{Mirabelle Creations Party} -- Tailgating Party Ideas and Free Printables

 

I had the opportunity to style a tailgating party for an appearnce on LEX 18's News at 12:30 program.  Before I appeared on the show, I photographed the tailgating ideas.  When designing the set up, I thought about the simplest way to set up the "table".  So, the desserts were all displayed in the back of my SUV, just like they would be if I was actually at a tailgate party.  To create a team inspired dessert table, all of the goodies incorporated the blue and white color scheme. 

 

The printables for this collection are not team specific, so they are versatile enough to be used with any blue team.  They would be great for a party for a high school team or even a NFL team.  They can all be downloaded for FREE here.  For all the party details, please scroll down. 



{Food} I started with a Coconut Cake that was purchased from the local grocery.  It was topped with the cake pennants to give it a tailgating theme (you can download the pennants here).  The Chocolate Cupcakes were also store bought, then topped with the football cupcake toppers (available here).  I love that the paper goods can turn an inexpensive, store bought treat into a custom, tailgating themed dessert without much effort.

The rest of the desserts were homemade.  The Blue Velvet Push Up Pops are a fun way to include the blue and white color scheme.  Push up pops are fantastic for tailgating because they are so easily portable.  The Blueberry Mason Jar Pies are another portable dessert.  In the crust of the mini pie, I cut a UK (for the University of Kentucky) with alphabet cookie cutters.  It's a fun surprise for guests when they open the jars!  The Oreo Pops were dipped in white chocolate, tinted blue.  Finally, the Blue Candied Popcorn was made with a syrup made from Jell-O mix.  Please check back later this week for all the recipes for these desserts.

{Decor} Decorations for this party were simple, so they would not be difficult to transport and set up at the football field.  To decorate my SUV, I hung the blue and white "Game On" banner (available here).  The banner could also decorate the front of a table or hang between the poles of a tailgating tent.  Little details, like dressing up the popcorn paper bags and adding a band of the blue and white checks around the push up pops, made all of the treats cohesive.  For the water bottles, I removed the label, then replaced it with UK packing tape.  Striped straws and football pennants dressed up the Izze soda bottles.  UK items, such as my husband's UK baseball alum blanket, a UK helmet, and UK cornhole board added team spirit to the set up.

Hope some of these ideas help you plan your next tailgating party.  And, if your team has different colors, all of these ideas could be modified to fit the colors of your team!