Jun 30 10
by cara
at 9:31 PM
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Minute To Win It Party

Have you ever seen the game show on NBC called Minute to Win It?  Hosted by Guy Fieri, contestants on this show complete increasingly difficult challenges using household items in one minute or less.  The Picky Apple and I have watched it a few times, and we always say “I could do that!”  We decided to put ourselves (and others) to the test.  Inspired by a post on The Dating Divas about a couples Minute To Win It Party, we decided to host our own Minute To Win It Party.  We had 12 people, including us, and it was SO MUCH FUN!

The Food

I loved this menu!  Most of the items could be prepared ahead of time.  I much prefer serving this type of meal to a big group rather than hamburgers that have to be cooked as the party is happening.  By preparing food ahead of time, you can relax and enjoy the party too!

The Drinks

Speaking of relaxing….

  • Absolut Raspberry Lemonade
  • White Sangria
  • Margarita Popsicles (recipe coming soon)
  • Strawberry Margaritas (recipe coming soon)
  • Beer

Did I mention this was an adults-only party?!  We don’t do parties like this much, and we I got a little carried away with the drinks.  I couldn’t make up my mind, so I just decided to make it ALL!  As a result, I still have freezerful of delicious margarita popsicles.  That’s not a bad thing, I don’t think.

The Games

We selected 5 games (and 2 bonus games) from the Minute To Win It website (and described in detail below).  We have some rather competitive friends, and I figured the drinks would loosen everyone up, but I wanted to encourage everyone to play without forcing them to do each game if they didn’t want to participate.  Therefore, we created the following rules:

  • Times will be recorded for each player.  3 points will be awarded for 1st place, 2 for 2nd place, and 1 for 3rd place.
  • The winner of each of the 5 games will receive a prize.  (The prizes were all from dollar bins at Target at Michael’s: sling shots, velcro catcher things, little guns, etc)
  • After the games are completed, the scores will be added up, and the winner will receive the Grand Prize.  (We really hyped this up, but kept it a secret.  It was a giant WWE belt, which was fabulously gaudy.)
  • The Picky Apple and I were disqualified from winning since we practiced the games to test them out and kept the games top secret from everyone else.
  • 2 or 3 people will go at the same time for games if possible, to speed things up.  Even though people weren’t competing against each other in pairs, it helped fuel the competitive spirit.  Also, no one felt too silly going by themselves.
  • Names will be drawn from a hat to determine the order for each game.
  • We let some of the games go for a little longer than a minute…some of these games seem impossible to complete in just one minute!
  • Scores were recorded on the official scoreboard…created lovingly by me, channeling my inner high school self…

As I mentioned, we had 5 games planned that would count toward the final score, and 2 bonus games in case of a tie or if everyone just wanted to play a few more silly games.  Well, not only did everyone want to play MORE silly games, they wanted them to count toward the final score!  Love our competitive friends!

I tried to pick games that would not only be fun to play, but fun to watch too.  And boy, were they ever!

Penny Hose: Two pennies are placed in the ends of the legs of a pair of pantyhose. Using only their hands, the contestants must inch their way down the legs to retrieve the pennies and pull them out. Each arm must work independently and the player cannot use one hand to stretch or hold the hose for the other.  (We used quarters instead of pennies, and this is MUCH harder than it looks!)


Face the Cookie: Contestants, using only their faces, must move three Oreo cookies individually from their forehead to their mouth. (We only did one cookie.)


Paper Dragon: Contestant must unspool two rolls of party streamers using only their hands and arms. (I bought 32! rolls of crepe paper at Party City)


The Nutstacker: Contestant must create one stack of large metal nuts by sliding them off a chopstick without touching them with their hands. (We used 6 nuts)


Elephant March: Eight unopened water bottles are placed in two parallel rows on the ground, precisely eight feet apart. The contestant must wear a standard pair of pantyhose over the head, with a baseball placed inside the end of one leg. Keeping one foot on each side of the centerline, the contestant must swing back and forth using the momentum of the baseball to knock down all eight bottles. (We only used 6 water bottles, and used an orange instead of a baseball)

(After this, the photo taking fell by the wayside…)

Ping Bounce: Bounce ping pong balls to land in 3 different cups full of water.  (We simplified the Tic Tac Toe game from the show)

Tipsy: Contestant must balance three 12-ounce cans on their beveled lower edges. It is impossible to balance a full can like this, therefore the contestant must first drink from the can. The contestant must balance a total of three cans to successfully complete the challenge. (I let our contestants use their drink of choice.  All the guys used beer (mistake?) and the ladies either used Fresca or diet soft drinks)

I think everyone had a really great time.  After days of worrying whether people would participate and get in to the spirit of the game, it was SO reassuring at the end of the night to hear everyone say how much FUN they had!  We’re already talking about making this a semi-annual (or more frequent?) event where we pass on the Grand Prize Belt to the next winner.   Looking forward to the next time!
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24 Comments
  1. Your menu and drinks sound fabulous! I can’t wait to see the taco dip and margarita popsicle recipes. Yummy! And I love the pictures of people playing the games. They are hilarious! It looks like everyone had a great time!

  2. Oh my gosh! This sounds SO FUN! I love it all! I wish I could have been there. I think I would have dominated. 😉 And, my mouth is watering for the food – esp. the buffalo chicken dip, we love that. =) Oh, and the margarita popsicles? Awesome.

  3. Maurice permalink

    wow you guys are really dedicated. definitely can not wait to see all the new and funny shows on tomorrows premiere. how do they even come up with these games?

  4. Oh how fun is this!!

  5. SandyE permalink

    This looks so much fun! Did you get the ideas from the new summer episodes, or have the games been on before? I loved the TWINS episode and can’t wait to use some of those games with the family! Thanks for sharing! POST VIDEOS!!!!

  6. trish permalink

    awesome! You inspired me to plan a party!

  7. Catherine permalink

    I love this party idea! Thank you so much for all the information you shared! I’m in the middle of planing my own party. How long did it take to get through the challenges? Did you give everyone 3 tries or did they just get one shot?

    Thanks for your input!

  8. Tom Ace permalink

    Yes!! I love Minute to Win It and will be having a MTWI party very very very soon! I just heard there is going to be ALL NEW holiday episodes this Tuesday Dec 7 @ 8p/7c on NBC!!!! I can not wait

  9. Egmacfamily permalink

    I am throwing a Sweet Sixteen for my daughter in a week. I was excited, when she was excited about my idea…which I thought would be a great theme for a boy/girl party. Thanks for posting the ideas about the score board. How long did it take to play the games? I am planning 3 teams with 7 games. Will be having them go together for the same reason you had, no pressure on one person.

  10. Anonymous permalink

    This is definitely a great idea for a boy girl party!! We’re actually having our 2nd Annual Minute to Win It Party tomorrow night, and I’ll post about it on Sunday or Monday. Last time our games took about 2 hours. Tomorrow we’ll be starting at 5 so we can finish before it gets dark at 7. We’re doing completely different games, so we’ll see!! I don’t do teams (or couples)…everyone competes individually, but we pair people up (or do groups of 3) to get through some of the games faster. Good luck with your party!

  11. Sguevara permalink

    How long were the streamers you used?  I find 81′ and 500′.  Which should I buy?

  12. Cara permalink

    You know, I’m not sure how long ours were, but I would go with the shorter length.  500′ sounds awfully long!  Since we were competing against each other for the best time (and not necessarily trying to keep it under a minute) it won’t matter too much, but this challenge does make your arms tired fast!  Hope that helps!

  13. Rameygdr permalink

    Sounds and looks like fun.  I would participate.

    Jerry Ramey

  14. birthdaybash permalink

    looks exciting. For sure children will love this.

  15. arthur permalink

    yeah

  16. arthur permalink

    wow

  17. FiestyWife permalink

    How did you score the games?

  18. rani permalink

    woo hooooo luv it
    party time!!

  19. nice man permalink

    nice

  20. Daisy permalink

    Hey there. Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to hosting a similar party this week but the guests will work as a team. Any suggestions on scoring? Thanks!

  21. Jody permalink

    Thank you so much for sharing! It is a much easier format to follow! Looking forward to trying it! 🙂

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