March Madness Party

March Madness is upon us and it’s time to build your brackets, get your game-day fashion in gear and start your hosting prep!

Theming a party around a large sporting event is one of my favorite things to do. There are so many fun elements that you can add to the table and atmosphere to create an event your guests will never want to leave. March Madness, like the Super Bowl, is a sporting event that everyone can get into! I’m excited to share tips on putting together a March Madness party today with FTD.

Aim for Basketball-Centric

It’s always best to start with your theme and plan other elements of the party around that theme. Create a menu and add a twist by incorporating basketball terminology to the items (like slam dunk cheese dip or nothing-but-net nachos). Do the same with your bar. You might even create a specialty cocktail for your favorite team (Mountaineer Madness).

Add colored paper straws to the bar as another easy way to incorporate team colors so people can show their school pride!

Present a Paper Invitation

An e-vite can lack that personal touch. Instead, create a custom invite to give your guests something tangible. I found an artist on Etsy who created an invite that resembled a game ticket for $15 and printed them at home to keep it cost efficient. It’s also another way to communicate the theme of the party to your guests.

Focus on Centerpieces

FTD’s rainbow roses are a perfect addition to the table setting. They are a fun way to incorporate your teams’ favorite colors and to create a little rivalry! Flowers can be in a vase any day, so have fun with your floral presentation by incorporating the theme of the event.

I took some mason jars from my collection and added mini bouncy basketballs to cover the stems. You can replicate this with any vase or drinking glass. It’s a quick and easy way to display the arrangement, tie in your theme and create height on your table too. I found these orange cheer cones at Party City and the top opening was the perfect size for the arrangement. Stick with a vase with a narrow opening. It will create a fuller look with fewer flowers. Use this Party city coupons 2016 to take $10 OFF Orders of $75 or more on custom banners at Party City! Some exclusions apply! Prepare for your next parties with items from Party City and save!

Outsource Dessert

Take the stress off your plate when it comes to the dessert. This is just another way for you, as a host, to enjoy your own party. Everyone loves cake pops and Oreos right? (If not, then they aren’t your friend.) FTD’s dipped rainbow cake pops and Oreos are a great way to add a functional burst of color to the table. Display them on a platter or on a cake stand, to add some dimension to your table. Guests can also enjoy a dessert coated in their teams’ favorite color (this makes for some fun Instagram photos)!

Go for Inexpensive Accents

Complete your table with a few kitschy items that tie back to the theme. I went to Target and picked up somechalkboard paper and a basketball net – all under $10. I drew sideline plays on the chalkboard paper and used them as a fun placemats to be used on the tables. I laid the basketball net under the cake platter of desserts to call it out as my centerpiece. You could use it as a charger under your plates or around a vase to enhance a floral arrangement.

Wrap just about anything with jute or twine. Tie your silverware together or tie your straws to drinks for an extra touch.

Combine it all together and you have yourself a March Madness party!

Happy hosting! (And go, WV!)

30 Awesome Halloween Games for Kids

9 / 10 / 14

I always looked forward to Halloween as a kid.

I especially loved the candy, the costumes and the games!

Check out these 30 awesome Halloween games for kids of all ages!  There are so many great DIY ideas or see more ideas at Partycity.com. Party City is the country's leading discount party supply retailer. Get discounts with the Party City coupons & Party city 40 coupon 2015 shown here

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1. Spider Web Walking by No Time for Flash Cards

2. Pumpkin Bowling by A Girl and a Glue Gun

3. Pin the Boo on the Ghost by The Pleasantest Thing

4. DIY Witch Ring Toss by Sometimes Creative

5. DIY Autumn Fun Tic Tac Toe Table by It’s Overflowing

6. Halloween Punch-a-Bunch by The Techy Teacher

7. Witch Pitch by Chica and Joe

8. Donut Chomp by My Delicious Ambiguity

9. Pumpkin Golf by Growing a Jeweled Rose

10. Pumpkin Bean Bag Toss by the Pleasantest Thing

11. Halloween Concentration Game by saltwater-kids

12.  DIY Cornhole Halloween Game for Kids by Crafts Unleashed from ConsumerCrafts

13. Free Bingo Printables by A Girl and a Glue Gun

14. Pop Goes the Pumpkin by Martha Stewart

15. Pumpkin Toss by Rachel Ray

16. DIY Halloween Bowling Set by Evite

17. Gourd Games by Spoonful

18. Water Squirt Halloween Game by Momma’s Fun World

19. Halloween Party Game by Gets Bored Easily

20. Mr Bones Relay Race by Spoonful

21. Last Man Standing by A Girl and a Glue Gun

22. Secret Message Pumpkins by Reading Confetti

23. Candy Corn Sensory Seek by Tutus & Tea Parties

24. Monster Dice Party Game by Momma’s Fun World

25. Halloween Treasure Hunt by Imagination Soup

26. Ghost Bottle Bowling by No Time for Flashcards

27. Balloon Catch by Vanilla Joy

28. Monster Letter Hunt by Little Family Fun

29. Ring Toss Fun by Momma Did It

30. Grab the Ghost by Spoonful

See More Halloween Games

6 Ways to Reuse Last Year’s Halloween Costumes

Halloween is a fantastically fun holiday that can inspire you to go all out when it comes to Halloween decorations and costumes. Still, spending loads of money on great costumes for the kids every year can get a little pricey. Fortunately, you don’t have to waste all of those old looks; they’ll come in handy for various future projects. 

Make Creative Halloween Decorations

Just because Halloween is over and the kids are quickly growing doesn’t mean you have to trash their old costumes. You can turn those old costumes into yard decorations to use all year long or just around Halloween time. This Halloween, spend some time choosing stupendous-looking kids costumes for parties. Why? Because later, you can stuff that Frankenstein or Buzz Lightyear costume with old clothes and cotton batting, and it will look amazing in your yard or hanging from your porch. The whole neighborhood will be envious of your creative yard decorations.  Visit at http://coupon4share.com/store/partycity.com and Get the latest Party city coupons 2015

Upcycle for Different Events

Before you recycle the old costumes, try upcycling them. Lots of kids don’t want to wear the same costume twice–at least where all of their friends can see it. If your little one went as a pirate or a ballerina, that costume could come in handy during a school play or a dance recital. They could also wear it to a cousin’s costume-themed birthday party or another holiday party. Hang onto it for at least a year so that you get the most use out of it. You can even collect costumes from family and friends and put them into a dress-up bin. Encourage your kids to perform a play of their own.

Halloween Hand-Me-Downs

Do you have more than one child or other young relatives? The rules for hand-me-downs apply to Halloween costumes as well. This is particularly true if you have a younger child, niece, nephew, or neighbor who looks up to one of your older kids. The little ones will love wearing a big kid’s costume next year, plus you’ll save someone else from spending money.

Initiate a Costume Swap

Another way to save while getting the most out of the holiday is to swap costumes. If your kids are part of a playgroup, have best friends at school, or if you’re close to a group of mothers, talk about swapping costumes. Each child gets something new—to them—and no one has to spend money on a brand new costume. After you’ve swapped as much as you can, you can either look for different ways to reuse old costumes or donate them.

Dish Up Home Decor

Lots of costumes are made from interesting materials like metallic fabric, netting, or velvet. If you’re crafty, start cutting up old costumes. You can turn them into place mats, use the pieces for quilting, or create lovely collages and decoupage projects. There are all sorts of possibilities, including picture frames and pot holders. Pinterest is a great resource for ideas and patterns for DIY home decor.

Cut It Up for Festive Decorations

The right Halloween costume works for different holidays as well. Keep that crafting spirit and start making holiday decorations. Different pieces from the costumes can work as tree ornaments on their own, but you can also make garlands and ornaments out of bits and pieces of fabric. Get inventive and invite the kids to join in; they’ll feel tickled knowing that their old Halloween outfits are now long-lasting holiday decorations.

By following these tips, you can feel better about buying a really creative or pricey Halloween costume. What’s the most inventive way you’ve ever reused an old outfit?

Halloween Costumes: 6 Halloween Makeup Ideas, Straight From The Runways

"Marcia Brady on acid," "'80s girls dressed up as '60s girls" — if these sound like Halloween costumes, Halloween makeup ideas to you, think again: They're actually inspirations for some of the top designer shows last week. Backstage, hairstylists and makeup artists created graphic, over-the-top looks that we'd normally leave on the runways. But this year, we are adopting them for the 31st.

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Whether you like a spookier costume or something girlier, there’s definitely something here for everyone. The best part? You can create most of them with just hair and makeup (no overpriced polyester required). Click through to be seriously inspired, and get ready to be the most high-fashion guest at your Halloween party.

Demented Marcia Brady 

That's right, the look at Ammerman Schlösberg was inspired by "Marcia Brady taking a lot of acid on Halloween." (We couldn't make this stuff up.) To recreate it, sweep lime-colored eyeshadow (try ColourPop's Sour) from your lashline to your browbone. Then, rim your undereyes with a heavy coat of purple eyeliner (like Stila's Smudge Stick in Violet).

You're not done yet. To mimic the post-cry effect, dip a cotton swab in Vaseline and smudge the purple eyeliner under your eyes and down your cheeks. (Gold star if you add tears with eye drops.) Since looking disheveled is your end game, it won't matter if your makeup smudges or fades throughout the night. 

Flower Power

Betsey Johnson's spring 2016 show celebrated her 50 years in fashion, and we especially love this psychedelic pit-stop. Simply grab a palette of multicolored face paint and draw a rainbow from the inner corners of your eyes to your temples, allowing plenty of time for each half-inch stripe to dry fully. If you don't have a floral dress, wear an all-black outfit and you're Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" prismatic album cover.

'60s Barbie 

Kabuki, the lead makeup artist at Jeremy Scott's spring 2016 show, was inspired by "East Village party girls of the '80s who love playing dress-up in '60s vintage." To achieve the wild liner shape, he hand-cut plastic eye stencils, filled them in with MAC's Fluidline in Blacktrack, and set it with On the Hunt Superslick Liquid Eye Liner.

He paired the liner with neon-peach lips (a mixture of MAC's Lipmix in Orange, White, and Medium Nude) with this halloween makeup ideas. Once you've got the makeup look down, grab a voluminous blonde wig, tease it to oblivion, and get ready to turn some heads.

Halloween makeup ideas: The Anti-Contour

The effed-up contouring look at Hood by Air was a poignant commentary on our era's seeming obsession with surgery and self-alteration. Taken less seriously, it's the perfect costume if you love a pop culture reference, seeing as how contouring was everywhere this year.

Reach for a highlighting concealer that's a few shades lighter than your natural skin tone and haphazardly smear it all over your face. Then, sweep a cream contour shade (like the ones in Anastasia's Contour Cream Kit) on the hollows of your cheeks, temples, and sides of your nose. Fight off the urge to blend, blend, blend.

Good halloween costume ideas : Disco Queen

If there's one thing we can count on every season, it's that The Blonds will have a show-stopping beauty look — and this year was no exception. Kabuki set out to "[capture] the feeling of ancient Egypt set to a disco beat, by using lots of gold-on-gold tones and shimmers." 

To achieve this, Kabuki glued metallic-gold appliqués just below the lower lashlines. (Try striping tape or Make Up For Ever's Aqua Liner in Diamond Gold for an easier DIY.) He finished with a layer of gold lipstick (we love Nyx's Wicked Lippie in Mischievous). 

Funny halloween costume ideas: Runway Rabbit

It may look complicated, but black eyeliner, white face paint, two ribbons, and some wire from your local craft store are all you need to recreate this bizarre beauty look. Makeup artist Sil Bruinsma blended white MAC Studio Face and Body Foundation all over the face before sculpting the brows, eyes, and lips with MAC's Blacktrack Fluidline.

According to hairstylist Jimmy Paul, the hair was meant to make the girls "look like they're upside-down." Paul misted Bumble and bumble's Thickening Hairspray into the roots, teasing the hair as he worked. Then, he created two braided pigtails at the top of each model's head, stringing wire through each braid to make the hair stand up on its own. To put the finishing touches on the "school-girl hair" (which sure looks like bunny ears to us), Paul fastened the end of each braid with a hair elastic and a Thom Browne red-white-and-blue ribbon. 'Merica.

Source: refinery29.com