Mondays With Martha :: Graduation Parties

I saw somewhere the other day that a mom counts the summers left with her kiddos. I thought what a weird thing to do… Then I thought Oh Man, I’m only have 16 left, right? That’s not too many! Better make them count.


And while I still have 16, I know many people who are on their last and celebrating graduations this summer! Congrats to all the graduates and with graduations come graduation parties! So this Monday with Martha will feature just that! Besides… Who doesn’t love entertaining just a little?


My thought : Simpler is Better. Especially since kids will be kids and they probably won’t pay any attention to all the trouble you’ve gone to! ;)


I love this set up – clean and simple (and from 2013 obviously! Hah) ! I’m a sucker for anything using craft paper too. Just sayin’

Here’s another {dated} idea where they took pictures of the grad and made the graduation year! So cute! And not limited to a graduation party! Use for birthdays or anniversaries too!
 


 
If your graduate is a book lover (and girl) this set up is so cute and whimsy! I love how they covered the books in coordinating pinks and then strung some around on garland too!



 
The neon trend does not seem to be going away any time soon! And with this, use neon post it notes for guests to sign with words of encouragement and good luck! Then take the post its and scrapbook them for your grad if you like! Plus, summer is the perfect time to take advantage of the neons!




 
And this might be my favorite… and while it is anything but simple and definitely not cheap, I do love the idea of it! Martha’s calling it a Green Graduation Party and it’s based in Vermont. I’m loving the use of chalkboards and using them to tell a story and take pictures.





 

You could also have everyone sign it and take a picture of that to frame for later too! Check out the entire party here (http://tinyurl.com/le8g8no).

We have a big chalkboard that we are using for Maeve and I’d love to do something like this with it! Look out little brother – your graduation is in 3 years and it’ll be a big one!

Happy Monday!

Any graduates you are celebrating?

And PS!  Check back tomorrow for a living room update!  Hoping to take pictures once I get home!  It's clean!  It's clean!  I hope it's still clean when I get home! 

*All pictures via www.marthastewart.com*

Inspiration - 4th of July

Happy Friday Blog Hogs!  I thought it would never get here!  Longest week of my life! 
And once again, I'm struck with a darn migraine!  It has to be the weather... last Friday there were storms = Migraine.  Today again there are storms = migraine.  Great!

I was wondering how you will be celebrating the 4th of July this weekend?  I'll be going home to spend it with family.  We'll be having lots of good food and fun!  I'm sure we'll be doing the fireworks thing much to the dismay of my father... my husband has been a bad influence on my brother in this area!  They are like Pyromaniacs!  And it doesn't help that my husband's friend sells fireworks so we always get what they call "The Hookup."  I'm sure there will be pictures to share. 

And since I'm sure that many of you will be spending your time at cookouts too, I figured I'd share some inspirational ideas for entertaining this 4th of July.  So... here goes!

Entertaining and Party Decor Ideas:

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Festive Food Ideas:

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 Kids Crafts:

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I hope that might give you some ideas or thoughts for the big weekend! 

I'm a huge fan of Martha and she has some really great ideas over on her website.

More recipes, crafts, and decor ideas!

Have a great weekend!