot some bubbles.

which led me to make these 
grad hat pretzel rod treats:
here are those bubbles i'm talking about:

aren't they cute?
wash them good though unless you like 
bubble soap flavored treats.
put them aside and dip your pretzels and decorate.
add the year or even the student's name 
and you are done after they dry on parchment paper.
betcha never thought you could use 
bubbles for kids over 10.
just lead me to a dollar tree and 
i can show you lots of stuff to create
so people will also think you're insane like me. lol




Wednesday, May 17, 2017

graduation diploma centerpieces

with a trip to the dollar tree and 
a hunt for some rocks, 
you too can make some centerpieces 
for a graduation party.

centerpieces such as these 
graduation diploma centerpieces:
here's the how-to:
make sure it's the RED one you pick 
cuz they do have other colors.

i had this foam from walmart but 
dollar tree also sells foam blocks.

it doesn't matter, as long as
you can fit a piece snugly in the cover.
now it's time for this:
then head on outside to get this:
now take some white wrapping paper roll and: 

when you cover the cylinder, 
you'll have about a 3 inch space from the top 
where you can do this:
ok so i had this Martha Stewart poker thing 
for hole poking i got from michael's ages ago 
but you can use a Phillips screwdriver too.

the photo props were also from the dollar tree.
i pushed the photo props into the holes, filled it back up with the silver filler,  and there ya go.
this one's a double diploma:
now that's something to write home about!



Saturday, May 13, 2017

graduation glass hat centerpieces

hey do you know anyone graduating pretty soon?
i would have to answer YES YES to that question.

both my kids graduate in a few weeks 
(from middle and high school) and i am 
skeedadaling along making grad party stuff.

like these easy peasy graduation hat glass centerpieces:
the inspiration for these came from a stop at home goods, where my love of meri meri products 
can be found at times.
they're so dang cute.
you're supposed to wear them as party hats but i turned them into centerpieces for my kids' grad party.

all you need is a label which i made with my cricut,
a dollar tree 6-8" tall vase, and some dollar tree sparkly filler.
i made a label of my kids' names, 
the school they graduated from,
 and the school/college they're going to.

then i placed the hat on top and pulled the elastic around like so to keep it in place.
wasn't that easy?
good thing you didn't have to write a tutorial about it cuz that takes twice as long. lol
come back next week for the diploma...




Tuesday, May 9, 2017

mother's day sugar cookie flower sticks

oh my goodness.
my kids graduate in just a few weeks and 
i have been hard at work for the graduation 
party prep i almost forgot about 
mother's day coming up!

mother's day is a melancholy day for me,
being that my mom's a true angel.
but i do celebrate amongst some 
of my work friends.

this year everything is comin' up roses flowers.
with these sugar cookie flower sticks made for mother's day.
the best part of these is that everything is store bought so there's no baking involved, 
just candy gluing and icing.

here we go, as this food craft started out with these marshmallows:
aren't they cute?
they screamed mom's day all over the place.

let's see what else i got:
a cheap dollar tree flower bundle and some colored treat sticks from michael's.

then i head on over to walmart to get these cookies.
hello cookie. 
you look plain. let's dress you up.

first melt some candy melt or almond bark
and ice as shown, allowing the cookies to dry on parchment paper.
while they dry in the freezer, 
disassemble your flower bunch to grab the leaves.
then hot glue to the stick when the cookies are ready.
color the rest of your candy green, 
glue the flower marshmallow to the 
center, then pipe on names and leaves if you want.
all done!
time to bag them up.
i had some colored twisters from michael's
and i used a 4x6 inch treat bag but 
cut about an inch from the bottom so 
it would fit the cookie just so.
ta done!
it's a big bouquet of flowers.
but guess what?
i can never leave things well enough alone.

cuz when i was at the dollar tree 
getting cheap batteries,
i spotted some cheap mother's day cards 
and got 6 of the same kind.

then i glued the card shut and 
used them for the cookie gifts like so..
see how i used the card like a little pocket?
ok so now they're ready for delivery.
ever wonder why delivery cost for flowers 
is so darn expensive on top of the cost 
of flowers themselves?
well these only cost a dollar a piece.
hope you treat your mom or yourself, 
if you're a mom,
to wonderful treats this year!