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Getting together with your friends for a girls night in is the perfect way to spend some time away from the normal mundane. Especially once you find a group of girls that you enjoy spending time with, having girls nights in on a somewhat regular basis really strengthens your friendships.
Why a Girls Night In?
In our friend group, most of us don’t have the funds to meet at restaurants and then go shopping on a regular basis. Even if we did, our husbands wouldn’t be too keen on spending “unnecessary” funds to keep up with our social habits.
I shouldn’t blame it all on the hubsters though. All of us have bigger purchases we’re saving our money for and therefore choose to get together at someone’s home rather than spend a girls night out.
For most of us in the friend group, our husbands travel a lot or work unusual hours during busy seasons. What that means for us as moms is that either we’re searching for a babysitter, shrugging the kiddos off at mom or grandmas, or we’re just simply taking them with us. Typically, it’s the latter because we don’t feel like going through the hassle.
It’s so much easier to bring our kiddos along, one of us picks up frozen pizza, juice, and snacks along the way, and they get their own kid’s date with friends and a movie while we girls can have our time. Aside from the random break up of a fight over a toy, it works really well to do a girls night in with them in tow.
Background About Me
In our seven years of marriage, Bert and I have moved seven times. I’m not ashamed of that, though. Actually, it makes me proud because with each move (some have been in completely different states), we’ve either improved his job position or improved our living conditions.
Unfortunately, that’s hard on us as a family. We’ve been pretty far away from his and my parents and siblings, and have had to start over/make new friends fairly frequently. There was a time frame where I went through an exceptionally lonely period, and it was hard!
A Valuable Lesson
At the time, I had a sincere, honest prayer that God would send me good friends to encourage me and help me along this path in life. He eventually sent me some friends just at the right time, but there was for sure a waiting period of me having to be patient along the way.
During that period, not only did I work on my relationship with God, but I also gathered some good insight on how to be a good friend. One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that you’re not going to be able to maintain a relationship with someone just by seeing them at church.
Even if your church meets three times a week, and you’re involved in all of the irregular activities, it’s just hard to get to know someone. As more kiddos get added to the mix, you’re more focused on getting them to the right classes and getting them home for lunch and naps that you miss the people around you.
Why You Need A Group of Friends to Get Together Regularly
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:25
Finding ways to get together on a regular basis and in each other’s homes allows you to get to know each other on a more personal level. In fact, if you go back to ancient Bible times, when the early church was founded, people met together in homes and that was their “church”.
I’m certainly not advocating that we reject organized church and only meet in houses to get together for fun. Rather, I’m advocating that we get together in homes on a regular basis in addition to church services. It’s even a command the writer of Hebrews gives us.
Activities You Can Do
Yes, you can always just have a girl’s night in and do nothing other than eat together and talk. Honestly, you’re guaranteed to have a good time doing just that alone. There’s even a time and place where that works perfectly.
Especially during those holiday seasons where you’re constantly bombarded with activities you need to attend, finding a random Friday night to just eat together and talk helps to relax in the middle of busyness.
But there’s also a time where coming up with an activity gives your night some added fun. It’s hard to come up with ideas that are really going to fit each personal group. That’s where this list comes in!
In our friend group, we’ve done some of these activities together, some we talk about doing, and some we probably won’t ever do, just because of the dynamic of our group. Hopefully, this list sparks some inspiration for you to create your own ideas or try one or two here for your next girls night in.
Have a Girls Night In Arranging Flowers
My girlfriends and I did this one recently, and it was a hit. If your group of friends loves having fresh flowers displayed at the house, this one is for you. Our instructions were simple: on the day of the girls night, we all headed to the flower section and picked out one bouquet or flower bunch.
Even at the start, this gave us opportunities for uniqueness. For instance, some of us got pre-made bouquets in the flower section of the grocery stores. A few brought enough of one flower for all of us to have one. I brought 9 orange/yellow roses; another friend brought 9 sunflowers. Two of our “supermoms” of the group thought outside of the box and brought just greenery to add to our bouquets, and one of us brought baby’s breath.
The girlfriend who was hosting us made sure she had enough vases for all of us to have one. This was simple; aside from the unique vases she had that she didn’t mind sharing, she just had mason jars for us to use which worked out great! You could also decide to just have everyone bring their own vase with them as well, to keep costs down.
Diving in…
Then, after enjoying some takeout and conversation, we cut open our bouquets, spread them out on the table, and picked and chose what flowers we wanted in our “build-your-own-bouquets”. What I love most about it is our personalities shined in, and each of ours turned out unique.
Some Extra Tips:
If you love this idea, here are some things to keep in mind! Make sure you have plenty of scissors; you can also grab all of the flower feeding packets and premix them in water; then just divide them up amongst however many vases you have for everyone.
Lastly, having some floral tape is something we didn’t have but some of us wished we thought of; especially if you plan to use mason jars, you can use the tape to close in on the sides and make the flowers stand up better in a wider opened vase.
My favorite part about this party was that when we all had our bouquets looking swell, we realized we had enough flowers to make an extra bouquet. Due to a girlfriend’s suggestion, we ended up making one with the leftovers and delivering it the next day to an older lady in our church who was under the weather. Our fun night turned into an opportunity to reach out to someone else as well.
Play Boardgames
No, I wasn’t very creative with this idea, but it’s a tried and true method that you can rely on. Part of this stems from my own love of board games and permanent roommate’s lack of enjoyment with them. Since I don’t get the opportunity to play them very often with PR, playing them for a girls night is a great idea in my book.
The best part about boardgames is you’re able to engage in conversation while you play it. It’s a great opportunity to bring out some lively chatter and get to know everyone better. Most of the games that we play tend to be card games. A few of my favorites are For the Girls Game, the many different spin-offs of Apples to Apples that there are nowadays (Relative Insanity, What Do You Meme, etc), and my personal favorite, Cover Your Assets.
If you want to get super nerdy/board game deep, I love a good Catan round or Ticket to Ride. It takes a few minutes to set them up, but they’re worth it. Unfortunately, at most you’re going to be able to only have 6 players (if you purchase the expansion pack), so those are more helpful for smaller girl’s night groups.
Paint Terra Cotta Pots
This is a relatively inexpensive idea. All you need are some paint brushes, acrylics, and terra cotta pots. If you Pinterest hand-painted terra cotta pots, you’ve got a plethora of ideas and inspiration to get you started. If you’ve got a lot of plant moms or wannabe plant moms in your group, this is perfect for you.
Additionally, this is something you can do on a somewhat annual basis. As plants grow, they inevitably need to be repotted. Your friend group can turn this into an annual repotting party where you upgrade a pot size, and paint it together. Then you bring it home to repot.
To keep the costs low, tell everyone to bring their own pot ahead of time. That way, the hostess is only responsible for paintbrushes and paints, and possibly newspaper to keep surfaces covered.
If you want this idea to be girls night out and in (yes you can do both!), meet at a plant store beforehand. Everyone picks out their own new plant to bring home, and then after a meal in the town, meet at someone’s house to paint the pots for the new plants.
What if most of your girlfriends, yourself included, aren’t really into the plant mom thing? Did you know there’s a ton of crafts you can do with a terra cotta pot? I’ve seen snowmen decorations, gingerbread houses, lighthouses, mushrooms, wreaths, windchimes, and even a gnome. Don’t limit this idea to strictly plants!
Paint a Room Together
If someone in your group has recently become a homeowner, this may be the perfect girls night in idea for you all to enjoy. The idea is simple: whoever is planning on painting the room picks out the color, makes sure she has enough paint, and moves the furniture around in advance. Prepping by removing the outlets and taping would help as well.
On the day of, everyone brings their own paint brush and you tackle the room while enjoying some fun conversations. The down side to this is you’re going to need some better supervision with the kiddos. Unless you know the kids will be happy confined to one room watching a video, the idea of wall paint and toddler doesn’t mix too well.
What I love most about this, though, is that you’re actually helping someone out while having fun. It’s the perfect practical meets entertainment type of girls night in to enjoy.
Center Some Girls Nights In Around the Holidays
All of these ideas have to do with the time of year you’re in. I understand for some of us, trying to plan one more thing to do around the busy holiday season can be hectic and nearly impossible. For others of us, it’s the perfect way to get together on a random Tuesday night and enjoy the fellowship. Here are some great ideas to get you started.
Host a Friendsgiving
You can make some gratitude pumpkins, where you write what you’re thankful for in sharpie on a small pumpkin. Additionally, there are gratitude games to allow you to share what you’re truly thankful for this November. If you’re over the thanksgiving theme, carve some pumpkins or paint them (pumpkins aren’t strictly for October).
Use one of these ideas for a Christmas Gift Exchange
If all or most of your friends enjoy a good book every now and then, host a book exchange where everyone brings their favorite book to share. To go all out, have everyone bring a basket full of small items that remind them of their favorite book. Obviously, the copy goes in the basket as well.
Most people tire of purchasing “one more gift” for a Christmas party, even if it is for close friends. You can avoid this by having everyone bring home décor items they no longer want in their home. This is perfect for signs, baskets, and even items like blankets and rugs that are in good shape but jut don’t fit your personal aesthetic. Instead of dropping off at the Salvation Army, host a party where everyone brings items to swap.
Partaking in a favorite things party is another way to keep costs low while also having a good time. The idea is simple: everyone brings three duplicates of one item in the $5-10 range. You then go home with three different items that others have brought.
Other Christmas Party Ideas
If gift giving just seems over the top for your group, the next best idea in my mind is Christmas ornaments. Y’all, there are so many different Christmas ornament crafts that are inexpensive, cute, and simple to do on a girls night in.
Order some rustic wood rings and turn them into various ornaments. This is perfect for the rustic Christmas aesthetic that has hit all of us so hard this decade. Our local town has a small business pottery store that will come to different places and allows you to paint pottery ornaments. I was involved in an ornament painting party with them last year and loved it.
Additionally, you can make Christmas decorations outside of ornaments; think of board painting, wreath making, or cookie decorating, especially if there’s a connection with someone in your friend group.
If It’s Still Cold Weather
Sometimes the best time to get together with a girlfriend is post holiday stresses when you just need a relaxing evening. You could have everyone bring fleece cloth for a tie blanket and sit around chatting as you work on your newest throw.
Why Girls Nights in Are So Important
Hosting a girls night where you’re able to bond together and get to know each other on a more personal level is really vital in today’s day and age. You have no idea how much other people are struggling in life much like you are until you start hosting or attending these sorts of get togethers. Once you get involved, you’ll realize how simple, fun, and encouraging meeting together at regular intervals is!
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