This weekend I hosted a “Favorite Things Party,” and they just may be my new favorite kind of party ~
I loved that it was super easy to host, really fun, and everyone left with a couple of great gifts. I wanted to share some of the details, plus some of my favorite things in case anyone is looking for last-minute gifts!
If you haven’t heard of the “Favorite Things” party theme before, the idea is that each guest brings a few of their favorite things (candles, lip gloss, etc), then they go home with the same number of items from other guests. You set the budget and number of items beforehand. There are a few ways to play. I’ll share how what we did below and a couple other ways as well.
It was so fun that I think we will make it a yearly tradition!
How to play:
There’s a few different ways to play but I’ll share what we did first. Everyone brought 2 gifts wrapped and we exchanged the first round White Elephant style, or some call it Dirty Santa. You’re probably familiar with this but its basically where each guest draws a number from a bowl and takes turns choosing gifts in numerical order. You can choose to open a new gift, or steal someone else’s. The unwrapping is the best part because the person who brought the gift then shares WHY it’s their favorite. The rules can vary but we played where everyone went around once, and then the first person (who picked #1) had the last chance to steal.
For the next round, everyone picked a name out of a bag and received the second gift from that person. Since some gifts were different it was fun to see even more favorite things. And everyone left with 2 new gifts!
Another way to play, which works well for a smaller group, is that everyone buys the same of their favorite thing for each guest. I think this would be really fun for a group of 4-5 with each gift in a smaller budget.
Another thing I love about a Favorite Things party is that it is a great way to get know your guests more + discover some new things. We all have our favorite things and I loved seeing what everyone else brought!
What to serve:
I set up a “Bubbly Bar” filled with champagne, prosecco, and lots of non-alcoholic sparkling options as well. My go-to’s this season have been Pomegranate Punch and Sparkling Cranberry Ginger from Trader Joe’s. They are both great on their own and for mixing with spirits. Lots of desserts and a festive charcuterie board (details on Instagram!) which were easy to put together.
Danny loved helping me set up… and crashing the party later hah. Thank you Ashlee for capturing these photos for us while we were getting ready ~ PS. I know it’s late this year but I WILL have my holiday house tour post coming shortly!
Here are a few of my favorite things that would make great gifts (most are quick ship ~)
