Graduation Centerpiece Ideas

A simple, yet elegant graduation centerpiece, these DIY floral vases are made with mason jars, a simple ribbon, and mixed flowers that you can get at your local Safeway in the floral department.  

Graduation season is upon us.  The announcements have gone out, the graduation cap and gown ordered, now you need to plan the party, which includes the menu, the seating, a photo booth, a photo collage of the graduate, and of course centerpieces for the tables, or at least for the food buffet.

You don’t have to spend a lot on centerpieces to make them elegant.   I like to use a combination of flowers and balloons to make the event fun and festive. It’s the little touches that make a party memorable and extra special. 

What you need for Floral Graduation Centerpieces

Mason Jars – available at Safeway – I prefer the wide mouth jars as you can fit more flowers and greenery than in the narrow mouth jars. 

Flowers – Choose a few assortments of pre-made bouquets and also select some filler flowers like button poms, statis, asters, baby’s breath, solidago, or mini daisies.  Flowers that have a large surface area like hydrangeas, sunflowers and Gerber daisies only need a few filler flowers to make the jars look full.  Safeway has many options available and you can always work with your local florist to select what you want and have it ordered in. 

Ribbon – Black, white, silver, and gold are traditional graduation colors, but you can also go with the school colors as the theme for your party decor and centerpieces. 

Glitter – Glitter is an easy and inexpensive way to decorate a mason jar.  You can stick with gold and silver, or customize based on your party theme and school colors. 

Tassels – These are optional, but I find they are an adorable addition to the centerpieces. 

Graduation Year Cutouts – if you can find cutouts that say the year or customized with your child’s name, those would be a fun addition.  Etsy has some adorable cutouts that you can stick on the mason jars, or in the jars.  However, you have to really plan ahead to get items shipped on time through etsy. 

 

How to Make these Glitter Graduation Floral Centerpieces

For these centerpieces, I used gold and silver glitter that I picked up at a local craft store. 

Pour the glitter to fill the bottom 1/4 of the mason jar.

Cut the ribbon 32″ long so you have enough for a pretty bow.   Cut on a bias so you have a nice finish to the bow. 

If using the tassel, thread the tassel through the ribbon before tying the bow so that the tassel can hang from the ribbon. 

Add water to the jars so that the cut flowers can immediately be placed in water.

Cut the flowers so that they are  3-5 inches above the height of the mason jar, so about 9 – 12 inches for the stems. 

Arrange the flowers by placing the largest flowers in the vases first and filling them in with smaller stems and filler flowers. 

 

Tips for Putting Together the Centerpieces

Centerpieces are not a last-minute thing.  They require some planning and time to put together. 

Ideally, the centerpieces would be put together the day before the party – or even 2 days before.  You’ll need to pour the glitter into the mason jars, cut and tie the ribbons, cut the flowers, and add water to the jars before adding a single flower. 

If you have to travel with the jars to your final destination, you’ll have to get boxes or crates that will fit the vases with the arranged flowers.   Again, not hard, just something to consider. 

How Many Centerpieces Do you Need?

Obviously, that depends on how many tables you have and other items you have to fill the space. 

Ideally, every table would have a centerpiece and the food buffet table would have one in the center, or you could some decorated mason jar vases near the dessert bar or drink station. 

As far as budgeting for centerpieces, you should be able to create 10 – 12 centerpieces for around $80 including the jars, glitter, ribbons and flowers.  That is just $6.67 per centerpiece.

12 ct. mason jars cost around $15

flowers will cost around $55 for 12 arrangements

glitter and ribbons will cost around $10

 

Mason Jar Centerpiece Ideas

If you want to skip the glitter, you can also paint your mason jars to go with your theme. 

I tested spray paint, acrylic paint and chalk paint.  In the end, I liked the chalk look the best.   This look below is spray paint, which I don’t recommend for painting the jars. 

 

If you want to do a distressed chalk paint look for your graduation party centerpiece – head over to It All Started With Paint for a great tutorial for this look. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SuperSafeway is a blog devoted to helping you find the best deals at Safeway in the Denver division.  Every week we slice and dice the ad and tell you the best deals at Safeway with and without coupons.  

For more low prices, check out the Safeway weekly ad and the Safeway coupon matchup page. Would you like to stay updated on the best deals? If so, make sure to like Super Safeway on Facebook, join our Facebook group, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our Instagram, or head over to Pinterest. Also, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter.

* Please note – Savings information is based on Colorado pricing and the Safeway Coupon Policy for the Denver Division which includes Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota. Your market may vary. Prices may vary per location*