Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Hacks & How-to's
  3. Evergreens

21OAK may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

5 New Year’s Eve traditions to make a night at home more fun than a night out

By

Despite the hype about New Year’s Eve being the biggest night out of the year, many people prefer to spend the night celebrating quietly at home. If you fall into that category and you’re looking for some creative ways to enjoy the holiday without having to fight crowds, worry about designated drivers, or contend with the overpriced prix fixe meals, you’re in luck. We’ve pulled together some fun takes on New Year’s Eve traditions that you can do without leaving your home. 

Whether you’ll be celebrating with your significant other, a small group of close friends, or young children, we have ideas and traditions that will make it even more special to ring out the old year and ring in the new!

Image used with permission by copyright holder

5 New Year’s Eve traditions if you’re staying home this year

1. Dress to impress . . . each other

Feel like getting dressed up in your best holiday finery? Do it. Is your idea of the perfect evening a night in your cozy PJs and fuzzy socks? Perfect. It’s your stay-at-home party, and you get to make the rules. Invest in a couple of glittery New Year’s Eve hats or headbands, and some party horns and blowers, to help put you in the spirit of the holiday, and let your clothing choices go wherever your mood takes you.  

2. Make some delicious cocktails

One of the best parts about staying in on New Year’s Eve is that you won’t need to wait in line for an overpriced — and likely watered-down — drink. Restock your bar with your favorite beer, wine, and spirits, or better yet come up with a festive and tasty signature cocktail. And don’t forget to have a bottle of bubbly on hand to pop at midnight. 

3. Prepare plenty of snacks

There’s no need to make a fancy dinner, but an assortment of tasty appetizers can really enhance your stay-at-home party. Look for recipes that you can make ahead and simply pop in the oven when you’re ready to eat, or those that you can keep out on the buffet table for the duration of your evening. 

4. Watch the ball drop

It doesn’t quite feel like New Year’s Eve without watching the ball drop in Times Square. Doing it from home lets you enjoy all the excitement without being outside in the cold — or contending with thousands of drunken revelers. Watch on TV and count down to midnight along with millions of people around the world. 

Related

5. Have a sleepover in the living room

Remember how much you loved sleepovers as a kid? Recreate that same feeling by planning on having a sleepover right in your living room. Bring out all of your fluffiest blankets and pillows, make a fire in the fireplace, and watch old movies together on the floor. Then fall asleep right where you are — no designated driver needed.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with the kids

If you opt to forgo a babysitter and spend the evening at home with the kids, there are a few ways you can help them enjoy this special holiday, too. 

Create a special kid-friendly drink

Help set the holiday mood with a tasty “mocktail” that will make the kids feel extra special. This Sparkling Spiced Apple Cider Mocktail combines all the quintessential flavors of the season and is so easy to make. 

Have a game night

Pull out all the kids’ favorite board games and compete in a family game night marathon. Let everyone select a favorite game, and have the entire family play each one until you’ve awarded an official New Year’s Eve board game champion.

Celebrate “midnight”

It’s hard for little ones to make it until midnight, but there’s nothing wrong with cheating a bit to make them think that they have. Do your own pre-midnight countdown, complete with banging on pots, blowing party horns, and giving New Year’s kisses. Then you can get the kids safely tucked into bed so you and your partner can enjoy the real midnight countdown, just the two of you. 

The holiday season is a whirlwind of parties, eating, drinking, and spending, and sometimes you have had just about enough by the time New Year’s Eve rolls around. If you would rather round out the year with a quiet night in, you can still make it special for you, your significant other, your closest friends, or even your young children. You definitely don’t need to go out to have fun as you say farewell to the old year and a welcoming hello to 2022. 

  

Topics

Editors’ Recommendations

How to Style a Coffee Table That Feels Collected, Not Cluttered
Plant, Furniture, Table

A well styled coffee table can make your formal living room stand out and should feel intentional, considered and appropriately arranged. The goal is balance, and it should support the room rather than compete with it.

Start with a foundation. Use one or two large books to ground the arrangement. Choose books with substantial covers that reflect the palette of the room, whether neutral or tonal, and complement the space. Stack them rather than spreading them out. This creates structure and gives everything else a place to sit.

Read more
Flowers From the Garden: A Summer Centerpiece Method
Flower, Flower Arrangement, Plant

A simple, season led approach to summer florals, built on what is in bloom rather than what is in stock.

There is a particular generosity to summer that no other season offers. The garden is full and the flower markets overflow. The roadside stands begin to set out buckets of zinnias and dahlias by mid June and July. The backyard, once an afterthought, begins to feel like an extension of the home itself. The question is no longer whether to bring flowers into the house, but how often.

Read more
The Easiest Way to Set the Table
Cutlery, Fork, Spoon

Have you ever wondered why the fork sits on the left and the knife on the right? Or why Europeans eat “Continental style,” holding the fork in their left hand and the knife in their right, while Americans cut, switch hands, and then eat? It turns out there’s a reason for all of it, and once you understand the history, setting the table suddenly feels far less mysterious. Before beautifully layered place settings and Pinterest-worthy tablescapes, dining was far more practical. Medieval feasts were less about etiquette and more about survival. Plates were often shared, forks were nonexistent, and eating with your hands was the normal standard. Tables were filled with trenchers (pieces of bread used as plates), and the idea of “proper placement” simply didn’t exist.

By the mid-to-late 1800s (around 1860–1870), European dining evolved again as meals began to be served in courses. This shift introduced what became known as the Russian style of dining, where utensils were laid out intentionally and used from the outside in. The fork stayed in the left hand, the knife in the right, and the table itself began to reflect structure, rhythm, and order. This approach eventually became the “Continental style” still used across much of Europe today.

Read more