Overcome the Most Difficult Color Combinations for Graduation Parties

In Ohio, we are already starting to plan for graduation parties for next year.  If you think wedding color schemes are hard, try sticking to the traditional high school color combinations mandated across the U.S.  Our challenge?  Green and Yellow.

I know what you are thinking!  I love mint and light yellow color palettes.  Or how about black with touches of Emerald and Gold?  Wouldn't that be great?  It would but we are talking St. Patrick's Day green and goldish yellow for a daytime event.  You can imagine how quickly a party could start to resemble March 17th festivities or even Fat Tuesday.

But we didn't give up and after a week of looking at inspirational photos on Pinterest and Google, we found our answer.  SUNFLOWERS!

When designing your space, don't forget to design in levels including up!  These are great options and you can get silk ones wholesale for under $13.00 each at Save-On-Crafts.

Loving the idea of a striped runner as the base of the table design.  I wonder what our graduate will choose?

Use any items throughout your graduate's high school experience to add to the decor of the event.  This is a super cute graduation cap that is very DIY friendly!

Add graphics and printables where you can to add that extra pop of green to this color scheme.  I also love the colored straws with different designs.  Super fun and easy to find online.

Cut the stems of the Sunflowers close to the flower itself and place the flowers around the tables for extra decor or use smaller ones on the napkins at each place setting.  They stay fresh throughout the event because they are a hearty floral.  We also love the idea shown here of adding game tables for action stations.

We can't wait to start the planning process and will be sure to share the final product with you just in case you find yourself agonizing over yellows and greens for your next event.  If you have had success with these color combinations, we would love to see your ideas!

Watermelon BBQ - A Fun Way to Celebrate this Summer

I loved the idea of making a BBQ out of a Watermelon but kept thinking this would be so difficult to do.  A few weeks ago, I started to see this project posted on all my friends Facebook pages and decided that I could do it too!  Here are the results from my first try.  If you have been wanting to do this, don't be intimidated. It is super fun and adds a special something to that summer event.

I started with a mini watermelon.  It seemed like it would be so much easier starting with a miniature version.  You will also need a melon baller, a corer, skewers, a sharp pair of scissors, three celery stalks and assorted fruit,


Step One: Cut your melon in two pieces. The top should be a little smaller than the bottom.  Then you will want to scoop all the melon out using the melon baller.


TIP: A seedless watermelon is a good idea!  :)


I also used the melon baller to make rounds of cantaloupe in the same size as the watermelon to use later on the skewers.


Step Two: Use the corer to make three holes on the bottom part of the watermelon BBQ.  The holes will be used for the celery stalks that will become the legs of the project.


Step Three: For the celery, you want to use the biggest stalks so they will really fill in the space the corer created and will support the entire watermelon.  The celery should be similar in length and thickness.  Push them into the holes from the outside of the watermelon.  You will have to cut them so they don't protrude too far out of the top.


TIP: You can add blackberries to the inside of your BBQ to cover the tops of the celery.  They look like charcoal!


Step Four: Create your grill by pushing skewers into one side and out the other.  Here is where you will need those sharp scissors so you can cut off the excess skewers on the back side.


TIP: Have the ends of the skewers where you cut the excess wood facing the back of the BBQ.


Step Five: Add your fruit skewers.  You can use any fruit and make them small (to fit on the BBQ) or longer so they hang over a little bit.  I have cut my skewers in half here.  In this example, we used watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes and strawberries.


TIP: Play with the fruit combination. My girlfriend wanted to use the full range of colors and create a rainbow.  She made larger skewers and included watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries and blackberries.  The only limit is your imagination!


Last Step: Add the lid.  I placed it off to the side but you can place it on the back and toothpick it into place.


Now that I have created my very own fruit art, I decided to see if there are any other projects out there that I could tackle.  My search for other watermelon creations led me to a great baby stroller that was created with fruit for a baby shower.  It seems like a level two project but I know I can do it!


If you have any other great ideas on how to create awesome fruit sculptures, we would love to see them and give them a go.  Share here or send us an email at partiesbyparis@gmail.com.


Happy Summer!