The Oscars are coming! The Oscars are coming! Are you ready for the 88th Annual Academy Awards, airing Sunday beginning at 6 p.m.? Are you ready to watch as the stars walk the red carpet in their finest gowns and tuxedos? This is likely one of my favorite Sunday nights of the year as I get to join in celebrating the best acting for the previous 12 months. 

If you love the Oscars as much as I do, maybe you’re thinking of hosting a party. It’s not too late to throw together a night full of glitz and glam. You make it as elaborate or as casual as you wish. Here are a few of my favorite ideas — for even more, check out our Crazy Holiday Fun board on Pinterest. 

Decor

If you do decide to create glitzy party atmosphere, there are dozens and dozens of inspirational ideas, everything from the elaborate to the more simplistic. 

Invitations, whether hand delivered or sent via email, set the tone for your upcoming soiree. Adorned in glitter or designed with that red carpet feel, have fun personalizing your invitations for each guest. You might even give them their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of the invite.

Be sure to include an Oscar ballot so they can bring their predictions to the party. Most correct guesses gets a prize, of course.  

Games

In between the major awards, commercial breaks and even prior to the beginning of the broadcast, keep guests entertained with some clever Oscar-worthy games. 

Aside from the overall winners of each category, Oscar Bingo is an easy game featuring spaces for “Music cuts off winner’s speech,” “Winner trips going onstage,” “Perfume commercial featuring former nominee/winner,” “Winner thanks spouse,” and more. 

Play a game of Oscar trivia to see who can guess the winners of the main categories from previous years. How many times has Sally Field won? How about Meryl Streep or Jack Nicholson. Who was the youngest Oscar winner? Which movie has won the most awards? Who won four best actress awards, but never accepted them in person? 

Swag Bags

Every Oscar party guest should receive a bag full of fun swag, right? Whether you welcome your guests with a fun bag of goodies, or send them home with a bag is basically up to you and what you want to gift to your guests. 

A bag filled with an Oscar ballot, other party games, fun glittery adornments for the night and maybe even some fun photo booth props, would be a great welcome gift. While a bag filled with memories — a glittery photo frame for the photo booth pictures, a mini bottle of sparkling cider or another fizzy drink, mini Oscar statuettes, or packaged goodies, would be great for guests to take home. 

Other swag bag ideas include confetti party poppers, glitter nail polish for the girls, fancy chocolate truffles featuring edible gold leaf, bags of gourmet popcorn and maybe even a pair of movie tickets or a Red Box code. 

– Jennifer Durrant, Daily Herald