Table Decor for Anna’s Veterinary Tech program Graduation! || My first balloon wall!!
Hey Crafter’s! In todays post I wanna share one of the happiest moments in our lives! My baby girl Anna graduated from a Veterinary Tech program here in Washington….I explain more in the video…but I was excited that she volunteered me to help with some table decor for her graduation ceremony for 10 graduates in the same program! We’re so proud of her that she’s going after her dreams! She loves this field and has always wanted to work with animals.
The school requested that I turn in a list of the supplies I needed and they placed the order. That was different for me. I’m used to handling that myself especially because I order as I go. I am however thankful there was a budget they had and so the school paid for most of these supplies.
Even though I shared it all in the video, my vision looked a little bit like this…
I was in awe of the theme and so inspired! I took a little piece from each inspo photo and created my own version to fit the event!!
What was difficult for me with this project was the balloon wall. I seriously am not a Balloon artist by any means and because of my lack of experience with balloons as well as with all the preparation for an event I almost didn’t make it in time. I mean yes I was there about 4 hours early but I had no balloons blown up except for the 5″ ones in those black trash bags by the stage steps in the video. It took me a long time to blow them up and getting them attached into quads, then grouping those together took some time. I had a vision in my head and it worked out in there LOL but unfortunately it didn’t at the event. Thank goodness for Manny though because had he not stepped in when he did I would not have had the wall up in time. As I mentioned in the video, there were guests coming in 10 minutes til the start time and I was still trying to fill in gaps with the 5″ balloon clusters I already had. In the end I ended up shoving 2-3 clusters of the minis into gaps without attaching them with anything….ugh, so upsetting but it was no doubt a great experience for the next time. *wink! Seriously though, I’m grateful to my husband Manny and my mom who hustled with me that day! Here they are getting the table ready as I was getting equipment out and ready.
Wanna know a secret??!
I had another piece of decor with me I had made the night before, it was a sign I made with my Cricut that was centered on a cord wrapped hula hoop to set in the center of the balloon wall….it was SO cute but I had ran out of time and couldn’t get it attached. I was a bit heart broke, well no, A LOT heart broke about it but I had to just tell myself, “I’m not experienced and it’s ok, I at least tried my best and my effort was there!” *smile. I didn’t share that part of the process in the video but here are a few pics of of the pieces. I might do a video of this project….we’ll see!
In the video I show the 2 sides of the wall up but the camera ran out of time and I didn’t even think about it to restart the recording again because I was counting down to the last 5 minutes shoving those little clusters at the bottom of the footing. You’ll see a couple of them that had slid out due to the static from people walking in front of them in a photo….oh, I was a bit nerve wracked!! To say the least! LOL
The balloon wall didn’t fall of the wall though so I would say it was a SUCCESS!!! Anna was so very proud of me and said, “Mom, I loved it and so did everyone else. They said you did a great job! Thank you being involved!”. And that right there made me beam with happiness!! There’s just something about when your kids show gratitude and encouragement right?!
I did have extra Bamboo leaves and Monstera leaves that would have rocked the balloon wall so much more if I could’ve stuffed a few in between the balloons but it’s ok…..again, I did my best that day!
The Graduation was small and intimate, just the students, faculty and family members were present! It was nice to see each of the girls so happy! This wasn’t a traditional 2,000+ ceremony of graduating students like at a University in their caps and gowns lost in a sea of faces, (parking was AWESOME!!!), for all of us that was ok! We were just as proud of our girls that day!!
I was especially proud that our shy beautiful little girl decided to speak and say a few words of thankfulness to their Professor Dr. Sue Wedam who sadly was retiring after 20+ years of teaching and this class was her last. So many tears during and after the Pinning Ceremony! Thank you Dr. Wedam!!
This was definitely a fun event and I’m super thankful that Anna wanted me to be part of it!! We LOVE you mama and we will always be here rooting for you!! Go after you’re dreams and kickass!!!! MUAH!! Love xoxo, Mom!!
Thanks for stopping by guys! Have a great Summer!!
Products List:
- Monstera Leaves
- Bamboo leaves
- White seeding bush
- Wheat grass bundle
- Gold Cardstock
- White Cardstock
- Maroon Cardstock from my local Craft Warehouse
- Plastic Farm animals
- Plastic Safari/Jungle animals (note: at the time of this post, this set is not the same as the set from my video)
- Plastic horses
- Plastic Tigers
- Plastic German Shepherd “Navi”
- Plastic Red Panda
- Plastic Otter
- Plastic Hippo
- 6 7/8″ glass bottles
- 8″ glass bottles
- 4 1/2″ glass bottles
- Sand for filler
- White distressed wood frames (full size 13″ x 10.6″)
- Rattan placemats 11″
- Rattan placemats 15″ from IKEA
- Rattan placemats similar to IKEA’s
- Metallic gold spray paint
- Minwax Polyurethane clear satin
- Skewer sticks 10″
- Macrame Cord 3mm 220 yards
- Wood beads
- Dimensional foam adhesive 1/4″ roll, 3 pk
- Folkart acrylic paint “Vintage White”
- Hula Hoop Dollar Tree
- Electric balloon pump
- Balloons are from a warehouse in Los Angeles
- Baking Soda
Supplies used:
- Crafter’s glue gun
- Foam applicators
- Scotch ATG tape gun
- ATG refills set of 24 rolls
- Minc machine
- Minc laminating folders
- Gold Foil
- Cricut Maker
- Standard grip cutting mat
- Laser printer Brother
- HP Inkjet printer
- Scissors for fabric
- Stylus set
- Crop-A-Dile hole punch tool
For the gear I use to produce and create my content, click the button below!!
Disclaimer: Some product links are affiliate links in which I do receive a small commission. It would be such a huge support to me and my family that if you decide to purchase any of these items that you would use the links provided! Thank you! Jules
