Top 5 Table Decorations For A Graduation Open House

Graduation season is here, and it’s time to celebrate your grad’s big achievement in style! Whether you're hosting a backyard bash, an indoor open house, or a mix of both, table decorations help set the mood and add a personalized touch. Not sure where to start? Here are our top 5 table decoration ideas that are sure to impress guests and make your graduate feel extra special.

Top 5 Table Decoration Ideas For A Graduation Open House Party

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1. Photo Centerpieces That Tell a Story

Nothing says "look how far they've come!" like a walk down memory lane. Use framed photos or small photo clip stands to display pictures from kindergarten to senior year. Bonus points for adding fun captions or inside jokes. Looking for a budget-friendly option - check out how I made these simple rock & wire picture holders! Find the full tutorial HERE. 

Pro tip: Arrange them around a vase of flowers or a mason jar of fairy lights for a cozy, nostalgic vibe.

2. Customized Confetti & Table Scatter

Celebrate in detail with custom confetti shaped like graduation caps, the graduation year, or even the grad's name. Mix in some school colors to match the theme and sprinkle it across each table.

Quick DIY: Punch out confetti using a craft punch and colored cardstock, or order personalized confetti from Etsy or local party stores.

3. Mini Diploma Napkin Wraps

Take your napkin game up a notch by rolling utensils inside colorful napkins and tying them with a ribbon to look like mini diplomas. It’s cute, easy, and totally on theme!

Color match: Use ribbon in the graduate’s school colors to keep it cohesive.

4. Highlight Your Favorite Bible Verse

Set small Bibles on a table with highlighters and pens, asking guests to highlight and sign their name next to their favorite Bible verse. It becomes a meaningful keepsakes they’ll treasure long after the party.

Suggested sign: “Highlight Your Favorite Bible Verse to Share With the Graduate!”

5. Themed Table Runners or Printable Placemats

Jazz up basic tables with printed table runners that showcase the graduate's achievements, interests, or future plans. You can also create custom placemats with fun quizzes (“How well do you know the grad?”). If you really want to keep it simple and interactive, cover each table with a sheet of craft paper, fill up a mason jar with colored pencils, and leave simple instructions asking guests to doodle encouraging messages, pictures, and memories for the graduate.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Forget the Favors!

A small takeaway at each seat — like a mini picture of the grad, candy bag, or homemade bookmarks— adds a nice final touch and leaves guests with something to remember the celebration by.

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Whether you're going all-out or keeping it simple, the right table decor can really tie your graduation open house together. Keep it personal, playful, and full of personality — just like your grad. 

Got a favorite graduation table decor idea? Drop it in the comments!

 

 

10 Fun Ideas To Enjoy March Madness As A Family

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Check out the end of this post for some great basketball gear for the athlete/fan in your life!

Our family has always been big college basketball fans. We love watching our favorite team (The Michigan State Spartans) as a family. The kids will even mark the games on our calendar to make sure we don't miss a televised game. - Gotta train them up right!

Now brackets in our house mean open season for some trash talking. We put big stakes on these brackets and no one wants to lose. 

Over the last few years the winner with the best bracket has gotten - a huge Hershey candy bar, $10 bill, an article of clothing (my daughter won and picked a dress that she refers to as her basketball tournament dress) and an ice cream dessert date with a parent. 

As you can see we are serious here - we don't mess around. 

Since a majority of the first round games in the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament take place during the day and our kids are home (because we home school) I allow the TV to be left on after lunch so we can catch updates on the scores. It's a blast hearing one of my kids shout out the score of a game they are closely watching because they selected a certain team to win on their bracket! 

The NCAA Men's Basketball tournament provides lots of fun learning opportunities and here are 10 ideas you could do with your kids to enjoy it as a family

10 Fun Ideas to Enjoy March Madness as a Family

#1 Fill Out A Bracket - 

Your kids could do their own or you could do one as a family. Kids can practice their handwriting skills as they write the names of the schools they select on the brackets. My son is a reluctant writer - except when it comes to filling out his bracket. He puts a lot of focus and effort into writing the school names correctly and NEATLY. If you are looking for a bracket online here is a great place to get one to print off. 

#2 Play Basketball Bingo

Maybe it is the first time your kids have been exposed to the game of basketball and you want to start teaching them the terminology of the game. The best way to do this is to get them engaged with a simple hands on game like bingo. There is a great website you can use to generate bingo cards for free using terms/words you want as the squares or use the pre-made ones on the website. Click here to go to the bingocardcreator.com website. 

#3 Put Up An Indoor Hoop

If we are going to watch basketball we ought to play a little here and there too to really get into the game. During the tournament we have several spots throughout our house where we put up hoops. My husband hung this hoop from the top of our stairway and regularly plays a pick-up game with the kids. You don't have to buy anything though - you could just put a piece of cardboard on the back of a trash can and use the trash can as the hoop. Kids will love tossing their trash through the "hoop"!

#4 Pick A Team To Learn About

You could incorporate a lot of learning through this fun activity. Encourage your kids to randomly pick a team, find where it is on a map and then look up the school online and read about it. For older students this could be a simple way to get them excited about college. Have them find out fun and interesting facts about a school - like why they have a certain type of mascot, history of the school, what the school is best known for, location, types of majors and pictures of campus.

#5 Skip Counting Practice

Since most of the scoring during a game is from 2 point shots you could really have fun teaching your kids how to skip count by 2's. After they master that skill have them skip count by 3's (3 pointers). I recommend cutting out circles from brown construction paper and putting the skip count numbers on them (2, 4, 6...). Then tape the circles in a pattern on your floor so the kids can jump from circle to circle saying the numbers.

#6 Adding & Subtracting Math Using Game Scores

Sometimes my kids ask when they will ever use the math they learn in school in real life - keeping score of a game is a good answer! Coming up with the difference between two teams scores, counting down time left on the clock and calculating shooting percentages all require the use of math. Based on your child's level of math you can discuss these math concepts during the games. For my oldest kids (grades 5th & 7th) we will be focused on calculating shooting percentages of various players and teams (shots made / attempted shots = shooting %). My younger children will be working on finding the difference (subtraction) between the teams scores. We will talk about inequalities as well - who has more points, who has fewer points.

#7 Sweet 16 - Sweets!

The tournament is know for the catchy titles of the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four. How about letting your child choose a special "sweet" to eat while watching the sweet sixteen games. You could make basketball shaped popcorn balls or rice krispie treats.

#8 Learn the Positions of Players On The Court

With so many games there are plenty of opportunities to teach the game to the kids including the various positions and what the difference is between offense and defense. This website has detailed instructions, picture of the court and the game rules for you to read and use as you explain it to your kids. See if they can point out what they learn while watching a live game!

#9 Play Basketball Games

Besides the actual game of basketball there are a lot of other fun basketball games you can play with your kids. Around the World, 2 on 2, P.I.G (or H.O.R.S.E),  and Knock Out are just a few but you can find more including the instructions here.

# 10 Throw a Championship Game Party

Even if your team didn't make it to the championship game you can still throw a party to enjoy the final game of the men's college basketball season. Have your kids help plan the party including the food, decorations and invitations. They could even show off their newly acquired basketball knowledge with your guests or play the games they learned about basketball!

The tournament is a great way to bust out of the cabin fever season and enjoy the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament! I'd love to hear how your family enjoys it - please leave a comment with your ideas.

Looking for some great basketball gear? Here is a collection I put together for you or your favorite athlete.
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