Living room parties are back baby

Hosting is officially cool again. You’ve seen them all over your feed: creative nights in, themed hangs, casual parties. Trust us, we’re thinking the same thing: that looks fun…

When you’re not used to hosting, it can feel like there’s a secret rulebook you never got. Where do I start? What’s a fun time but not a hard time? Budget ???

This is for the girls who want to host but want it to feel easy. We’ve got a few ideas for you to try out.

Make your own pizza party

Easily a party favourite, pizzas are easily the lowest entry point for people wanting to host.

What you need:

• Make your own dough from a recipe or get pre-made dough from the supermarket

• Get your ingredients list, ask the group chat for this

• Don’t forget the base sauce or cheese (Esther’s done this 🤣)

• Baking paper

• Oven

• Refreshments - Wine, cocktails, or fizzy drinks

• A good playlist

Paint and Sip

Definitely a certified classic. But we have a feeling that the bar has been set high, and people don’t think that they can achieve it on their own. Let’s help with that.

What you need:

• Small canvases (you can get cheap packs from amazon)

• Paints set

• A couple of pieces of card cut into squares for the paints or plastic container lids

• Paint brushes (another Amazon find)

• Reference images or theme

• pots for water

• Table cover (Newspaper or a cloth)

• WINE

• Snacks like crisps, chocolate, pretzels, and little cakes (pick one or all)

• A nostalgic playlist works really well for these parties

Top tip: if there are no artsy people in the group, make it a funny night with a crazy theme or get a tutorial for everyone to follow.

Book swap

If you're feeling wholesome, this party is for you!

What you need:

• Friends who read loads of books, these are meant to be 2nd hand

• Brown wrapping paper

• Felt-tip pen, try to stay away from markers - to write a vague idea of what the book’s vibe is

• Write: Where/ When is it set? Genre? Pages? Themes or tropes?

• Drinks and snacks or you could make this a dinner party

‘The Apartment Bakery’

I bet you’ve been seeing this everywhere, and you can make it as casual or intense as you want. Before the party start a group chat on who’s bringing what.

Low effort ideas:

• Mini pancakes with cream & jam or icing sugar & Cream cheese & Salmon

• Muffins and Cupcakes

• Brownies

• Small cakes - lemon drizzle, chocolate, Victoria sponge

• Little sandwiches - Cucumber & Cream cheese, Tuna mayo

• Bruschetta - Chopped tomatoes & Basil, Goats cheese & Berry compote

Wine Tasting Party

Such a cute idea! And very easy to execute. There are so many ways you can go about this, themes within themes. E.g a 1 country wine tour, different wine makes, different countries but the same type of wine, pairings… ect

What you need

• 4 to 5 different wines

• Glasses

• Something interactive - Score cards, guess where, guess type

• Snacks or pairing platters

• Easy background music

Tarot Card Reading Party

Courtney has listened to Esther bring this one tarot party up in conversation for weeks. She saw it all over her feed, and she was instantly obsessed. So we had to put this in.

This could be a dinner or drinks party where you have a couple of packs of tarot cards and 3-4 different spread instructions printed out on cards.