Pinterest in Real Life: Party Prep 101!

Like many of you, I have an obsession with Pinterest. From planning my dream home, outfits for every season, my future wedding to planning outdoor parties I have become exponentially more creative these past few years. At any occasion I love to put my skills to the test and this past weekend I had an amazing graduation/ birthday party with my family and friends. So much hard work was put into making this day so special for me and in the end it was all worth it.

First, a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears went into making my backyard look like a serene escape. We pulled the weeds, planted some flowers, mulched the flower beds, cut the grass, and trimmed some trees. We set up tents, tables and chairs and we picked out beautiful pink and Kelly green table cloths.

My first Pinterest invention: The Center Pieces. Originally, my mom and I thought about graduation themes, a photo of me, or something mildly less creative than we came up with. I took to Pinterest and saw a lot of cute ideas with flowers, mainly Baby’s Breath. I decided to combine three of my favorites and came up with:

I found seven mason jars around my house, cut up some lemons and limes, and bought pink roses, white carnations and Baby’s Breath. At first, I put in a few lemon slices and a little water and the lemons floated up and down, completely not where I wanted them. So I took the clear wrapping that the flower bouquets came in and scrunched it up. I then held two lemons on either side and stuck them into the jar, the paper un-scrunched and pushed the lemons to the sides of the jar, I then stuck in another lemon slice, filled the jar halfway with water, put in a little flower food, and slipped in some roses and carnations.
Our second Pinterest inspiration: S’mores Table. We have a fire pit, bought some skewers and filled up some cute glass jars with marshmallows and graham crackers!

This photo was taken after the party, hence the missing crackers, and unfortunately there is no more chocolate.

Third Pinterest Inspo: Graduation Table. I thought this was such a cute idea. I loved having my guests sign a photo that I could keep forever in memory of my outstanding accomplishment and our fun time celebrating it! The graduation cap that collected my cards was also a really cute idea that my mom found at Oriental Trading.

Lastly, we picked up some lanterns at The Christmas Tree Shoppes and some string lights. We set up the lanterns, tied some ribbon around them and wrapped the trees with the lights! It looked so cute, like it was right out of a magazine.