Olympic Watch Party

I've been itching to throw a party for quite a while, so I figured moving out of my apartment could be a celebration in itself. We've lived here at "The Blue Light" for 2 years and it's really an end of an era. We have several friends that have made weekly trips to visit us throughout these past couple of years, so I wanted to invite them over one final time (2 days before move-out). 

It just so happened that party-day, Sunday, was going to be the first night of the women's gymnastics competition (which we're obsessed with watching), so I decided to go all out with an Olympic theme. It was pretty fun to play with the bright/bold Olympic ring colors. Here are a few simple (and cheap) ways to pull of an Olympic party in only a couple of hours. 

1. I went to Party City and bought 5 Olympic-ring-colored balloons. They were $1.15 each, but that included the string and helium fee, so it's not too bad. I cut off the little curly strings at the top and taped the long strings to my dining table in the order and heights of the Olympic logo. It was a really simple way to create a backdrop for the food table. $6.00

2. For the table dressing, I bought crepe paper in the same colors as the balloons. These were $1.00 for 2 rolls at The Dollar Tree and I ended up barely using any on each roll. I'll hoard the rest for other parties in the future! I taped one end of the paper to the back of my table and left plenty to hang in the front. After the table was covered, I trimmed the uneven crepe paper in the front (I just estimated each cut. No measuring or anything too precise). $5.00

3. It's not a party until there's food! I had a few serving trays and bowls that were left unpacked, so I used them to place some chips, salsa and store-bought MM's cookies and Oreos. I bought some plastic plates from the Dollar Tree for the guests to use and in my slow cooker (in the kitchen) I had Velveeta and Rotel warming for nachos. $12.00

4. I saw these cute little popcorn "Olympic torches" on Pinterest (originally from asmallsnippet) a week or so ago and I knew I had to add them to the menu. The jumbo ice cream cones fill up with barely any popcorn, so for adults it really isn't much food. I just used the "torches" for decor and kept a bowl with the rest of the popcorn nearby in the kitchen. $4.00

5. One of my favorite parts of the table were the cute, bubbly cocktails with Olympic rings inside. I was browsing around and found this picture with ring-shaped candies in champagne, but I couldn't find the original source. I decided I'd have to make them with a twist of my own.

I looked everywhere for hard candies shaped like rings, with no luck. I ended up settling on the gummy-version of LifeSavers from The Dollar Tree, which is where I also bought the champagne flutes ($1 for 2). I set Olympic-colored gummies in the bottom of the flutes and poured in Sprite. Once it was done bubbling, I added a splash of strawberry rum. Visually pleasing & tasty. $7.00

Overall, this setup (decorations and food) cost me around $35.00 (give or take a little), considering we already had a few of the necessary items (like serving platters and rum). Not too shabby for providing dinner, cute appetizers and cocktail drinks for a group of 6 ladies. 

Our entertainment for the evening (The USA women's gymnastic's team prelims) definitely did not disappoint. Our girls did a great job perfecting their flips and sticking those landings. We can't wait for the final round on Tuesday evening. 

Now you all can host your own watch parties. Let me know how it goes. USA! USA! USA!