How to throw a Mardi Gras Bunco Party

Throw A Mardi Gras Party

I recently hosted our Church's Bunco Group (we call ourselves "The Bunco Babes"). It is so much fun to get together with the girls each month and have some fun. I chose a Mardi Gras theme for my month to host. I could have done Valentines Day, but that just seemed to blah to me...so Mardi Gras it was. Now I grew up a Kansas girl, so it took some research for me to plan this. I'm posting what I found, in case there are any other Yankees wanting to host a Mardi Gras party this year. It may not be a completely accurate representation of a true New Orleans type party, but you get the feel.

Food:

Jambalya- I used Zataran's and added a little onion, green onion, ham, sausage, and shrimp- Cooked this an hour before the party and kept it warm in my crock pot.

Oven Fries- Cut potatoes into wedges and shake in bag with 2T olive oil, 2T sugar, 1 T season salt, then bake in the oven at 450 for 40 min. Now I had to cook a ton of potatoes, so I ended up turning on the broiler for the last 5 minutes to crisp mine up more.

Corn on the Cob- I bought frozen corn on the cob since it's out of season, boil & serve with butter.

French Bread

King Cake- bought at my local bakery

Decor:

Green, Gold, and Purple- lots of BEADS & Doubloons. I also made tissue paper pom-poms, which are my new Go-to decoration for parties. I cannot believe I hadn't made these before. I found out how to make them here.

http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/tissue-paper-pom-poms-how-to?backto=true

Also found these great free printable Mardi Gras place cards that I used to mark the "High", "Middle", and "Low" tables for Bunco. I also used them to make the winners necklaces.

http://triciarennea.blogspot.com/2009/02/mardi-gras-party-place-cards.html

Music: Play New Orleans brass band or Zydeco music. Here's a list I found...somewhere on the internet. Wish I could give credit, but I do not remember where I found the list.

Earl King's "Big Chief"

Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko,"

Al Johnson's "Carnival Time,"

The Meters' "They All Asked for You,"

Professor Longhair's "Go to the Mardi Gras,"

The Wild Tchoupitoulas' "Hey Pocky-A-Way,"

and The Funky Meters' "Mardi Gras Mambo."

My husband also added the song "Who Dat?" that they played at for the super bowl to the playlist for me.

Dress:

Ask your guest to come wearing masks, boas, lots of color and sparkle. If all else fails, just come in green, gold, or purple.

I found some free printable masks at "Print Picinic"

http://www.printpicnic.com/mardi-gras-masks.html

I printed a few extra to have on hand for guests who didn't bring one.

Supplies of Bunco:

• 12 Chairs
• 3 Card Tables
• Bell
• 12 Pencils
• 3 Notebooks
• 9 Dice

In our Bunco Group, we each pay $5 to go toward prizes and each take a turn hosting at our homes. We award prizes for Most Buncos ($30), Most Wins($15), and Most Losses($15). You could start a group yourself or just host a one time party. Either way, it's lots of fun.

Here's a link for the rules for Bunco- in case you've never played. It's lots of fun and no skill is needed, just luck.

http://www.ehow.com/how_14930_play-bunco.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_16204_keep-score-bunco.html

Good Luck and Have fun!