Using Clip Art for Graduation Stationary and Crafts for Personal Flair

It's graduation time, and you are very proud of your graduate. You have the senior photos to share and a celebration party to plan right along with all the graduation events. Your student has applied for college scholarships or is on the way to a career after college. There is a lot to do to get ready. Why not save some shopping time and cash by sitting down in front of the computer and designing the many stationary and party items you need using clip art?

Clip art can be found on line. A simple search will award you with many options. Start by typing in free graduation clip art. An example of one is www.phillipmartin.info/clipart/school.html It's always great to get free help. If you don't see something you like in this area there are on line sites that sell clip art that you can download. www.pccrafter.com is one of these sites. It has collections of clip art starting at $4.95. They also have a section with project ideas and a community forum.

The standard clip art at graduation time is the mortarboard graduation cap and the parchment roll diploma. You can start with these simple line drawings or colored in pieces then add florals or scroll work , initials, graduation date and school name to personalize this to your graduating students' taste. It is easy to use clip art and even free coloring pages for art adornment on your graduation stationary. Clip and paste or download the desired art you choose into the program that you use to write letters etc. If you have a scanner and printer you will be able to create one piece then scan it and print off the amount of items you need. It a fun project to come up with your stationary needs.

Stationary items for the graduate: Here is a collection of items that you can design and make. The sky is the limit on what you choose to do.

1. Graduation invitation or announcement. Some schools have preprinted graduation invitations that are given or sold to participants. It is easy to make your own and add personal notes to the letter or card. If desired you can create a card that includes the students senior photo into a slotted frame on the cover of the card. The old cardboard frames that photos are inserted into are fading fast. Professional photographers have found that they are not photo safe and are not offering them to customers. You can buy acid and lignin free photo safe card stock at a craft store in a package for less than $6.00. Design a clip art border on the card, print it off, fold in half and with four simple x-acto knife or razor blade slits you can slide that gorgeous photo into the cover (or interior) of the card. Make sure to mark mailing envelopes with photo enclosed, please do not bend. Envelopes can also be simple decorated with a bit of clip art.

2. Party InvitationClip art will be a nice touch on those card stock cards or paper letter form invitation to the party that the family plans to celebrate their graduating student's big day.

3. Party decor If the party is a more formal event you can make place cards, small menus, centerpieces and banners using clip art. Having a special cake for dessert? Clip art designed into your computer program with letter fonts to add in your students' name can be printed on edible paper and put on the cake. Having a barbecue? Take a personalized clip art design and print it on card stock. Add more color in with markers, paint, glitter paint or colored pencils. Cut the shape out and affix to a dowel. This placard can go into a decorative bucket filled with flowers, colored rock or any desired centerpiece components.

4. T-shirt "I am the GRADUATE" Use clip art and design a shirt for the grad to wear to the family or class party. Project Graduation celebrations find many students wearing t-shirts commemorating the day and the school the student has graduated from.

5. Graduation Cards Check out the card rack at most stores today and you could easily put down $5.00 and up for a decent looking, meaningful card for not only your student but others in the class that you want to congratulate. It is so much better to be able to design a graduation card with clip art to give to the students you care about. Use graduation clip art with meaningful poetry or your personal thoughts that apply to this special graduate.

6. Thank You Cards This is so important for the student to have. They will receive gifts, well wishes and have people they wish to thank for their arrival at this point in life. Add this to the clip art graduation stationary list.

7. Scholarship Thank You letters Create graduation stationary with clip art for formal letters to thank those committees, clubs and sponsors of scholarships. A graduating college student can reflect back and send thank yous to those people who believe in them and encouraged them in presenting them scholarships when they graduated high school. A lot of work has gone into the fund raising and search to present these monies to aid a student. They deserve a thoughtful letter of thanks.

8.Graduating student - need a gift? For an inexpensive yet meaningful gift use clip art borders to make a gift for a graduating friend, parent or teacher/professor that has touched your life. Make a clip art bordered Award certificate, famous poet work or your own poem by printing them out on a piece of nice paper and frame it. Frames can be found for under $5.00 at many stores. This will be a special gift because you are showing them that they are on your mind as you graduate. You can't go wrong with this touching gift.

Clip art is a great asset when designing and creating graduation stationary.