From Easter to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to graduation and more, we want to show you unconventional, but memorable ways to plan events amid the coronavirus pandemic. As many of us are adjusting to this new normal of staying home and social distancing, know that we can all stay connected by simply showing our support to one another. Now more than ever, celebrate those special moments for you and the people you love.
Easter Activities You Can Do Indoors
Your Easter egg hunt may look a little different this year but it can still be a great one to remember. Big family gatherings and traditional Easter brunch will be hard to pull off with social distancing and grocery store shortages, but there’s no reason to skip the festivities altogether. Customize products, such as vote merchandise, that feel especially relevant this year, or choose from other backgrounds for 2020 in the Shutterfly Art Library. From Happy Easter cards you can send to your friends to DIY Easter basket ideas you can create with your family, we found fun ways of enjoying Easter activities from home:
DIY Easter Basket Ideas
This year, go homemade with these easy and unique DIY Easter basket ideas. Find the perfect basket for the toddlers, kids, teens, or adults.
- Have leftover Easter baskets from last year? Consider upgrading them by attaching one of a kind Happy Easter cards. Customizing your own Happy Easter cards is the best way of giving your baskets an extra festive touch!
- If you have an unloved stuffed animal, you can transform it into a cuddly DIY Easter basket by cutting a hole in the center and sewing on a liner. Use a stuffed bunny or chickadee to make this project truly fit in with the occasion.
- Get crafty and create an egg carton basket by cutting an egg carton in half, making a handle with ribbon, and then letting the kids go wild with markers, paint, and stickers.
- Recycle a gallon milk bottle and turn it into a super fun and easy basket. Cut out the center hole and add some bunny ears or let your kids decorate to whatever their hearts’ desire. It’s the perfect size to collect all those eggs for your Easter egg hunt.
Indoor Easter Egg Hunt Games
Who says Easter egg hunts must be outdoors? Bring the fun into your home. Kids and adults alike will enjoy these unique Easter games that can be done in the comfort of your own home:
- Put clues inside plastic eggs, with each clue leading to the next egg — and finally, to the grand prize Easter basket. To make the prize extra special, be sure to add some Happy Easter cards and personalized Easter gifts.
- Create your own personalized photo puzzle by adding an Easter message or cute pictures of your family. Hide the individual puzzle pieces into the eggs and try putting the puzzle together after the hunt.
- Use a blindfold and guide your kids to find hidden eggs with “getting warmer” or “getting colder” verbal cues.
- Stick little messages inside plastic eggs that tell your kids to do something fun — hopping like a bunny or singing a song — while searching for the next egg.
How To Celebrate Your Mom On Mother’s Day
Moms are great! Who else would do all your cleaning, cook you delicious Sunday morning breakfasts, be a constant shoulder to cry on, and still worry about you long after you’ve grown up and left home? As Mother’s Day approaches, thanking moms are at the top of our minds. If you aren’t able to visit your mom this year, you can make her feel cherished by eating a virtual brunch with her or surprising her with our Mother’s Day gifts.
- Replace your usual Mother’s Day brunch outing with a virtual Mother’s Day brunch inning. Order in from her favorite restaurant and have it delivered to the both of you so you can share a meal simultaneously over video call.
- The best Mother’s Day gifts are personal. Encapsulate loving memories with your mom on your mom’s favorite everyday items, such as blankets, candles, aprons, and so much more.
- Express your never ending gratitude by monogramming some meaningful Mother’s Day quotes on the Mother’s Day gifts you chose for her. It’s the perfect personal touch that will always remind her of you.
- On top of all those Mother’s Day gifts, spend the day watching your mom’s favorite movies or TV shows at the same time. There are so many tools out there that stream the same videos on different screens. This physical distance makes space for digital closeness.
Your Dad’s Favorite Father’s Day Gifts
You know all your dad’s cheesy jokes by heart, but they still make you laugh. He is the one guy you can count on to pick up your phone no matter what time it is and will always welcome you with open arms when you haven’t seen him in a while. If you are celebrating Father’s Day from afar this year, you can plan ahead and give him the best Father’s Day gifts that he will forever treasure. Here are our favorite ways to celebrate all dads:
- For a gift that keeps on giving all year long, go for a classic personalized photo book and include 52 specific things you love about your dad, one for each week of the year.
- Make your dad’s morning with these personalized Father’s Day mugs. Whether it’s a silly photo of you and him, his favorite sports team, or simply his name monogramed on a mug, you know he will enjoy every sip he takes. Not a coffee drinker? Try these personalized beer steins instead!
- A personalized Father’s Day card can go a long way in showing your dad how much he has impacted your life, how important he is. With a few simple words, you can make your old man feel like a million bucks.
Honor Your Graduate
Your grad’s commencement ceremony might have been postponed to a later date due to the coronavirus, but you can still make them feel accomplished when they finish school. After all, graduating is about the journey and celebrating milestones — a diploma is just the cherry on top. We’ve compiled a list of graduation party ideas as well as gifts that will remind your grad how proud you are of all their achievements and hard work.
Plan A Photoshoot Party
Create some DIY decorations or order them online to make an exciting photo backdrop. Set up some 2020 balloons with fringe and star garland, have your grad put on their cap and gown, and start snapping some fun pictures for them to post on Instagram! You can also use these photos as graduation announcements for their eventual ceremony. For even more unique graduation party ideas, check out our article about honoring your graduate.
Build A Graduation Memory Wreath
Print photos of your grad from the different eras of their life all the way up to now. Take a trip through memory lane with this crafty photo wreath from DIY Beautify and give it to your grad on their last day of school. This graduation gift will keep their moments alive.
Create A Future Mood Board
After that blast from the past of reminiscing through old pictures, get brainstorming and make a post-graduation mood board filled with their hopes and dreams for the future. Get them excited and inspired about their new beginning.
And Finally… The Graduation Gifts
Whether it’s a personalized senior year photo book, a wad of cash, or passed on wisdom for the future, your special graduate is going to love any graduation gift you give them. Let them know how proud you are with these thoughtful graduation gift ideas.
Wedding for Two
There is a silver lining to planning a wedding amid the coronavirus. Your wedding can be simpler and more intimate. It will be nice to relieve the pressure of stressful wedding preparations so you can just focus on celebrating on the person you love. You can still send out wedding invitations, but like many other events, stream your wedding online! You will still be able to see all those faces on the screen of the people who have loved and supported your relationship. It’s not ideal, but desperate times call for inventive measures.
Move your Baby Shower Online
If you are a mom-to-be, you can plan a virtual baby shower in lieu of in-person gatherings. It’s different, but the intent is the same — to celebrate you and your baby. Your friends and family want to show you their support because they are just as excited to welcome your baby into the world.
- Get people in the spirit and send out personalized baby shower invitations. Your friends and family will be thrilled to have a solution when everyone can’t be physically together.
- Set up a registry. A lot of moms out there already prefer online baby registries. It’s a quick and easy way to make sure you have everything you’ll need once the baby arrives. Attendees can also send their baby shower gifts prior to the party so you can open them on camera.
- Decorate the space. This is optional but decorations will help you feel more festive.
- Plan games and activities. You can have your guests play guess the number of jelly beans, baby photo guessing games, or baby song trivia!
Virtual Birthday Party Ideas
If you or someone you love has a birthday coming up, here are some virtual birthday party ideas that you can plan for:
- Use video calling as a platform for a surprise. Invite a friend to what they think is a one-on-one video call and have a virtual surprise party waiting with their loved ones.
- Send out custom birthday invitations to make it feel more like a typical birthday party. The “address” on the invites can be the invite link to the video conference.
- Plan for activities that include screen sharing so everyone can participate in such as karaoke, dance parties, drinking games, and charades.
- Pick your favorite birthday party theme and have everyone go all out. Some options are the Roaring 20’s, masks and mimosas, ugly sweaters — the possibilities are endless.
Final Thoughts On Planning Events During Coronavirus
As a community, we need to support one another by spreading kindness, generosity, and love. Stay connected by initiating a video chat with your friends and family, let them know your support is available, if needed. This support can take a variety of forms. It could be tangible — having your mom’s favorite Mother’s Day brunch delivered to her house or surprising your grandpa with some personalized Father’s Day gifts. It might be emotional — writing a heartfelt card to your favorite graduate or mom-to-be.
Even if your plans have changed, go ahead and create those save-the-dates, baby shower invitations, and birthday cards because we can always invent new ways of celebrating those special moments. Life under coronavirus can be uncertain and vulnerable. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Be human. Take care of yourself and others — we’re all in this together, even if it’s from a distance.
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