Graduation Party Ideas - For Guys

Hello friends, it has been awhile since I have written a post but needless to say we have been a bit busy at our house. As most of you know  we had a son get married one year ago (June 19th will be their first anniversary ) see post Cheap Chic Wedding Planning and one son just graduated from high school in May. 
 Seriously, it is crazy getting ready for these events isn't it? My right index finger still has no feeling in the tip from doing all the scrubbing, painting, washing, mulching and weeding that we have been frantically doing to get ready for this grad party. The party was last Saturday and we were blessed with fantastic weather.  
As a mother of boys I have tried to take on the creative endeavor of making their grad celebrations a reflection of who they are without being cutesy. Here is my version.
Let's see what you think.

I rented 6- 8 foot long tables with the 48 wooden chairs to give it a picnic table look. It was an open house so we had plenty of seating as people would come and go during the 3 hour time frame for about 100 people.

Table Coverings-Painter Canvas Drop Cloth 

I decided to use painter canvas drop cloths as the table coverings for all the tables. I got them online from www.mytarp.com/ . The 4x15 will work for two 6 foot tables  pushed together to create one long buffet table. The other size cloths for the eating tables were the 4x12 runners. I bought the 10 oz cloth for the buffet table and 8 oz. cloth for the rest of the tables. It was inexpensive and I liked the texture it provided for the tables.

Menu was bbq shredded pork sandwiches, cheesy potatoes, broccoli slaw, fresh fruit, relish tray

Scott opted for cookies rather than cake

We also provided popcorn as a grab and go snack for those that had other grad parties and really didn't need another meal

Glitch-
When the company sent me the cloths they were all the same  except one ( which was a different texture and color.) Sooo... I had run to a couple of local paint stores to find another one that was similar.
You will also need to wash the cloths before using them due to the extreme lint the cloths have when you pull them out of the packages. After washing them I threw them in the dryer and tumbled them until they were good and hot ( but still wet) and then lined dried them. When you hang them pull the fabric and smooth it with your hands. You will not need to iron them and can take them right from the line to your tables!

Table Decorations- Wheat Grass in Rustic Containers and Flat Soccer Scott

Scott was a 4 year letterman in soccer and I wanted to honor his time spent on turf all those years by creating pots of wheat grass. I bought 20 lbs. of wheat grass from Dodsworth Farms online www.dodsworthfarms.com/ . I used a little more than half the seed (but I will use the left over for other projects). They were so friendly and I received the seed within days of ordering. Plant the seed about 2 weeks from your event and make sure it gets plenty of sun and water. It is very fun to watch grow! I then emailed my girlfriend action shots of Scott playing soccer and  she created 14 flat Scotts by reversing the image, cutting them and gluing them on card stock  so I could stick them in the grass.
I put a bit of plastic on the tables in case the pots had any moisture that would wick out on the table cloths.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today and can gain some inspiration for your next party! The next post I will show you some of the other ideas that I used to create an ice cream station  as well as other photos.