An Oscar Party

Did you guys watch the Oscars last night?  We had a great time at my parents’ house for a fun soiree in honor of Jason’s birthday and the Oscars!

From the second we walked in, we knew this was going to be a great party – we were greeted by a 3 foot high Oscar statuette with a glittering backdrop, and even a red carpet complete with a Hollywood Walk of Fame!

UPDATE: Due to popular demand, here’s the scoop on how my mom pulled off this par-tay:

The Academy Awards b-day themed party for Jason was fun to create!  A neighbor put HUGE cardboard boxes out for bulky trash collection.  Ever the scavenger, I opened two boxes, cut a large sheet from each and hot glued 2 together to make my “folding screen.”  I had several yards of silver sequin material left over from an after Halloween cloth sale at JoAnns.  I cut the fabric into two 5 foot lengths and used big pins to fix the material in pleats across the top of the screen.  As an elevated base for the movie reels, I used an old metal popcorn can from our quarters and covered it with an old black t-shirt Liz was putting into Goodwill.  I had lots of 5” silver cardboard stars in my “decorations” drawer, plus some silver plastic star fountain thingies.  I had a dozen 3” mirrored “disco ball” ornaments I purchased 6 for a dollar from Dollar Tree for my New Year’s table setting.  The letters spelling OSCAR at the end of the red carpet were left over from a sparkly alphabet I used at the brunch I gave before Liz and Jason’s wedding.  (Have I mentioned what a terrific son-in-law I gained through that event?) So far, no $ spent for the AA theme.

I borrowed (from the school where I teach) the old movie reels, the black cloth under the red runner, and the 2 large cardboard stars.  I purchased the cardboard Oscar for $1.79 from a local party store, and spent $3.99 for the package of 5” Hollywood star names I placed on either side of the red carpet.  I taped a heavy string to the back of oscar’s head and suspended him from the top of the screen so he wasn’t hidden by the elevated movie reels.  The sparkly red felt was $6.99/yd. from Jo Anns, but I just got a foot and had a 40% off coupon and a 15% teacher’s discount!  Another party decoration place yielded 8 long threaded strips of the 5” plastic black movie cameras, gold stars, and silver movie reels ($4.99 – a great price!).  I cut the strips to size and staggered their heights, fixing them to the top of the screen with stick pins.  Two of the cameras from the threaded strips went on the big silver stars.  The 50 foot long plastic film ($3.99  at the same store I found Oscar) was hot glued to each side of the red felt, and then laid on top the black starry cloth. Thought about putting some old Christmas twinkle lights around the base of the screen and poking some 1” holes through the cardboard backing and having a lamp with a high watt bulb and no shade behind the screen, but truly just ran out of gas!  Finished, for a little over $16.  (not $15, I am prone to exaggeration)

My mom really outdid herself this year – and all with a budget of $15 $16.  Doesn’t she rock?

What did you do for the Oscars?  Did you see any of the movies this year?

P.S.  Thanks SO MUCH to all of you that weighed in with your opinions yesterday about the fabric for the breakfast room chairs.  I think I’ve made my decision, and I’ll keep you all posted!