Classy Teacher Retirement Party

Last year my mom retired after teaching elementary for 37 years.  For her retirement party, I wanted to keep it school themed but also wanted it to be bright, colorful, modern, and classy.  Here are a few pictures of the party details!

Welcome to the Party

-I ordered a photo blanket from collage.com with photos of all of my Mom's classes.  It hung for decoration at the party and my mom got to keep it afterwards

-In powerpoint I created a poster using all of the class photos, in order, and typed text over the top. I had it printed in color at Staples for around $20

-We used the book 'The Giving Tree' as a guest book.  Red pens were set out so the ink would be consistent and stand out on the pages.  Instructions to sign the book were printed in chalkboard font and displayed in a frame.

-Instead of a card 'box', I set out a book bag for cards to keep with the school theme.  I chose a plain white bag from Michaels and used my cricut to make the CARDS banner that hung from zipper to zipper

-Flowers displayed in pencil vase and votives in crayon votive holder

-Digital photo frame flashed pictures of all the classes she taught over the years

-A printed photo of her first class was displayed in a frame, labeled using chalkboard font.

Have Something to Eat

-A simple and classy menu for summer: Chicken Salad Croissants, Strawberry Spinach Salad, Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad, and Fruit

-I used Crayola paint samples from Menards to create the food labels and printed the text using crayon font in a coordinating colors

-Chalkboard ABC ribbon tied around jars to hold silverware

-A single large vase of Green Apples popped against my purple tablecloth, and was a fun way to incorporate 'teachers apples'.

Don't Forget Dessert

-The dessert table banner read 'Retirement is Sweet' and was made using a cricut and gluing letters to ribbon

-To create the cupcake toppers, I used an alphabet mold from Michael's to create different colored candy letters using Wilton candy melts in bright colors.  It was time consuming since I only had one mold but easy to do in advance. I spelled 'Congrats Kathy' in cupcakes and displayed on a stand in the center of the dessert table

-I made school bus wrappers for Hershey's Nuggets by designing in powerpoint and printing on yellow paper

-Alphabet cookies from Trader Joe's fit the theme and were great for young guests

And of Course--Wine!

-We set-up a wine station on my Mom's center island so guests would feel welcome to help themselves

-Insulated beverage tubs are great for displaying white whites while keeping them cold, and look stunning for a party

-I have boxes of Libbey wine glasses just for parties. They come in packs of 12 and are easy to store in boxes and transport. I set them out on stacked trays so a lot of glasses can be set out at once without taking too  much room

-Farmers market flowers in pencil vases tied in the teacher theme and added color to the wine station.