NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 15, 2008
/Westin Rinehart/ -- Libby Langdon, expert commentator on
HGTV's "Small Space, Big Style" tells us how to make heads
turn at your 2008 Super Bowl party.
Libby's Perfect Super Bowl Party –
Pre Game warm Up- You can go all out with some of these ideas
or just pick one or two and keep it simple. A Super bowl party
is the least fussy party of the year so get together to enjoy
friends, football and food!
Team Spirit/Décor:
- Design your invitation to look like a ticket to a football
stadium
- Encourage guests to wear their favorite team colors
- Hosts can wear referee striped jerseys
- Cover chair backs with sports jerseys
- Move any additional TV's in your home into the main room, it
will look and feel like a sports bar and everyone will see
every minute of the game
- Make sure there are plenty of chairs/ floor cushions
Tailgating/Décor:
- Let a piece of Astroturf act as a tablecloth on your buffet
– (if you really want to go for it, mark off yardage with
white medical tape)
- Line (clean!) Football helmets with napkins and use them as
bowls for chips and popcorn
- Decorate your buffet table with old trophies (of any sport)
and footballs
- Make a Special Super Bowl Punch and serve it in a big orange
Gatorade cooler
- Put an extra TV on the buffet, no one will miss a minute of
the game
- Attach football trading cards to ponytail holders, wrap your
silverware in a napkin and put it in the ponytail/trading card
napkin ring – set them all in a basket on your buffet
- Get small metal rimmed round tags, put your guests name on
it and attach it to their glass. You won't need to use plastic
cups but you also won't have to wash a million glasses
- Buy plain neoprene "beer huggies", put each guests name on
one. They can use them at the party and take them home as a
fun party favor
Concession Stand/ Food – I'm a fan of Buffets and finger foods
for a super bowl party, pick things that can be prepped way
before the game, and easily eaten away from the dining table
- Make a taco bar with tons beef, chicken, vegetables, salsas
and fixins' – have a couple of pitchers of margaritas or
sangria standing by!
- Make a sandwich bar with all sorts of sliced meats, cheeses,
breads and condiments
- Make Chili/Potato Bar – make a big pot of chili and bake a
bunch of small baking potatoes - accompany it with all sorts
of toppings to choose from – have lots of cold beer standing
by!
- Bake a bunch of chocolate Chip cookies and put them at the
end of your buffet in a set of football shoulder pads turned
upside down. (Line the pads with a napkin)
- Bake a big rectangular cake and decorate it like a football
field (it will serve a lot of guests)
- Bake a bunch of cupcakes and decorate them with football
trading cards, tiny footballs or just tint the icing the team
colors
Players in Training/Food- It's
the beginning of the New Year and maybe the beginning of a new
diet for some – you don't have to blow it, you can still have
a wonderful party and not feel guilty on Monday!
- Make a Salad Bowl Bar – offer diced chicken, tons of chopped
raw vegtables, crisp lettuce and lots of dressing choices
- Order Pizza without the cheese and extra veggies
- Serve low fat Microwave popcorn, eat pretzels instead of
chips
- Use yogurt in your dip instead of sour cream, use baked
chips
- Make turkey chili or vegetarian chili
- Instead of cheese and crackers serve pita bread and hummus
Libby's Super Bowl Host Alternatives –
There are three categories of folks who need an alternate game
plan:
1) The "I-don't-care-about-football-but-I-still-want-to-be-around-my-pals"
person
2) The "
I-don't-like-the-SuperBowl-but-I-want-to-still-see-the-commercials"
person
3) The "I-could-care-less-about-sports-and-I-want-to-be-around-other-people-that-don't-care-either"
person
Category 1) Game Plan for the Players on the Sidelines-
(They want to go to a Super Bowl Party but not actually watch
the Super Bowl)
- Rent a great football movie (Jerry Maguire, Remember the
Titans, North Dallas Forty) and set up another room in your
home (away from the Super Bowl Fans) for non-Super
Bowl fans to still be able to enjoy all the food and fun...and
a flick!
- Set up a wine tasting in your dining room, kitchen or any
other room that the football fans are not in. Get a great book
on wine, make some fun appetizers, and have everyone bring
some red wine with some information on the bottle their
bringing. It's a fun way to learn about new wine and spend fun
time with friends!
- If the non-football viewers are all women, go to a great
craft store and buy all the makings for jewelry (or ask your
guests to buy beads that they like and bring them). There are
tons of neat inexpensive gems that can be turned into
everything from a choker necklace to chandelier earrings, and
it's easy to do. This may seem like a kids project, but trust
me, pour everyone some wine and see how much fun it is!
- If jewelry isn't your thing make some mosaic picture frames
– everyone can do this, it's a fun activity and isn't there
some friend somewhere who'd love it filled with a wonderful
photo as a Valentine's Day gift?
Category 2) Game Plan for the Halftime Show Audience-
(They want to plan a fun night at home but only want to watch
the commercials)
- Invite a bunch of great girlfriends over, make some fun and
festive cocktails, serve some great appetizers and have a
manicurist/pedicurist come over and give everyone the royal
treatment in the privacy of your own home. Most "nail
technicians" will make house calls if they know there are
people to do appointments back to back, and anyone who doesn't
want to pay can bring her own polish and do it herself! This
way you're at home having fun but you can turn up the TV when
the commercials come on so you'll be in the know around the
water cooler come Monday. Who will be the Janet Jackson of the
2005 Halftime show?
- Call a do-it-yourself pottery place and tell them you want
"to go" service, meaning you go in pick up all the green ware,
and painting supplies and just bring it back to your home.
Invite gal pals over for a night of arts, crafts and Super
Bowl Commercials! Ask everyone to bring something fun to eat
and drink and enjoy painting away and muting the TV when the
game comes back on! The next week take all the painted green
ware to the pottery place and have them fire it in their kiln.
Let you friends know when their piece will be ready to pick up
and they'll have a wonderful party favor from a special
evening with good friends.
Category 3) Game Plan for those Fans who want to "Go Long" –
(They are completely out of the house, away from any TV!)
- Call some of your favorite clothing stores and see if they
have special late hours on Super Bowl Sunday, you'd be
surprised how many actually do! Get some friends together and
plan a shopping excursion, you'll be in a land far, far away
from Football!
- Plan a fun dinner with friends at a restaurant that doesn't
have a television; it won't be crowded, the service will be
great and you'll have a neat night to look forward to instead
of feeling like you're missing something!
- Create your own day at a spa, get some girlfriends together
to go to the gym, if you're not in the mood for a workout just
enjoy the sauna, steam and whirlpool. If there's a good local
spa, try to get a group package by getting lot's of friends to
book appointments then plan a nice dinner afterwards.
Libby Langdon
Libby Langdon is an interior designer and expert commentator
on HGTV's hit show "Small Space, Big Style." She assesses the
design tactics used in the featured home and offers insights,
techniques and tips to help viewers make the most of their own
small space. Previously, Libby hosted and was the lead
designer on the FOX makeover TV show, "Design Invasion." This
winter she'll be shooting a series of episodes for the new
HGTV show, "The Design Club" where she'll share her cheap and
chic design tips with viewers.
Libby founded "Libby Interiors" in 2003 and has completed
numerous commercial and residential design projects all over
the country. .
Libby was the interior designer for the New York City
restaurant, La Masseria, which was voted as one of the top ten
new restaurants in the United States by Esquire. She also
designed the flagship store for Italian designer Massimo
Bizzocchi in New York's Meatpacking District. "Libby created a
sleek, contemporary space that displays our clothing in the
best possible fashion," raved Massimo Bizzocchi. "Her design
of our store is streamlined and sensuous, a perfect
combination of uniqueness and style." She also designed the
Massimo Bizzocchi showroom on Fifth Ave.
Libby has designed private residences in New York's Sagaponack
and Southampton as well as apartments in New York City and the
Rhode Island oceanfront home of PGA golfer Brad Faxon. This
summer she designed a home in Austin, Texas and a loft
apartment in Providence, RI.. She is currently designing a
residence in Dallas, Texas as well as the pro shop of the
exclusive Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, NY.
Libby's designs have been featured in numerous national
shelter magazines and 3 of her projects recently appeared on
the covers of Hamptons Cottages and Gardens and Decorating
Spaces . She is also a regular contributor and a small space
expert to Decorating with Style, Budget Decorating and several
other design magazines.
Libby is a regular contributor to the nation's top daily
papers with design, food and entertaining ideas and is writing
her first book, Libby Langdon's Small Space Solutions, to be
published by Globe Pequot Press next year.
A High Point, North Carolina native, Libby spends her time
between New York City and Sag Harbor, New York.
Source: Westin Rinehart,
2001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Suite 250, Washington, DC 20006
CONTACT: Tara Silver at Westin Rinehart
T: 202-466-1396 E:
tara@westinrinehart.com
Website:
www.libbylangdon.com
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