Party Time!

Today, my first Oscar Party invite dropped into my Facebook inbox, complete with this wonderfully Photoshopped picture of the hosts:

Clever fella, eh? No worries, you can achieve the same awesome invite in no time, and when you're done Photoshopping, you can really get down to planning your own Oscar shindig with these pointers:

• Make a 60-to-90-minute playlist of easy-to-recognize movie themes to play in the background during the red carpet and after the show.
• Printable ballots are a nonnegotiable. At the end of the night, present the winner with their own Oscar. If you're throwing an adult party, a bottle of wine or a gift card is also appropriate for the winner.
• Encourage your guests to dress for the event—tuxes, long dresses, glitzy jewelry. Truthfully, it seems most of us are usually looking for an occasion to break out our formal attire, if only to prove we still fit in our college spring gala dresses.
• Send the guests home with a small gift bag of movie-centric items: a bag of popcorn, a box of movie theater candy, and 3-D glasses or star-shaped glasses.

Finally, I only wish I could all these pun-heavy Oscar muchies and drinks from Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly: The Fantastic Mr. Lox, The Lovely Scones, Ham Education, Ginvictus, and my personal favorite, The Pabst Station.