10 Things You Should Try To Level Up Your DIY Party

After years of having to keep celebrations small and simple due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all the strict quarantine protocols, we had to be creative on how to still make the celebrations at home happy and unique despite all the adjustments we had to make. At-home events / DIY parties became the norm.

Some people thought that celebrations will be like it was before, which is that more people equals more fun. But, at-home events / DIY parties seem to not be going away anytime soon. It is improving and becoming better, and even being favored more by the people!

Let’s go DIY party!

Online celebrations like letting your family and friends attend through video conferencing like Zoom became a thing. Some also tried drive-thru parties where their guests will just drive by their house, have a small chit-chat with the party organizers, then take home souvenirs or foods from the party. Both of these are just some of the innovative ways people came up with to still have fun and memorable celebrations at home without compromising their safety and budget.

People love posting about their life on social media. Even simple celebrations are spiced up to wow others. But everyone has been leveling up their at-home celebrations…

10 Things You Should Try To Level Up Your DIY Party

1. Have a theme!

The easiest way to make a cool party is to have a theme…and stick to it! It doesn’t need to be an out-of-this-world theme. Find a theme that you’d be happy about. TIP: The more personal it is, the easier it is to be more creative about it!

Being consistent with your theme up to the smallest details e.g. the words you’ll use in your physical or digital invitations, will keep you on the right track. It gives off the impression that you hosted a well-organized DIY party!

Your theme can vary from just being about the event itself like graduation, Christmas, or New Year, up to being very personal like your favorite series, movie, book, band, or group, or even just yourself(a theme that is just about you!).

You can go from a full-blown theme e.g. for a Euphoria-themed party, ask your friends to dress up like in the series. You can also just do a lowkey theme e.g. for a graduation party, just use the color palette of your university(You don’t need to use the logo or mascot of your school!).

2. Do a Cupsleeve event or a birthday live stream!

Do it like your idols! You always look forward to attending the cup sleeve events for your idols, so why not have your own? You deserve it too!

Look for a shop that can customize cup sleeves for you, then order in bulk or just a few drinks from your favorite nearby cafe. Or if you have the extra energy, prepare the drinks yourself. You can even print your own photo cards if you’d like(talk about putting your best selfies—or should I say selcas, to good use!).

If your birthday is on a busy date like your finals week at school or the holidays, and a lot of your guests can’t come, you can do a birthday live stream or schedule a short online meet through online conferencing apps! A birthday Livestream lets everyone attend your birthday without actually being in your place(your place wouldn’t get messed up!) You also don’t have to prepare so much food or you can just send food to their houses, the decision is just yours to make!

3. Make your own photo booth!

Having a good selfie spot is almost equivalent to paradise! By setting up your own photo booth, you can easily get the best pictures to post and your guests would also be very happy to post about your celebration. You don’t have to worry about looking for good lighting or a nice background because you already have it!

More pictures mean more memories to keep which means more fun!

Building your own photo booth does not need to be extravagant. You just need a small corner! Decorate it to your heart’s desire. Have a plain wall or backdrop for minimalist Korean photoshoot-looking pictures, or go all out with the foil fringe curtains! Just make sure that there is good lighting in that spot.

4. Go for a custom cake!

Or just a unique birthday candle if the budget is a little tight… cute candles are in! You don’t have to settle for the number candles or the thin short pink or blue candles.

It would be hitting two birds with one stone if you order from home bakers. Not only can you choose your own flavor that is not very commercial, you can even choose your own design! The price range may be different from commercially made cakes(it can be cheaper or more expensive depending on your requests!) but you’ll for sure get your money’s worth!

5. Plan your menu!

You don’t have to break your bank by serving crazy expensive foods or preparing so much food as if you’re going to feed the whole universe! Prepare just enough and consider your budget. Planning the foods you’ll serve is a way to budget your money well!

You can serve only your favorite foods, or curate a menu that is aligned with your theme e.g. for a harry potter themed party, why not serve butter beers or golden snitch cake pops? Or have sugar cookies with designs aligned with your theme? BTS party? Why not try BT21 cookies? Big Bang Theory-themed party? Serve takeout foods! Movie marathon party? Have tubs of your favorite popcorn flavor!

Or you can just serve whatever food you’d like that you think everyone else will also enjoy.

6. Customize your table setting!

The table setting is often overlooked in at-home celebrations. But exerting effort to set your tables or have dinnerwares that match your theme would be a very cool detail in your party! A Star Wars-themed party? Why not let your guests use lightsaber chopsticks?

Unlike decors like balloons or banners, you can reuse tableware like plates or drinking glasses, cutleries, etc. Investing in tablecloths and runners can also help. Of course, you can still use paper plates and cups. Customizing your table setting is optional.

7. Prepare a small activity for everyone!

A short program is already good enough! But you can also try other activities like watching a movie, a few board games, a little painting session with your friends, bead bracelet making, anything! Small activities are a good way to break the ice between your guests, and to keep them busy as well while you attend to other things or while you prepare!

8. Give unique souvenirs!

Souvenirs a.k.a. giveaways are also optional! But it is always nice to take home a little something to remind you of the event you attended. It doesn’t have to be the typical ones that are just kept on our parents’ shelves e.g. figurines!

Action movies to watch that are under 90 minutes!

If you have invested in your decorations or put up a DIY photo booth, why not give away instant film pictures (commonly known as Polaroid pictures!)? A kiddie party? Go for customized hard candy! Choose the flavors you want, and pick out your design! Had a bead bracelet-making activity? Let them take home the bracelet they made. Painting session? Let them take home the canvases they painted on!

Or you can just pack cupcakes, your favorite cookie, or customized sugar cookies for them to take home!

9. Serve cool drinks!

You can try customizing the beverage bottles! Customize bottle labels by designing your own labels, just don’t forget to also add back the important details like the ingredients list to avoid possible issues like allergic reactions and such!

Or you can paint your bottles beforehand if you’re feeling artistic!

You can always play bartender and mix your own drinks tho. But if you don’t have time to research that or just the energy to prepare the cocktails, try serving unique drinks like the liquors from Sobremesa Trading! Does Ube Cream Liqueur sound cool to you? It does to us and it tastes so good as well! Have you heard of Bacon Vodka? How about Kanto Perya Popcorn Vodka? Hmmm…Cookie dough-flavored beer?

It’s a celebration so it’s okay to bring out the special drinks! But as always, DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

Not the type to go all 쭉 들이켜(jjuk deurikyeo) like Dionysus? No alcoholic beverages? You can always serve aides(flavored carbonated drinks), or your favorite iced coffee or tea drinks! You can, for sure, keep them ‘on-brand’ by matching them to your theme e.g. for a Barbie-themed party, serve only pink-colored drinks, or copy the drinks you see in the Barbie movie!

The simplest way you can jazz up the drinks for your party is to buy stickers online(or design your own!) and let your guests decorate their cups with the stickers!

10. Dress up!

Look your best at your own party! Dress up! Wear whatever you like! You can wear a birthday sash or a crown or a party hat, a birthday pin(like Gigi Hadid!), etc.

You can also ask your guests to wear something that matches the party theme! Y2K clothes for a Y2K party. You can also have a simple dress code that just requires them to wear a certain color of clothes.

Or prepare beforehand a little something they can add to their outfits like party hats or small crowns, anything!