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How To Help A Graduate Feel Special — Even When You’re On A Budget

There’s no question that it’s a special occasion when a friend or family member graduates. That would explain why even kindergartners wear caps and gowns and go through graduation ceremonies. I was shocked to see this when my now-6-year-old nephew was ready to leave pre-school last year. But I say if the graduation process instills a love of learning and achievement, they’re worthwhile exercises. And they also make for some cute pictures!

When teens and adults graduate, however, it’s definitely a big event. And it’s not only because the graduate gets to advance to another level, but usually many, many hours and plenty of money has been invested to achieve that goal. That usually means there’ll be a graduation party thrown to celebrate. If you have a loved one graduating and will be serving as party planner, these tips will make your job easier:

Make it a group project
If budget is an issue, you might want to share party planning responsibilities with another graduate’s family. If that’s not feasible, make it a pot luck dinner so both the cost and the work will be shared.

Make your own invitations
Using 2011 graduation party invitations you can find on the web can make short work out of generating the party invites. They’re a frugal option and they’re fun to create too.

Create the party decorations
It’s amazing what you can create by using free graduation decorations and free graduation scrapbooking papers that are freely available on the Internet. Images of graduation caps, diplomas or the graduation year can be used to make wall and table decorations, and the scrapbooking papers can be used to make table place cards and wrapping paper for party favors. If you’re the crafty type, you might even want to make origami folded paper favors for each person using the scrapbook paper.

I’m sure you can also think of other ways to economize without actually scrimping on the quality. It’s all about the creativity you put into it. And it won’t hurt if you have some free graduation invitation, clip art and scrapbook paper images you can download! Using those and surrounding the graduate with friends and family who share in their joy will make the party a big success.

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