Olympic Tailgate party
Our friends up North are getting ready for the Winter Olympics 2010 and as a supportive neighbor I’m going to celebrate in style with an Olympic tailgate party to watch the incredible action at the Olympics. It’s my very own tailgate party to watch athletes hit the puck in hockey, backflip in ice skating, and catch some air in freestyle skiing! I’m amazed and impressed with the athletic abilities and want to share the excitement with friends to high-five the incredible athletic feats and cheer on our US representatives. A tailgate party is the next best thing to being at the Olympics. Who knows?... I may just get up North to see the action in person, but for now I will happily enjoy a tailgate party at home.
DIY Lanyard Invitation
The lanyard invitation is your guest’s ticket to an awesome Olympic Tailgate Party. To create an authentic Olympic experience I designed an invitation by using a Vancouver Winter Olympic 2010 ticket image as the template. I wanted the use the Olympic logo so I copied the invitation image from the Olympic website and photoshop the template to customize with the party details. Each guest is asked to wear the lanyard invitation to the party. It’s my guest’s tickets to a festive celebration and it’s a great momento of the party.
Directions:
Visit the 2010 Olympic website for an image of the Olympic ticket. I worked in photoshop to customize the invitation by inserting RSVP (one letter for each ring) in the invitation. I then used the phone number to shape the last ring for guests to call and RSVP. If you don’t have access to photoshop software, you can always print the ticket template
image from a computer and cut and paste your information by hand onto the invitation. It’s there official invitation to a great Olympic tailgate party. I embellished the invitation with black glitter and mounted onto green card stock. Then I attached it to a black lanyard. I love how they turned-out!
What You’ll Need:
- 12 pack of lanyards with swivel hooks
- 8 1/2 ‘x 11” white card stock
- Black glitter
- Glue stick
- 8 1/2” x 11” Green cardstock
The Ice Luge:
The drinks will be delivered from the slopes of an Ice Luge mold! It’s a great way to incorporate the Olympic theme into your tailgate party. Guests can have their own Olympic event with this Ice Luge. You simply freeze water in the mold, pop it out and get the festivities going by sending your drinks down the icy slopes, straight into your glass. I offered Canadian beer at my party, but any drink will do the trick!
Directions:
Visit the QFC in Capitol Hill located on Broadway; there’s a great selection of beers from all over the world.
DIY License Plate/ Athlete Biography Coasters:
You can easily create drink coasters that highlight the athletes who are representing the US in the 2010 Olympics. I enjoy learning something new so I took this opportunity to educate my friends and myself about the talented athletes representing our country. It was fascinating to read their bios! I chose a few athletes to highlight and included their biographical information on one side of the coaster and their home state license plate image on the other side. Both adults and children can learn more about the US athletes in the Olympics with these DIY coasters.
Directions:
To create the coasters visit the Winter Olympics website (www.olympics2010.com) and download information on US athletes. When reading their biographical information look for their home state and print this information on white paper and cut to 4” x 4”, then visit a search engine to locate an image of their home state license plate then print it in color and cut to 4”x 4” shape. Place the two pieces of paper back to back with the information and images facing out. Visit a print or office store to laminate the 4” x 4” together. You now have a coaster that’s interesting and educational!
What You’ll Need:
- 8 1/2” x 11 white card stock
- Laminate machine from local office supply store
- Spray adhesive
DIY Flag Centerpiece
Every party deserves a festive centerpiece! With plastic keg cups I created a centerpiece using a blue, yellow, black, green and red keg cup to represent the five rings of the Olympics. I filled each keg cup with black crinkle paper to hold small flags of each participating country upright. From the computer, I printed 1/2” x 1/2” flags of each country. I then glued the flag images back to back and attached them to a skewer stick to insert into the black crinkle paper. Adjust the flags so that the centerpiece looks finished you will want to have it look finished from all sides.
Directions:
Purchase blue, yellow, black, green and red keg cups from your local party store as well as black crinkle paper. Hot glue the cups together to create the Olympic logo design. Insert the black crinkle paper into the plastic cups. Spray paint wooden skewers black and once dry attach images of Olympic participating countries in a 1/2” x 1/2” size and print. Place flags back to back and glue to the skewers.
What You’ll Need:
- 12 pack of wooden skewers
- 8 1/2 x 11 white paper
- Black crinkle paper
- Multi colored plastic eight ounce keg cups
- Glue stick
- Hot glue gun
DIY Olympian Wreath:
I included a head wreath making activity for children in honor of the Greeks who created the Olympics in 776 BCE. I enjoy dressing up as much as children do and love to provide an opportunity to learn more about the history of the Olympics. I do love incorporating educational elements! To customize each head wreath, have each child place foam shapes of sports, pets and activities to represent their interests and the sports they enjoy. Remind them that they are their own champions with interests in sports and activities.
Directions:
Using a foam wreath form cut into a horseshoe shape I created a child’s Olympian wreath. I cut a 5 1/2” piece from the 8” diameter wreath and wrapped a 1” thick gold ribbon around the foam wreath. Be sure to overlap the previous lap for a finished look. With a hot glue gun on low temperature glue the ribbon onto the foam wreath by attaching each end of the ribbon to each end of the wreath shape. Make sure children are supervised by an adult while using the hot glue gun. Once the ribbon is secured have the children glue silk leaves onto the gold ribbon. Make sure the silk leaves are facing the same direction. For a finishing touch, dust the silk green leaves with gold spray paint. Assist the children while they lightly spray the green silk leaves. With a low temperature hot glue gun, have the children adhere the foam shapes to their Olympian wreath.
What You’ll Need:
- 8” Foam Wreath
- Scissors
- 1” thick gold ribbon
- Green silk leaves
- Hot glue gun
- Adhesive foam stickers
DIY Gold Medal Award:
When attending an Olympic Tailgate Party everyone deserves a gold medal. During the party, decide which award each guest will receive. For instance, one guest could be awarded “Best Fan”. This year, the Olympic ribbon color is blue so be sure to use a blue ribbon!
Directions:
Using a 8 1/2” x 11” gold paper from a scrapbook store cut 5” diameter circles and adhere to 1” thick foam core, punch a whole into the top of the circle and attach a blue ribbon into the circle. Embellish each award with gold glitter and gold foil in the shape of the number one.
What You’ll Need:
- 8 1/2” x 11 glossy gold construction paper
- Gold foil
- Gold glitter
- 1” thick foam core
- Blue ribbon
DIY Finger Fan
Be an enthusiastic fan with this DIY Fan finger! Made of foam core and red, white and blue construction paper, and silver glitter I created a finger flag to cheer on the US Olympians.
Directions:
Using foam core cut the shape of a #1 finger. Glue red, white and blue stripes on a 2’ long piece of foam core. Embellish with silver glitter, red construction stars. Staple a piece of construction paper on the back for a hand pocket
What You’ll Need:
- Red, white, blue construction paper
- Foam core
- Spray Adhesive
- Silver glitter
- Stapler
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