Tag: bunco supplies

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Bunco Theme Favorite: Birthday Bash Bunco

A Bunco Game Shop Facebook follower threw an amazing surprise 91st Birthday Bunco Bash and it got me thinking of one of my favorite Bunco themes: Birthday Bunco!  In February a friend of mine in my Bunco group turned 40.  So, we held a Gold Lamé Soirée Bunco which was a fun 1970s theme.  We took it seriously!  The ladies in my group all wore sparkly gold shirts and of course there was Disco music in the background.  I bought  everyone  a disco ball necklace and we rocked them!

Usually we have a potluck but I decided to make the food since the theme was so fun! I immediately thought of the quintessential 1970s food: fondue. But after talking with the birthday girl, came up with doing a salad bar and soup.  I found an inflatable salad bar online and filled it with ice so that it kept all of the salad fixings cold.  I had everyone’s favorite toppings, lettuce, pasta salad and a variety of dressings.  I also made one of my favorite soups, Fire Roasted Tomato (see recipe below).  It is easy to make the day before and then warm in the slow cooker a few hours before the party starts.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon  olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can can (14 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup whipping cream

In saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, broth, 1 tablespoon of the basil, the sugar and pepper flakes. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes.  I use an immersion blender and blend the soup directly in the pot. If you are using a regular blender, let soup cool before blending, about 15 minutes.  After blending, add soup back to pot, stir in cream and remaining 1 tablespoon basil.  It tastes great with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese on top!

After playing two rounds of Bunco in which the birthday girl wore this cute tiara, we took a dessert break. We had the birthday girl’s favorite cupcake, homemade German Chocolate.  One of our players brought some gourmet ice cream to go with it.  Delicious!  As a nod to our 70s theme we had punch, both spiked and not, with sherbet floating on top.  Classic!

My 40th is coming up in a few weeks and I am throwing myself (with some help from friends) a Bunco Birthday Bash!  It is a fun Neon Tea Party theme.  I am having fun planning this event!  I found some cute neon pink, orange and yellow water bottles.  I will be tying neon balloons on some and making flower arrangements in the others.  I also plan on using these dice for some extra fun! I am really looking forward to it.  I will post pictures and let you know how it went!

A Bunco Game Shop Facebook follower, Charlyn, sent me some awesome food pictures from one of her bunco parties.  I am posting them here.  I am sure they will provide inspiration for many.  I think I may make the cupcakes for my Bunco Birthday (using carrot cake–my fave!).  The cream cheese appetizer with adorable spreaders looks amazing too!

What is your favorite Bunco theme?  Do you have any ideas for a Birthday Bunco Bash?  If so, I’d love to hear from you.  Leave a comment below.

Keep Calm and Play Bunco,

Bunco Betty

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Get Crafty:Simple Bunco Decor Ideas

I love party planning and playing Bunco.  My group has themed Bunco parties which are so much fun to plan.  However, I am not naturally a crafty person.  I need things that are simple to execute and not time consuming.  The picture that I have posted here shows a few easy touches that will take your Bunco decor to another level.

First, notice the cute chalkboard sign that says, Strawberry Lemonade.  Nice touch, right?  Well, it is super easy and inexpensive to make.  I use mine all the time for things other than Bunco: Girl Scout functions, church hospitality, etc.  At a craft store pick out some wooden shapes that you like.  There are many shapes and sizes, pick the ones that work for you.  They range in price from about 79 cents to $2.00 or so.  Next you will need a can of chalkboard paint.  You can get it at the craft store but it is much cheaper at the hardware store.  You will also be using masking tape.  Place tape around the outside of the wooden shape.  The next step is best done outside on newspaper: spray with chalkboard paint and let dry according to directions on can.  Easy! I place them on small easels that I purchased at a discount store. Now you have cute chalkboards that can be used to label your Bunco food items!

Next, notice the table runner.  I made that myself!  All you need is about a yard and a half of fabric, fusible web (stitch witchery), scissors and an iron. Decide how wide you want your runner to be and then add an inch on each side to allow for the seam.  Once your fabric is cut, it’s time to iron. You will need a hot iron which is on the steam setting. Fold an inch of fabric along the long edge of the runner and press with iron to make a crease.  The fusible web will go inside this crease.   Fusible web is a fiber which melts when heated (so you don’t have to sew!).  It usually comes in a roll and can be purchased at craft stores.  Press according to the instructions on the package and be sure to do it on both sides of the runner.  It will look like the runners you buy in the store only much cheaper!  You will love telling everyone that you made it yourself!

As you may have noticed the picture is of a drink table.  It was a Bunco Baby Shower so we had non-alcoholic beverages that night.  The strawberry lemonade was a hit, especially when served in Mason jars with cute pink straws (It was a Girl!).  I added flags with each person’s name to the pink-striped straws so that everyone knew which drink belonged to them. It’s simple touches like these that take Bunco decor up a notch. This drink idea would be super cute for a Pink Ribbon (Breast Cancer) Bunco theme.  Check out these great products that would be perfect for a Pink Ribbon Bunco Party.  October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and my group will be having a Pink themed Bunco.  I can’t wait!

How have you been crafty with decor at your Bunco parties?  Let me know!

Keep Calm and Play Bunco,

Bunco Betty

 

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Favorite Bunco Themes–Dirty Dancing Bunco

I was thinking about the (many) Bunco games I have played in the last eight years.  One of my most favorite Bunco games that I planned was Dirty Dancing Bunco.  It was the 25th anniversary of the beloved movie and I thought it would be fun to throw a Bunco party with a  Dirty Dancing theme.

Of course we had, you guessed it, the Dirty Dancing DVD on in the background.  We had the sound turned down and the movie soundtrack CD playing.  Everyone loved it and sang along!  I also gave Dirty Dancing DVDs and CDs away as prizes for Snake Eyes as well as  first and last Bunco.  Our group gives the first person to get a Bunco her $5 back as well as a prize.  They get to wear a fun themed necklace until we hand out prizes at the end.  If you roll triple ones when you aren’t rolling for ones, it is called Snake Eyes.  Whoever rolled it loses all of  her points in that round and must yell Snake Eyes. Whoever rolled the last Snake Eyes throws the plush fuzzy die (like this awesome one from Bunco Game Shop) to her and the person who has the die at the end wins a prize.

I brought watermelon cake pops for dessert (remember when Baby carried the watermelon into the dance hall?) They were so cute and a big hit.  Here is the (easy) recipe:

1 box white cake mix (or your favorite recipe)
Water, vegetable oil and egg whites called for on cake mix box
1/4 teaspoon pink paste food color
3/4 cup vanilla frosting (ready made or your favorite recipe)
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
32  Lollipop sticks
1 bag (16 oz) green candy melts or coating wafers, melted
1 bag (16oz) white candy melts, melted
block of foam or cakepop holder

  • Heat oven to 350°F.
  • Spray 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray.
  • Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13×9-inch pan, using water, oil and egg whites and adding pink paste food color.
  • Cool completely.
  • Line cookie sheet with waxed paper. I like to use two small cookie sheets from the dollar store. They fit nicely in my small freezer.
  • Crumble cake into large bowl.
  • Add frosting and mini chocolate chips; mix well.
  • Shape into 32 oblong balls to look like watermelon; place on cookie sheets.
  • Freeze until firm, at least an hour.
  • When cake balls are firm, transfer to refrigerator.
  • Remove several cake balls from refrigerator at a time.
  • Dip tip of 1 lollipop stick 1/2 inch into melted white candy and insert stick into 1 cake ball no more than halfway.
  • Dip each cake ball into melted candy to cover; tap off excess.
  • Poke opposite end of stick into foam block.
  • Let stand until set.
  • Dip each cake ball into melted green candy to cover; tap off excess.
  • Return sticks to foam block. Let stand until set.

What is your favorite Bunco theme? Do you use  Snake Eyes in your Bunco game?  What are some of your favorite Bunco rules? Let us know.  We would love to hear from you.
Keep Calm and Play Bunco,
Bunco Betty

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Birthday Bunco Bash Finger Food Ideas

One of our fans, Christina, is celebrating a fellow Bunco players 91st birthday with a Birthday Bunco Bash this month.  She would like to serve finger foods and needs some ideas.  Well, I have some tried and true favorites for you from the free download of the Bunko Junkie Appetizer cookbook available here.  There are 150 awesome appetizer recipes in this FREE download from Bunco Game Shop, so download your copy today!

This crunchy mix is a great addition at each Bunco table for snacking throughout the evening:

All-American Bunko Snack

3 cups thin pretzel sticks
4 cups Wheat Chex®
4 cups Cheerios®
13 ounces can salted peanuts
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup melted butter

In large mixing bowl or slow-cooking pot, mix together pretzels, cereals, and peanuts. Sprinkle with garlic salt, celery salt, seasoned salt, and cheese. Pour melted butter over all; toss until well mixed. Cover and cook in slow-cooking pot on low 3 to 4 hours. Uncover the last 30 to 40 minutes. Serve as appetizer or snack

Baby Porcupine Appetizers are spicy bite sized meatballs that everyone loves.  They are easy to make and the perfect bite sized Bunco snack. These meatballs would look so festive with these adorable dice party picks from the Bunco Game Shop.

Baby Porcupine Appetizers

1/2 cup rice
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon onions — minced
2 tablespoons green bell peppers — finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 clove garlic
2 cups tomato juice
4 cloves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine rice, ground meat, onion, green pepper, salt, celery salt and garlic; form into balls about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Heat tomato juice, cloves, oregano and Worcestershire sauce in skillet. Add meatballs. Cover tightly and simmer for 50 minutes. Remove cloves before serving.

 
Another popular finger food is chicken wings.  These Parmesan Chicken Wings are easy to make, baked not fried and delicious!  Bunco guests will love them!

Parmesan Chicken Wings

1 cup Freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Heaping — finely chopped fresh Parsley
1 tablespoon Fresh — oregano or marjoram
Chopped or 1 tsp. of either
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Fresh ground pepper
2 pounds Chicken wings cut up
1/2 cup Butter melted

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Mix cheese,parsley,oregano, salt and pepper together and place on a dry tray. Dip each piece of chicken into the butter,then roll in the cheese mixture,coating well.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes,turning when brown. Wings will freeze well. Thaw in refrigerator,and heat in a 375 deg. oven. Makes 4 main course or 8 appetizer servings.

 

 

Please share if you try any of these recipes and let us know how they turned out.  If you have a finger food recipe that you love, please post the recipe and/or a picture.  I made all of these recipes today and they turned out wonderful! The kids loved the Bunko Snack mix after school today!  It was a fun surprise!

Are you playing Bunco soon?  If so, let us know about it!  There are so many fun products here at BuncoGameShop.com. My group loves the foam dice for roll offs when there is a tie for Most Buncos, Most Wins, etc.  We are having a South Beach themed Bunco this weekend.  The funny thing is that we live in the desert!  I will post pictures next week.

Keep Calm and Play Bunco,

Bunco Betty

 

 

 

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Big fuzzy dice & Red beans and rice!

Hey there all my loyal readers!!!

I had to share a couple of things with you that I thought was a good idea for your bunco night.  I’m wondering if everyone has the big fuzzy dice?  Of course every bunco group must have the big fuzzy dice and if not, you should look into it here. 

We use it when someone gets a bunco then the fuzzy dice is tossed to that person and then it goes to the next person and so on.  This is a funny little story a fan told me on our Facebook page.

“Just out of curiosity… does anyone else’s Bunco group THROW the big fuzzy die when someone else yells BUNCO!? LOL I’m not talking about a friendly toss… let’s just say it’s a good thing the fuzzy die is soft! 😉 “

We have our January bunco this Saturday the 28th and I can’t wait!  It’s always super fun!  Maybe I’ll win…something.  🙂

I came across this *healthy* Red Beans and Rice soup recipe and wanted to share it too.  With this cold weather, I am ALWAYS wanting soup!  MMMM….plus, it could be good for a Mardi Gras bunco theme too.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dried 365 Everyday Value® Organic Red Kidney Beans, picked through
3 quarts low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 yellow, white or red onion, chopped
1/2 cup dry red or white wine
3 bay leaves
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup red rice
1 tablespoon no-salt Cajun seasoning
1 (16-ounce) package frozen 365 Everyday Value® Collard Greens or Blue Curled Kale
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

Method

Soak beans overnight in a large bowl of water; rinse and drain well. Heat 1/2 cup of the broth in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add wine and cook, scraping up the browned bits, until almost absorbed, 1 or 2 minutes. Add beans, remaining broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until almost tender, about 2 hours. (Skim off and discard any foam that shows up on the surface.) Stir in tomatoes, rice and Cajun seasoning, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rice and beans are tender, about 20 minutes. Add greens and cook until hot throughout, about 10 minutes more. Stir in parsley and serve in bowls, topped with bell pepper.

If any of you would like to share some of your favorite recipes from your bunco night, please email me or leave a comment on the blog.  buncobetty@buncogameshop.com  I would love to share anything on the Facebook page!  🙂

Happy Monday!  🙂

Bunco Betty

 

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Maribou Bunco Bell for Bunco Theme Night

The game of bunco wouldn’t even start without the use of the little bunco bell. Are you setting up your own bunco kit or having a color theme or diva bunco theme? Maybe you just have dozen year old bunco bell that just needs retired for a new marabou bell.

The Marabou Bunco Bell is silver with the traditional click on the top to make it ring. Just like the bell at the counter drug store…. The marabou bunco bell comes with your choice of red, white, hot pink, or pink marabou trim around the rim of the bell.

One way to add even more personalization to your bunco bell for a bunco themed night is to paint it. You could come up with a colorful dice, the number “21”, “Bunco Diva” the names of your bunco buds, etc. to add to your maribou bunco bell to give it that cool, bunco diva look and set the mood for each of your Bunco Nights.

Whatever your reason for a new bunco dinger, the Marabou Bunco Bell is here. Order your marabou bunco bell today and start your personal bunco tradition!

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Bunco Wine Glasses

Bunco wine glasses are hand painted and make a great gift for the Bunco winner.

Do you want to be the hostess with the mostess? Or are you content for settling with having an average night at Bunco where everyone leaves early and yawning? Heck no! You want to live it up and make your Bunco night one to remember! You want those gals and friends talking about the great time they had at your house because – because you had specially painted Bunco wine glasses for the night while you enjoyed the game and friendship.

Are there Bunco wine glasses?

Imagine walking into a Bunco night and being handed a glass full of your favorite cocktail. Sounds right so far! But this glass is different.  It is hand-painted just for you – the Bunco player.  The wine glasses are beautifully hand painted with dice and words to match any theme for bunco night.

The Bunco Wine Glasses sits on a skinny stem that is striped in colors of red, green, blue and purple. Color coordinated dice are on the body of the glass, making it for a festive and colorful piece of glassware.

The Bunco Wine glasses hold twelve ounces. For best results, hand wash in warm water and leave out of the dishwasher.

The Bunco Wine Glasses make  for a great hostess gift if you are taking one to your friend who is hosting. Imagine how popular you will be!  It can also be given away as the top prize for the night to the winner. Imagine how hostile the rolling would be if the girls new what the ultimate prize was for? Chances are, the Bunco wine glasses will be so popular, the gals will go out and buy their own to have and bring to each person’s house on Bunco night if they are not the big winner.  Makes for a great addition to any wine themed bunco night.

Get you Bunco wine glasses by clicking here