It’s hard to believe that 2020 is almost over. If you’re like a lot of people, you’re not going to be too sad to see this year end. Fingers crossed that 2021 doesn’t say “Hold my beer.” Anyway, even though this New Year’s may not be the same as others, if you are planning to have a party, even a small one, we wanted to give you some ideas for what you can do. Below are some things that you can do to give 2020 the send off that it deserves so that we can get 2021 started as soon as possible.
Decoration Ideas
Maybe you’re not much into decorations, or maybe you want something simple. Either way, here are some easy things that you can do to give your place a bit of sparkle.
Decorate Your Table with Clocks
There’s a lot of ways that you can use clocks for decorating your table. One easy way that you can do it to group them and create your centerpiece. Set all of their alarms so they go off at the stroke of midnight. You also can lay the clocks flat on each of the place settings, then put a see-through plate on top so that the clock shows through.
Football Décor
Have a lot of football fans who are coming to your New Year’s Eve party? Why not use that as part of your décor? You can have a football pinata, which will make a game that all ages will love to play. You can make it a centerpiece, or you can hang it from your ceiling. Fill it with candy, maybe even the candy that you’ll use in the Guess What Candy game below, and then that can lead into the next thing.
Use Streamers & Balloons
If you want something that is simple and cost effective, you can always use streamers and balloons for decorating your home for New Year’s. If you celebrate Christmas, chances are good you still have your Christmas tree and decorations up, so you may not need a lot of glitz and glamour.
Games to Play
No matter how old you are, games are something that should be at every party. Here are a few to do with your guests.
Two Resolutions & a Lie
If you’re looking for something fun to do with your guests, you can play this game. Each of your guests will present three resolutions that they have for the new year. Two of them are resolutions and one of them isn’t. As each of the guests takes their turn sharing them, the rest of the guests will try to figure out which is which. You can even have them keep track of guesses and give the one who was correct the most times with a prize.
Song Matching
Upon their arrival, ask each of your guests to write the first couple of lyrics to their favorite song on long pieces of paper. Cut these papers in two and then save them for later during your party. When things seem to be quieting down, tell them it’s time to use the lyrics. Pass the slips out and let guests know that they have to find the one with their other half. The first pair who does so will win Song Matching. This also can be used for pairing up dance or dinner partners.
Guess What Candy
It’s the goal to collect the most candy in this game. If your group’s really large, think about using miniature or snack-size bars. You’ll want to get brands that are well-known with names that are familiar, around 6 kinds and 5 for each of your guests. Have guests sit in a large circle on your floor and put all of the candy in the center. Make certain that your guests are aware of the different candies’ names. Have them roll dice individually. If the roll is a double or the number’s 5 or 9, they’ll take a candy from the center and then put it behind their back or somewhere another person can’t see. After all the candy’s taken, players roll the dice and take one another’s candies. This is done by stating the name of a player and what kind of candy they’ve got. If either is wrong, they’re out. If they are right, they take the candy. The game continues until there’s one person left.
Food Ideas
Now that we know of some games that you can play on New Year’s, let’s look at some different food ideas that you can have for your guests.
Taco Bar
This is something that everyone will likely enjoy. Set up a table with things such sour cream, onions, lettuce, salsa, cheese, guacamole, olives, black beans, tacos sauce, and anything else that you can think of that people would want on their tacos. Offer a variety of taco shells, such as stand and stuff, tortillas and crunchy. Don’t forget to offer different meat options – ground meat and shredded chicken are two popular options.
Baked Potato Bar
This is another popular option for people who are looking for a fun and delicious way that they can keep their guests full and happy. You can put out things like chili, cheese, sour cream, and lots of other things plus a big thing of baked potatoes.
Hot Dog Bar
Another popular option is the hot dog bar. Chili, cheese, potato chips, ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, bacon, mac and cheese, fried onions, salsa, guacamole, You also want to give people a variety of different meat options – bratwurst, regular hot dogs, sausages and even turkey, chicken, or vegetarian hot dogs depending on who you are inviting.
Nacho Bar
This is one that everyone’s going to love, and you can even have it alongside of the taco bar or the hot dog bar if you like. A lot of the same things that you put on hot dogs and tacos can be put on nachos. If you have people who are coming that have problems with dairy or gluten, include some corn chips. They’ll be able to skip the ingredients that include dairy. You can make it even simpler by purchasing chopped vegetables and pre-made guacamole.
Dessert Ideas
Along with some delicious main meal ideas, you can also offer your guests some sweet treats to enjoy. Below are some ideas that you can use to help your guests satisfy their sweet tooth.
- Holiday cookies
- Pies
- Cake
Brownie Bar – Going with the bar themes mentioned above, you can always set up a brownie bar that includes whipped cream, different types of toppings and ice cream if you want.
Sundae Bar – Of course, if you have ice cream with your brownie bar and all the toppings, you could also make it into a sundae bar. Offer hot fudge, caramel, marshmallow, etc. Don’t forget cherries, fresh fruit, etc. After all, the resolutions don’t technically start until after midnight, so they still have one last night of enjoying the goodies, right?
We hope that you enjoyed this. We realize that we didn’t include any cocktail recipes on here, but we believe that they deserve their own blog. So, here’s a link to that blog.
Please come back in the new year, because we’ll be having lots more helpful blogs for you every week.
