Graduation cap decoration ideas | Hallmark Ideas & Inspiration (2024)

There are a couple things to consider before you get decorating. First thing’s first: Is the cap a rental? Many schools require caps to be returned in the condition they were given.

The good news is there are endless ways to use removable and recyclable pieces to make a grad cap that doesn’t sacrifice style AND will guarantee you your security deposit back. Try this DIY graduation cap decoration using wrapping paper and Hallmark cards.

We love all these ideas our creative team dreamed up:

• This card is perfect to just place on top and string your tassel through.
• This gift wrap is so cute with its funky stars! Just add some pink pompoms around the border.
• We used this cute geometric patterned wrapping paper, added some balloons on top and then made a cute smiley face with a mini mortarboard! So fun.
• And for the collage one, we used this gift wrapand cut up this card, and used shapes from tissue paper.

She is the moment

No other class but the class of ’23 gets this moment to graduate. This is true of every graduation, but how many people get to say they graduated in the Eras era?

Take some inspiration from the greatest graduation commencement speaker of all time, Honorary Doctor Taylor Swift, and use lyrics that resonate with your school experience. “Long story short, I survived” seems apt after four years of grinding. (Adapted from “Long Story Short” by Taylor Swift)

You can also take a note from another icon of the moment: Both you and Miley can say, “I can buy myself flowers.” (Adapted from “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus)

There are also not many people who get to say they graduated during the Paris Hilton renaissance. Pay homage with a frequently used quote: “Graduation? That’s hot.”

Looking for more ways to capture our current moment? Try a tribute to trending phrases or shows:

• It’s giving ✨graduate✨
• Gradu-slay-tion
• This was NOTHING like Euphoria. (Thankfully. 🫣)

Looking for more quotes and quips for graduation inspiration? Look no further.

Thank the ones who helped along the way

Another direction to take your cap decorating is to thank the people who helped you get to where you are. Graduation can be a group effort, and it’s so important to be grateful for friends, family, coaches and teachers as you move on to bigger and better things. Here are a few people to keep in mind.

Parents

They’re our biggest supporters and proudest fans. Let’s be honest: Graduation day is really all for them. Honor them with a few sentimental words of thanks for giving you everything you needed to succeed, especially as a first generation college graduate.

Try decorating the graduation cap with a photo of you and them on your very first day of school ever. Look how far we’ve made it, Mama. 🥹

Friends

Time to make BFF bracelets all grown up. You can always go with the classic Best Friends Forever route on your cap, especially if you’re heading your separate ways after school.

You can also find a quote you both (or all) resonate with and split it up. Something like “She believed she could…so she did…” (I mean, you’re already finishing each other’s sentences as it is.)

Teachers/Coaches/Mentors

Make a collage from meaningful cards, notes or other mementos they’ve given you over the years. Keep their words with you as you embark on a new journey.

Looking for more ways to thank everyone who’s made your graduation great? Check out our ideas on what to write in a graduation thank-you note.

Get your friends together and have a graduation cap decoration party. Bring glue, tape, scrap paper, old magazines, gift wrap—or anything else you can think of—and go to town on some of these ideas:

• 2023 is the year of the vision board. What better place to manifest your future than your own graduation ceremony? Include photos that visualize the kind of life you want to live, quotes and words that inspire you and people you want to emulate.
• Are you and your friends Gen Z grandmas? Create a cool crocheted or knitted graduation cap cover. You’ve been known as the one who knits in class constantly—why not keep up that reputation at graduation?
• Worried about half your closet of sorority intramural shirts becoming irrelevant the moment of graduation? Break out the sewing machine and create a mini T-shirt quilt to cover your grad cap! Quilting is so in right now, and the classic college frocket is the perfect size for little squares to cover your cap. Using even just one sentimental t-shirt or scarf can be a meaningful and rental-friendly way to sum up the significance of the past four years.

However you decide to decorate your graduation cap, it should a representation of your style, educational experience and most importantly, you. Graduation is your moment, so choose decoration that lives up to everything you want that moment to be.

Looking for more useful or fun graduation ideas? Check these out:

• Grad to grad: Graduation gift ideas for every kind of friendship
• How to support a new grad: Insights a year after graduating college
• How to choose a graduation gift they’ll love
• Graduation gift card idea: Mini grad cap full of surprises