FAVORITE THINGS PARTY
How to Throw a Favorite Things Party
If you love getting together with friends, discovering new must-have items, and leaving with some fun goodies, a Favorite Things Party is the perfect excuse to host a night in! Here’s how to plan one and make it a fun, stress-free experience for everyone. I’ve seen various ways and price points, but this is my personal favorite way to host a Favorite Things Party!
Rules for Your Guests
Set a Budget – I recommend keeping it around $20-$25 per item, but you can adjust based on what works for your group.
How Many to Bring – Each guest selects one favorite item within the set price range and brings three of that same item. You can also choose to have guests bring two instead—it’s flexible, but be clear on the invite.
Gifts Should Be Unwrapped – This makes it easier to see what’s available and speeds up the choosing process.
No White Elephant Style – No stealing! Unlike traditional gift swaps, everyone will get to pick their favorite new items instead of risking ending up with something they don’t want or already own.
Invitation Wording + Example
Make it clear what your guests need to bring! Here’s a simple invitation example:
🎉 Join Me for a Favorite Things Party! 🎉
Bring: 3 of the same item, priced around $25 each – something you LOVE!
You’ll go home with 3 new favorite things!
Snacks, drinks & fun provided. Can’t wait to see you there! ✨
📍 [Insert date, time, and location]
📩 RSVP by [date]
You can create a cute invite on Canva or even just send a group text with these details!
How It Works at the Party
When guests arrive, have them place their items on a display table.
Go around the room, and each person shares why they love their item.
Each guest picks a number out of a hat—this determines the order of choosing.
When it’s their turn, they get to select one item from the table.
Redraw numbers for each round.
Repeat until everyone has picked three items!
Do’s and Don’ts
✅ Do’s:
✔ Set a clear budget so everyone is on the same page.
✔ Encourage guests to select one really good item they personally love and bring multiples.
✔ Make it fun with drinks, snacks, and a cozy atmosphere.
✔ Let guests choose their items so they go home with things they’re excited about.
❌ Don’ts:
✖ Don’t wrap the gifts – seeing everything makes picking easier.
✖ Don’t do a white elephant-style swap where items can be stolen.
✖ Don’t make the price range too high—it should be accessible for everyone.
✖ Don’t set the price range too low. Choosing a reasonable budget helps ensure that the gifts are high-quality and feel like a special treat rather than everyday items.
✖ Avoid bringing a goody bag with multiple small items. While thoughtful, these often don’t have the same impact as one carefully chosen favorite item and tend to be picked last.
Favorite GIFT ideas:
If you’re stuck on what to bring, here are some tried-and-true favorite items that have been a hit at past parties:
I've found that the most successful items are things that feel like a little luxury—something people might have had their eye on but haven’t treated themselves to yet. For example, a candle warmer is a fantastic gift because it’s useful, but not necessarily something someone would think to buy for themselves.
On the other hand, I don’t recommend bringing a goody bag filled with multiple small items. While it might seem like a fun idea, these tend to feel like everyday purchases rather than a special treat, and they’re often chosen last. A single, well-thought-out item tends to make a bigger impact!
A Favorite Things Party is all about fun, friends, and discovering new things you’ll love! Have you ever hosted one or attended one? Let me know your favorite item you’d bring! ✨
Fairy Themed Third Birthday
Here is a big recap of my daughters 3rd fairy-themed birthday party that we hosted in our backyard. A huge thank you to Parties by DD for the arch balloon backdrop, balloon arch on the bounce house, and the kids table decor. The photos are by AJ Photography, cookies are by Barkley Rd Bakery and I’ll do a giant link of products at the bottom of the post.
WINGS, CROWNS AND HEADBANDS TO WEAR AND TAKE HOME
MAKE YOUR OWN FAIRY GARDEN
FAIRY TATTOOS & GLITTER HAIRSPRAY
FAIRY SCAVENGER HUNT
CAKE AND COOKIES
VENDORS (in the Atlanta, GA area)
Parties by DD - Balloon backdrop, balloon arch for bounce house, kids table decor
Photographer - AJ Photography
Cookies by Barkley Rd Bakery
GENERAL DECOR:
Plastic sign holders
Quinnies Enchanted Forest sign - made by me and a friend with scrap wood and vinyl
SCAVENGER HUNT:
MAKE YOUR OWN FAIRY GARDEN
Plant Saucers
Dirt - bought the cheapest bag of dirt they sold from Home Depot
Plastic fairies, trees, houses and fairy signs from Dollar Tree
Moss
Pinecones and sticks are from my own yard
FAIRY TATTOOS
Sponges from the Dollar Tree
Tiny Trashcan from the Dollar Tree
OUTFITS:
MUSIC THEMED FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY
I had a blast hosting family and friends for Quinnies first birthday party! It was by far the biggest group of people I’ve hosted and the most decor I’ve ever made. I DIY’d a bunch of items since I wanted a music themed party with pink, silver and orange. Every time I tried to find music party decor it was always in black and red so I had to make my own!
I kept the food super simple since I was spending the majority of my time prepping the house with decor. For food I didn’t want anything that had to stay hot or cold and I needed to accommodate both meat eaters and vegans. Because of this, I did a make your own sandwich bar with vegan and regular meat, cheese, and condiment options. I also had a relish tray, fruit, pre-made dips, and potato salad. For drinks I had sweet tea, OJ, Processco, Beer, water, and punch. For dessert I made two kinds of cupcakes - this box funfetti cake with vanilla icing, and this recipe for an AMAZING vegan chocolate cake.
I always want to have activities for everyone to do so we had a “decorate your own maraca station” with stickers, a temporary tattoo station with music themed tattoos, a bounce house in the front yard, and our playroom was open to use as well.
The goody bags were tailored to each child because some kids were older, some were toddlers, and we even had some infants. I collected packs of stuff here and there for MONTHS, always popped into the Dollar Tree every time they changed seasons, and bought stuff all over the internet. I had SO much fun making each bag for each child.
Let’s be honest, decor was my main focus! I spent months making the ceiling streamers, the backdrop, the highchair streamers, the custom cupcake face toppers, and shopping around collecting items that matched the theme.
To see how I made the fringe backdrop from plastic tablecloths, click here.
To see how I made the ceiling streamers, click here.
Everything I could find is linked here:
Stickers to decorate maracas from Dollar Tree, similar linked here
Temporary Tattoos (here, here, and here) I removed any that weren’t age/theme appropriate.
Party favor bags, similar linked her
Pastel Sprinkles, similar linked here
Smiley Face Confetti - Dollar Tree but similar linked here
