OREO Basketball Invitations & Easy Hostess Ideas

I’m happy to partner with Collective Bias and its advertiser for today’s OREO Basketball Invitations post & DIY.  All opinions are mine alone. #GreatTasteTourney #CollectiveBias

When it comes to sports in our house it doesn’t matter what it is, who it is, how it is….they are being televised in our home. My husband watches them all. I have learned that as long as he lets me pretty things up a bit, I’ll compromise and hop on board with whatever championship, tournament, etc that is currently going down. These OREO Basketball Invitations are my way of letting our guests know that while you are being invited to watch basketball at our house…..things will probably be a bit, well, themed.

I should preface that I don’t care for basketball. At all. So being able to focus on the decor is just what I need to look forward to hosting a basketball watching shindig.

Your invitations say a lot about the event you are hosting. The type of paper. The attention to detail. It really does say a lot about how you are preparing. Add an edible OREO to your invite? And well, you might as well just go ahead and RSVP me NOW to your event. It not only says I’m going out of my way to ensure that you feel welcomed in my home to watch basketball, but it also says that there will probably be yummy treats involved. Treats that look like basketballs no less!

So let’s create some edible invitations shall we?

First, you’re going to need an OREO mold. I found mine at a local craft store. They even have the ones that are specifically for basketballs, but I already had these plain molds so I used them instead.

You’ll melt your candy melts and fill each mold, place in your OREO, cover with a bit more candy melt and tap the mold gently to even it all out. Pop them into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or so to completely set.

While waiting for them to set, melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chip morsels with 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil and place into a piping bag.

Pipe on basketball lines once your OREOs are completely hardened.

Once hardened, place into cellophane treat bags, attach your party tags and information and place then into a shallow gift box of shred to be able to drop into the mail without your OREO getting destroyed. If you mail them, you’ll want to tape the top of the box down well and use a padded envelope.

I’d personally hand deliver them just to ensure they remain pretty.

Create a basketball “seal” by punching out circles of orange scrapbook paper and hand drawing the basketball lines with a sharpie, or…..just pop a store bought sticker on there.

Easy as pie!!!!

You can also use those basketball “seals” for party decor, like confetti, and straw toppers. Just cut two slits into the basketball and run your paper straw through the holes.

Like this:

With an invitation like that, though you can’t stop there. You have given your guests a little taste of your basketball theming ability and you probably don’t want to let them down. Now’s the time to head to Albertson’s where they have the basketball themed Coca-Cola products and grab some Coca-Cola Zero™,   chips, dips, and other supplies to create your menu. I kept things festive with mini pizzas- just use black olives to create the basketball lines if you want to be fancy.

Is something that easy considered “fancy”?

Probably not.

You’ll also want to raid your craft supply closet and think of ways you can set your table without allowing your basketball colors to look like Halloween.

I kept things pretty simple and set the snacks out on the coffee table right smack in front of the television (well, our TV is off to the right but you get the idea), and used my mantle as my decorating station. Just a couple of pops of color here and there since chances are our team won’t make it very far. 🙂

I commend those people who create giant backdrops for their parties but they always leave me wondering what they do with them afterwards? Store them? Use them again? Toss them? I think they’re nice but I just don’t have that sort of space for leftover light up scoreboards. And once you use it once, do you bring it out again and become known as the lady who has the light up scoreboard at her house? I could see me being that lady but am gonna refrain from being the scoreboard lady.

To keep things girlie and add another color besides orange and black, I added some fresh flowers for a punch of spring zing.

I also added my Coke Zero products to my monogrammed beverage bucket with some more, well, orange!

Will you be watching the NCAA Tournament?

My husband is actually in Nashville right this moment at tournament meetings. I sent him a photo of my invites last night and said “show them in your meeting! I bet they will like them!”.

He ignored me.

Sigh.

If you’re feeling lucky, you can head over to the Coca-Cola Play to Win site to win lots of NCAA prizes: Visit cokeplaytowin.com/tastethemadness for a chance to win NCAA prizes.

You can find all your favorite snacks and Coke Zero products at your friendly neighborhood Albertson’s. Be on the look out for the specially marked basketball cans!

• Mondelēz International and Coca-Cola are Corporate Champion and Partners of the NCAA.
• NCAA and Taste the Madness are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
• © Mondelēz International group © Coca-Cola Zero is a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company.