Here are a few Cricut graduation party ideas that you can whip up quickly for graduation season. Make your students graduation time extra special with a personal touch!
Graduation Day is such a fun and important milestone for our kids! There are a few different graduations depending on how much school you attend, but high school graduation is probably the most celebrated.
Some of the kids have been together since kindergarten and some others are leaving their friends behind. The end of the school year is a perfect time to host a graduation celebration with family and friends.
Of course, that means, party decorations and unlimited time in my craft room!
When my daughter graduated 6th grade, I made all the red carpet themed graduation decor including graduation fans for the ceremony itself.
And for my son’s high school graduation, I had fun making a custom graduation card gift box out of an old Ziploc box, cardboard, scrap fabric, and cardstock!
But this time I wanted to share some Cricut graduation party ideas that are personalized for a smaller party.
And the great thing when you own a Cricut, is that you can personalize any of the following creative ideas to suit your own needs and specific graduation year.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
Cricut Graduation Party Ideas
I made a video of the step-by-step tutorials for three of the Cricut projects together so make sure to check that out at the bottom of the post.
You can find all of the graduation SVGs I used for these three projects in Cricut Design Space here.
DIY Personalized Napkins
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I love personalized everything! Probably why I love my Cricut so much! With some iron-on vinyl and dollar store napkins, you can make your own elegant or funny custom napkins.
The napkins do take quite a bit of time, so I didn’t make one for all of the party guests. Just a few to use for decoration.
Materials Needed:
- napkins – I bought black ones at the Dollar Tree
- iron-on vinyl – I used Cricut metallic silver
- EasyPress 2
- Cricut cutting machine – I used my Cricut Maker but you could use a Cricut Explore Air 2, Explore 3, Cricut Joy, or the Cricut Joy Xtra.
There are quite a few graduation files in Cricut Access to design whatever style you want or you could always use your own designs.
I found the cute “graduation y’all” cut file, then added the name and “class of 2019” and attached them all together.
You can click on the text and de-attach them to edit. Just make sure to attach them all back together so it cuts out as one.
I cut out all the wording for the graduation cap decoration and DIY personalized napkins out of silver iron-on vinyl on mirror setting. Weed all the extra vinyl off.
Heat up the EasyPress 2 to 280F. (If you need extra help using an EasyPress make sure to hop on over to my EasyPress tutorial).
Using an EasyPress mat or fluffy towel and place the napkin on top. Place the iron-on vinyl where you want it. Apply light pressure to the vinyl with the EasyPress for 15 seconds.
Turn the napkin over and press again for 15 seconds.
Peel off the plastic backing. If the vinyl seems like it’s coming up, press again for 15 seconds.
That’s all there is to the personalized graduation napkins!
How to Make a Graduation Cap Out of Paper
Now let’s make some cute DIY graduation party decorations out of cardstock.
Materials Needed for DIY Graduation Cap:
- cardstock – I used black Cricut cardstock
- yellow embroidery floss
- Cricut
- EasyPress 2
- iron-on vinyl – I used Cricut metallic silver
- black fabric and button making set – I found mine at Joann’s.
- glue dots or hot glue gun
Cut the square and long rectangle pieces out of black cardstock for the paper cap. Cut the name and class of out of iron-on vinyl.
The stars can be cut out of adhesive vinyl or iron-on, I used glitter adhesive.
Weed out the extra iron-on vinyl. Heat up the EasyPress 2 to 280F.
Press the iron-on onto the black square for 30 seconds with light pressure on a mat or towel. Turn over and press for 15 seconds more.
Peel off the plastic backing. I found it peeled off easier once it cooled down for 30 seconds or so.
Apply the stars with EasyPress or use your fingers to stick them on if you are using adhesive vinyl.
How to Make the Graduation Decor Tassel
Wrap yellow embroidery thread around your four long fingers about 5-10 times, depending on how thick you want it, and cut it at the bottom.
Use a longer piece of thread and slide it between the looped thread and your hand.
Slide off the thread and tie a knot with the long piece. Cut off the bottoms.
Tie another piece of thread around the top of the thick strands to hold them together and trim off the excess.
Make the Black Button for the Graduation Cap
Now, you can probably just buy some black buttons or cut a circle out of chipboard or cardboard for the center of the square cap. I used a button kit I had and some black fabric.
Follow the directions on the back of the kit and make sure to watch the video where I show you how I do it.
Now Put the Paper Graduation Cap Together!
Fold the three squares that are sticking up on the rectangle piece of cardstock so they are creased.
Wrap the cardstock so the two end pieces come together and tape them or glue the ends together.
Tape or glue the folded over tabs to the square. Press it down securely.
Place a blob of hot glue at the center of the top of the cap and place the end of the tassel and then the tassel button on.
Now you know how to make a graduation cap out of paper that is personalized for your someone special!
For my son’s high school graduation party, I ended up making larger grad cap centerpieces out of a terra cotta pot and a piece of cardboard. I spray painted both with black paint (or you could use acrylic paint and paint by hand).
Then I cut out a bunch of custom images in Cricut Design Space and used floral stems and a hot glue gun so that they stuck out of the top of the cap.
There are really so many different ways you can decorate a centerpiece to represent our high school graduates!
I made the tassels the same way as above and cut out the year with my laser cutter. Easy and inexpensive DIY graduation decor!
I also used my Cricut machine to make a sign for my front door so people would know to come on in! I added it to the center of a wreath:) I did buy the hanging banners since that was very last minute!
Cricut Graduation Party Favor Boxes
The last of the easy Cricut graduation DIY ideas I have for you are these fun favor boxes. And this one, the Cricut pretty much does all the work for you!
Materials Needed for Graduation Favor Boxes
- Kraftboard– I used the pink foil one but you could use any color that corresponds to school colors
- Cricut Maker
- Scoring Wheel
- Sharpie – thin
- glue dots or glue gun
- black cardstock
- any favor to put inside – candy, goldfish, chocolates, almonds, etc…
When you open the Cricut Design Space project here, the box will be there. (Or you can search graduation box) If you’d like to personalize the top, you’ll need to attach some text.
Click on the text I have and you can change the name. Or if you want a different font click on the font drop-down menu and filter it to “writing”.
Click on the font you want and type in the name or whatever you want on the box. Center and space them how you like on the same square mine were on (this is the top flap).
Click on the text box (you’ll see it says “draw”), hold Ctrl and click on the favor box and then click on “attach” on the bottom right.
Now you’ll see that everything is attached and has either draw, score, or cut next to it in the layers panel.
When you click “Make It”, set your material to Kraftboard under Art Board. You’ll be prompted to enter a pen and the scoring wheel 02.
I first tried to use a Cricut pen, but it didn’t come out dark enough. Then I remembered seeing Kimberly at SweetRedPoppy.com using a Sharpie with a hair band wrapped around it.
So I took out the pen holder, wrapped a hair tie around a Sharpie and pushed it down. The black ink came out so much darker!
Halfway through, CDS will prompt you to change the scoring wheel with the fine point blade and then it will finish cutting.
Pull it off the mat and fold over all the scoring lines. Glue the black graduation caps on.
Wrap the ends back on each other and you’ll see how easily it goes together. I put a glue dot on the outside two lips to hold it together.
Now put any kind of favor inside like the custom chapstick favors for your guests and it’s done!
Then use the scoring tool to make 3D letters as part of the decorations.
Graduation Gift Ideas
You can also use your Cricut to make the perfect gift for the graduates.
Find out how to make your own gift card or cash card holder here.
A glitter tumbler or engraved tumbler of the college the student is going to makes for a great gift.
Use one of our cute gift card holder SVG files to make your own.
Make some custom holographic stickers for them to put on phones, water bottles, and more.
Make sure to browse through our list of DIY gifts for seniors for every more graduation gifts!
More Cricut Graduation Ideas
Here are a few more tutorials on party decorations that you could also use for a grad party.
There you have it! Some cute and easy Cricut graduation ideas that will make the day extra special.
Cricut Graduation Video Tutorial
If you’d like to see what else you can make with a Cricut cutting machine, make sure to check out my Ultimate Guide of Cricut Ideas.
If you’d like to save these Cricut graduation party ideas for later, hover over the top left of the image below and PIN IT now.
Thanks so much for stopping by and have a creative day!
