Make your Homegating One of a Kind

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Growing up I spent many fall Saturdays at college football games with my parents and, later, with friends during my own college years. A regular ritual with this was, of course, tailgating.

Now that I have kids of my own including a young infant, I don’t get out for games in person as often. But that doesn’t mean I quit cheering. Instead of outside in the parking lot, it’s become inside “homegating” and is just as fun & festive.

In preparation for the upcoming college championship game, we headed to Kroger to pick up Dr Pepper and snacks to enjoy while we watch from the comfort of our living room. If you enjoy Dr Pepper as much as we do, be sure to get your digital coupon from Kroger before you go shopping!

Wanting some fun one of a kind items to help decorate for our homegating party and, as my son and I love to craft together, we created the chalkboard, pennants and table runner.

The pennants were made using the box from a 12 pack of Dr Pepper. We simply opened up the box and cut long triangles from two sides. One I turned backwards and added “Go Team” with markers. Then we cut a wooden dowel in two, stuck them through small slits in the pennants and placed inside a glass cylinder vase filled with shredded tissue.

The “fake” chalkboard is actually a reuse of the framed family picture that hangs over our buffet. It was so easy to make. All you need are black poster board, ruler, pencil, scissors, chalk and an eraser (or use a paper towel or duster). Here’s a quick run down with photos …

1) Measure and cut a sheet of black poster board to size. Our frame holds a 16×20 photo so I cut the board a 1/4″ smaller all around. 2) Lightly rub a piece of white chalk on it’s side to “dirty” up the surface then 3) erase it. This gives the board a more realistic chalkboard look. 4) Draw in a game play.

Finally, add it to the frame. Now, I didn’t want to get chalk dust into the frame so I cut my poster board a bit smaller so I could just slide it in over top. You could also cut to the actual opening size and lightly attach with double sided tape.

My son helped me create the chalkboard and likes it so much, I think we might reframe later and hang in his sports themed bedroom.

Finally, the table runner we created using freezer paper, leftover burlap coffee bag from my son’s Four-esta birthday party in 2013 (I have quite the crafty stash!) and green paint.

I started off using acrylic paint I had on hand, but quickly realized I didn’t have enough as the burlap was soaking it up. In an effort to use a little less paint and speed up the process, I ended up using a small can of spray paint. After it dried, my son & I trimmed the edges and peeled off the freezer paint to reveal the yard lines and numbers. It was more time consuming than the other projects, but still very easy and makes a huge impact on our table decoration.

What are your favorite ways to “homegate”? Do you have a food set up like we do or maybe all wear team jerseys?