I’ve wanted to host a Favorite Things Party ever since I learned about it a couple of years ago.  It’s a party where everyone brings one of their favorite items at a certain price, and brings multiples of the item to share with everyone at the party.  I envisioned the party in February, when the weather is dreary, the days are short and the theme of the month is hearts.  So, this February I finally threw the party and it could not have been more fun!

Since it was my first time throwing a party of its kind and I’ve had years to think about this, here are the party plans that made it a hit:

Invites – I wanted to keep it small since it was my first time hosting this type of party and I wasn’t sure how it would all work.  But, I knew I definitely wanted paper invites to send in the mail.  I love paper invitations – I love sending and receiving them!  I think they are a great way to set the tone (and build excitement) for the party.  Plus, who doesn’t love receiving something in the mail that isn’t a bill!  I love Paperless Post for sending e-invitations because they are unique and great designs.  I was so excited when I learned you can now make paper invitations from their great selection.  I found the cutest design (with a little heart) and added details/instructions for the party on the additional card that was typically used for the Response Card.  It was super easy to create it exactly how I wanted!  I was so excited when they arrived in the mail in an elegant box.  I loved how they turned out…and my guests did too!

Décor – I’m not big into Valentine’s Day, but I thought hearts were the perfect accent to a Favorite Things Party.  Since the party was in February, there was no shortage of hearts to be found.  Lately, I’ve really been loving gold and pink, so my décor focused around gold, pink and hearts!  I found most of my party décor from Hobby Lobby, World Market, Michaels, Target and Paper Source.  I created a cute banner for the table where everyone displayed their Favorite Things (banner from Target and added gold letters from Hobby Lobby).  I knew I wanted some dimension and interesting ways for everyone to display their Favorite Things, so I pulled together some pieces of woods on top of coffee cups to create displays.  With some fresh flowers, the Favorite Things table was a great display for everyone’s favorite finds.  The wall art above my couch is typically white frames without anything in them.  Occasionally, I will add decoration to the frames depending on the holiday.  It was the perfect space to bring the heart theme into the living room!  I made the displays from materials found at Hobby Lobby (letters), World Market (tin heart), Target (pink tags and ribbon), and Paper Source (glass hearts).

Favorite Things – There are a couple of different ways you can do this. After seeing comments from other people who hosted this type of party, I decided that $10 was the max per item and each guest was instructed to bring 3 of that item. We then put numbers into a bowl (3 each of the same number) and then each person drew a number from a separate bowl. That number was the order in which you described your favorite thing and then drew 3 numbers (each had to be different number and could not be their own). With 8 people, this didn’t work exactly how I wanted because at the end one person was left with 3 of the same thing and we had to do our own exchange.  The other way you can do it is have 3 rounds where everyone selects their own items that they want. You do this 3 different times.  I envisioned this works better for bigger groups.  Regardless, we had great Favorite Things and it was fun to hear why each girl chose that item.  Some of the Favorite Things included:

• Rifle Paper Co. Notebooks (set of 3)
• Cupcakes from a lesser known cupcake shop in town – Confectionnaires
• $5 Starbucks Gift Card with travel coffee mug
• Homemade banners
• Perfume samples from Ambre a locally made perfume
• Rachael Ray’s Bench Scrape Kitchen Shovel and Sharpie

I wanted each guest to have a cute bag to put their new things in, so I found these cute gold polka-dot canvas bags from Hobby Lobby and added some embellishments with a tag with their initial, tassel and an arrow.  They turned out great and was a nice surprise for my guests!

The party was so much fun!  I am already planning one for next year and hope to have an annual party.  Because who doesn’t love a reason to get together with your girlfriends and get great gifts that may be your new favorite thing!

Do you have any tips, tricks, or ideas for a favorite things party that isn’t listed above? If so, I would love to hear about it!! Leave a comment below and let me know. I would love some additional ideas for next year’s party.