Basketball Tournament Watching Party

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HoopMadness #CollectiveBiasEven though I’m not the most passionate basketball fan, I actually enjoy watching basketball. I know some people look forward to March, building their brackets and basketball-mania all year long (pointing to my husband). As most of you already know, I’m more of the hostess type, give me a reason or a sports theme, and I’ll make it into a gorgeous party. And in my opinion, nothing says “great party” like endless supplies of Coca-Cola and snacks for my guests to enjoy. My goal is to not only create a beautiful party but lasting memories too. 

While my husband picks the right teams for our bracket, I start to create a mental bracket for all of the party ideas and foods I want to make the cut, but to be honest, pretty much everything makes the cut on my bracket.The Set Up

I think one of the best party ways to make your party pop, is to use your decorations to create a focal point in the room. You can do this by adding a fun backdrop behind your snack table (I used crepe paper to make those black stripes) and add your choice of decor to make it pop. I have paper lanterns, a tassel garland, paper fans, black linens and twirled orange tickets (which my husband informed me “have nothing to do with basketball”, but I didn’t care because they looked adorable! Hey? How about you worry about the bracket, mmmmmkay?) Where was I? Orange tickets, scratch that, random orange tickets that have nothing to do with basketball.The Concessions

Is it wrong that the color of the packaging is one of my favorite things about Coke Zero? I didn’t think so either! If you’re like me, you might choose your snacks based on color alone, but remember to buy in bulk so you can have enough for everyone to enjoy through the entire game. This was truly a win-win as my husband’s drink of choice is Coke Zero and the packaging matched my decor perfectly. I was able to buy almost all of the food needed, in one trip to Sam’s Club. They had TONS of Coca-Cola products (I got Coke Zero and Sprite, which were both found in the back corner of the store), snack foods, color coordinating candy, basketball themed treats (look for recipes below), fresh fruit and all of the fixings for my nacho bar. I kept the nacho bar was pretty basic: Nacho cheese, guacamole, salsa and jalapenos, but decided to add that focal point by putting the cheese into a chocolate fountain. These types of details, don’t require much work but will make your guests smile as they get to enjoy the fanciest nacho cheese ever.

Watching The Game

Activities literally make the party, but luckily sports themed parties remove a lot of the pressure to plan additional things to do, because your guests are coming over to hang out and watch the game. If you want to go the extra mile you can have printouts for your guests to fill out their brackets, but only if your guests would enjoy that. There are also lots of ways to keep track digitally too.

Once your tablescape is all set up, the refreshments are out and the nacho cheese fountain is flowing, you are ready to party and yell at your TV!

 

Orange & Sprite Basketball Cupcakes
Recreate these easy orange & Sprite basketball cupcakes with basketball shaped frosting for your party. Here’s how: INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

• 1 box of white cake mix
• ½ cup of butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• ½ orange juice concentrate
• ¾ Sprite

Frosting:

• 2 sticks of butter, softened
• 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tbs vanilla
• food coloring
• Melting Chocolates\

INSTRUCTIONS :
In one large bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter, three eggs, orange juice and sprite and mix on medium speed for two minutes. Add ¼ cup of the mixture into prepared cupcake liners and back for 19-22 minutes at 350 degrees. For the frosting, combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla into a bowl and mix slowly until fully incorporated. Add red and yellow food coloring to make it orange.Once the cupcakes finish baking, allow time to cool. Frost large “balls” on the top of each cupcake using a large round tip. Hold it an inch above the cupcake and squeeze evenly until the desired shape is achieved. Place frosted cupcakes in the the freezer for 10 minutes. Melt the chocolate and place into a parchment piping bag. Pipe and “x” across the cupcake, then pipe two half circles on the sides to make it look like a little basketball.

Basketball Dipped Strawberries

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz fresh strawberries

white melting chocolate

dark melting chocolate

food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS:Wash and dry strawberries, set aside. Melt white chocolate until the consistency is smooth, without lumps. Add yellow and red food coloring until you reach the desired shade of orange. Quickly the strawberries into the white chocolate by holding onto the stem. Set aside and allow time to cool. Melt the dark chocolate and place it into a parchment piping bag. First, pipe and “x” across the strawberry, then pipe two half circles on the sides. Chill in the refrigerator, enjoy within 24 hours.

The thing I liked best about both of these recipe is how easy they are. I was able to make the cupcakes and dip and decorate the strawberries all while the cupcakes baked and cooled. I hope you found some inspiration for your next basketball themed gathering, and that you can make it memorable with delicious eats and endless supplies of Coke Zero and Sprite.
Which college basketball team will you be rooting for this year?