Hosting an At-home Movie Night

A Cozy Night In + How to Make Craveable Popcorn

A movie night at home is the perfect way to spend a cozy night in, whether you’re looking to stay dry during a rainy evening or beat the heat on a hot summer day. Sound involved? It’s so far from it.

Here are a few items you’ll need to make your movie night an instant blockbuster.

Pillows. Turning our guest room into a versatile space was one of our better ideas in our current home. Ninety percent of the time, our fourth floor bedroom is an extra living room, aka the “man cave”. It’s a great place to relax and enjoy sports – and the perfect setting for a movie night. To up the “cozy” factor and increase the seating area, we piled up toss pillows and made sure we had plenty of throw blankets. Nothing says “comfy” like piles of plush pillows and blankets.

Popcorn and movie theater candy boxes. Pick up movie theater-style boxed candy to serve your guests. Of course, you can’t have a “movie night” without popcorn. You don’t need a special popcorn popper to make the buttery goodness. The only required equipment is a pan with a large surface area and an accompanying lid. Here’s our popcorn recipe:

How to make craveable popcorn:

To make the popcorn, use a few tablespoons of sunflower seed oil (tip from my friend, Allie) and corn kernels. A good rule of thumb is two tablespoons of oil to 1/2 cup of popcorn.

Cook your popcorn on medium-high heat covered and move it constantly. You can test it by adding one kernel to the pan of oil. Once it pops, you know the pan is hot enough to add the rest.

Make sure that you have enough of the oil so that the popcorn won’t stick to the pan. Check it often once you hear it popping to prevent burning or sticking.

Once your popcorn is done, portion it out into bowls and add your seasonings. We love adding a heavy sprinkling of Old Bay into ours (see also these amazing Old Bay Kale Chips). We were being good here, but you can add a few tablespoons of melted butter to your popcorn so your seasonings will really stick.

Serve your delicious snack in chic bowls (mixing bowls in our case) or these too-cute popcorn boxes from Sur la Table.

Tea and beverages. We typically have all kinds of beverage options for our guests, but there’s something so comforting about a warm mug of tea. It really sets the mood for a relaxing evening. Offer your guests a few different types – decaffeinated, white tea, green tea, etc. in matching mugs or in ones you’ve collected along the way. We love picking up new ones here and there from our travels.

Slippers and socks. Skip the heels and loafers and have your guests change into their slippers or fuzziest socks as soon as they arrive. It will set the tone and immediately put everyone at ease. Let them know that comfy loungewear is the attire of the night.

Enjoy!

A special thanks to my lovely friends and models, Allie and Rachael, for helping with this post!