Are You Ready For Some Football? Fantasy Football That Is!
The official NFL football season kicks off in just a few short weeks and preseason games are already underway. Although I am usually in the world of Fantasy Bachelor and/or Bachelorette, 'tis the season for Fantasy Football drafts. My soon-to-be husband is in two leagues this year and when he mentioned the possibility of hosting, I jumped at the chance!
I knew the men in attendance might not appreciate the decor part, but if the food was good and there was beer, then I couldn't go wrong, right? To the contrary, I think they were pretty impressed with the setup!
I used my plain black Threshold tablecloth from Target and grabbed a vinyl football field tablecloth at our local grocery store (Lunds and Byerlys) for $8. It can be easily wiped down and reused for future football festivities.
I grabbed a set of solid green plates, football cups and white forks from Dollar Tree ($1 each). Pinterest inspired me to put yellow napkins in a bucket labeled "Penalty Flags." A free printable with the label along with mini-pennants is available here.
The most important part of this event for the guys (other than drafting) is of course the beer and snacks. Talking with Chris, he was wanting to stick with stadium-inspired food, football party classics and some beer. In setting up the spread, I was able to put to use my new Heidi Swapp Lightbox. I didn't have enough letters for "Concession Stand" but I think "Beer and Snacks" did the job!
I took some dollar store lunch sacks and used a white chalk marker to draw on football laces. I filled each of them with popcorn we picked up at Costco.
Chris grilled up hot dogs and we kept them warmed up in a crockpot so the guys could help themselves throughout the night. The buns were in a football shaped serving tray that I picked up for $1 at Dollar Tree. I also grabbed a set of two smaller ones that we filled with pretzels.
Because one type of dog is not enough, Chris whipped up some bacon-wrapped little cocktail smokies. I hope no one went home with a case of the meat sweats. (Google it, it's a real thing.)
But not everyone loves the meat. One of Chris's friends is a vegetarian and has mastered a veggie-friendly buffalo dip that substitutes the chicken with beans. He was nice enough to whip it up and add it to the spread. It is a great way to cater to anyone who loves football food minus the meat!
No party would be complete without a sweet treat. I dressed up some plain brownie bites with white icing to make them look like mini footballs.
I used this fun printable template from 505 Design, Inc. to create labels for each of the food items. I utilized football terms to jazz up the names if the food items a bit -- i.e. "Passing Yard Popcorn" and "Backfield Buffalo Dip."
Everything went over well and the guys had a successful draft!
