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2011 Graduation Contest from Pear Tree Greetings

By graduationparty, on April 19th, 2011

Check out Pear Tree Greetings’ 2011 Graduation Contest open to any parent with a 2011 high school graduate. Tell your story about how your grad makes you proud for the opportunity to win a grand prize of $6,000 or 2nd and 3rd prizes of $3,000 and $2,000! There will also be a random drawing each week for a $100 credit towards Pear Tree invitations. Enter soon!! Contest closes May 3rd, 2011 at 11:59pm CDT.

Pear Tree 2011 Graduation Contest

8th Grade Graduation

By graduationparty, on October 11th, 2010

Graduating from 8th grade is a time for celebration. Your graduate is moving on to high school, which often means kids will be going in different directions.

When Ginger’s son graduated from 8th grade his class went on to six different high schools. This was the last of nine years together as a class. Their ceremony involved looking back to childhood experiences as well as inspiring words about their bright future.

The build up to the graduation ceremony involved several events:

A service project
Track and field days
A field trip
A class play

Someone took photographs and video at all of these events so we were treated to a great show at the ceremony.

The Graduation Ceremony

A service was held to honor the grads. Our Principal, one teacher and one student gave speeches. They were very different yet inspiring in their own way.

As you can see from the photo our students do not wear caps and gowns at the 8th grade level. Some schools do.

8th Grade Graduation

After the Ceremony Celebration!

After the ceremony a group of 7th grade parents served lemonade and cake. They had decorated the cafeteria with jerseys from the six different high schools these kids . . . → Read More: 8th Grade Graduation

Fun, Unique Graduation Invitations

By graduationparty, on March 11th, 2010

We’re excited to have found a new Graduation Invitation company, Pear Tree Greetings, that offers a huge selection of fun and stylish graduation invitations, return address labels and thank you cards.

Their products are affordable and easy to order. Just pick a design you like and then customize it by adding your favorite photos, changing the colors and fonts, and adding your own text.

They also have coordinating products so for many of their invitations you can order matching address labels and thank you cards.

We especially love their collage photo invitations and round address labels.

Here’s a peek at some of their fun products:

Graduation Invitation Ensemble

Graduation Invitation <span style= . . . → Read More: Fun, Unique Graduation Invitations

Graduation Party Checklist

By graduationparty, on February 5th, 2010

Hosting a graduation party is a lot of work and it takes a lot of planning. As you’re thinking about ideas and making plans be sure to create a checklist of “to do’s” so you don’t forget anything later.

Create a time line and organize your “to do’s” within that time line. Try to get things done and out of the way as soon as possible. Graduation time is an extremely busy time of year and you’ll be thankful you got some things done early.

To give you an idea of what a time line might look like and to help you get started thinking about your own here’s one to start with …

6 weeks before the party:

Check your calendar and call the school to get a schedule of events happening at graduation time – graduation days & times, prom days & time, senior parties, etc. Don’t forget to include regular holidays and special events like Mother’s Day & Father’s Day.
Decide if you want to co-host a party with another family or multiple families.
Start collecting memorabilia – pictures, awards, trophies, newspaper clippings, special projects, artwork, etc.
Start assembling scrapbooks, poster boards, DVD’s, etc.
Determine your budget.
Pick the date & time for your party. The time is . . . → Read More: Graduation Party Checklist

Get ready for 2010 Grad Parties!

By graduationparty, on February 3rd, 2010

We haven’t posted in a while because we’ve been busy getting ready for the upcoming 2010 graduation season. We’ve updated our website, GraduationParty.com, with lots of new tips, ideas and 2010 graduation products. More will be added as they become available over the next few weeks so make sure you check back often.

New 2010 items include 2010 graduation invitations, 2010 graduation party decorations, 2010 graduation apparel (t-shirts, hoodies & more), college wear for those high school grads heading off to college, and lots, lots more.

. . . → Read More: Get ready for 2010 Grad Parties!

Photo Guest Books

By graduationparty, on November 14th, 2009

New for 2010 is a photo Guest Book from OurHubbub.

Photo Guest Books are similar to photo books except there are lots of spaces for your guests to leave congratulatory messages. You can include plenty of pictures too. Pictures of your grad when he or she was a baby or just starting school. Pictures of your grad with family. Pictures of your grad with his or her friends. Pictures of your grad at Prom. Pictures of your grad’s senior photos. Any pictures you want.

A great idea is to include pictures of your grad with some of the family and friends who are invited to the party. They can leave congratulatory messages next to the pictures they’re in. Think of how much fun it would be for your grad’s friends to see themselves in pictures with your grad, especially when they’re younger. It will bring back some great memories!

I have ordered from OurHubbub a few times and they make an excellent high-quality product. Their website is fairly easy to navigate as well. I love this photo guest book! It makes a wonderful momento.

For more information on how to order a photo guest book or to see other graduation guest books, go to GraduationParty.com’s . . . → Read More: Photo Guest Books

More Graduation Photo Books

By graduationparty, on November 6th, 2009

Graduation Photo Books are a great alternative to traditional scrapbooks. They usually have a template that you can use as is or modify any way you want. Most Photo Books start at a minimum of 20 pages but you can add more pages (up to 100 in most cases) at an additional cost per page.

Photo Books come in several sizes, from 5″x7″ up to 12″x12″. You can add multiple photos per page as well as text.

If your photos are already digital – on your computer, on your camera or on CDs – then creating a photo book is fairly easy. Simply find a template you like, upload your photos and then add the photos to the photo book. Some photo books allow you to embellish the pages with digital stickers and other graphics. Most let you add text such as descriptions and headings.

If you have printed photos then you can create digital versions by scanning them yourself or by having them professionally scanned at a local or online photo lab. If you scan your photos yourself, make sure you scan them at the best resolution and biggest size possible. The better the resolution, the clearer the picture will be when it’s printed.

If you don’t want to scan your photos you . . . → Read More: More Graduation Photo Books

Time to start thinking about your graduation party

By graduationparty, on September 15th, 2009

Well, the summer is over and the kids are back in school. Last year’s juniors are this year’s seniors.

A new group of parents is thinking about graduation next May or June and some are already making plans. If you’ve had a graduation party in the past then you know the ropes already. You know that you should start working on some things now before it gets too busy, like your scrapbooks and photo books.

But if this is your first graduation then you may be feeling a little overwhelmed or worried because you don’t know what you don’t know.

Not to fear. There’s lots of great information out there. You just need to find it. Start with our website, GraduationParty.com. It has tons of free advice and great suggestions. It’s a great resource that can help you decide what to do and what not to do.

If you feel more secure with something you can hold in your hands and make notes on, check out the book, “Graduation Parties: Everything You Need to Know From Start to Finish!”. You can buy it from GraduationParty.com. Most of the information in the book is also on the website.

Do I have to bring a gift to every grad party I go to?

By graduationparty, on June 4th, 2009

Teachers, counsellors, coaches and other people who work with kids every day get invited to many graduation parties each year, especially if they’re well liked or make a significant contribution to the community. The dilemma these folks face is whether to bring a gift to every party they attend.

In general, gifts are not mandatory and it would be unrealistic to expect teachers, school staff, coaches, etc. to bring gifts to every party they attend. In fact, most grads don’t expect gifts from these people. They’re just thrilled if their mentors take the time to come to their party.

If you’re invited to a lot of parties and can’t afford to bring a gift to each one it would be nice if you could make or buy a card and write a little congratulatory message or words of wisdom to the grad. But even that’s not necessary. Just making an appearance to the party is often . . . → Read More: Do I have to bring a gift to every grad party I go to?