Graduation Party Decoration Idea

Are you looking for a personalized and meaningful graduation party decoration idea? Lining the walkway with your annual back-to-school photos is a special way to celebrate the accomplishments of your graduate. I’m including a video tutorial so you have clear instructions on how to recreate this outdoor graduation party decor.

If you are here for graduation content, I’d also love you to check out the special graduation gift I bought for my daughter’s friends this year.

Graduation Party Decoration Idea

Back-to-school photos are a tradition for so many. I see my friends share their own special pictures every year, and it has been fun to watch their kids grow. I, too, have the tradition of taking photos. We take one by the door, one walking away from the house, one facing me on the walk, and often one in front of their school.

Collecting these photos in our online gallery as well as printing them in my annual photobooks, has been one way to make these photos special. This graduation decoration idea is going to be another way to highlight these annual photos in a very meaningful way..

Maybe back-to-school photos weren’t your thing. Don’t worry! You could use their school photos or simply a photo from every year of their life.

Lining a pathway to your home or having them in a line on the grass is such a special way to see and remember the growth of your child. Your guests are going to love it!

Materials Needed to Make Personalized Outdoor Graduation Party Decor

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A photo of your child from every school year printed on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of heavy stock paper
12×12 scrapbook paper in the color of your school – I used navy blue for our school
Paper Cutter
36″ Survey Stakes (13 needed)
Staple Gun
Glue Tape – This is one of my new favorite craft tools!

How to Make School Pictures Line a Path to a Graduation Party

Add the school age on each photo of your child. I used Canva, which is a free online design editing program. Simply upload your picture, choose text, pick your font, and write out the school age of your child (i.e., kindergarten, first, second, etc.). I do this for each of her 13 school photos. You could also do this concept on your Cricut. If technology is not your thing, you could write the grade with a white paint pen.
Next, download and print out each one of these photos onto heavy stock paper. I printed as large as I could onto an 8.5″ x 11″ paper. I reduced the margins to get a small border around the edge.
Cut your scrapbook paper so that there is a 1/2 inch border on every side of your printed photo. I cut my navy blue border to 9.5″ x 12″ (only one cut needed).
Next, find the center of that navy blue paper. I measured 4.75″ from the side in two different places and drew a vertical line down the long center. I then measured 9″ from the bottom of the paper and made a line. This would mark where my stake would go.
Lay the stake down, centered on the line and up to that 9″ mark. Carefully, flip the paper and stake over and staple in place with a staple gun. The purpose of doing this part first is to hide the staples with your child’s photo.
Using glue tape, line the back of your picture with the tape. Flip it back over, center it on your scrapbook paper, and press it carefully in place.
Measure your walk and evenly placed photos along the walkway or grass in your yard.