Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I am turning 17 on October 25th and I have no idea what to do for a party. I don't want anything too expensive, but I have an unlimited budget. Ideas? The party will be boys/girls and the age range is from 16 to 20.
By Leah
Well, there is a lot you can do. You can have friends come over to your house and watch scary movies. My birthday is the 31 of October. And I am having my party the 25th and I am taking some friends bowling then back to my house to have more people over to watch scary movies and have snacks and pizza.
Omg, that's my birthday too, wow so amazing. Here are few ideas I had of my own:
1. Go skating (good ole skating just brings everyone together, you get to watch your friends and family fall and dance and eat and just enjoy themselves)
I just turned 17 Monday October 8th and I have no idea what I can do to keep my friends entertained. I'm having a slumber party with my best friend and cousin, but I have no idea what I can do to keep them from being bored.
By desrial20
When my kids were about 17, all their friends used to hang here all weekend. They made pizza buns, fudge, and milk shakes...watched movies, played video games, and put crazy make up on the people who fell asleep.
I'm turning 17 on June 27 and my mom decided it would be totally OK if she were to host a baby shower on the same day. A baby shower that she is not going to be here for.
You are 16 years old. Surely you have celebrated your birthday on an alternate day rather than the actual "birth" day before? If not, this is a good time to start. Talk to your mom about an alternate day for your birthday celebration.
I can see why you'd be upset. Your mom didn't even talk with you about this or whether or not you thought it was okay. Certainly someone else could have hosted the baby shower, or she could have chosen a different day.
The important thing is that you talk to your mother about this and how it made you feel.
My birthday is on March 16th and I don't know what I want to do for my birthday. Any ideas?
By Rae'Ven H
Why not a "Murder Mystery"? Search "free murder mystery plays". Have fun and have a very happy birthday!
I turn 17 in November 2015. This my first time planning a party. I don't know what drinks I should give out, since most of my friends are drinkers. I wanted to hand out soda, but I'm stuck on this one; please help.
When you say most of your friends are drinkers, that indicates they drink alcohol. I am sure you didn't mean that. But it did give me a thought that might be fun. There are a bunch of "virgin" drink recipes out there. Here is a link to some of them.
www.tablespoon.com/
If your parents okay it, it might be fun to have a "mock cocktail" party. This is not to promote how cool it is to drink, before anyone gives me a lecture. But it might be a way to taste what is out there in a fun, safe way.
PBP
Hey, I am a 17 year old girl. My birthday is on December 23rd. This has made it almost impossible to have a birthday. I have never had a birthday party before and have no idea what to do. Last year, on my sweet 16, I was all alone and sad. Please help me. I do not want to have another awful birthday. Thanks.
By CourtLynn
You don't have to have the birthday party on your birthday. Have it at a convenient time --during the holidays - say this year on the 28th or 29 - Fri or Sat night. Invite a few girlfriends over and have a spa evening or just "girl's night" pj party with movies and popcorn and birthday cake. If you want something with guys as well, get one of your friends to help you plan it.
I don't know what sorts of things kids in your area do for a party. You might do something like have a group gather at a bowling alley, for some games, and then have cake there. What you do doesn't have to be elaborate. Or involve groups of multitudes. Even a group of 3 to 6 taking in a movie and then going to someplace like a Dairy Queen for ice cream cake (order it in advance) can be fun.
My birthday is Dec 26th. I have never felt deprived because of having this day for a birthday. I never had to go to school and usually I could get time off from work after I entered the workforce.
When I was a child, my parents used to have a party for me in the spring! I clearly remember a May Day Party with the centerpiece of girls dancing around the Maypole. I think at your age an April Fool's Day party might be fun!
When I was 26 I met a woman who was 17 years older than I was. She taught me many things. One thing was to always buy myself a gift. She said to buy myself something for birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day, etc. That is the only way to ensure you get what you wanted!
You are in charge of your own happiness. So get busy and make some fun for yourself. I think I'd schedule a Christmas/birthday party for myself if I were you. It might include shopping or movies... You can only be limited by your imagination!
Best of luck always!
Carol in PA
Hey guys, I'm planning a surprise party for my friends 17th birthday. It's going to be at her house and I know who is coming. Do you have any ideas as to how I could decorate her house?
I was thinking streamers in her room but I also wanted to do stuff to the rest of her house! Thanks a bunch!I would make sure you at least do the streamer thing where she will be walking in. Then an occational decoration. (A theme you have chosen) something she likes. Hawaiian etc. Then go from there.
My birthday date is already set and I had an idea for laser tag but I didn't realize how expensive it was. I thought about roller blading, but going around in circles over and over again gets boring. I want to do cosmic bowling, but I also want to do something else. I want an all day kind of party, but I'm dry on non expensive ideas.
By Jennifer F.
It sounds like you love activities, so why don't you take some of your friends to a local mountain for a hike. Bring some fun snacks/ lunch and enjoy each others company. Have cake and presents at your house afterwards.
I am turning 17 on December 6th and I haven't had a birthday party since I was a little kid. I live in a really small town with nothing to do for kids my age and I'm not wanting to travel anywhere because the closest place to do anything is around 4 hours. I want something unforgettable; I love to dance. I work part-time somedays after school and will be paying for all of this myself.
By Lexi W.
Have a dance party! If you have room in your house, push the furniture off to the side and get your groove on. Make a theme, 70's Disco, 80's, zombies. Tell people to dress up. You could decorate with black lights (you can get the light bulb variety for fairly cheap) or even Christmas lights.
I'm turning 17 in November and I want to have a really cool party, I love skateboarding so I want it to revolve around that. I need some ideas on what to do for my 17th, if you have any let me know?
Ashleigh, Happy Birthday in advance! My nephew is your age, and is totally into boarding. Do you guys have skateparks where you could have a party there? Or, hang there half the day, then have a themed party at home afterwards? Keep us updated whatever you do, post a pic, would love to see what you do.
Laura
So it's my birthday very soon. I left it too last minute as it is at the end of January. I am looking for something to do other than a crazy house party for between 5 and 10 people aged 16. I need it to be low budget and nothing too big for the amount of people or too childish.
By Abigail
What I did was me and a few friends I think it was about 8 of us all went to this beautiful tea shop and had afternoon tea the. Came back to mine for a sleepover. Food is always a must and if you're just having people round to make it cheap bring films and food and then have music or a wii game. And just let people chat and have a good gossip, this always works for me.
I'm like really preppy and I love to have fun. I'm turning 17 on May 25th and I really don't know what I want to do for my birthday party. Please help!
By Tiara J.
Hi, I would suggest a costume party I am turning 17 soon too and am going to have a costume party. They can be fun and the great thing about this is that you can still have a themed party for example a 1920's themed party. Hope you have a fantastic party. :)
I'm turning 17 on April 15, and having my party on April 19. I'm wanting the theme to be an all minions theme. I'm only having about 5-7 people come and I'm on a low budget. Please please help me ASAP! Thank you.
By Madison
Hi Madison, minion parties are really low budget and easy to produce. My sister recently went as one to her year 12 dress up day. She made blue and yellow jelly cups as we'll as some jelly babies. You could also make a cake out of blue and yellow icing start of with a circle and create two smaller circles for the glasses and the rest can be easily decorated :) I hope that helps you out.
I'm turning 17 on October 24th and I'd like to have some sort of party. I didn't really do anything for my 15th or 16th birthday and I'd like to do something this year. I don't have a big budget at all, it's just my mom and I so we can't really afford something extravagant. She works part time as a CNA and is in college for an LPN, so money is tight.
I'm a very girly girl, also a huge Taylor Swift fan for 8 years so I'm pretty devoted! I would like to have a spa day, but it couldn't be something that is expensive and pretty much all salons are expensive. Does anyone have any ideas? Please!By Mariegrace
Why not have a Spa Party at your house?
You can buy a bunch of nail polishes (and nail files/decals/polish remover/etc.), some nice-smelling lotions, and cheap ingredients for facials & pedicure scrubs.
Watch a quick YouTube video on how to *properly* give a facial and/or pedicure & then take turns giving them to give each other while gossiping and eating.
Speaking of eating, you can serve a *bunch* of various appetizers instead of a "meal" ~ or go with tried-and-true pizza.
Whatever you do, Have **Fun**! :-D
My 17th birthday is in the beginning of December and I want to have an Alice in Wonderland theme, but I'm not sure how it will work since it's not nice outside.
By Alanna B
I saw a TV show with a party with this theme. The guests all dressed up as characters from the book. They played croquet (although you couldn't do that outside, I suppose, but maybe you could figure out how to do it inside. ) The foods were labeled with signs that said "Eat me" and "Drink me". You could make cookies that were shaped like mushrooms or something else from the book.
At the Mad Hatter's tea party, they all kept moving down one place, so the Hatter could get a clean plate. That reminds me of musical chairs, so maybe you could have some sort of game where a timer goes off and everyone has to switch seats, and ? well - something fun happens. Maybe the person without the seat has to do something - sort of like Truth or Dare. You could use giant paper flowers for decorations. Just about any odd thing would do, as it is all about being zany and out of this world fantasy. Reread the book or watch the movie for ideas.
I want to do something for my 17th birthday that hasn't really been done before? I don't want to have a party and it has to be something that isn't going to cost much. Something that is going to be fun and boys and girls can both do.
By Chelsea G.
You could try a "scavenger hunt". Make lists of things for people to find and give prizes. You could have teams or couples. Did this with a high school group. They loved it and want another one! I had 1 mystery item and left clues numbered 1 to 15 to find the mystery item. They had to find the clues in order to find the next clue. This was an added bonus along with the listed items.
We had fun stuff on the list like: a hair from the head of a stranger, along with a signature stating they gave the person a hair; a "take-out menu" from a certain type of restaurant (give everyone a different type of restaurant) with an employee's name on it, etc. Make the items hard, but not impossible, and have a time limit. We had a great time...lots of laughs!
I want to invite my friends to go somewhere to eat on my birthday. I don't know what is the 5 star restaurant, so do you know what is the best restaurant in Rickmanworth for a 17th birthday?
By Harriet S.
What do I do for my 17th and 18th birthday?
By shade from New York, NY
What do you want to do that you can afford and is legal? I can't figure out why people plan to have a party or something when they don't know what to do.
Okay I'm turning 17 on March 25th of next year 2015. I know it's a bit to early to be planning my birthday, but all of my past birthdays have not gone so well! All of my party guests were all so bored, they wanted to leave early, and they wanted a lot more food than what was given to them. I wasn't a really good party host, but because I had no idea what to do. Please help me! We're on the budget and it can't be anything too expensive.
I was thinking about going to the beach with some friends and maybe stay at a hotel there, but it's too expensive. I know I should start saving up now for my birthday maybe I'll have enough then, but it's complicated right now so that's out of the question. I just really want to do something really fun with my friends, but I don't want it to be too expensive.
By Alouette
I'm turning 17 on November 27. It falls on Thanksgiving Day this year and I have no idea what to do for my birthday. I don't want a party, I want to go out, nothing too expensive, but a lot of fun. What should I do?
By Ti'Anna
I was looking for some ideas for my 17th birthday party. I live in Portugal, in a small town, so big parties with cool themes are out of my options. I was thinking about inviting some friends, probably just girls, but I want to do something different than just go to the movies or have a sleepover. If I do it that way, my boyfriend wouldn't be there, it would be boring for him.
So, I could invite those girls and some other friends (boys and girls) from school and we can just choose some place to hang out or go to movies (but, here's the problem, same old tradition again). What advices or ideas could you give me? Thank you!By Caroliina
I'm turning 17 in February. I know it's a while away, but I can never come up with any ideas in time. Anyways I want to rent out a party bus and dress really fancy, but I don't know where I would go. I want it to be something different and creative. Please help me out with ideas. I want this to be something I will never forget.
By Tara M.
I'm 17 on 8th September. I have been given the choice of a party for my birthday or driving lessons and I really can't chose which one! I would love to be able to do both, but how can I do a party for about 35 people on the cheap?
By april.stott
My 17th birthday is in a few weeks and I am still stuck on what to do. I have a few ideas, but none are jumping up at me saying "pick me! pick me!". So I'll tell them to you. I would like your comments and some more ideas of your own (I'm a girl btw).
1. Have a boys and girls party at my house, where everyone comes over for food and bonfire with maybe a movie or xbox kinect.
2. I invite girls and boys, or just girls, to dinner then a movie and walk around town.
3. I just have my 6 girl friends over for a slumber party, making our own sundaes and popcorn, while watching movies.
4. Stay the night with my bestie in a hotel room and we go watch a movie. Then in the morning we go to the markets.
5. Have a bunch of people, boys and girls, meet out for lunch and go hang out around town or something.
See what I mean? Too many ideas, but I feel none of them are really unique and exciting enough. Please help!
By Chelcie P
