PARTY THEME: HOST AN ACADEMY AWARDS NIGHT PARTY!

For an Academy Awards night viewing party, birthday, movie night party, or girls night in, incorporate signature items Wolfgang Puck includes in his Oscar night party for the stars but with easy, make-ahead and purchase options to make your party prep a breeze.

Ideas for hosting an Oscars viewing party Martie

SET THE STAGE: Whether you want the party to be casual or glitz and glam, let your invitation set the tone. Ask guests to come dressed red carpet ready or low key casual. Let the party reflect your personality. Evite has several "Oscar" and "Red Carpet" type of invitations to select from and you can get them out fast or you can create a Facebook or other social media event invitation. Take some inspiration from Oscars' designs below. Movie reels, gold men, etc can center your design for the invitation and for the party.

Photos above: Oscars.go.com

DECORATIONS: Oscar is gold so I used gold for the main design element. I always like to use what I have paired with a few easy to find items to anchor the décor. If your china has a gold band, start there. I found a few inexpensive mix and match items to round out my supplies including some gold plates and plastic platters from Party City; under $3. Mixed in with some of your nicer pieces, these look great and won’t break the bank. I got gold stars and helium-filled balloons from Wal-Mart.

Note: Some of the Wal-Mart stores do not inflate balloons any more so call first to be sure yours does. I tied cardboard gold stars (also from Wal-Mart) to the balloons to keep them in place and they look like they are floating. You can download printable photos and posters from the Oscar website, too.

MENU: Use Wolfgang's Oscar menu as inspiration for your own party. Wolfgang does lots of elegant bites set up in stations, perfect for a viewing party since guests will be camped out in front of the TV. You want guests to be able to mix, mingle, and graze easily. Look over his menu and choose a few things to make- like your favorite Mac n Cheese, Sliders, or Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Add a cheese board, a platter of sushi from your favorite place, some pizza cut into squares, and a few sweets and you're all set.  Get my top 5 easy and elegant Oscar night recipes...

Photo credit: Tamika Moore/The Birmingham News

BEVERAGES: Champagne or bubbly is always a great way to start the party. I always have at least one signature cocktail pre-made so that I don't have to play bartender all night. Serve in pitchers, a dispenser, or pre-fill glasses and set them on a tray.

ENTERTAINMENT: It is always fun to predict the winners or play Academy Awards trivia. Download this year's full ballot or get ideas for your movie trivia game from the Oscars website.

Create your own movie quote trivia game. Match the quote to the film. "Ditto", "You had me at hello", "You know I love you more than my luggage",,, you get the picture. Or you can download my Movie Quote game, complete with instructions.

Create a party mix of tunes from your favorite Oscar winning movies. Most are available on iTunes or you can get a soundtrack of Academy Award tunes at most stores. Spotify will have an Oscars mix ready to play to make it really easy.

SUPER LAST MINUTE IDEAS FOR THE BIG GAME

FOOTBALL .... Even if you don't care about the game at all, getting family and friends together for game day is a great excuse to make all of your favorite guilty pleasure snacks! Here is my party planand a few tried and true recipes to make your own game day party easy!

FAN FAVORTIE MENU

The good news is, people always love it when someone else cooks for them. If you’re ambitious, make everything from scratch. Or you can buy it. Or you can do what I do—a little of both.

Start with a cheese board. I'd even go old school and crank out a cheese ball. (They're making a comeback, did you know?) People love them. Add cured meats, pate, radish, and cornichons. People love to chat and graze and a cheese board makes that so easy. Three to four cheeses is enough if you’re serving other food. Offer a big baguette or loaf of freshly baked bread; cheap and filling if you’re on a budget.

Chips and dip is the number one item people crave for the big game. Break out your best dip recipe or use one of mine. Charred Onion Dip with Baked Pita Chips or Chunky Blue Cheese Dip you can serve with crackers, chips, or veggies.

Wings. In fact, more than 1.23 billion wings will likely be eaten during Super Bowl weekend. Get them from your favorite restaurant or try my spicy, glazed baked Diablo Chicken Wings.  So easy, so good. The cool blue cheese dip is the perfect compliment.

Anything in the shape of a football. Have you seen Pinterest? Pinners have gone football crazy. Shape your food like a football and everyone will ooh and ah over it, no matter what it is.

Chili Cheese Empanadas are fast, even if you make the pastry from scratch. Brown onion and ground beef. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add chili seasonings, cheese, and allow to cool.. Stuff it all in a pastry crust. Bake according to crust instructions.

Serve withmarinara -make my quick marinara- or buy one at the store. You can also serve with a fresh tomato salsa.

EASY TO MAKE DECORATIONS

If you are like me, you have totally forgotten decorations at least one time in your life. Luckily, I had remembered pretty napkins so I was able to come up with a quick backup plan. Simply pinch the napkin in the center and twist, securing with tape. Make at least six and secure them with floral wire. You can make a loop or a hook and hang them with a string, rope, or piece of twine.

Use brown craft paper to cover items like this can, creating a football theme. Use paper or tape for the white laces. If you use a tin can like I did, be sure to cover the cut edge with brown paper to keep guests from cutting themselves. I didn’t have craft paper so I used an old grocery bag. The project was essentially free.

A green chenille rug or bath mat (especially handy if you’re serving drinks on ice) can make a football field. All you need is some white electrician’s tape and some stick on numbers to turn it into a football field table runner. This project cost under $10.  

Ready? Get those friends on the phone and invite them over. We got this!

More of my favorite game day ideas:

Make a Taco Bar

Build a Bloody Mary Bar

Host a Souper Bowl Showdown 

MY EASY SUPER BOWL PARTY PLAN: HOST A SOUPER BOWL SOUP SHOWDOWN

The Super Bowl happens this weekend but you still have time to plan something to get the gang together to watch the game. Why not throw a Super Bowl Soup Showdown and recipe exchange? It's one of my easiest and fastest parties to pull together--- you can actually watch the game and have fun at your own party. A soup buffet is really the perfect foundation for a party. Warm, comforting, affordable, easy to serve, easy to prepare in advance, and everyone loves soup!

ADVANCE PLANNING:

Invite your friends over to watch the big game and issue the SOUP SHOWDOWN CHALLENGE. Ask everyone to make a big pot of their favorite soup for the competition and bring printed copies of the recipe to share.

Also ask them to bring their soup in a Crock-Pot or slow cooker to keep it warm for serving. It is always a good idea to have guests tell you what they plan to bring so you don’t end up with six different versions of chicken noodle. One of our favorites was Jean's Reuben Chowder. Get the recipe... 

One of my favorite soup recipes is this Sausage, White Bean, and Escarole Soup. Get the recipe...

You supply the beverages. Also supply loaves of crusty bread, crackers, and a condiment bar of mix-ins and toppings for the soup like: croutons, bacon, different cheeses, sour cream, green onions, chives, Tabasco or your favorite hot sauces.

Offer a few snacks, too. Wings, like my Spicy Diablo Baked Chicken Wings, are a Super Bowl standard but your menu doesn’t have to be heavy on the calories. Set out bowls of grapes, those small sugar pears, cherries, or toasted nuts. Make a cheese board and cut fruit or veggies with a healthy yogurt dip.

You’ll want to have dessert or something sweet. I’d keep it very simple with a one-pan recipe like brownies, bread pudding, or a pound cake. For something portable and extremely easy, my Indoor S’mores are perfect for a party. They take about 10 minutes to make and everyone loves them. Get the recipe...

It is okay to use disposable plates, spoons, and napkins for this kind of party. If you want to use disposable for the soup, I’d suggest the insulated paper coffee cups since guests will be tasting all of the different soups to vote on a favorite. You can find these at almost any store these days. (Tip: Chinet makes cute square disposable white plates that are made in the USA of recycled materials)

Make up a card for each soup with a number and the name of the soup. I have little chalkboards I use for this kind of thing. You can buy or make your own with some wood and chalkboard paint.

Make ballots so guests can vote for their favorite soup and award prizes for the winners. Kitchen gadgets are always a fun prize. Or a huge ladle "trophy" that changes hands each year.

ON GAME DAY:

Clear off all of your kitchen counters or the kitchen island. Or you can set up stations around the room to serve the different soups with a central condiment station. Be sure to have plenty of spoon rests, ladles, and bowls placed at each station.

Ice down your drinks and make sure to have plenty of clean ice available for serving.

Number all of the entries as they arrive.

At half-time, award the prizes.

Re-stock the bar and replenish condiments, utensils, and ice as necessary.

GET MORE SOUP RECIPES INCLUDING MY MOST POPULAR SOUP RECIPE EVER, MY ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP!

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