This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Rubbermaid and Sharpie but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #RubbermaidSharpie http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO Anyone else gearing up for the big game? We are and our team wasn't even remotely close to making it anywhere near the Super Bowl. (My husband is from north east Florida... I'll letcha guess what team that could be) So why the hubbub? Because each year we host a beer tasting (my husband brews) that we conveniently integrate with the Super Bowl-- 4th annual this year! So even if our team, or any of our guests' teams, aren't playing, we still have liquid libations and funny commercials to lure them... this is how I make friends. Don't judge. Today I thought I could show you what we're planning for this year's bash. A dress rehearsal if you will. :) First off, I'm getting a bit crafty. Shocking, I know. Kaley and I hit up Target and got a couple supplies to make a quick banner. Felt, Sharpies, letter stickers, and some ribbon are all ya need. And -- thrifty tip alert!-- before you go, if you text the word COUPONS to TARGET (yep, "TARGET" is the number you send the text to) they will send you the latest coupons to your phone. There will be a Sharpie coupon and a Rubbermaid coupon available Jan 25 - Feb 8th. Seriously convenient. Love it. We cut felt into triangles, she stuck the letters on, and decorated each one with the Sharpies. (Great after-school kid craft) Then I punched small holes in the corners and strung them onto the ribbon. I also picked up these football cutouts ($1 for the whole pack) and we used a few of those as spacers. Really quick, simple, and festive. Next I found these small wood footballs for about .50 cents each at the craft store and thought they'd make great food labels. You know, like when people stick signs on the cheese plate so you don't accidentally smother your cracker in goat cheese when what you really wanted was brie. (True story) I just hot glued wooden skewers to the back. Ta-da. Not sure yet what's going to need labeling at the tasting, but I'm probably going to use chalk so I can reuse these next year. No more accidental goat cheese. Next, I came up with a beer charm station. Basically, I'm going to have my guests create their own tags for their drinks. Not only will it be hilarious to read what people come up with, it will also let you know which drink is your's. (I love that Kaley made the purple one below... "I'm here for the fun". So cute!) We created a few to give guests the idea. Last thing I'm really excited about is covering all of my tables in craft paper. (I might cover the entire house if someone doesn't stop me) This is going to make it super simple to sort the types of beer. I can just use the Sharpies to write "Stouts over here", "Ales here", etc. Plus, we're going to score the different beers this year. By numbering each one on the table, guests will know what to mark down on their sheets (more on that soon!). PLUS, can you say super simple clean up? Score. I did buy real glasses for our beer tastings too. They are small (maybe 6 oz?), were really inexpensive, and I've used them for the last 4 years. I probably would have spent more on plastic disposable cups at this point had I not bought them. So if you host regularly, might be something to consider. I picked up a few festive napkins too. And, got a ton of new Rubbermaid glass containers. Since I'll probably have to make 80% of the food ahead (#workingmama), it's really nice to be able to go from the fridge, to the oven, to the table all in the same container. They look nice, will cut down on the dishes, and will reduce my stress level which is good for everyone. ha. Did I mention the lids stick to the bottoms too? LOVE! So while we still have a couple weeks until the game, it's nice to get the plans in motion. I'll be sure to post a follow up of all the party details when the day's here. So what are your hosting tips and tricks? I'd love to know how you streamline the stress out of hosting.