The grand finale of awards show season is, obviously, the Oscars. This is the most prestigious award, because it's voted on by their peers–actors vote for actors, directors vote for directors, etc. So if you're like me and want to pretend you're a part of the Academy too, here's how to throw the perfect Oscar party!
If you're going to be members of the Academy for the night, everyone has to fill out a ballot. These are perfect for the beginning of the party while everyone is still arriving. Fill them out while watching the red carpet–just make sure you finish voting before the show begins at 8:30, or it'll be too late! You can choose one person to score them and have people turn them in to keep the winner a surprise until the end, or just go by the honor system and have everyone score their own.
Click here to download and print the 2016 Oscar ballot!
Hang up gold fringe curtains behind your food table to add glam to the room. Or you can just hang them against a wall to create a perfect backdrop for your well-dressed guests to take pictures in front of!
Going to the movies is all about the popcorn, so here are three amazing recipes for munching on throughout the show! For all three of these recipes, I used unsalted, unbuttered white popcorn made on the stovetop–the perfect blank canvas for adding flavor!
Celebration Popcorn
- 1 c vanilla candy melts
- 1 c vanilla cake mix (just the powder)
- sprinkles
Melt the vanilla candy melts and stir in the cake mix. Melt them together for another 10 seconds, then drizzle the mixture over your popcorn. You can toss the popcorn with the mixture to coat it more evenly if you want. Add the sprinkles over the top and let dry before serving.
Oreo Popcorn
- ~12 Oreos
- 11oz White chocolate chips
Crush the Oreos until they're finely chopped, but not completely turned to dust. You'll still want some bigger cookie pieces. Melt the white chocolate chips in 30 second intervals and stirring until they're completely smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn, or toss the popcorn to coat it more evenly. Add in the cookies and toss until they're mixed in evenly. Let dry before serving.
Garlic Parmesan Popcorn
- 4 T melted butter
- 1 T minced garlic
- 1/2 c parmesan
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and allow it to cook for 3 minutes. Spoon the mixture over the popcorn and toss to coat evenly. Add parmesan while it's still warm, toss, and serve. (This one is my favorite!)
These cookies are the real star of the show. Just use your favorite cutout sugar cookie recipe–make the same number of Oscar men and circles, and then just cut stars with the rest of the dough. A cookie cutter would work great for this, but I didn't have one, so I printed out a 6" silhouette of the statue and just traced it with a knife! They're not perfect, but I still think they're adorable. And as long as they taste delicious, who cares, right? After they've been baked and cooled, cut out a small slit in the center of each circle, just barely big enough for the base of the trophies.
Ice your cookies with a glaze made from 3/4 c powdered sugar and 2 T milk. Mix it up with a fork and add a couple drops of yellow food coloring to mimic the gold of the statues. Let the glaze dry. Stand the men up in the slits of the circles–if your cuts are too wide or they're just not staying upright, use a small amount of melted white chocolate to glue them in place. Are these not the cutest?
Rim your champagne glasses with gold sugar to glitz them up too.
And of course, what are the Oscars without awards? Give mini Oscar trophies to your guests for getting the most right on their ballot, best dressed, and anything else you can think of! Who are you watching the Oscars with this year? And more importantly, who are you voting for?? Tell me in the comments!
