Celebrate with Your Own Mardi Gras Party!

Mardi Gras is just three weeks away and if you are one who celebrates Mardi Gras now is the time to get planning for the big event.

While most people want to celebrate Mardi Gras on "Fat Tuesday," it poses a problem as many of us have to work on Wednesday. The solution is host your Mardi Gras event on Saturday, February the 9th, which is basically a week and half away.

We've got ideas to help you put together your Mardi Gras event.

1. First Determine Just How Mardi Gras will your party be?
Beads, Masks, Costumes? Do guests need to dress for the event or will you have all the accessories there? Will this be a dinner event or snacks and drinking?

2. Invite - Once you nail down your Mardi Gras party, spread the word via Facebook invites, evites, or emails should do the trick and ask for an rsvp so you can plan.

3. Mardi Gras Food 
Bring the taste of New Orleans to your party with Gumbo, a Crawfish Boil or Jambalaya, then balance with other party snacks. Drinks can include Hurricanes, specialty mixed drinks and beer.

4. Party Decorations
You can go all out with giant sized masks, scene setters and even make a decorative float but I find it easy to decorate with purple, green and gold balloon, streamers and beads. By grouping colorful balloon around you can brighten up corners and make your room seem more festive. We showcase a variety of Mardi Gras parties supplies on our page where you can find balloon, tableware, photo props and more.

5. Dress the Part 
As the Host or Hostess of a Mardi Gras party be sure to dress the part. Choose a festive Mardi Grass hat, vest, shoes or dress to welcome guests to your party, then have plenty of masks to provide intrigue. We have a variety of Mardi Gras masks and outfits and accessories for the occasion.

6. Beads, Beads, Beads
It's not a Mardi Gras party without beads, so pick up colorful Mardi Gras beads and either other them to guests when they come in, have guests do tasks to win them or plan for a bead toss at some point during the middle of your party. Beads come in all shapes and sizes, so we recommend getting a lot of basic beads but then be sure to have some unique beads that will act as conversation starters for your guests. Plus people always enjoy getting creative beads during the party and showing them off.

7. Mardi Gras Party Activities
There are to many Mardi Gras games but we have a few easy ideas. Do a Mardi Gras scavenger hurt and have guest search for beads, floats or various Mardi Gras items at your house or in the neighborhood (if you have placed them there. Set up a simple bead toss game that helps determine your mask or to win Mardi Gras accessories. We have various Mardi Gras trivia games on the site. Want something more to do host a murder mystery party at your party. Last idea if you have cardboard boxes and lots of decorations, streamers, paints, colorful paper and creative people consider a having teams create Mardi Gras floats, this would take a lot of prep time but you could group guests into teams and then after 30 - 45 minutes of building host your own your own Mardi Gras parade.

No matter whether your are hosting a small or large Mardi Gras party, these tips and ideas can help make your event special and your own. We wish you a safe and successful Mardi Gras!

Sarah - The Party Game Ideas Lady
Follow me on the Party Games Blog, Facebook or Twitter.
PartyGameIdeas.com for Mardi Gras Games as well as of 475 other Party Games for Life's Celebrations.
Party Games may receive compensation from items purchased at linked web sites.

Tasty Super Bowl Party Dips for the Big Game

Next to the game, the Super Bowl is a time to set the bar for party dips and even set the stage for emerging party dip trends!

I know it is hard to believe, but Buffalo Chicken Dip didn't exist 15 years ago and it was at Super Bowl parties where these dips went "viral" to become party regulars!

Want to test a new party dip for the Super Bowl, see what is popular or just get the recipe for party dips. Well we've pulled together the top online resources to help you do that.

Super Bowl Dips

From major food companies to stay at home mom recipes we have a mix to match many tastes. Want to put a foodie spin on your Super Bowl dip this year, then consider a dip with crab, seafood, hot spices, or jambalaya to the mix. Our advice if you are doing something new is make it first and taste it, before you make it on a large scale.

a. Velveeta and Rotel (diced tomatoes & chilies) offer very cheesy dips at rotelvelveeta.com
This dip takes less than 5 minutes and they also have Cheesy Spinach bacon Dip, nacho ideas and more.

b. Nabisco offers a PartyinPlay.com website where they offer items that go with Ritz crackers, Triscuits and Wheat Thins. We found the Game Day Grub section (4th section on the page) to offer the best ideas including: Bacon-Guacamole Dip, Cheesy Sausage Dip and Warm Reuben Spread - These take longer but look yummy.

c. Frito Lay who makes Lay's Potato Chips and Tostitos offer some great ideas too including
Garden Veggie Salsa, Avocado & Lime Black Bean Salsa, Salsa & Bacon Dip, and the offer a tasty Nine Layer Dip recipe too. It sounds so good. And gluten free recipes too at Frito Lay recipes.

d. Buffalo Chicken Dip has become a Super Bowl Staple.
If you haven't tried buffalo chicken dip then I suggest you add it to your game day today list and enjoy one of my favorite dips. Franks Red Hot offer the recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip.

e. Campbell's also has great dip recipes at Campbell's Kitchen
Some of the more interesting party dips and a few non-cheese include Queso Style Bean Dip, Spicy Avocado Dip, Garden Vegetable Spread and Hot Crab Salsa Dip

f. Hummus Dip
Want a healthier dip for the Super Bowl that only takes 10 minutes? We found it 10 minute hummus dip!, we found three hummus dips for you.

g. Hot Pizza Dip 
If you aren't ordering pizza for the big game then consider this dip as a tempting substitute. A crowd pleaser that likely won't last until kickoff.

h. Spinach Dips
Spinach dips can be served chilled with bread or heated to eat with nachos. So tasty and delicious we had to include several recipes. Spinach Dip - cool (ready in 4 hrs, Spinach Dip - cool ready in 15 minutes, Spinach Dip - heated, Spicy Artichoke and Spinach Dip, Artichoke & Spinach Dip

If you are not sure what party dip to make for the Super Bowl, we suggest that you go with something simple and easy first and if you want to test something new consider making a small batch and see what people think.

Have a great Super Bowl Party and if you need a Super Bowl party games or activities to go with your event be sure to visit Party Game Ideas Super Bowl games on our site.

Sarah - The Party Game Ideas Lady
Follow me on the Party Games Blog, Facebook or Twitter.
PartyGameIdeas.com for Super Bowl Party Games as well as of 475 other Party Games for Life's Celebrations.

5 Super Bowl Party Tips for Success

The Super Bowl is just over a week away but if you are hosting a Super Bowl Party now is the time to get ready. Here are a few Super Bowl party tips to help you prepare for Super Bowl Sunday.

1. Make sure your invites are out and you have an idea of whether you expect 10, 20 or 30 people for the Super Bowl.

2. Multiple TVs - With large Super Bowl parties of 20 or more guests not everyone may fit in one room, however squeezing everyone in is sometimes part of the fun. Solution: Have two or three tvs ready to go so guests can watch in comfort and these work great just in case young children would rather watch something else.

3. Plan Food and Beverage Responsibilities
Let guests know if you are supplying the food, drinks or if they are expected to bring something. In many cases, I've found that the host makes a few key items like wings, chili or burgers and they ask friends to bring  side items and snacks to be shared. The same goes with drinks, the host gets beer and / or mixers and then if guests want a special drink they can bring it themselves.

If you have a last minute Super Bowl Party, no worries, you can always order pizza, wings and ask guests to byob.

4. Party Supplies and Decorations
If you are a fan of the Football and the Super Bowl but not of the Baltimore Ravens or San Francisco 49ers, then go with Super Bowl or generic football decorations for your event. Check out our Super Bowl Party Supplies.

If you are fans of Baltimore Ravens or San Francisco 49ers, you can pick up some cool team specific partyware for both teams but it is selling fast. 49er party packs, balloons, fathead wall stickers and more. For the Baltimore Ravens we have Ravens party packs, giant helmet stickers and balloons plus team Super Bowl apparel.

Crafty Decoration Idea: If key items like balloons and other accent pieces sell out, consider printing out images of the team logo on your printer, cutting out the image and using tape to apply it balloons, serving bowls and other accents. Just a few here and there can add a festive touch to your party.

5. Super Bowl Games 
While the Super Bowl game is the big event, you may want a few games and activities prior to the game. One of the most popular Super Game activities is called Super Bowl Squares where guests randomly select squares from a 10 by 10 grid for a set dollar amount and then during the game winners are chosen depending on the score at the end of each quarter. Get the details on Super Bowl Squares here.

We offer a few other ideas including Super Bowl Challenge Game where you see if your guests know who has won every Super Bowl, Super Bowl trivia games that are based on the Super Bowl and even Super Bowl commercials and a few other ideas to keep guests active during the 6 hour pre-game show!

The Super Bowl comes once a year and with just a little planning now you can be ready to host a successful party. I would recommend you plan your menu before Sunday, so you can look for deal and get coupons in Sundays paper and shop for basics early in the week because items will sell out.

Good luck , have fun and be safe.

Sarah - The Party Game Ideas Lady
Follow me on the Party Games Blog, Facebook or Twitter.
PartyGameIdeas.com for Super Bowl Party Games as well as of 475 other Party Games for Life's Celebrations.