Okay, friends! I've had lots of you ask me how to throw a Favorite Things party after I hosted one last week. You can have a My Favorite Things party any time of the year, but I think it's extra fun at Christmas (however, now my girlfriends want to do a Valentine's Day version as well, which I think would be just as fun!) Just a disclaimer, this is how I throw my parties...not the right way to do it. I've heard of other ways to distribute the gifts, but thought this was the most interactive!
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:
- Friends!
- Send out an invitation (I did one online...Minted has such cute ones). I'll give you the verbiage below.
- Party snacks. I did small bite apps and desserts + wine and sparkling juice.
- Create a questionnaire for friends to fill out upon arrival.
- Paper cut into small rectangles for friends to write their name on when they arrive.
- Music, of course!
- Finally, your Christmas decorations ;)
YOUR INVITATION: here's what mine said as a sample!
Hi friends! Join us for our second annual My Favorite Things Christmas Party and enjoy apps, desserts, drinks, gifts & friends!
Everyone should come to the party with 3 of the SAME gifts wrapped. Each gift should be around $10. These gifts can be something you love and want to share with others-- something you consider one of your "favorite things". For example, last year I brought 3 Mrs. Meyer soap sets. Other gifts last year were mugs, a Christmas recipe with the ingredients piled into a cute jar, favorite nail polishes, socks, a journal, paints, etc.
At the party we will exchange gifts and everyone will leave with 3 gifts! Hooray!
* You'll want to make sure the directions are clear in the invitation, since it's important everyone brings their gifts and sticks to whatever price limit you come up with. Of course, you don't have to have everyone bring THREE gifts, I just feel like that's the most fun and still doable. You could have everyone bring 2 gifts that are $15-20 limit. Some people I know set even larger budgets sometimes...just do what you think your guest list is comfortable with. It is amazing what you can get for $10, though!
Okay, so once the party day has come around, here's what you'll do...
As people enter the party, I have them fill out this fun questionnaire. They fill it out, with no name, and then stash it in the bowl to use later at the party.
Next to this bowl is
another bowl with small pieces of paper for guests to write their name on 3 times (the number of times they write their name will correlate with the number of gifts each person brings). Throw their names in the bowl for later as well.
Finger foods are always nice at these types of gatherings, especially because our place is small and there's not a bunch of seating for everyone. I grabbed a variety pack of delicious desserts from Trader Joe's that had these waffle cone pieces, almond snaps, chocolate crunch cookies and other fun things. Then I got an order of Nothing Bundt Cake mini's that I cut in half (I find they get eaten more if they're cut in half...shy friends of mine ;)) My friend brought these delicious chocolate, nut and berry bites and another friend brought white chocolate covered pretzels with peppermint.
For apps I got Trader Joe's feta cheese and onion bites (OH MY GOSH, best ever if you haven't had these! Everyone thinks they're homemade, too!) I also put out my go-to app which is a block of cream cheese with pepper jelly poured over it and an assortment of crackers and bread to eat it with. I put out grapes on the same cracker plate and then a friend brought a great, simple veggie tray. That got eaten up quick!
Okay, back to the party! Have all your guests put their three gifts around the tree or wherever they'll fit in the house. And after some mingling, it's time to gather everyone up!
As the host, I start by picking one of the questionnaire's out of the bowl and reading the answers the person chose. My friends are listening and at the end of reading it, they all have to guess WHO those answers belong to! Once the person is identified, that is the person who will first pass out their gifts! They choose 3 names (or however many gifts each person brings) and pass out their gifts. On the count of 3, those with gifts open them and then the gift-giver explains to the group why that's one of their favorite things. Usually at this point, everyone is passing around the gifts to get a better look :)
Now the person who just distributed their gifts reads the next questionnaire. Once people guess who's it is, that person then draws her three names and passes out her gifts. The cycle continues until everyone goes!
We had some amazing wrap jobs this year! One friend even tied on "a few of my favorite things" on the label. Another of my bff's (who's gifts you can see behind the white ones) did different plaid papers and ribbons with greenery and a carnation tied on top. I mean, WOW!!
Alright, so I bet you're wondering what gifts were given at around a $10 budget! Here's the whole list:
+ Journal + coffee mug with assorted tea bags
+ Famous seasoning she uses on everything + bath bomb + favorite chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery
+ Magnolia Journal + Mrs. Meyers pine hand soap
+ Christmas Cacti
+ Gold triangle earrings
+ Mug + dark chocolate + a Starbucks card
+ Fun socks
+ Mini bottle of champagne + bath salts
+ Journal + favorite candle
+ Beanie + wool socks
+ A copper mug with the ingredients to make a Hot Toddy
+ And I brought my favorite Trader Joe's candle (because I love candles that smell like baking), Ghirardelli milk chocolate and caramel squares (because I'm from the SF Bay Area and that's where Ghirardelli is located!) and of course, a little Beautycounter hand lotion (because it's safe for your body and smells amazing + moisturizes so well!)
I think I answered all of the questions, but let me know if you have any others! It's such a fun time because you get to hang out with girlfriends and get to know them even more. Again, you don't have to have a holiday theme. I've seen these parties be thrown at random times through the year, for different friend groups to get people to know each other more and I've seen a friend host one of these parties for the women in her neighborhood and I thought that was such a fun idea. This group of friends I hosted for were all the girl leaders for the youth group at our church. I've grown close to lots of them over the years, so it's a great time!!
Let me know if you throw a My Favorite Things party and if you have in the past, tell me how you did it!
xoxo
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