How to celebrate New Year’s Eve During Covid

Ok, so we’re Zoomed out, tired of plans changing, closed beaches, alcohol bans & wearing masks. You might even be tempted to get into bed at 8pm on New Year’s Eve so that the long year that was 2020 can just be over already. If you ask me, we can still have responsible fun & end 2020 on a high note! Let me give you some ideas for a wonderful Covid-compliant New Year’s Eve.Will you be alone? Or will it just be you & your furry friends? Maybe you are lucky enough to have fun housemates or a very small group of close friends or family to celebrate with. The wise thing to do is to celebrate New Year at home or outdoors. We’ll be a few family members who will eat & dance & celebrate together.

Here is some inspiration to make the evening special – I hope you find some inspiration here:

Make a playlist of your favorite songs. Think back to your childhood, your fondest memories & all the hits you last heard back in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s! Or dust off those records. New Year’s Eve is the night to play anything from Beyoncé to Coldplay, Elvis to Michael Jackson & Taylor Swift to Karen Zoid and everything in between. If you’re stuck, take a look at my Spotify playlist.

Now that you have your playlist, it is time to dance the night away! Move the furniture aside & show off your best moves. Don’t forget those classic line dances like Achy Breaky Heart, Jerusalema, The Macarena. Add a bit of Flossing, do The Twist or stick to a good ol’ Kaalvoet Sokkie.

Have a movie night under the stars. Nothing beats a movie marathon of classic films with a large helping of popcorn. Think of movies like About Time; New Year’s Eve; High School Musical, Bridget Jones’s Diary; While You Were Sleeping; Forrest Gump, When Harry Met Sally. Or watch an Afrikaans film like Vuil Wasgoed or Fiela se kind.

Get all dolled up! New Year’s Eve is always the perfect excuse to get dressed up, so why not do the same this year. Yup, even if you are staying home. Wear that fabulous party dress & do some glamorous make-up!

Make party crowns, fun headdresses or special 2021 ‘glasses’ like the really fab ones that The House That Lars Built has on their site. It’s USD 5 to get the template to print yours at home!

Don’t forget to take pictures of the last day of this crazy year! Photo booth anyone?

Pamper yourself with a do-it-yourself spa treatment at home – especially if you are alone. Take a long bath, relax with a face mask or hand mask, give yourself a mani or pedi & arrange with friends or family to have a glass online.

Have a concert with songs, dance & magic tricks. It’s such a great way to involve the whole family. Younger kids will be crazy about this. Prepare yourself for a good chuckle!

Instead of making New Year’s resolutions, make a ‘More / Less’ list for yourself. This is an idea by Julia Rothman. (Thanx for sharing this Joanna.)

My ‘More’ Column will contain things like more stretching, vegetables, environmentally friendly choices, skin care, sensible meals, swimming, proactive holiday plans & creative collaborations. In the ‘Less’ column, I’m starting with less caffeinated drinks, bad sleep hygiene, mindless scrolling. How about you? What will your ‘More’ & ‘Less’ columns look like?

Make a vision board. “A vision board is a visual representation of what you want to create or embrace in your life,” explains Dr Edith Eger in her book The Gift. Instead of focussing on the crazy year that was, look to the future. Take an A3 poster, scissors & old magazines. Take your time to cut out all words, pictures & ideas that represent your ideals & dreams for yourself or your business in 2021. Arrange it on the poster. “Keep your vision board close by & look at it every day. Let this intuitive creation be an arrow to follow.”

Prepare a Memory Box for 2021. Take a glass bottle or cardboard box, & write down beautiful or interesting memories over the course of 2021. You can also add small momentos like cards or small special items. Open it on December 31, 2021.

Make a scrapbook or photo album with all sorts of goodies from 2020 – from clippings of home school projects, photos of your loved ones with masks on & short descriptions of difficult & comic moments.

Get creative with mocktails! A major trend of the past year (forced or not) was non-alcoholic beverages. I can totally recommend the latest alcohol-free wine spritzers or non-alcoholic G&T from The Duchess or non-alcoholic drinks like Seedlip & Abstinence.

Don’t forget those board & card games. Monopoly, UNO, Balderdash & Ticket to Ride are some favourites!

Write or print some conversation starter cards. My friend Karen from Lovilee blog has a great free printable game for New Year’s Eve. You can print it out over here.

Make a list of the things that you are grateful for. This will remind you of the things that you do have in your life right now, rather than all the losses of 2020.

There is little time to make & enjoy really lazy, slow-cooked meals during the year, so use this New Year’s Eve for a delicious, stretched-out meals – why not make your own pasta, have a fondue or make potjiekos? Consider having a midnight feast – it’s fun & something that you probably don’t do any other time of the year, right? We will be wrapping up the year by making wraps with loads of fillings! Get it? Haha.

Wishing you the happiest of New Year’s friend. Stay home. Stay safe. Lots of love & blessings.

See you again in 2021.

Yolandi ♥

Images: Images of me by Tyme Photography; House That Lars Built; Julia Rothman.