Birthday parties are the best excuse to get your gal pals together for hours of giggles, and do something different to your usual mall strolls or Tik-Tok scrolls.

However we know it can sometimes be difficult to convince your ‘rents to let you have the party of your dreams or organise an elaborate outing.

Lucky for you, Billie is here to help with some tried-and-tested party ideas that you can host from your own home, without putting a huge hole in anyone’s wallet.

1. Unleash your inner childhood star

There is nothing we love more than taking a trip down memory lane and our first party theme does just that. Round up your besties for some bonding over your favourite childhood stars! The idea is that everyone rocks up in the costume of a celebrity that they adored in their younger years, whether that be an actress whose TV show you were glued to during primary school, or a songstress whose tunes you would belt out to your hairbrush. 

Once you’ve finished admiring everyone’s epic outfits and impersonations on arrival, you can get into activities such as:

• A karaoke tournament involving strictly nostalgic songs (head to YouTube for plenty of free karaoke options).

• A super competitive round of ‘Musical Chairs’ or ‘The Chocolate Game’. 

• A movie marathon of all your squad’s cult classics.  

To cater for your childhood celebrity friends, whip up some snacks using your beloved movies and shows as reference. Think the spaghetti tacos from iCarly that you have always wanted to try, or the gooey, decadent skillet cookie that Rapunzel teased you with in Tangled. 

2. Tik-Tok talent show

Why limit your stellar Tik-Tok dance performances to the walls of your bedroom? Pop your pals into pairs and give them each a banging tune to choreograph some Tik-Tok-worthy moves for.

Once everyone has had time to craft their routine, set the stage in your living room and enjoy each showcase one by one. If your crew is the competitive type, have everyone vote for their favourite dance before awarding the winning duo a cute prize to help maintain their Tik-Tok game, such as some cute phone charms, or clip-on fisheye lenses. 

To keep your fellow ‘Tik-Tokers’ fuelled, fill them up with Tik Tok’s most-viewed meals, such as fluffy ‘cloud bread’, yoghurt toast or salmon rice bowls. For hydration (and extra giggles), take on the Sprite challenge which is sure to cause a whole lot of burping!

3. Snack Masters (home edition)

We’ve been absolutely loving TVNZ 2’s show Snack Masters, and with each episode we become more and more eager to produce our own snack replicas.

Put your friends up to the challenge by choosing your most-loved snack and giving them the ingredients they need to try to match it (with adult supervision of course). You could either work as one team or split into two and have your ‘rents be the judges.

Some classic snacks that we believe aren’t too tricky to replicate are: 

• Lamingtons

• Shrewsbury biscuits

• Cheese rolls 

• Pies 

• Sushi

4. DIY Quiz Night

For this party idea all you’ll need is Canva, a free online design tool that does all the work for you.

Channel your inner quizmaster by putting together a personalised quiz with questions about you, your mates, and anything and everything that you are into.

To bond even more with your buddies, ask them to message you a couple of random things that others may not know about them. Trust us, it makes for lots of laughter.

5. Mocktail Night

Dress up in a cute dress and get your creative juices flowing for a night of moreish mocktails.

Have each of your friends choose a different recipe and pre-purchase some decorations for their own soda spectacle. You could make anything from the visually-fun traffic light, to a mango slushie that transports you to the tropics.

Secret-weapons that will really wow your audience are candy floss, which magically dissolves when you pour your drink over it, or edible glitter because who doesn’t love a bit of sparkle? Well maybe Mum won’t when she finds glitter hidden in random pockets of her kitchen months later…