Tailgating should be easy on you and on your wallet. So I thought I’d see what I could put together in a just a few hours of planning and food prep. I spent about $26, plus food. Take a peek inside my Georgia Bulldog tailgating party, with a focus on desserts.
You can easily recreate this tailgating party by first shopping at home. The UGA Duct Tape, picnic basket, UGA lunch box, red cake stand, red throw, red bead garland and all the trays were already in my collection. I also raided some UGA scrapbooking paper, popsicle sticks, and plastic plates and utensils.
I added the pennant (WalMart) as well as the black polka dot napkin, UGA jersey napkins, and black frame (Tuesday Morning).
Here are some of my favorite tricks from this party.
Wrap Sodas with Duct Tape
I’ve used checkerboard style for my Cash Cab Party and original silver for my Alien Life Party. This time I got to use collegiate tape for wrapping the bottles and popcorn boxes. (They also make NFL tape.) For the popcorn boxes, you have to tape each side individually.
Make Cupcake Toppers from Cupcake Wrappers
Inspired by this idea from Layer Cake Shop, I used left over red polka dot cupcake liners to create cupcake toppers. Just fold your cupcake wrapper in quarters, apply Aleene’s Thick Tacky Glue to your popsicle stick and fold the cupcake liner around the stick. Then snip into the cupcake liner and fluff it out. I wrapped the bottom of the cupcake liner with black electrical tape tape just to match it red, white and black.
Decorate Your Trunk with a Garland
This wood bead garland is for Christmas, but it’s red, so I say it works. My husband drew the line at using Glue Dots in our van so left over ribbon made handing the garland easy.
Tailgating Decor Ideas
I didn’t have printables for this party, so I decorated with scrapbooking paper, using it to line my trays and create paper flags to the mini caramel cakes. Just trim the paper and glue it around popsicle sticks.
Use what you have – The picnic basket gives you an easy way to transport food and supplies, and then it becomes a focal point of your party. The UGA lunchbox — lined with the polka dot napkin — holds napkins, plates and forks.
Tailgating Desserts
When we tailgate, it’s always potluck, so I focused on desserts to share. As usual, I served a combination of homemade and store bought treats. (The point is to have fun, right?)
Jones soda, chocolate cupcakes, black and white trail mix, chocolate covered strawberries dipped in red sprinkles, caramel apples drizzled with white chocolate, and mini salted caramel cakes made for quick prep. (Did you know you can buy unwrapped caramel bits? They reduced my apple prep time to 3 minutes.)
My one make-ahead item is this UGA frame. You can find the easy tutorial here — it’s a five-minute project.
Oh my! I love it all! Thanks for sharing. A Florida gal here with a GEORGIA Heart! Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Thanks so much Cindy! Way to stay true!
Great ideas, Jennifer (even if I am an Auburn Tiger!) :))
Auburn fan living in Bulldog country … I don’t envy you!