The holidays are here everyone! ‘Tis the season of giving, celebrating, loving and everything in between. Yet, if you’re a college student, it is also the time for finals and stress. So, if you’re having trouble feeling festive right now, here are some little (and cheap!) ways to cheer you up – whether you use them for yourself, with friends, or for a club/organization you’re apart of!
(Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash)
1. Throw a themed hangout
Some of the most well-known festive ideas are throwing your own friendsgiving or secret santa. For friendsgiving, you don’t have to whip out a huge turkey or mash your own potatoes; instead, have everyone bring their own food/snack/drink they like and combine ‘em all together! It’s a little way to remind you to be thankful for all your friends around you and for the food in front of you. It can be as big or small as you want so as to avoid breaking your meal plans for the week. Even if you don’t want food involved, have a game night and call it a friendsgiving! Make one of the activities going around and saying what everyone is thankful for (this is guaranteed to be a sweet time). For secret santa, have a gift limit to prevent guiltily overspending. You could even make a game out of it and see who can get the most out of $5 or who can get the craziest gift.
2. DIY Decor
When most people think about holiday decorations they think of huge pumpkins, colorful lights, big sherpa blankets, and more, but that is not all it has to be! You can make decorations out of anything, trust me. Get a little creative with trying out your own DIY decor. My roommate, a talented artist, drew some animated turkeys, cut them out, and taped them to our room door. You can draw decorations on your calendars or planners, cut out shapes and make a garland out of them, print stickers to put up and all sorts of things. Slap your creations up on your doors, windows, or walls and you’ll start to feel a little happier about the holidays without feeling bland for lacking crazy expensive decorations.
(Photo by Pixabay on Pexels)
3. Baking & Cookie Decorating
One of my favorite simple ways to sprinkle a little festivity in my life is to bake. Take a trip to the store, and depending on what you want to spend, grab some form of batter, cookie cutters, frosting, sprinkles etc. Invite all your friends over and have a themed baking/dessert decorating party! Even better, you could have every few people working on a different dessert so you end up with your own smorgasbord of cookies, brownies, and cakes by the end of it. Have a little decorating contest to see who’s the best froster and sprinkler as if you’re on cupcake wars and make the most out of it. You’ll get dessert plus some great memories.
(Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash)
4. Getting a mini tree and make ornaments
If you have some extra bucks in your budget, splurge on a mini christmas tree! Bring it home, blast your favorite christmas playlist, and DIY some ornaments to keep it company. Since it’s mini you won’t need that many materials and you can buy in bulk at the craft stores. If you have no idea how you want to make ornaments for it, print out some pictures of you and your friends or family, put them on strings and hang them on your tree. Hang some spare fairy lights on it and admire it for the rest of the season.
5. Holiday themed spa night
Another way to have a holiday themed nigh is to make your own spa night. Get some holiday themed face masks, paint your nails holiday colors, get some holiday scented lotion and go all out. To make it even more fun with friends, go out shopping for materials together and see who can find the most holiday related things first. After feeling refreshed and moisturized, slide some fuzzy socks and PJ’s on and relax!
6. Movie night (bring your own themed snacks)
Hulu and Netflix make it really easy to want to stay in bed and watch movies all day, so why not make it festive? Have yourself a holiday movie marathon and invite friends to join you; you can even make the dress code holiday PJ’s only to make it extra merry! Encourage people to bring their own snacks so hosting won’t be too hard and enjoy all the cheesy movie spiritedness together. Some people even have holiday traditions of watching certain movies, so ask everyone to pitch in their favorite movie idea. To really treat yourself and your squad, combine this movie night with the spa night.
(Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash)
7. Make holiday scrunchies
Scrunchies are back and better than ever, people! Even if you have a bunch, you could always use some more so DIY your own holiday themed ones. Stop by a craft store on your way home and pick up your favorite celebratory patterned fabric. Then hop on youtube and look up videos, like this one, to follow along for creating your own scrunchies. You can even find some ideas on pinterest or head to instagram, twitter, and etsy to buy from people who are making them. Some I’ve seen so far even light up! These festive accessories will definitely spice up your planned winter outfits.
8. Put up pictures from past holidays
If you’re away from home and feeling homesick as the holidays head in, this idea will help bring your spirits up. Print out some photos from past holidays, whether they be family photos, friend photos, or even the classic couples’ pumpkin patch photos and hang them up! You can make garlands out of them, put them in frames, or just slap them up on the wall by your desk so you can always look up to them. Seeing those memories may make you nostalgic, but it will definitely cheer you up and get you excited to make more holiday memories.
(Photo by Marina Khrapova on Unsplash)
9. Change your wallpapers on phone/desktop (make files into emojis)
This is one of the absolute easiest ways to raise your spirits. Go on pinterest, tumblr, or instagram and browse for your favorite holiday photos. Pick a few and make them the lock screens and home screens of your phone, laptop, and/or iPad. If you want to take it an extra step further, you can customize your Mac folders (sorry windows users!) to be themed or even be emojis. Does this mean you can have your desktop folders be pumpkins and christmas trees? Yes! So go and try it out for yourself.
10. Have a holiday themed photoshoot
If you haven’t already jumped at the chance to gather your friends for a photoshoot, the holidays are a perfect time. You can make little christmas cards of you and your best friends to hand out as a joke or keep to yourself or make your wallpapers! You could make it extra cute and get the same holiday sweaters or be fancy and see who can make the best holiday outfit. The possibilities are endless for this one and so is the fun.
11. Go out looking at the lights
This idea is very budget-friendly and especially fun if you are in Riverside like us UCR students. For those in Riverside, you already know or will know how important the Mission Inn Festival of Lights is. Practically everyone goes because it is one of the biggest things to do here, so it does get very crowded and busy, but it can be worth it to have fun with friends and take photos! If you can splurge, get some funnel cake while you’re at it. For everyone else, grab a friend or significant other and go for a drive to admire the neighborhood lights and decorations! It’s free, besides gas, and fun especially if you turn up the holiday tunes while driving and have your own carpool karaoke.
(Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels)
12. Get or make a holiday drink
Last but not least, holiday drinks are inevitable. Starbucks red cups are out and their drinks are everywhere, but it doesn’t mean they’re overrated either! Spread your own holiday cheer and buy yourself your favorite themed beverage and if you’re feeling extra generous, pay for someone else’s too. Yet, you don’t always need to go out either, you can always stay home and make your own hot chocolate to your own taste. Sprinkle some marshmallows in it, add peppermint, or stir it with a candy cane, however you like! Pair it with a holiday snack and you’ll feel extra warm and festive inside.
These are, of course, not the only ways to celebrate this season but they’re a good place to start! Take advantage of them however you wish and if anything, focus on spreading the happy spirits with others. It is always nice to be surprised with stocking stuffers and holiday gift baskets and free food, but know that you can still have fun without breaking the bank. Happy holidays everyone!