So… You want some lock down birthday ideas? My friends and I all turn 30 this year, so a year which was supposed to be a year full of celebrating becoming a little more adult and pretty much constantly partying every weekend for a year has obviously been put on hold abruptly. In the last month or so there have been 8 lockdown birthdays for people I am close to, including Mum’s 60th which I was particularly upset about not being with her for. 

Needless to say you just have to make the best of a bad situation and make that someone's birthday as lovely as you can from a far. 

I think lockdown makes you appreciate the small things. If I am honest all I would love is to be able to see my family, wear one of my favourite floaty dresses, drink prosecco, eat cake and play some cards and have a bit of a laugh. Present wise. I feel like I don’t want much. I think I would feel bad people spending money on me when so many people are furloughed or don’t have work so instead I have asked everyone to write me a letter to send in the post with one of their favourite memories, along with their favourite picture of us. I’m going to make a big scrap book with everyone's letters and pictures in. it will be something beautiful to keep and also something which I think might help the realisation that I’m turning 30 sink in with positive thoughts haha! 

It can be really hard to think of ideas. Times are tough at the moment for everyone, it can be stressful thinking of things to do or presents to give which are special but are affordable and do-able.  I’ve found that advance planning is key as deliveries are taking longer, post is taking longer and everyone is having the same ideas so your local cake delivery service may be fully booked for quite a while...

I thought I would share the list of ideas for birthdays I have created while having a good think about what I could do for my own family and friends incase you are looking for a bit of inspiration too… and also because its three weeks until my birthday and I thought Tom or Mum might like a bit of help for ideas too...

If you live near the birthday person…

1. Drive by holding a sign.  - paint/draw/paint a birthday message across a few bits of paper as big as you can and stick it on the back of a cardboard box… text your friend, ask them to look out the window, stand at the door at a certain time and drive past your friends house...woopping and cheering holding your sign and message.. I’ve seen a few on these go viral where about 10 friends have done it all in convoy beeping their horns.. It looked so fun! 

2. Make them a birthday Spotify playlist which they can listen to or have on in the background of their day! Favourite songs, songs which reminds you of them and songs to get them up and dancing and generally brighten their day! You can share your playlist with them through a link. Easy peasy and no postman involved so can be a last minute jobby!

3. Meet for a glass of prosecco and a bit of cake… we are allowed to meet one other person keeping a 2m distance at all times for a walk or sit in the park now so why not take some prosecco.. (Providing neither of you are driving of course) and surprise your friend with some homemade cake… Just make sure you both bring your own glasses or wear gloves etc to be extra safe. 

4. Send down a care package - you could send down a themed box of your friends hobbies or interests.. Here are a few ideas of what to put in the box. 

•  A birthday box for everything they need for a great birthday - balloons, party games etc.  

• A Spa day box- full of face masks, skincare, new pjs etc.  

• The fashion Lover box - If you know if your friend has their eye on something in particular why not surprise them with it!  add that in with some other cute accessories and funny pictures of all their styling faux pax through the years.. It's good to look back on old photos and have a laugh. 

• For the creative friend - I have made a couple of plant hangers this lockdown they are really fun to make and its a new skill.. Why not make one for a friend and then also give them things they need to make another? One of my friends has also got in to weaving I think you can buy sets quite easily online. Alternatively if they are in to painting why not get them some new brushes, a sketch book and include a home made card for them.

• Memory box. Filled with memories you have together. Pictures, old show tickets, your first drinks..probably WKD blue.. Lol. Write down your favourite memories and pop all in the box. 

5. See if any local cafes are delivering - some bakeries and cafes are doing afternoon tea deliveries, or some bars or pubs are doing cocktail deliveries which is super cute. Someone surprised my friend with a cocktail delivery in the middle of her birthday zoom quiz the other day. Such a lovely idea.. Also good to be supporting and helping your local shops as much as possible at the moment - let’s help them through this! 

6. Make a video to send in the morning. - it is becoming a bit of a theme in our friendship group to create a video message from everyone to send to the person on the morning of their birthday. We try to mix it up and keep it fun. Either each singing a line of their favourite song and putting it together to create a..er … pretty terrible music video… we’ve did throwing a loo roll so when the videos put together it looks like we’re throwing it to each other whist saying a message in between (hard to explain what I mean so click this link something similar with a makeup brush) and for mums I asked everyone to share their favourite memory of her.

7. Zoom quiz  - yes yes.. I know.. I think we are all pretty quizzed out now but birthday quizzes are better than normal quizzes!! You can keep it short. My favourites have been.. Guess the song, whereby you play the small clip of a song and everyone has to guess what the song is. Guess the lyrics. In the most monotone voice you can master, ask people to guess who sang the lyrics. What's missing in the picture… remove famous buildings in landscapes and ask where they are. About me. Ask questions about the birthday person, whether it is yourself hosting for your own birthday or if you are doing it for someone else. Friends - we were part of a quiz where there was a friends round and it was brilliant… you have to be a true friends fan though.  Make it - Get everyone to get a plastic bag, sellotape and scissors and give each player/team three minutes to make themselves the best looking dog they can. It was so fun!

8. Virtual murder mystery - I heard on the grape vine there is a company helping to organise these online.. I need to look in to it more but Perfect if your looking for something a little more original to do on zoom rather then a quiz

Ideas If you live with them

Personally I want to wake up to a glass of buzz fizz so it feels like Christmas morning...

• Spa day - create your own spa.. Get some classical or whale noises playing.. Light some candles, have face masks and cucumbers at the ready, paint your nails and get ready to feel zen.. If you’re planning a birthday for your partner maybe you could give them a massage too!

• Cocktail bar - Make a themed cocktail bar! .. it will probably just end up being a table of gin, tonic and some garnishing but the thought will be there.. Decorate the “bar” with a personalised sign.. Decorated paper or cardboard.

• Treasure hunt - around the garden, in the house, on your favourite walk. You could hide your favourite pictures in envelopes to find, maybe random letters which will spell out your present.. I would be hoping for P U P P Y ( haha !)or easter eggs if you have any left or a couple of small gifts. 

• Disco - I saw an amazing 18th birthday which had gone viral.. Her dad had dressed up as a bouncer and stood at the door which led to the kitchen.. Her parents had turned all the lights off, brought some flashing lights and had made the kitchen into a night club. Her mum was wearing glasses and was pretending to DJ on some saucepans.. Looked so much fun maybe a good idea if you know someone turning 18 or 21 if you are in the USA 

• Pool party  - obviously heavily weather dependant. Buy a cheepy paddling pool and a couple of inflatables, put some music on and create a pool party.. We have a tiny concrete backyard but I am still considering it! 

• Picnic - you could make a nice set up in the garden.. Put a blanket and some pillows out.. Light some candles. If you have any potted flowers, put them around the blanket to make it feel special. Bit of cheese and some wine! Perfect

• Beach walk / picnic. if you luckily to live near the beach and its not a hot day I bet it would be so nice to drip your toes in the sea and walk along the sand on your birthday. I would avoid going on a nice day though! Have you seen how packed the beaches become!! but if it is a miserable day..wrap up warm and go for an beachy adventure.

• Walking adventure - is there somewhere you have wanted to explore or a nearby hill or mountain to climb? Why not do it on birthday day.. Take some snacks, blanket etc and go for it.

• Bbq - We’ve been having such good weather so high hopes for a lovely long hot summer so you can have a summer bbq with your family. Tom hint hint… looking forward to some food from the barbie and maybe some smores for after

• 13 going on 30 birthday  - take yourself right back to when you were younger.. Party hats, party rings, bunting, games like pin the tail on the donkey. pass the parcel.. real basic stuff here.

• Games night- party like its Vagas  - a more adult version.. Get dressed up in your finest dresses, have some cocktails and play cards, ( you can have like a 5p entry or something.. Use up all that change you don’t know what to do with and keep it fun and playful. )

• Home pub crawl  - Have a drink and play some music and sit and chat in each room of your house. Just to mix things up a bit. Bit random and wouldn’t pin all your birthday fun on this one but might work haha.

• Home made pizza night - we have created a recipe here. ( take two days to make from scratch) or I think a few local pizzerias are selling dough at the moment which might speed the process up.. 

Presents you can send in the post

I wrote a blog post here and here about independent shops I highly recommend checking out if you’re looking for gift ideas! 

Other ideas are….

• Puzzles 

• Games - I recommended buzzed out… absolutely brilliant game!  

• Cocktail ingredients … here is a recipe I recommend .. its delicious!

• House plants

• Homemade soap

• Homemade body scrub

• Artwork.. I am obsessed with Astrid Wilson prints

• Jewellery 

• Homeware - Zara home and H&M home is great for lovely home wear which would fit in to most homes. check out Rocket St George for some really amazing unique pieces

• Memory book - There are lots of online pictures books which you can add in all your favourite pictures too

• Homemade plant holder - Here are instructions on how to make one. Pretty Little Knots Co also do already made ones if you don’t want to make one yourself

• Homemade birthday card

• Homemade earrings

• Homemade clay jewellery bowl or pinch pot

• Home made cakes 

  
  

…and even more ideas!

Things I own which I recommend and think would make lovely gifts!

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