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Are you thinking of hosting a Friendsgiving? Here are 5 important steps to creating the best one you and your circle!
- Turn it into a charcuterie board night.Â
If you don’t want to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal, an easy way to make the night more fun and ensure everyone contributes a little bit is to combine Friendsgiving with a charcuterie board night! This was a trend on TikTok a little while ago. Each person would come up with a different concept to make a “charcuterie board” of. A classic charcuterie board could include some meats, cheese, crackers, and spreads, but people can get really creative! There’s a lot of potential with dessert boards, chip and dip boards, sandwich boards, etc. With a Thanksgiving theme, you could get even more out-of-the-box! This way you’re not responsible for making all of the food and there’s likely to be something to eat for everyone, even picky eaters.Â
- Make fun cocktails or mocktailsÂ
Depending on how old you and your friends are, you can make fun fall mocktails or cocktails! There are a plethora of recipes for fun apple ciders or pumpkin drinks on Pinterest, any of which could be either spiked or made without alcohol. Cute, fun drinks are always a great way to level up a gathering!
- Make hand turkeys or journal together!Â
Last year at my Friendsgiving, we wanted our guests to partake in an activity, so we provided paper and colored pencils to make hand turkeys like we did when we were kids! After we made them, we hung our creations in one of our dorms. Our turkeys from last year got misplaced, but if we could find them, I would definitely turn them into a garland as decor for this year’s Friendsgiving! It was honestly funny and kind of soothing as a form of coloring therapy. We went around the table and said one thing we were grateful for, and it was nice to hear from everyone, especially those who may not be sentimental. Instead of sharing aloud, you could also have everyone add things they’re grateful for to the feathers of their hand turkeys. Â
- Decorate on a budget!Â
I have some relatively inexpensive decor ideas! The first is a Friendsgiving balloon garland from Amazon for under $10 that would be a simple but cute backdrop for photos or your table. You could also DIY a Happy Friendsgiving garland or banner, reuse pumpkins from Halloween/earlier this Fall as decorations/centerpieces, and make your own place settings and namecards for everyone.
- Put on a holiday movie to wrap up the night.
If Friendsgiving is turning into a girls night, you can make the transition from Thanksgiving to the winter holidays while your friends are all together! I’m going to be advocating watching Christmas Vacation or Home Alone after we finish eating to really get into the spirit of the next holiday.Â
In addition to all of the fun festivities, make sure to let your people know you love them and are grateful for them. We should always do that, but now is an easy time to be reminded. As the semester is wrapping up and we head into winter, keep in mind that this time of year can be difficult for many. As long as you have your support system, everything will be okay. Happy Friendsgiving!