Graduation Party Decor

This graduation centerpiece is easy and fast to make!

I’m working on several graduation centerpiece options and I just wrapped up the one shown above, which was easy to put together. Below, I’ll outline the steps I took to create it. And for those of you that would rather watch via video, I’ve included a link to a YouTube video below.

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Supplies:

mason jar
tulle
ribbon & twine
tulle
Styrofoam
dowel rods
spray paint for mason jar
acrylic paint for the dowel rods
glue gun & glue sticks
foam brush
card stock to print the graduation year from

Paint mason jar.

I painted two coats of the blue spray paint, following directions on the paint can.

Once the blue paint dried, I painted the top of the jar with white spray paint.

Next, paint the dowel rods.

I purchased my 12″ dowel rods at Walmart for 97 cents (for 16). I found some at my Dollar Tree but they were much shorter so I opted for the ones from Walmart.

I painted some dowel rods blue, some white, and some gold using a foam brush. The paint dried quickly so I put a second coat of paint on.

Then, prepare the tool to use for pom pom making.

I cut a piece of cardboard 4″ by 6″ to be used for wrapping the tulle.

Cut ribbon for pom pom.

Cutting the ribbon before you begin making the pom pom will make it easy to tie it when you’ve gotten it ready. I typically use two ribbons to tie off my pom pom. I decided to cut my ribbon about 16″ because I wanted the ribbon long enough to hang down from the pom pom.

Wrap tulle around the cardboard.

The tulle gets wrapped around the 4″ side of the cardboard. I typically wrap it about 17 times around. It is important that you wrap the pom poms around the same number of times so that your pom poms are about the same size.

Slide the tulle off of the cardboard and tie it in the middle.

It is important to get the tulle tied in the middle or the pom pom will be bigger on one side than the other.

Clear a path in the loop to cut.

I use a finger to make my way through the loops. This makes it much easier to cut the loop.

Cut the loops.

It’s okay if you can’t get your scissors through every loop at the same time. And most likely, even after you cut the loops, you’ll find some that you missed. Just cut the loops whenever you come across them. Once you cut the loops on one side, repeat the steps to do the same for the other loop.

Fluff the pom pom.

Pull the layers of the tulle apart to fluff the pom pom.

Glue pom pom to dowel rod.

Use a glue gun to put a generous dot of glue on the knot of the pom pom.

Press the stick into the knot. Put a little more glue around the stick and press the tulle into the stick and hold for about a minute. Be careful not to burn your finger.

Cut 2019 card stock and glue to dowel rod.

I found a 2019 cut file on Cricut design space for 99 cents and cut the piece below on glitter card stock. Once it was cut, I used the glue gun to attach it to the dowel rod.

Below you see the two pom poms and the 2019 sign.

Cut Styrofoam.

Cut a piece of Styrofoam to fit into the mason jar.

Insert dowel rods into the Styrofoam.

I like to insert an odd number of sticks into the Styrofoam.

Tie twine around the jar.

Cut tissue paper shred.

I cut tissue paper shred to put into my mason jar. To do this, simply open a package of tissue paper. Keep it folder and cut thin strips off of the tissue paper. Grab the end of each cut piece and shake to make your shred.

Fill the jar with tissue paper shred.

I am really happy with how this centerpiece turned out. I love the white paint around the lid of the jar!

If you’re looking for other graduation decor ideas, please see some of my other graduation posts: