Forget about the holidays- this is the most wonderful time of the year: awards season! Once again, we enter into that most glamorous of times when a simple list of names makes The L.A. Times’front-page news, and #iwishiwasfamous starts trending like gangbusters. For it is in this season, and this season alone, that all the beautiful people of all the land- (or hey, Southern California, anyway)- unite at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre for the annual chance to rub elbows with the biggest man about town: Oscar.

For one single evening, Hollywood’s very best- (and very worst, ahem, Charlie Sheen)- gather together for an unforgettable night of glitz, glitter, and godlessness- (we’re still looking at you, Chuck)- before painting the town gold. Why shouldn’t you get in on it? The ballots have been filled, the results are in and Her Campus has nominated youto host this year’s ultimate Oscar night party for all of your friends. We’ve always known you were a star. Read on for the script of your latest role: hostess with the mostest.

Invitations

Do you think George Clooney knows where to be on Sunday, February 26th because he was invited to the Facebook event? Do you think Michelle Williams knows where to have her driver drop her off because she heard about it through the grapevine? No and no.

Make your own invitations:
Set the bar high for your Oscar night bash by sending out bona fide paper-and-ink invitations. Most word processors will have a formatting option for a simple card template, and anywhere that sells craft supplies will carry card stock and anything else you may need for Oscar-worthy invites: Glitter glue? Confetti? The Oscars are all about extravagance. Your invites set the stage!

Or use Paperless Post!:
If you want to be earth-friendly or, as a busy collegiette, can’t find a single time-slot in your iCal for a card-making sesh, PaperlessPost.com has many beautifully designed Oscar-themed invitations you can send off to your friends via e-mail in two seconds. The next time you find yourself waiting around in film class while your professor tries unsuccessfully to figure out the projector, put those five minutes to good use and send out some online Oscards!
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Theme

Pick your favorite Hollywood era:
Though the real Oscars don’t really have a theme other than maybe luxury and general excess, you should feel free to go wild with your own party. Make the theme your favorite Hollywood era: Was it the Golden Age of Hollywood in the ‘30s? The reign of studios and MGM movie-musicals in the ‘50s? Or is John Hughes and The Brat Pack circa ’85 closer to what you have in mind?

Call it a costume party:

Be creative with the theme and make sure your guests know to get creative too! Tell guests to come in costume as their favorite actor or actress. Extra points to any guest dressed as an actor playing an actress: Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, anyone? Don’t forget to immortalize all the inspired get-ups on camera! Declare everyone both celebrities and paparazzi for the night and take loads of pictures. If you trust your guests, leave your camera out on the table for anyone to use. If not, buy a disposable for the occasion!

Decor
Though your place may not closely resemble the Kodak Theatre- (not quite as much seating, right?)- that shouldn’t stop you from doing everything in your power to glam it up to the same degree. Think metallic helium balloons, twisted black and white streamers, and so much silver and gold, your place could be traded on NASDAQ.

Think DIY:
If you shop at a party decor store, things can get pretty pricey, but there are loads of homemade decorations you can make yourself faster than you can say “I want to thank the Academy.”

Check out craft websites like craftgawker.com for alternative decorating options that don’t chip much out of your budget. We may act like celebrities for the night, but that part-time job flipping pancakes at the breakfast diner by campus doesn’t pay quite as much.

Food & Drinks

Food and drinks is always the most daunting of areas to fulfill for any party. Cooking is tricky enough without the added concern of a dozen party guests each with a different set of tastes. Be thankful that you’re not dealing with real celebrities that demand bottled Kabbalah water served at precisely 65 degrees Fahrenheit (cough, Madonna).

Though you’ll want to create your own unique and diverse menu of hors d’oeuvres, don’t be afraid to ask your guests for a little help! Suggest that people bring their finger-food favorites, so you aren’t left with the full task of feeding the masses. TV-watching is strenuous and can induce serious munchies.

Keep it simple:
For the hors d’oeuvres you make yourself, Camille Styles, editor of CamilleStyles.com, advises keeping appetizers simple. “The key to whipping up appetizers in a snap is to assemble ready-made ingredients from the market- instead of making everything from scratch,” she says on her website. The last thing you want to be worrying about on Oscar night is the exact proportion of garlic to chickpeas in your home-blended hummus.

“It’s a classic!”:
Stock up at a bulk food store on party-sized quantities of all those classic movie theater concession stand foods! What were the kids snacking on in ’54 over a screening of the latest Hitchcock flickat the local drive-in? Think red licorice, M&Ms, Milk Duds, and caramel corn. An Oscar party without popcorn is like Halle Berry’s performance in “Catwoman”: lacking and prone to violence (sorry, Hal’). Buy or create your own popcorn seasonings to liven up this classic standby, and serve it in brown paper bags to give it that old-timey feel.
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Try this Homemade Microwave Caramel Corn

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 quarts popped popcorn (1 quart = one microwavable bag)

Place the popped popcorn into a large brown paper bag and set aside.
In a heat-proof glass dish, combine the first five ingredients. Heat for 3 minutes in the microwave, then take out and stir until blended. Then put the mixture back in the microwave for 90 seconds. After 90 seconds, remove from microwave, and stir in the baking soda.
Pour syrup over the pre-popped popcorn in the bag, then close the bag and shake to coat the corn. Place the bag in the microwave and cook for 1 minute. Remove the bag, shake it, flip it over and return it to the microwave for another 1 minute. When complete, dump the popcorn onto waxed paper and let it cool until the caramel coating is set.

Prepare a punch
Instead of circulating several drinks through the night, concentrate your focus on creating just one lip-smacking punch. Punches are incredibly difficult to mess up and the self-serve style means you won’t be in the kitchen refilling someone’s glass when you hear, “And the Oscar goes to…”

Try this “Best Picture Sparkling Punch”
2 lemons sliced
3 oranges sliced
1 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 liter club soda
2 (750 milliliter) bottles sparkling apple cider
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 trays ice cubes

Don’t forget to garnish each glass with a slice of star fruit!
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Games
Angelina Jolie wouldn’t watch commercials:
This isn’t the Superbowl, so whatever you do, don’t watch the commercials. The goal of the night, above all, is to just have a great, celebratory time- not be glued to the television set lest you miss hearing the winner of best sound mixing. During commercials, play short, unstructured games with your guests such as movie trivia and, in the spirit of acting, Charades!

Oscar Bingo
Keep the stakes high with a round of Oscar Bingo! Print out blank bingo cards online and in lieu of bingo dabbers, buy a pack of gold star stickers for your guests to mark their cards with. Have each guest fill in the empty spots ahead of time with 24 instances of typical award night madness you’ve prepared beforehand. Include on the list things like: “Someone shuns Kathy Griffin on the red carpet”, “A winner says, ‘Oh wow, this is heavy’ ”, “Billy Crystal breaks into song and dance”, and “Someone makes a jab at Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage”. When you put that many champagne-drunk celebrities in a room together for several hours, the possibilities are truly endless.

Place your bets:
An Oscar party would not be an Oscar party, however, without the placing of nominations before the winners are announced. When your guests arrive, hand them a ballot to fill out with their guesses on everything from Best Actress to Best Makeup. You can find the 2012 ballot in a printable version online.

When all the winners have been announced and the credits rolled, declare your own winner of the night based on which guest scored highest on their ballot. As hostess with the mostest, you call the prize!

Best of luck on an Oscar-worthy performance!

A Collegiette’s Guide to Hosting An Oscars Party

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