Stadiums and tailgating lots might be closed right now, but that doesn't mean we have to let the excitement of tailgating season pass us by! A driveway tailgating party is super easy to put together, and is so much FUN when friends and family gather together! It's basically a small scale "throwdown before the touchdowns" with a few of your closest pals! Deck your driveway out with some festive football decor, then gear up for an afternoon of good food, fun outdoor games and maybe even a football game on TV!
Transforming your driveway into the ultimate tailgating spot is so easy and won't break the bank! We started decorating by hanging Pennant Banners across the driveway. Pennant Banners are super affordable, come in a variety of colors to coordinate with your favorite team's colors, and set such a festive scene for a tailgating party!
Green Tissue Balls, Football Hanging Honeycombs, and Team Spirit #1 Hands are perfect for reinforcing the football theme, and we absolutely love the festive Tailgate Zone Party Tape!
Straw bales are perfect to use for seating and they're readily available during tailgating season. They're also really inexpensive and awesome for carrying over into your fall decor once the party is over! Folding outdoor chairs would also work for this get-together if you aren't able to get your hands on straw bales.
Having a small table available near your seating is great for giving people a place to rest their drinks while tossing the football or playing cornhole. We happened to have an old whiskey barrel in our garage that we rolled out into our driveway to use as a table. A simple arrangement of fall flowers inside a Quart Ball® Mason Jar adds a pretty touch to the table, and we love how satin ribbon tied around the jar resembles referee stripes! We cut some American Crafts Black Vinyl Adhesive with our cutting machine to add "Let's Go!" text to a megaphone from the Team Spirit Assortment, then completed the table decor with a Football Silhouette Centerpiece.
Of course, every tailgating party needs a tailgate! Whether you use the back of your car or the bed of a truck, the trick to an awesome display is to layer, layer, layer! Arranging all of your goodies at varying heights makes everything stand out and look so enticing! We used a straw bale, a Black Buffet Riser Set, an old wooden box, and Quart Ball® Mason Jars as risers to showcase our food at different heights in a visually appealing way. To soften the look we included a second arrangement of fall flowers, as well as a "penalty flag" bunting that we made out of black & white satin ribbon, Mimosa Yellow Luncheon Napkins and Balloon String. We also decorated a DIY Pennant with American Crafts Black Vinyl Adhesive that we cut to say "Ready, Set, Eat!," and used that to fill the bare space on the front of our wooden box.
Now for my very favorite thing about tailgating...the food! We served up a variety of deliciousness using the cutest football-themed serveware! We used a Football Tray for chips and dip, Football Chili Paper Bowls and Mini Clear Appetizer Bowls for shrimp cocktail, Football Paper Bowls for homemade soft pretzels, Mini Striped Black & White Popcorn Boxes for popcorn, and Mini Square Appetizer Bowls for coleslaw to go with our pulled pork sliders. We also made sure to have plenty of plates and napkins available since people tend to visit the food quite often and get new plates each time. The plates and napkins from the Football Tailgate Tableware Kit matched our party decor perfectly and looked great with our football-themed display!
Often times at a tailgate, people will stand and mingle while they eat. Nonetheless, we wanted to have a table where people could sit and eat, if they preferred. We arranged a table in front of some hedges and hung a Football Touchdown Garland from the branches for a fun, decorative touch.
We covered the table with a Black & White Striped Tablecloth, then layered a Football Artificial Grass Table Runner on top. The two together are the perfect look for a tailgate, don't you think? We lined Galvanized Metal Pails with Mimosa Yellow Luncheon Napkins, then filled them with peanuts and put them in the center of the table to give the guests something to munch on while they sat and visited. We used the remaining two pieces from the Football Silhouette Centerpiece set to finish off our table runner decor. Like I mentioned, you can never have too many plates at a tailgating party, so we created place settings at the table using Football-Shaped Paper Dinner Plates, Black Metallic Stripe Beverage Napkins and Black Premium Plastic Forks.
Football cups and koozies from the Football Tailgate Tableware Kit were great for drinks, whether guests were drinking out of cans or pouring their own libations.
What good is a tailgating party if it isn't full of pep and team spirit?!! We created these super fun DIY Pep Kits to generate a festive energy at our tailgate.
The pep kits were filled with lots of goodies from the Team Spirit Assortment, and everyone had a blast goofing off with them! The hand-clapping noisemakers and Team Spirit #1 Hands were crowd favorites!
In true tailgate fashion, we passed the time by throwing the football, playing cornhole and just hanging out. You could follow this up by watching a football game on TV, whether it' live or simply just a replay!
Even though football season looks a bit different this year, I hope these Driveway Tailgate Party Ideas have inspired you to make the most of it. Don't forget to check out our easy-to-make Tailgate Pep Kits to make your party feel extra special. Team Quarantine...let's gooooo!
