Home Runs and Highlights; A Themed Graduation Party Vignette

Home Runs and Highlights; A Themed Graduation Party Vignette

My beautiful third child graduates from high school tomorrow, and the party will follow 2 days later. Although graduation is bittersweet for this mama, the party is definitely one of the fun parts. My daughter is a softball player first and foremost. However, Sephora and Ulta Beauty are her favorite stores. She, and several of her teammates, frequently play ball with acrylic nails under their gloves. I try to bring a pair of nail clippers to the games, in the case of a ripped nail incident. Her older sister loved to read and play softball. When she graduated, we tied stacks of classic books with beautiful ribbons and placed them on individual tables. We decorated a single softball table with trophies and jerseys as well. Not wishing to slide one child into another’s mold, I asked my current graduate what defined her. She said, “Softball and make-up.” An idea for combining her diabolical pastimes, Home Runs and Highlights; A Themed Graduation Party Vignette, was born.

At first we planned to place bright, yellow softballs atop various vintage depression glass vases, and tie them with coral (our accent color) ribbons. My husband didn’t have enough new, yellow softballs. The dirty, white softballs from his closet were uninspiring.

New, yellow softballs were $22 for a pack of 6 at Hibbett’s Sports. I needed 8-10 softballs, and the expense for new ones was too high. We decided to spray paint the dirty, white softballs with a gorgeous coppery-gold metallic spray paint. Never underestimate the power of spray paint! Spending $4 for a can of spray paint was more attractive than shelling out $44 for 12 new softballs.

The party colors were black, gold, and coral pink. I was in a quandary about the coral. It was easy to find gold and black tablecloths, paper products ans accessories, as they are classic colors for graduation parties. I finally got lucky, and found some coral fat quarters at Walmart. They were the perfect size for table toppers. We’re using coral and black polka-dot fat quarters, along with gold chargers and place mats, as our base for the vignettes.

Oriental Trading was my online go-to store for make-up party favors. In the past, I’ve only bought educational supplies there. They do have lots of well priced party-themed items too. I bought “Hello Gorgeous’ compacts, nail polish highlighter pens, and lipstick erasers. They make perfect decorations for the party tables, and could be used in goody bags or favor boxes as well. You can access the Oriental Trading website here.

In addition to the Depression glass vases, we also used ceramic shoes and glittery gold ornaments tied with coral curling ribbon. These items have starred in other decor ensembles. There’s nothing better than using appropriate things you already own when decorating.

For the other beauty items, my ten year-old daughter and I went to TJ Maxx. We found a make-up brush holder, coral-colored face masks, and a pack of make-up brushes on clearance. The compact insert pictured by the make-up brush goes with my Mary Kay Compact (I have enough of those to last me until the end of my life. I’m afraid my personal beauty style is not very progressive- don’t judge me- lol). My daughter’s favorite make-up accessory is highlighter. I couldn’t afford to buy those in multiples, but we chose it as part of the vignette name as a tribute (ha ha). We also bought nail polish remover and nail files at Walmart. I peeled the stickers off the nail polish remover to keep the table elements nice and clean.

We plan to pair the black-polka dot vignettes with the gold tablecloths, and the coral vignettes with the black tablecloths. She is having her party with her best friend, who plans to incorporate a soccer theme at her tables, using the same colors and tablecloths. However, her friend is doing the opposite of glam, with more of a farmhouse theme that includes Mason jars and wood slices. I can’t wait to see how everything looks together. I plan to post regarding the cake, their showcase tables, and the other decorations, after the party. It will include other fun ideas that coincide with their themes.

I hope you enjoyed Home Runs and Highlights; A Themed Graduation Party Vignette!

Blessings,

Kristie

Updated on May 27th. Well, the party’s over and I survived the graduation of my beautiful Margaret. Here are a few extra photos of  graduation night, and the party.

This post was featured on: Waste Not Wednesday

Linking up here

If you liked this post, subscribe to Love my Little Cottage here.

Read Does the 50/50 Marriage Really Work? or Americana Mantel Pinterest Challenge