• Brighten a graduation party with unique table centerpiece ideas.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  When you are planning the decorations for a graduation party, do not forget your graduation table centerpiece ideas. You can make the same centerpiece for each table, or you can make a special centerpiece for the graduate's table. Buying table centerpieces can be a fast way of getting the job done, but making them adds a personal touch that the graduate will appreciate.
  
  

Piggy Banks

• Money is often the gift of choice for a high school or college graduate. The high school graduate can use all the money she can get when heading off to college, and the college graduate appreciates money to help get him started in his own place and first job. All of that makes piggy banks an ideal centerpiece for graduation parties. Use smaller piggy banks for the party tables and a large bank for the graduate's table. Paint the piggy banks the graduate's school colors, and encourage people to donate money into the banks. Give the banks to the graduate when the party is over.
  
  

Mortar Boards

• A mortarboard is a recognizable symbol of graduation, and you can have some fun using mortarboards as graduation table centerpieces. Paint the mortarboards in the school's colors, and place them on mats with the school mascot atop them. Glue a photograph of the graduate to the mortarboards, using a different photo on each.
  
  

Framed Centerpieces

• A simple but effective graduation table centerpiece is a framed photo of the graduate in his cap and gown. Most schools allow graduates to obtain their caps and gowns well in advance of the ceremony so that pictures can be taken, but the diploma will not arrive until weeks later. Create your own version of the school diploma, frame it, and include it as part of the centerpiece display. For a fun twist, include a framed "Help Wanted" page from the newspaper of the town the graduate is headed to, or include a framed picture from the graduate's elementary school days for comparison.
  
  

Disposable Cameras

• Place four disposable cameras on a mirror at the center of each table. Include instructions explaining that guests are to use the cameras to take pictures at their table, but they are to put the cameras back at the center of the table when the party is over. After the party, have the pictures developed and give them to the graduate. As an alternative to a mirror, use a place mat with the school's colors.