Downloads
- Chili Number Labels (ZIP)
- Chili Spicy / Veggie Labels (PDF)
- Chili Meat Labels (PDF)
- Blank Labels (PDF)
Toolbox
- foil oven liners
- glossy spray paint
- cardboard
- utility knife
- white card stock
- laminator (optional)
- sticky tack
Funny thing about hosting a chili cook-off party… you invariably end up with a lot of crock pots full of chili! In the past, we have tried a couple of different methods for labeling the chilis so that everyone can easily vote on them. We ran into problems with the numbers got moved, the ladles getting mixed up, and the chili getting dripped all over the tables. So this year, we brainstormed until we came up with a solution to our chili disorganization — foil oven liners!
I couldn’t leave them that sorry shade of boring foil silver. Oh no, I had to whip out one of my favorite tools, spray paint
Then I spray painted them solid red with two coats of paint. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say I did this. I got through the first coat and by the end of doing twenty of these, my hand had cramped up into a claw-like shape from pushing the spray paint nozzle. My darling husband took pity on me and did the second coat. He’s going to be upset that I told the world he was “crafting”.
After the red had dried, I made a template of a spoon. I did this by drawing a spoon shape onto a piece of cardboard and then using a utility knife to cut it out. Really simple! It’s not necessary to do any of this painting but I think it made them turn out a whole lot cuter. And without that spoon outline there, how on earth would guests know where to put that ladle?
So, this leads us to the numbering. Numbers are extremely important in these high-stake voting situations. To match our cute crock-pot invitations, Chica used the same outline and added numbers to make labels. Very cute, if I do say so myself. She also made some labels that said “vegetarian” and “spicy”, and some with names of various meats. We have some friends with allergies or who don’t eat meat, so it is nice for them to know if a chili is safe for them to eat or not.Â
Once Chica made the templates, I printed them out, cut them out and then used my laminator
Here are the downloads for the crock pot labels that tell you what kind of chili is inside, as well as a blank one for whatever you may need it for.
And here are the numbered labels for marking each of your chili entries. You can download them one at a time by clicking on each thumbnail below, or if you want them all, just download the zip file.
Here are detailed shots of some of the decorations we are ordering for our next cook-off. I love these festive chili pepper dishes for condiments like cheese and sour cream, and decoration is easy with chili pepper garland and chili pepper confetti. And who doesn’t love a pinata?
37 comments so far:
Oh I say! this is a great idea!
Great ideas! I’ll be using this tomorrow during our first ever chili cook off!
Thanks!
Gabreial, good luck with your cook off! We would love to see pictures of your event! Please add them to our Flikr group.
Wow, thanx ladies, I talked my boss into doing a chile cook off for our christmas party and you will be helping me make it first class. I am a crafter so I will be coming back here for lots of super ideas, please keep it up for those of us who can only create when we are copying someone else.
Julie, glad we could help! Please send us some pictures of your event. We are certain you can create on your own, we are just here to inspire you!
I have some time to plan a Chili Cook Off, for a non-profit organization, and I have NEVER done anything like this before. Thank You so much for ideas and suggestions. Wish me luck and any suggestions please let me know as I am very nervous. LOL
Hi Wanda! Be sure to check out our previous post about hosting a chili cook-off party for more tips and ideas. Good luck with your event!
Howdy! I have been observing your site since we decided to have a fund raising event for our non-profit agency, Community Services for the Deaf. So we picked Feb 6, 2010 for our “Chili Bowl”,since our event is the day before the Super Bowl Game. Thanks a million times over for your wonderful ideas. I plan to use almost all of them, hehehe.
Michelle, good luck with your fund raising event. We love the pun you used! We would love to see pictures of your event if you would like to share them in our Flikr group.
HELP…. I NEED HELP. I need to make some chile cookoff signs and need help, my mind is blank. Any suggestions?
chris, we would love to help. What kind of signs are you needing?
Hi,
I run my own party and lifestyle blog and do a chili cookoff/movie night series every year at our home. Love your tips and ideas and will be sure to blog a post about our upcoming party along with links back to you.
Thanks much!
Shauna
Shauna, glad we could help! We were actually just thinking about our chili/movie party again. We hope to have some new ideas posted for this year so please check back. We would love to see pictures of your party and I have added your site to our RSS reader so we make sure and see your post!
Thank you so much for your ideas!! I am doing a chili cook off for our middle school. You just made it a lot easier for me!
I love all of these ideas. I am hosting a chili cook off and will be using many of them. Can you please add a blank crock pot template to the website. I would like to use blank crock pot templates for people to write their vote on. Thanks.
Shannon, that’s a great idea to use the blank crock pots for voting! I’ve added a blank label download for you in the post above. Enjoy!
Love this website, totally helpful. I can’t wait for our chili cook off.
I am super excited.
This website ROCKS!!!Great ideas and very helpful. Thank you for all the numbers and ideas!!! Hopefully my chili cook off will go well!
Thanks for all the helpful ideas! We are thinking about doing something like this at work, and to help raise money for a fundraiser….
How many people would you think 1 pot of chili serves? We have 50 male employees, and trying to make sure we get enough participants bringing in chili to feed everyone! Would you think at least 10 would be enough?
Jennifer, so glad we could help you with ideas for your fundraiser. Depending on the recipe each cook uses, each pot of chili will probably make a different amount, so there’s no way to tell just how many each will server, but it seems to me like 10 pots of chili is a great start for an event with 50 people.
This is a great site! Lots of good ideas. I’m having my 2nd Annual Chili Cook off tonight and I’m using some of your ideas.
All great ideas. To bad it won’t allow me to print anything
Ellyn, what sort of problems are you having when you try to print? Are you able to view our PDF downloads?
This is an outstanding resource! We are having a chili cook off at work and your sight helped so much with your ideas and printables. I’ll let you know how it goes. We have 20 entries!
That’s awesome, Linda! We can’t wait to hear how it goes. 20 entries is a great participation level, too!
Great website! We will host our 3rd Chili Cook-Off in October. It’s certainly a learning process! Each year we have changed or modified something. Love your labels and the organizing ideas!
Thanks so much for all your hard work in this. You’re making mine easier. We are having our first chili cook-off this month. I think all but about 2 or 3 are bringing chili and Ive invited about 50+ people. My question is this: some of my participates think I need to make the pots hidden so that no one will know their own so as not to say vote for mine… Do you think that’s really necessary? Im not real sure how i would do that anyway. It’s all in fun, right?!!! who would want to cheat? That’s what Im thinking. What do you think?
Beth, there are always going to be some people who might recognize a friend’s crock pot, but I’m afraid there’s not much you can do about that, so I wouldn’t worry about trying to cover them up. We’ve found that everybody judges fairly based on how the chili tastes, and hopefully your friends will as well.
Thanks for all of the wonderful idea’s for a Chili Cookoff. It has been ton’s of help for me and will help make our party a huge success. Thank you for sharing your talents with those of us not so talented in party planning-We plan on having 22 entries, fingers crossed it will all go smoothly.
Pam, so glad we could help. You’re having 22 entries? Wow! We had 13 at our cookoff this year. Let us know how it goes!
Thank you for the great ideas! I’m in charge of a Chili Challenge and can’t wait to use all of your great ideas!
I’m not finding foil liners for less than $2/ea in packs of 12 for $24 plus nearly $9 in shipping from Amazon. Any better ideas on where to find these for cheaper? Planning our 2nd annual New Year’s Eve Chili Cook-Off party at our church, so I have time. Love the idea to paint them red!
Sarah, you may be able to find them at a food service store like a Sam’s Club, Cosco, or GFS if you have one in your area. If not, try a grocery store, Walmart, or even a dollar store. Ya never know what they might have!
For our cook off, we used searving trays, like the ones at cafaterieas or buffets instead of the foil trays. Had room for the “labels” and ladels. Everyone loved the “chili pot” themed items. Love your site!
Did you hand cut the number chili pots or use some sort of sticker?
Linda, we printed them onto cardstock and cut them out by hand. You could easily print them onto sticker paper, too.
I was looking for some awesome ideas for a chili cookoff at my office and this was the jackpot of ideas! I will get back to you to let you know how it went.