I remember being a little girl and dreaming about my birthday party.
Imagining the day and how spectacular and magical it would feel to have all my bestest friends and family celebrating with me, eating cake and playing party games.

But, I never imagined I’d be planning my own daughters birthday party during a lock down – but here I am, planning an eleventh birthday party for my daughter whilst ‘locked’ in our own home.

All is not lost though, it could be worse, we could be sick, we could be living back in time with no internet (argh!) – but we’re not (thankfully!) and we’re staying at home looking on the positive side of life. I ultimately refuse to let my little girls special day go by without making an effort for her.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!

Of course she’s a little bit down and blue about not having an “actual party” with her family and all of her friends, but we’ve had numerous talks about this situation and she understands fully that this is just the way it has to be for now and that as soon as we’re all allowed to see each other again, ooooh it’s gonna be one hell of a party, that’s for sure!

So, we’re making the most of a bad situation!

Now it’s my responsibility to make this magical day happen!

First up – Presents, obviously! Now, I am feeling slightly worried here, actually a bit more that slightly, I am worried because I have ordered a sh*te load of stuff that she has asked for on the good ol’tinterweb, almost 6 weeks ago now – but half of it’s still not arrived yet and I only have today left! *deep breath – deep breath* I shall fear not, I have a few bits and pieces already so it’s not like she’s going to not receive anything in the morning — and looking on the bright side, she will be receiving presents for the next few weeks by the looks of things, ha!

Decorations – luckily for us, I have boxes and boxes of every kind of decoration you could ask for, from birthdays to Halloween to Christmas to Easter, I do tend to go a bit crazy when it comes to the decs!
If you don’t have supplies of party decorations, then do not worry my friends, there are plenty of things that you can do yourself to set up a fancy birthday party at home!
Check out these fantastic links here : the internet is full of helpful ideas

Print off your own decorations

Make your own decorations

Make paper flowers

Make streamers

Write balloon messages

 

Have a virtual house party – you’ve probably heard about all the cool apps available at the moment, like House Party or Zoom.
These apps allow multiple people to video call at once, the house party app even lets you play games together with your contacts face to face, I must admit, I downloaded this app a few weeks back now and we’ve had so many giggles with our family. It’s pretty sweet, but can be a bit glitchy depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Join in – Look, it’s bad enough that the kids can’t have their mates over to play on their birthday – so get involved, sit and play the games (link to party games that won’t cost you a penny!), take photos, dance like a muppet, make them giggle, play pass the parcel in the garden and have a silly sack race, here’s a great link to make your own piñata! Create lasting memories for them. Ignore the mess, that’s tomorrow’s job (what else are you going to be doing?). Order a takeaway from their favourite restaurant (if they’re still serving during lockdown) and stream a movie online, eat popcorn and stay up late together as a family — it’s not like you’ve got to get them up early for school in the morning, so really make the most of it and chill in your pyjamas together!

One thing I love about parties – and it’s probably on par with going crazy on the party decs for me too – is the food! I mean, who doesn’t love party food? I know times are tough, people are not getting as much income etc, but you don’t have to spend a fortune on making some pretty sweet party treats. You can simply cut a few sandwiches up into funky little shapes, throw some cocktails sausages in a bowl, dip breadsticks in chocolate and cover with them sprinkles, Chop fruit and shove it on a skewer, it really doesn’t have to be lavish or expensive, it’s just a bit of effort. 

A few other ideas to try are ;

Bake your own birthday cup cakes

Make jelly boats

Serve pizza’s and chips

Bake potato skins

Chips and dips

Popcorn, Ice lollies, ice cream,

Damn it, you could even melt some of those Easter eggs down and dip marshmallows and strawberries in, *drools* why did I eat all the Easter eggs man!?

 

You really do have the opportunity to make a great day for your children despite this challenging situation that we’re all in.

If you plan enough in advance you can have yourselves a fantastic birthday party at home. You could even order some of their favourite treats or cakes from your local supermarket, get the decorations prepped, plan some party food, games and have yourselves a pretty awesome day!

Right, I’d better get to it!
Wish me luck!

happy adventure

nay nay x