Graduation Party Ideas : Follow Your Dreams

Graduation is such an exciting milestone in life.  Celebrate with these cute DIY Graduation party ideas that are perfect whether you are celebrating a high school graduation or university graduation.  You can find free downloads at the bottom of this post to create many of these DIY graduation party ideas yourself. This post contains affiliate links.

I can’t believe that school is almost out and graduation is upon us!  When Shutterfly contacted me and asked me to create some fun graduation party ideas, I jumped at the chance to create some unique graduation party ideas that can be used for university graduation parties, high school graduation parties, you name it!   The mission: take one of their gorgeous graduation announcements and create a graduation party based around it.  WooHoo!  The hard part was picking which announcement I wanted to play with!  Ultimately I decided on a classic invitation with gold, black and white.

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graduation party ideas

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The black and white with the glittery gold was calling my name.  I love that it is totally versatile and can be added to any school color to create an amazing combo for your Graduation parties.  I went with the color of my Alma Mater and added green to my party décor.  LOVED it!   When I think of graduation, I think of young people heading out into the world to chase their dreams…I also know now as an adult, how important it is to not just follow your dreams, but do something in your life that you love.  And thus, the theme for our party as born! 🙂

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DIY GRADUATION PARTY DECORATIONS

It is SO easy to create a totally custom party with Shutterfly.  I made almost all of the decor and, party favors and graduation gifts on site.  How amazing is this metal print?  These are SUPER cool!  They display the images on a smooth, flawless surface and you can choose matte or glossy.  I went with my favorite finish…matte.  I love that this print can do double duty.  Party decor and later…dorm room decor!

My favorite product of everything I created were the gorgeous acrylic blocks.  I took a few of my favorite pictures and turned them into 5×7 blocks.  I mixed the pictures in with a couple of prints that I created in photoshop and I think they look pretty amazing. 😉  LOVE how that green pops!  These make amazing décor for your party, great gifts for mom and dad, and super cute décor for your home or office.  Print them up for the party, give a few as parting gifts and let the kids take them to their dorm rooms!

graduation party ideas

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graduation

No party is complete without a fun drink station, so I wanted to create fun coasters that went with the theme.  I like the idea of mixing in some personal photos along with the party décor to give it a more custom look.  I have all of these images available for you to download for free so you can create your own versions of all of these products, simply add in a couple of your own photos to make it more your own. 🙂

graduation

Graduation party ideas

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graduation party ideas

I designed some graduation party plates and fun pillows that match the theme are great not only for party décor, but they also translate to super cute regular home or dorm décor.

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shutterfly plates web

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shutterfly class of 2014 plate 2 web


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One of my favorite things to do when designing any space…home, office, party etc. is to really inject the personality of the people that live there or the guest of honor into the event or room.  Teenagers are all about social media and sharing pictures through instagram, so I wanted to work that into the décor.  On the Shutterfly app, you can order Instagram prints from you Instagram account.  I ordered a bunch of pictures from Darcy’s Instagram account from the last four years…throughout her high school years.  It was so easy to order them and they were shipped directly to me in a matter of days.  I used those prints to create the easy photo table runner you see pictured below.  I simply took 12×12 pieces of cardstock and taped the images to each piece of paper, then I taped those 12×12 sheets together.  I purposely made it easy for the pictures to be removed later.  It’s fun for guest to be able to take the pictures that include them.  It makes a great conversation piece, creates a totally personalized table, and kind of works as a party favor too as guests take the pictures home.  Win-win!

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For each of the place settings I made little confetti filled bags using glassine bags, washi tape, glitter coated clothespins, and these super cool “celebrate” stickers that I made to match the line.  You can upload your own design or even an image of the graduate.

For each of the graduates that were attending the graduation party, I made these cute luggage tags with their picture and a few to match the party decor as well.

unique high school graduation party ideas shutterfly luggage tags web

I hope these graduation party ideas are a help for planning your own graduation party.   I wanted to show you all too just how easy it is to take this collection and turn it into something fun for your home.  Check out the “follow your dreams” print and dream pillow in this cute bedroom…

shutterfly pillow from party to bedroom decor web

shutterfly metal print web

 

If you would like to download the designs I created and make your own DIY graduation party decorations here are simple instructions and links for you to create your own graduation party decorations and gifts over at Shutterfly graduation party products.  If you would like to download the file for a large 16×20 follow your dreams print, you can find that and our own line of printable party goods to match this party theme here:

Party collection including 8×10 sign

LARGE FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS SIGN FILE DOWNLOAD 16×20

LOOKING FOR MORE CUTE GRADUATION PARTY IDEAS?  CHECK OUT THIS FUN PARTY FROM GIGGLES GALORE:

Graduation Party Ideas

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING PILLOWS

1. Save the pillow designs.

do what you love pillow copydream pillow 18x18 copystar pillow 18x18 copy

2. Visit this link. Then select the 18×18 pillow size.

3. Click “Personalize”. Upload the saved graphic from your computer and place into pillow design. Do not add text.

4. Preview and add to cart.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING PLATES

1. Save the plate designs you wish to use.

celebrate plate copy do what you love plate  star plate copy

2. Click on this link

3. Click “Personalize”. Upload the saved graphic from your computer and place into your design. Do not add text.

4. Click next and then order.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACRYLIC BLOCKS

1. Save the acrylic block designs you wish to use.

do what you love acrylic block

2. Visit this link

3. Select the 5×5 size and click “Personalize”. Upload the saved graphic from your computer and place into the acrylic block. Do not add text.

4. Preview and add to cart.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LUGGAGE TAGS

1. Save the luggage tag graphic to your computer.

follow your dreams luggage

2. Click this link:  Photo Gallery luggage tag.

3. Click “Personalize”. Upload the saved graphic from your computer and place into the acrylic block. Do not add text.

4. Preview and add to cart.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COASTERS

1. Save the coaster graphics to your computer.

star coaster

2. Click this link for the right coasters

3. Click “Personalize”. Upload the saved graphic from your computer and place into the acrylic block. Do not add text.

4. Preview and add to cart.

I hope that you enjoy these graduation party ideas and free downloads!

You can find so many more of our party ideas in our Entertaining Gallery.

Some of our very most popular party ideas can be found here:

Teen Beach Movie Party

Frozen Party

Back to School Party

Modern Spider Themed Halloween Party

Pink Mint and Gold Baptism Party

The Mermaid Party

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Have a great day!

Tammy

Tammy

Creative Director at Pink Peppermint Design
Tammy Mitchell is the founder and creative director of lifestyle blog pinkpeppermintdesign.com. Along with being a homeschooling mom of two kiddos, she is also an in-demand prop and event stylist, photographer, interior and graphic designer. On Pink Peppermint Design, she shares creative DIY projects, easy entertaining and gift ideas, inspiring interiors and events. She lives in Southern California, with her husband and two children.

Graduation party ideas

18 thoughts on “Graduation Party Ideas : Follow Your Dreams”

    • Hi Christina!
      Those are actually transfers. Aren’t they cute? They stick to the wall, but not like wallpaper. You can reposition them and remove them when you want without damaging the walls. 🙂

      Reply
  1. I love all of this, you are so talented! I am wondering if you sell the print of the Follow your Dreams or if you have the download? I would love to print one for my nieces graduation.

    Thank you so much!

    Reply
  2. Love this! Is there anyway that we can get the print for the sign? Sell it to us! Whatever it takes. This is the cutest thing EVER

    Reply
  3. I am graduating this year and absolutely love, love, LOVE the class of 2014 acrylic block!!! Would you happen to have an updated file to download or be able to give any tips on how to recreate it?

    Reply
  4. Hi! Thank you for all the wonderful ideas for graduation parties – My daughter and i are absolutely in love with the follow your dreams metal sign! Do you still have the artwork for it? Would love a download – as soon as i saw it i knew it was perfect for what we are wanting to do, but i can’t find anything like it. Please!! and Thank you!

    Reply
  5. Thank you so much for linking at #overthemoon! I look forward to seeing what you share every week. Please come back for #WonderfulWednesday or #ThursdayFavoriteThings. Don’t forget to comment your link #’s so I can be sure to visit and you get a chance to be featured! Pinned and shared.

    Reply
  6. Thank you for sharing your wonderful post at #OverTheMoon. I look forward to what you will share next week! Like someone in person today! We hope you’ll come back again next Sunday when we open our doors at 6:00 PM EST. Pinned and tweeted!

    Reply
  7. Gorgeous party! I love the color combinations and how the custom prints tie it all together. And the fact that the pillows, print and so on would work great in a bedroom after the party – awesome. Very well thought out and styled.

    Reply
  8. Love the black, gold and green combo! Great theme to “follow your dreams” Congrats to the class of 2017! Thanks for sharing on Funtastic Friday!

    Reply

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