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If you are hosting a barbecue, you’ll want to know how you can keep pesky bugs away from your food and guests. In this post, you’ll learn a few handy tricks that’ll keep pests away for good so that you can focus on giving your guests an awesome party.

How to Keep Bugs Away from Outdoor Party

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1. Use shower caps to cover food. 

Summer barbecue trick! Use shower caps to cover food to keep bugs away. This is way cheaper than buying those expensive covers from the store. Share and repin!

Instead of buying those expensive food covers from the store, you can buy a pack of shower caps from your local dollar store to cover food items to keep bugs away during your picnic or barbecue. Genius! (via Pinterest)

2. Keep flies away from eating areas with water and pennies. 

Place a wine glass filled with water a few pennies near food to keep flies away.

Hang bags of water with a few pennies in it and hang around food areas to keep flies away.

Apparently, filling either a bag or glass with water and a few pennies causes light to reflect which confuses the flies and makes them avoid the areas in which they are placed. Place a few water and penny filled glasses on the table where food is being served or hang bags around eating areas to keep flies at bay (via Making Lemonade | Musely)

3. Keep wasps away with a brown paper bag. 

The paper bag trick works to keep wasps away by making them think that it's a hornets nest. Awesome tip for summer barbecues!

Fill a brown paper bag with plastic bags and hang near sitting and eating areas. This trick works by tricking wasps into thinking that the brown paper bag is a hornet’s nest and they will steer clear away. (via Pinterest)

4. Prevent ants from climbing up table legs with dryer sheets. 

Use dryer sheets around table legs to repel ants at your barbecue!

Dryer sheets contain chemicals that repel ants, so to keep them away from food and eating areas place a dryer sheet underneath each table leg.  Dryer sheets rubbed on clothing will also help repel mosquitoes and prevent them from biting you. (Tip via Untrained Housewife)

5. Light an egg carton to keep mosquitoes away. 

To keep mosquitoes away when having an outdoor party, light an egg carton and place it on a grill to let it smoke out.

Take an old egg carton or carboard cupholder and light the corner. Set it on an unheated grill to allow it to smoke. This repels mosquitoes and keep them away. (via Huffington Post)

6. Keep gnats away with vinegar traps. 

Keep a fruit fly and gnat trap near eating areas to attract, trap and contain gnats during outdoor parties.

Make a quick and easy vinegar trap using apple cider vinegar and a few quirts of dish soap to trap and keep pests such as gnats away from food and guests. (via My Blessed Life)

7. Get rid of spiders with peppermint oil. 

Keep spiders away with homemade spider spray!

Spiders detest peppermint oil and will stay away from it when possible. Create a mixture of water and peppermint oil and use as a spray around eating and gathering areas before having guests over. Tutorial on how to make your own spider spray here. 

8. Keep stray animals away from trash cans with Windex. 

Spray your outdoor trash can with Windex. It will repel stray animals and help prevent them from rummaging through your trash.

When having an outdoor party, you’ll want to keep stray animals away from your trash as they can often rip open bags and leave you with more work to do after your guests leave. Simply spray Windex on and around the container to keep the little intruders at bay. (via Instructables)

Hopefully these ideas will help keep those pesky bugs away from your food and guests! Have anything else to add? Please share your favorite tips below!