Throw a quick and easy Game of Thrones party!

Winter is coming. 

Well, actually summer is coming, but in the Game of Thrones universe, it is getting colder and colder every episode! The new season is here, and I've been preparing for the finale with baited breath. Who is going to die? Who will sit on the iron throne? If you've been wanting to host a watch party, but weren't sure exactly how to do it, don't worry. I've got you covered. 

And it won't take you too long to pull off, either! 

I wanted to put a party together fairly quickly when I came up with the ideas for this event, so you'll see where I was able to cut corners and still have fun being creative. 

The Banner

I knew that I wanted to create a banner showing some of the more important Game of Thrones' houses to hang up in our entryway. So I went online, searched "house sigil Game of Thrones" and found a few designs that I liked. Then I printed them in color, cut them out, and spread them on the table. 

How was I going to tie them together? Well, I didn't have a ball of string, and I really didn't have time to head to the store to buy any. As well, I don't use string that often, so I didn't want to spend the money on something I would only need once. 

I thought for a moment, and then realized - I could use dental floss! Dental floss is super strong, so it won't break, and it's white so it isn't a distracting color. I punched wholes in the top of each sigil (if you have a single hole punch, use that; I didn't, so I used a three whole punch and just pushed the paper off to the side), then slid the floss through. Because I didn't want the flags to slide to the middle as soon as I hung up the banner, I taped the dental floss to the back of each one, holding it in place. 

And voila! This is the finished banner! 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED: 
- Printed Sigils
- Dental Floss
- Tape
- Hole Punch
- Scissors

WHAT TO DO: 
1. Find and print out house sigils that you like. Cut them out. 
2. Hole punch two holes on the top of the sigil, as shown above. 
3. Cut a piece of dental floss long enough for your banner, then slide it through the holes you punched on the top of each sigil. Make sure to hide the dental floss by putting the long side of the string on the backside of your cut-out. 
4. Tape the dental floss to the back of each sigil to make sure the whole banner stays in place. 
5. Hang it up and enjoy! 

The Game

I thought it would be fun to play some sort of game before the show started to get everyone excited to see the new episode.

Trivia is fun, plus it's a nice little refresher reminding you of things you may have forgotten. So, I turned to Google and searched for "printable Game of Thrones trivia." Find one that works for your friends' knowledge level - we found many were too easy for us, but if you want to keep it upbeat, then choose something on the easier side! I printed out the questions and answers, since I was going to be the Game Master. 

Then I searched online for "Game of Thrones font." You should be able to find something you can download. Then you can make your own Game of Thrones trivia sheet! You can copy what I wrote above, or you can write something different. 

We had a blast playing this game, and I hope you do too! 

The Food

When it came to the food, I was ready to get punny. Dad jokes for the win!

I wanted to display the food in a fun and themed way. The only problem was, I didn't have that much time to prepare. I knew I couldn't whip up a pie or cook up a storm in the kitchen. So I came up with food puns regarding foods that I could buy from the grocery store and display in a really cool way. 

I typed up the names of my puns in the Game of Thrones font that I had previously downloaded, then printed them, cut them out, and folded them in half so I could stand them up next to each food that I set out for the guests. 

Here are the puns I came up with! Feel free to come up with your own and add them to the fun.

LITTLE LADYFINGERS: Buy some ladyfingers from the store, display them on a round plate. 

CHIPS AND  SANSA: Buy prepared salsa and tortilla chips! 

MINI GOT DOGS: You can usually find these in the frozen section. If you keep kosher, look in the frozen kosher section!

A LANNISTER ALWAYS PAYS HIS BAGUETTES: Buy a sliced baguette from your local bakery. Buy some herbs to combine with butter or margarine. Chop the herbs at home, mash them into your spread, and then reshape and serve next to the baguettes!

Of course, if you have the time, go ahead and bake or cook foods to match these puns! Unfortunately, sometimes you would like to throw a party but don't have a ton of time to prepare. And it's perfectly fine, in my opinion, to serve foods that you haven't made yourself. 

The Cocktails

Last but not least: the cocktails. 

I had a few thoughts when I was coming up with the drinks I wanted to serve, but I ended up realizing a couple of things. First, I chose to keep it simple: all of the cocktails I served had vodka as a base. It's not hard to find a cheap, decent bottle of vodka, whereas many other liquors taste pretty awful at a lower price-range. Plus, needing to have many different liquors on hand can get expensive.

Second, I didn't want to try and design new drinks - instead I went with cocktails most people already knew, then matched their color with a name to fit the Game of Thrones theme. So a red drink, for example, became a Red Witch.

Then I used that same font that I had downloaded, typed up my menu, and printed it on slightly nicer paper!

Here was my cocktail menu: 

WHITE WALKER: White Russian
- 1 part Vodka
- 1 part Kahlua
- 1 part Heavy Cream

KISS OF A SANDSNAKE (Shown above): Pink Lemonade
- 1 1/2 ounces Vodka
- 1/2 ounce Triple Sec
- 1 ounce Cranberry Juice
- 1/2 ounce Lemon Juice
- 1/2 ounce Lime Juice
- 4 ounces Sprite
- Lemon Wedge

RED WITCH: Cosmopolitan
- 1 1/2 ounce Vodka (Technically it's Vodka Citron, but nobody at my party knew the difference!)
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau
- 1/2 ounce Lime Juice
- 1 ounce Cranberry Juice

WILDFIRE: Vodka Gimlet 
- 4 parts Vodka
- 1 part Sweetened Lime Juice

Our party turned out really well, and I'm sure we'll host another one at the finale of the series! Will you throw your own Game of Thrones party? If you do, tag me in your pictures on Instagram @ClassicallyAbby! And let me know in the comments below.