Le Bois Sucré: DECORATING FOR OSCAR NIGHT

Now that you have your Oscar Menu planned now onto Oscar decorating ideas for this Sunday:

A tip to to stay with a color scheme. If you have to purchase new items get items that you can reuse, are dishwasher safe and that go with the items that you already have. A nice theme is red, white, black and the metallic colors.

I already have some great square white plate, bowl set that goes with everything from Pottery Barn. Using these plain bases allows you to add new chargers, papers and etc that can allow it to match with every theme.The Pottery Barn Cater's 36 piece flatware set is great because it can be used every day, does not need to polish it and it is dishwasher safe. I like to mix the square plates with the funky appetizer plates that I got from CB2 and with the inexpensive white appetizer plates I got from Crate and Barrel. Also because they are white and dishwasher safe they are going to last a long time. They do not have designs on them and they are streamed line so they cannot go out of style.

I also like using this inexpensive white square chip and dip from Crate and Barrel that I got for my wedding shower in 2008. Purchasing items like Different sized lidded jars in multiples that you can reuse in your everyday life in different sizes. I suggest the different sized Heritage Hill glass jar lid from Crate and Barrel.

When you shop for a party you can fill these jars with bulk items and it causes to upgrade the items. Also by using jars instead of boxed or bagged items you have much less waste. I suggest also using stainless all purpose scoops and in glass cookie jars. For the Candy Bar you should buy at least 8 oz of candy per person at least. You can tie a long ribbon to the scoop and attach it to the cookie jar so that the scoops stay with the correct cookie jar. You can put bulk popcorn, baked goods, candy and etc in the uniform glass cookie jars. Use ribbon and labels to dress up the glass cookie jars. Martha Stewart has lovely chalkboard labels which would be perfect and then you can reuse the jars many times.

I suggest building up some serve ware of different sized cake stands which can be stacked on top of each other for multi tier server. Also if you have extra money purchasing a two or three tier server with plates that can be removed for easy cleaning in the dishwasher. I think that crate and barrel has a good selection of high quality serve ware. Home goods and TJMAXX are also a good place for inexpensive but high quality serve ware. I recommend arranging your appetizers, candy, and etc on a lovely cake stand or tier server. Cake stands and tiered servers are not just for afternoon teas they can be very good for buffets.

I would also purchase a Acrylic party tub like one from Oneida and fill it with ice to keep beverages nice and arctic cold.

For the Salad bar I suggest using three gravy boats for the dressing (I would ask other invitees if they got gravy boats as they are not something you would use all the time) labelled mason jars or creamers. I also love the restaurant bowls that I got from Crate and Barrel which you can offer to those that would like to have an entree sized salad. Since everything is plain ceramicwhite everything will go together.

For the chocolate fountain I would take the oreos out of the packet but leave it in the clear plastic containers, in a smaller lidded jar or stack them on a couple of stacked cake stands. You can have bowls of the items on a lazy Susan near the Chocolate fountain or Fondue set. I found a Chocolate Fondue set with a lazy Susan with divided trays on it.

For Champagne flutes might I suggest:

I suggest getting something that is of high quality but not exactly the most expensive Champagne flute. I got crate and barrel modern champagne flutes for my wedding shower. They were not more than $4-5 and they are so simple that they will not go out of style. But they are hardy so they do not break easily. They are no longer carried by Crate and Barrel. For the drinks you also need a Champagne Coupe which you can mix martini's in as well. When I think Gatsby, I think Champagne Coupes. I got a couple from Macy's on Special from the Martha Stewart brand for $3-$6. The champagne coupes more fragile than my other stem ware and I broke one of them but they are my favorite.

If you do not have already stemware I would suggest to go into local thrift stores to see if you can find some great stemware. Etsy have some amazing Champagne flutes that are of heavier crystal or material than today's stem ware. If you look and hunt enough locally you might be able to pick up higher quality goods for less money. I don't suggest the plastic Champagne flutes because I find that they fall apart and are just a mess. Plus all that plastic is a waste!

For your soda drinks I suggest:

Black Chevron Paper Straws from Bake it Pretty paired with a Mason jar or Mason jar with handles

Black Striped and Red Striped Paper Straws From Etsy also paired with Mason Jars or Mason Jars with Handles

If you have on hand you can use pint Mason jars or these cute Mason Jars with Handles that I found from Sur La Table. They run $3.16 a glass. If you use mason jars you can punch a hole for straws.

If you are willing to pay a little more you can order the Daisy Mason Jar lids. These lids have a nice Daisy Design and a place for straws. I found some on Etsy that come in pewter and gold they should fit pint mason jars.

If you want an extra flare tie a ribbon around the area in between the handle and tie a big bow around it. I use either a wide plain red ribbon or wide black chevron ribbon into a bow. You could make little black cut outs of Oscars by using the DIY printable Oscar but on a smaller scale. Then apply the Oscar onto the Mason jar. In order to keep track of whose mason jar is you could just put on a chalkboard label.

Get a selection of Movie Theater sized boxed Candy which you can get at CVS or if you order ahead of time you can get them online for much cheaper than $1 a box.Arrange them in the container store's wide deep fridge binz clear which retail for $14.99.

Twig & Thistle DIY printable Oscar invitations, 3-D Oscar, and Academy Award popcorn box. The site has a very cute idea of saying "and the invitation goes to..." before the name and address.

Oscar Shape DIY for toppers, decorations and etc. This is a printable Oscar shape for all of your DIY projects for the night. You could make smaller ones for cupcake toppers and pretty much anything!

You could spray paint gold or black spray paint an inexpensive wood mannequin. I found one on Amazon that was listed for $9.15 and it was prime eligible. Just pose it like the Oscar and use it to decorate.

Make sure to make a printable ballot on nice card stock or play via facebook . Make an Oscar themed Ballot Box or envelope. While watching the red carpet have people fill out their Oscar Ballot. You could also do a variation one for who should win and one for who will win. You could do that in different color paper or colored pens/pencils/markers. Award a prize for the person that gets the most correct. I suggest a movie ticket to a local movie theater for the winner.

For my platinum wedding I decorated popcorn boxes,stuffed them with filler and then hot glued white faux pearls of different size. It ended up looking great like the different sized pearls were luxe popcorn kernels. It took a lot of hot glue and patience but it worked. It would look great as a centerpiece or by luxe treats.

Another idea is to get a couple shots of your guests. Turn the photos into black and white photos using photoshop. Then cut and paste quotes from the nominated movies on the photos. Then print and frame the photos. You can use them as place settings or as decorations around the party.

Frame the menu or/and the items on the buffet. Or frame pictures of your friends or the Oscar Nominated movies.

If you want added flair make a couple of these DIY chalkboard paint Hollywood clappers with the list of the appetizers, drinks, sweets and etc for extra flair.

I found these selling for $4 each if you don't have a lot of times. You could use them in a photo area or menu board.

Here are more DIY labels from Hostess with the Mostess: they are in the color scheme of black and yellow.

I like a little vintage popcorn bag which is the less expensive choice but has a nice flare. There are popcorn boxes but they tend to be more paper waste and they are going to be thrown away. Before the party you can fill the bags with pre-popped popcorn like Kurly Korn and another for Smartfood Popcorn. Then you can stack them in a big white ceramic bowl. Or you can have a popcorn station and place different popcorns in clear cookie jars. I saw a nice one also on Etsy from Party Delights.

This is a great cupcake stand for the movie popcorn cupcakes made with jelly belly butter popcorn from "What's New Cupcake" or "Hello Cupcake!". The original recipe calls for marshmallows shown here. You could also dip it in crackerjack as well or use white, light yellow and dark yellow sugar pearls.

For place setting if you are doing a sit down dinner or just for flare fold napkins to resemble an award envelope. If you do a buffet just cascade them down or stack them.

Print on nice photo paper the movie posters of all the movies that you like that are nominated for Oscars. Frame these movie posters them into nice frames or Multi-frames. I found before my Platinum Hollywood Wedding these great film negative multi-frames for my engagement photos. You could probably DIY to a regular photo frame you might have at home.

Photo booth/ Red Carpet:

These days everyone takes pictures with their camera phones so set up a back drop and set up a fun box of props. There is no need to get a professional photo booth although they are really fun! Or if you can find Polaroid camera and the film you could use Polaroids to go retro. But that can get really costly. You could get a professional back drop, get a fun piece of fabric for the back drop (maybe one that you already have around), hang the wrapping paper and you could just cut/paste words or pictures. If there is a favorite movie of the year you could reset up a scene from the movie by blowing up a scene and removing heads so you could have your guests in the scene. It really depends on how much time you have and how much originality you have.

Prop fun:

Great Gatsby inspired Headpieces DIY instructions

Shop around at flea markets, vintage stores, eBay, or Etsy to find unique top hats, novelty sunglasses, clip on bowties, Great Gatsby inspired fascinator and funky glasses. You can also buy them brand new in a party store but be prepared to pay a lot! Amazon I found a top hat for $7 and on Etsy I found some cute mini top hats that start at $3. Also shop Urban Outfitters because often they just have inexpensive but fun props! Grab a Oscar Statue for great acceptance speeches. If you are really awesome then you will find wigs/costume props so that you can create most of the characters from the Oscar nominated movies. You can also ask people to bring extra costumes and props for the photo booth.

Another thing is cut out card stock props which are popular on Etsy. You can find them commercially but mostly they are found on Etsy. I found a couple commercial ones on CB2 but I can no longer find them. You can also make them yourself with patience. But they are made out of paper and you cannot reuse them.

Dressing up:

Ideally you would get dressed up in cocktail/black tie gowns but it depends on your friends. I always love to have a nice red carpet look for the Oscars. But watching the Oscars in Yoga pants and a sweatshirt works as well. I am especially happy because this past year my favorite book was made into a movie: The Great Gatsby. This means that you can bring out the beautiful dresses, pearls, estate jewelry and champagne!

If there was no budget: