Your DIY Party Cheat Sheet: How to Party Like a DIY Goddess

Tis the season for holiday festivities and  several family get-togethers, do-it-yourself (DIY) parties are a chic, fun way to inject personality and detail to your next event. If you’ve always wanted to throw a DIY party but don’t know where to start, fear not! It can be as simple or grand as you prefer and that’s what makes it such a fun way to celebrate special moments.
 
What we love about DIY parties is that they’re primarily fun to prepare and absolutely budget-friendly. You might even be surprised at how pretty the outcome is—after all, hiring a professional event stylist is great but working on your own party elements also lends you freedom to execute your ideas in crazy ways.

Remember, your imagination is the limit! You can make your party as clean and minimalist as you want or as bold and colorful as you dare. Before you know it, you’ll be influencing your friends to throw their own parties in DIY fashion, too—read: you might get hooked. (Don’t say you weren’t warned!) 

Step One: Choose a Theme
If you’re planning a Christmas or New Year’s party, your theme can easily be red, green or white.  It can also be as playful as a masquerade Christmas ball or even a winter wonderland party.  Whatever you choose, having a theme makes planning and decorating much easier.  You can check out the web for inspiration—try Ginger Ray at Amazon.com if you feel like having a dainty party theme, checkout their pastel pink decorations like their Floral And Pink Rose Gold Foiled Party Paper Plates and Pink and Gold Foil Party Dinner Napkins.

 
Floral And Pink Rose Gold Foiled Party Paper Plates - 8 Pack
 

Ginger Ray Pink & Rose Gold Foiled Sip Hooray Paper Weddign Napkins 16 Pack, Beautiful Botanics
 

Step Two: Pick a Venue and Basic Set-Up
Decide where you want to host your party. You can have it at home, in your garden or maybe you can go for a clubhouse or function room within your neighborhood. When choosing a venue, try to visualize the look you want to create in it. If you want to hang up decorations, probably go for low ceilings. Choose a space that’s the right size to accommodate your guests and set-up. This would be a good time to decide if you need to rent tables and chairs or if you just want to make use of your couches and chairs at home. You can also opt to set up picnic mats in the garden with throw pillows and pretty blankets.  You may look at Gustalife at Amazon.com for more set-decorating ideas, they have several decors like their Gustalife DIY Burlap Banner 29Ft Hand Painted Decoration for Wedding Birthday and Kids Party 30 Pieces and Christmas Tree Ornament Wooden Hanging Decorations Lights Mate Natural Slices Pendants 6 Pieces Hollow Out Strings for Crafts Centerpieces, these pieces are so cool for a rustic set-up!

 
Gustalife DIY Burlap Banner 29Ft Hand Painted Decoration for Wedding Birthday and Kids Party 30 Pieces


Christmas Tree Ornament Wooden Hanging Decorations Lights Mate Natural Slices Pendants 6 Pieces Hollow Out Strings for Crafts Centerpieces
 

Step Three: Shop, Design, Go Crazy!
Now that you have a theme and a place to go design crazy, next is to find yourself a sturdy table that you can use as a highlight table where you can place your food and decorations. If you’re at home, a console, dining table, or counter will serve this purpose perfectly. You can choose to go plain or dress up your table with cloth or decorations that go with your theme.

Then choose a backdrop that can really accentuate your theme and bring your highlight table to life. It can be a piece of cloth, craft paper flowers, buntings, handmade pinwheels, or a piece of art or furniture that you think will work well with your design.  PapaKit Creative Decoration has a wide range of wall embellishments which you can check out, from PapaKit Rose Gold Metallic Party Tinsel Curtain Decoration Set | 2 pcs 3ft x 8ft Foil Fringe Backdrop | Birthday Party Baby Shower Wedding Events Décor, to PapaKit Deluxe DIY Balloon Garland Set | 100 pc Assorted Balloons (12ft) | Decorating Strip, Glue Dots, Tying Tool to PapaKit Deluxe Paper Party Decoration Set - Pom Pom, Honeycomb and Accordion Lantern (Charcoal & Gala Blue with Metallic Gold), choices are endless!

PapaKit Rose Gold Metallic Party Tinsel Curtain Decoration Set |
2 pcs 3ft x 8ft Foil Fringe Backdrop | Birthday Party Baby Shower Wedding Events Decor


PapaKit Deluxe DIY Balloon Garland Set | 100 pc Assorted Balloons (12ft) |
Decorating Strip, Adhesive, Tying Tool | Gender Reveal Mother to Be Baby Shower Party Decoration (Twinkle Little Stars)


PapaKit Deluxe Paper Party Decoration Set - Pom Pom,
Honeycomb and Accordion Lantern (Charcoal & Gala Blue with Metallic Gold)
 

Now, once you are done with your bigger decors, it’s time to garnish your table, make use of printables and simple but creative paper crafts.  These are easily available on the internet. Most craft blogs have free templates that you can easily print out for making cupcake liners, cake toppers, party buntings, and other little decorations that you can assemble. You can try the handmade paper crafts of nicrolandee like their NICROLANDEE 24'' 6 Pack/Set Large Tissue Paper Flowers Handcrafted Flowers Giant Paper Flowers, and NICROLANDEE Minimalist Gift Boxes - 12 PCS Gift Wrap Boxes with Bow Ribbon Chocolate Candy Gift Packing Bags Paper Party Favor.

NICROLANDEE 24'' 6 Pack/Set Large Tissue Paper Flowers Handcrafted Flowers Giant Paper Flowers
for Thanksgiving Day Wedding Backdrop Birthday Baby Shower Nursery Wall Moana Decorations


NICROLANDEE Minimalist Gift Boxes - 12 PCS Gift Wrap Boxes with Bow Ribbon Chocolate Candy Gift
Packing Bags Paper Party Favor for Birthday Wedding Bridal Shower Party Holiday (Green Flower)
 

Gather your materials by choosing household items that you can use for your theme. You can also visit your local party supply store or supermarket to pick up stuff you’ll want to decorate with. You can get inexpensive plastic cups, mason jars, and wooden utensils which you can later decorate with paint, washi tape, ribbons, or other craft materials you have. If you’re feeling stuck, take a break to get your ideas and creativity flowing.
 
Arrange your party table to highlight your theme, the food, or the cake and other sweets. Setting up your table might not be easy on the first try, but feel free to mix and match the arrangement of your decors and other items until everything looks good to you. Vary the heights on your set-up and be guided by your theme and color palette.
 
Don’t be afraid to go overboard at first—you can eliminate items from your look as you go along. The important thing is to get in the mood to achieve your desired look. Sometimes you don’t really have a clear idea of what you want your set-up to look like until you’ve laid out all your materials in front of you.

Step Four: Enjoy, Remember to Breathe
Hey, just because it says do-it-yourself doesn’t really mean you have to do it ALL yourself! You don’t have to cook all the dishes yourself or bake a cake if you don’t feel up to it. Rely on your trusted resources instead—order your party food and pastries from a friend or neighborhood caterer, pick up a pretty cake at your favorite bakeshop or order one online. Remember to keep things as manageable for you as you need.