A Graduation Party

A graduation party for our daughter ...


If you have been watching this blog for a while, you've seen parts of the look here, here, and here, but there were a few other things I want to share now to help complete the look. 


The food/buffet tables.


















I purchased some black 10x14 inch plastic trays from Amazon to help guests carry their food - we did not use plates.  They were the perfect size for what I was looking for.  They have larger trays like we see used at schools and other buffet lines, but they were too big for what I was hoping for.

               
We added a paper doily to each tray.  Here is a close up so you can see the sample tray we put together at the beginning of the line.

FYI - here is what we served:
wraps (Turkey BLT and Roast Beef Coleslaw),

pasta salad or lettuce/pear salad in berry boxes lined with waxed paper,

individual bags of assorted Sun Chips,

Banana Slush, and ice water. 

For dessert we had Cheese Cake (one of our daughters favorites), candy (including some of those fun rock candy on a stick) and an assortment of Ice Cream Bars and Fruit Bars (from Costco).


FYI - Those cute Rock Candy on a Stick came from Amazon, of course!

Between the two buffet tables we had this pedestal with flowers and B for BrittanyJo - our guest of honor.

The tablecloths (vintage sheets cut up into squares, laid over white cloths) needed some coordinating solid color napkins. 

I have purchased from Table Linens for Less before and liked one set I got (but they don't carry them anymore) but most of theirs are fabrics I don't care for.  My desire was to find 100% cotton.  I found some in perfect colors on Etsy but they were expensive - 2 for $18.00.  I could make them much cheaper but just didn't have the time.  I found a few on Amazon, though the colors were just a little different than I really was looking for, but they worked fine anyway.  I chose from two different kinds so that I could get the correct colors (or closest to the correct colors) -

Cotton Craft Napkins - 100% Cotton - 20" x 20"
(I purchased Lavender at $16.99)

DII  100% Cotton, Oversized Basic Everyday  20" x 20"  Napkin
Prices change by color and count - some come in sets 4, others in sets of 6, and white in 8
(I purchased the black 6ct for $18.00, 6 ct Guava for $24.00.)

FYI:
The napkins by Cotton Craft are lighter weight than those by DII and I liked the softness of them, though both are quite nice.  I washed all the napkins before we used them and there were slight wrinkles in all of them.  After washing them the second time (after use) I noticed that the Cotton Craft (lighter weight brand) were a bit more wrinkled than the DII - mostly around the hem areas.  It will be interesting to see what a third washing will do to them but I don't have time to wash them to find out.  If you don't like the wrinkled look both would have to be ironed, but the DII are a bit less wrinkled coming out of my washer and dryer.  I would buy either brand again and be happy.



At the entrance was this cute little bicycle we painted and adorned with a great inspirational quote -    "Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving."

A few of the gifts were placed on the shelf under the bike.

We have used this tent twice now (the first event will be posted here) and forgotten to take pictures of the tent itself when it was up and complete.  The closest we can come to a full view from the outside is this photo with my brother and his grandchild.  We have enjoyed the tent and are planning on having it up at least one more time this year.  Maybe we can get a full view then ..., maybe! 

We purchased the tent from Amazon too.  We have been pleased with it, though the plastic (rope cinch) pieces have broken - my boys have just tied the ropes instead of using those pieces.  Here is what we purchased, but I noticed before I posted this that it is no longer available.  That makes me sad because it has been a great item for what we have been using it for. There are other sizes and options still available, but this is what we purchased.

40'x20' PVC Pole Tent - Party Wedding Canopy Shelter by Delta
($919.98 = cheaper than a rental + mileage; but I only checked out two places to rent from - and we live many miles from the city that offers them.)

It looks grey or taupe in their photo, but it is white.

We had a wonderful event, thanks to the family and friends that showed up, and to those who helped with all the preps.

Graduation Party and Sandwiches

I've been thinking a lot about sandwiches lately, because that was part of what we served at our graduation luncheon. 

I really like the look of these subs - it's a great way to hold a sandwich together for buffet tables. From Country Living.

As much as I like that look, I didn't use it for our luncheon.  Only because we didn't do subs.

  However, I did want a wrapped sandwich so I purchased some sandwich bags. (from Amazon)

Our sandwiches were Beef on a Bun

(beef slices, Muenster cheese slice, lettuce, mayo, and honey mustard)

and

Chicken Croissant

(boiled and cut up chicken, onion, celery, yummy grapes, and a mayo seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of lemon juice).

This next photo is a scan of a page I cut out of a magazine many years ago.  Before computers!  But I was still saving the look back then (and not writing where I got the look from, sorry) - I put this page (after writing my note on it) in my files to remind me of what I liked.

I really liked the idea of using a box like this, only I don't do cigars but decided that pencil boxes made an excellent option. 

School + Graduation + Luncheon = a great time to use pencil boxes for a lunch box.  This is one (big) reason why I chose to have sandwiches for this celebration.

So I searched for pencil boxes.  They used to be everywhere years ago, but they have transformed into plastic and different styles, unlike the look above.  I did however, find some cheap plain white pencil boxes online (at Discount School Supply) and thought that they would be perfect.

Upon arrival I found that they were a bit disappointing and I almost returned them.  I also had some damaged boxes - I wrote and explained my disappointment and they sent me replacements.  Still not the quality I was hoping for, but hey, I did say they were cheap!

I decided to use them anyway, because I kinda had my mind set on pencil boxes. But, because the boxes looked kinda icky inside I wanted to cover that up.  It's not a very appetizing look.  See how dirty the corners look and some even have the nice little rip in them. (personal photo untouched) I guess if you buy these to cover with paper or fabric or whatever, then it won't be a problem, but I was hoping to leave them white. 

So, after the initial disappointment, I decided to use some fabric to lay inside, kinda like the photo above has a napkin inside. I thought about a paper napkin, but felt that the fabric gives more variety and adds a special feel and look.  Fabric would also not stain the box if they got wet like a paper napkin might.  Why worry about that on these boxes ???? I don't know, I just did !!!

I purchased assorted black and white fabrics (using black because it's our graduates favorite color ... that and grey) and made my own napkins. 

Half a yard of fabric cut into thirds lengthwise, and hemmed the edges.  I refered to a previous post to help me know for sure how to hem napkins, though I didn't do it exactly the same way.

The napkin was tucked into the boxes for a much better finished look - and I really like the finished look.

It was a fun way to fill the pencil box that afternoon.

We let everyone fill their own box. We had sandwiches, a yummy Cashew Noodle Chicken Salad served in half-pint jars, and assorted individually bagged chips.  For our drink we simply served cold bottled water and little packets of flavoring.  For dessert we had a few favorites - milk (the graduates all-time favorite drink) and cookies, donuts, brownie bites, and rhubarb pie.

Whew! It's over!  Now, the clean up!  It wasn't that bad -  when we got home from graduation I went to the kitchen to wash a few things while people were still visiting - to my Great Surprise things were already washed and many were even put away.  The kitchen didn't look at all like I left it. So, to my kitchen fairy ... a great big

THANK YOU! 

You are awesome!

(What are you doing tomorrow?  :)