07 May Tips for Using Pinterest for Graduation Planning

Getting ready for graduation season we had Kim Vij (@EducatorsSpin) as our guest on #CollegeCash. Kim is a busy mom of 3 who spent 10 years as an educator planning far too many graduation parties for young and old!  She now enjoys sharing ideas for families with her 1.5 million followers on Pinterest.  Kim hosts a Facebook group that focuses on All Things Pinterest as she shares her passion for how useful Pinterest can be for parents.  You can find Kim’s most recent educational ideas and family adventures on her blog at The Educators’ Spin On It.

How can we use Pinterest to create a style or theme for a graduation party?

Pinterest does such a great job of grouping similar concepts together which makes party themes easy to coordinate. It’s easy to find trends as you start looking on Pinterest to be inspired by, but go with what is easy for you to pull off for your Grad’s big day to enjoy moments with them.

Once your find one pin you love you can click on it, save it to your Grad Party board and then look below to find related pins.

The search bar can be your best friend, just type in the style you’re looking for and it will lead you to the right graduation party ideas.

Can you find invitation ideas on Pinterest?

YES!  There are all sort of options for Graduation Invitation ideas from DIY to click and buy. Get inspiration form school colors or even think about what they’d like to see in their future residence and buy decorations that can work there too.

There are online stores like Shutterfly, Tiny Prints, Minted where you can click and order as you move onto your grad party planning. Get inspired with pins and make them together with your grad for a memorable party if your graduate is into crafty kind of things.

Or you can find someone to do it all for you and your graduation invitation like Etsy store owners. Graduation invitations are a whole new world compared to when we graduated. Pinterest can help you navigate that space.

So many options but I must confess for the graduation announcement I suggest going with what the school offers, there’s just something classic about it.

What about cute graduation theme food from Pinterest boards?

Desserts always seem to be a hit when it comes to graduation themed.  Graduation caps can be made with just about anything and Pinterest has tons of ideas. Time saving Tip: When searching for themed ideas like graduation on Pinterest. Start first with a board search that’s already named graduation, let someone else do the looking for you.

Pinterest comes to life with themed food!  Look at this graduation pretzel pops. There are so many ways you can do a graduation cake. You can search graduation cakes, get inspiration to click through and see how to make or order a cake.

Want to make a sweet graduation cap? Try this recipe. Cake pops are so popular get inspiration on Pinterest for how to make them for your graduation party.

Graduation gifts are always hard to find any suggestions when it comes to Pinterest?

As a parent I would encourage your graduate to start using Pinterest to plan for their tomorrow and pin items to a public board.  When family & friends ask you can direct them there. There are so many dorm room inspiration on Pinterest Ikea and Target even did a whole Pinterest campaign on dorm rooms. Great for grad gift ideas.

Millennials are using Pinterest more and more which pins gift ideas are all over it, not matter what style your graduate has for inspiration.

When you are searching how do you find the most current Pinterest ideas?

Pinterest search bar is your friend, it will show you what’s trending in search right below the word you are typing. You can find so many ideas. Most popular ones will come up first that have photos, comments and many repins.

You can see what types of graduation party themes are being pinned since they’ll be the first you see in search.

Did you know you can now search using hashtags on Pinterest too? Try #graduation or #graduationparty.

Can you buy things straight from Pinterest?

Pinterest offers buyable pins right there on the platform.  You’ll find them in search but the easiest is to select buyable pins on the right-hand side of the search board.

Graduation Party decorations, invitations, party dress to gift ideas for your grad all available to directly buy through Pinterest from approved vendors.

Any new features on Pinterest we should look into?

The Pinterest lens is going to help you locate things quickly when it comes to your graduation and planning an epic event. Check out the trending feature on Pinterest to find fresh ideas. You’ll find this feature in the top right corner on the desktop.

You can find pins that are related quickly with it or even find an item you want to buy now as the countdown comes to the graduation.

There’s also new Interest tabs that are featured when you’re searching to help you narrow down your theme and save time. Have you noticed that when you’re saving a pin, Pinterest recommends a board that the pin was also shared too? I highly recommend taking a peek when party planning, it’s a time saver.

Would you recommend a secret board for the party planning?

I love to surprise people at my parties with the little details so yes, I would keep your graduation board secret.

You can add collaborators onto it even when it’s secret for mom and dad, grandma and grandpa or aunts and uncles can help plan too.

What is your favorite way to use Pinterest?

I adore that Pinterest can be used for so many topics for so many people and what they like. You can add collaborators onto a private Pinterest board even when it’s secret that way mom, dad, grandma and grandpa or aunts and uncles can help plan for grad party too.

Confession, I’m not your average @Pinterest users so I enjoy using it for planning meals, trips, gift ideas, house organization ideas and more! Pinterest is always a go to for DIY yourself party ideas especially graduation party ideas. You can make decorations in the grad new school colors.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re saving a pin Pinterest recommends a board that the pin was also shared too? I highly recommend taking a peek when party planning…time saver! Helpful too when you are out shopping and see something cool but not sure how to use it, snap a photo on your phone using the PinterestLens and then see what ideas bloggers have shared on Pinterest for you to discover.

What are three things you want to leave us with tonight?

Pinterest makes your job so much easier to plan for big events like graduation. I go to Pinterest first when I’m searching for an item, it’s all content that has been placed in the platform by human eyes that hand picked it because it inspired the person.

Hand-picked ideas and gift ideas waiting for you to discover.

Remember that whatever you’re planning you are doing it out of love for your graduate! It doesn’t have to over the top, time consuming and over budget. It’s a time to simply pause and celebrate them and all of their achievements.

Got get pinning!

You can find me at The Educators’ Spin On It where I share education activities, games and resources for active parents. https://theeducatorsspinonit.com Visit Kim’s  graduation board on Pinterest to help you get started with your graduation plans. She shares our latest family adventures and education ideas on Instagram.

Join the conversation every Thursday for the #CollegeCash Twitter chat at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET