| Katie Bourque, Cameron Jenkins |
Swap Cocktails With Sweets
Start off Dry January a bit early by opting for a sweet treat instead of your classic champagne toast. Though, if you’re not giving up the alcohol, you could serve boozy ice cream in cute cocktail glasses instead.
Prepare PowerPoints
Encourage guests to reflect on the past year by preparing slide show presentations detailing their 2024 highlights. Make sure everyone throws in a few funny anecdotes and the laughter will continue all night long.
Create A Martini Bar
Allow your guests to take their pick from a few martini options with a martini bar that serves several flavors.
Have Everyone Dress in a Good Luck Color
Serve Cocktails in Metallic Mason Jars
Upgrade your typical champagne cocktails with spray-painted mason jars. Pick metallic hues that are in the same family, or go all out with your favorite colors.
Set out a Charcuterie Board
Hang a Wreath
Set the tone for your party as soon as your guests arrive at your door. This black, white and gold pillow wreath can be reused year after year, but don’t forget to update the chalk board with the correct year.
Create a Hat and Crown Display
Sure, you can always purchase a few hats and crowns to wear on New Year’s Eve, but why not get your guests involved with an interactive display. It looks amazing and it’s super festive.
Decorate With an Evergreen Disco Ball Wreath
If you’re struggling to take down your Christmas decor before the new year, this disco ball wreath is the perfect way to freshen it up for your bash. All you’ll need is a few disco balls.
Decorate With Streamers
Have a Dinner Party
While throwing a blowout shindig may be expected for New Year’s Eve, a festive dinner party can be just as fun. In fact, you can go all out with a beautiful tablescape, including sparklers, gold and silver cutlery and, of course, individual bottles of champagne.
Plan an Activity For Each Hour Until Midnight
In this fun game, partygoers get to open an activity card each hour until midnight (with the exception of the final card, which is marked 11:45.) Each card will have a different activity to keep everyone awake through the night. There is a version for kids and one for adults.
Play New Year’s Eve Bingo
Bingo is a game that never gets old. So, introduce the classic game to your guests at this year’s party. You can even turn it into a scavenger hunt, with everyone checking off a block as they discover it around the party.
Throw a Pajama Party
Decorate With Clock Balloons
Counting down to midnight is the most important part of New Year’s Eve. Add the thrill of the countdown to your decor with DIY clock balloons. These are easy enough to recreate with a few number stickers and construction paper.
Have a New Year’s Resolution Jar
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Create Mini Champagne Bottle Labels
Your pals will be so excited to see they each get a mini champagne bottle as a party favor (even if they live at home with you, and they probably saw you assemble them). You can print up your own, or go for a surprisingly cheap label designed by a pro.
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Mattel Make It a Game Night
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Get the party going with a good, old-fashioned board game. Scrabble and Yahtzee are always fun, but Pictionary will always keep the crowd engaged. The kids in particular will love this!
Have a Countdown Wall
As an Editorial Fellow for Good Housekeeping, Katie covers health, beauty, home, and pop culture. Outside of the office, you can find her killing it on the karaoke machine or listening to true crime podcasts.
Cameron (she/her) is a staff writer for Good Housekeeping, where she covers everything from holidays to food. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a B.A. in magazine journalism. In her spare-time she can be found scrolling TikTok for the latest cleaning hacks and restaurant openings, binge-watching seasons of Project Runway or online shopping.
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