It’s tailgating season! Fire up the grill, fill up the cooler with ice and drinks, and wear your team’s colors. But perhaps you’re looking to add some extra oomph to your celebrations that will entertain your family and friends and impress other tailgaters. With a few simple additions to your vehicle and eatables, you can add extra flair and team spirit to the day. Here are a few suggestions for how to decorate your car for tailgating season and cheer on your team!
Your Car Is Your Canvas
Start decorating before you leave the house, but consider adding any flimsier or fragile decorations when you arrive. Nevertheless, let people on the road know who you support by starting with slogans and drawings on the car’s body and windows. Window paint is available in chalk and marker formats to doodle on your windows, but don’t use it on the car’s painted parts where it’ll be harder to remove and might damage the finish. Decorate the hood, sides, roof, and trunk area with posters, signs, and removable stickers, but be sure to use materials that hold tight while driving but come off easily later. Painter’s masking tape, magnetic tape, and double-sided adhesive tape work well for this. Driving and flying your colors is a good way to work off stress while getting your passengers and other folks pumped up about the game.
Drape Everything in Your Team Colors
When it comes time to set up, accentuate the decorations already on the car with extra decorations that would’ve come loose while on the highway. Add streamers, tassels, banners, and flags to the car and your parking space. Paint the grill with the team colors or a stenciled team logo using heat-resistant spray paint several days beforehand so that it has time to dry or do it the day of the game with temporary spray chalk. Keep the theme alive by turning a larger cooler into a minibar decorated like your favorite sports bar. Remember why you’re there with mini and life-size representations of the players and tools of the game: redecorate drink cups and coozies, plates, utensils, containers, and anything else to resemble footballs, baseballs, soccer balls, hockey pucks, or whatever seems appropriate. Decorate green tablecloths with white tape to resemble the playing field. Go overboard by purchasing a length of AstroTurf to cover the table or use as coasters and placemats! Note: A portable canopy is a good investment that can save all your work in case of rain.
Add Games
When figuring out how to decorate your car for tailgating season, be sure to make your vehicle look like fun central. Before, during, and after the meal, you’ll need to entertain your party guests. You can broadcast music, pregame chatter, and game broadcasts through your car’s stereo system, of course, but don’t forget old outdoor standards like a ring toss, cornholes, beer pong, a ladder toss, lawn darts and more. Keep spirits high by keeping things loose and fun!