My Favorite Things Celebration

Host a “My Favorite Things” party this holiday season in “Oprah Style”. You can invite as many friends as you want or you can choose to keep the group relatively small. Start with invitations and party packs like these from the Sweet Bee Design or The Homespun Hostess. Swag bags can be prepared using these free printables. You can also ask each person to bring their favorite dessert or appetizer to share. Then decide how you want to organize it by trying one of these three suggestions.

1) Here’s how a favorite things party works: everyone picks ONE of their favorite items and brings THREE of that same item to share (costing around $10 each) and everyone goes home with three new things to try out. Think your favorite makeup primer, your favorite nail polish, your favorite candle, your favorite cookie recipe (bring 3 batches in a cute container to give out), your favorite hair product. The ideas are endless. Once the girls get there, have them write their name on three tickets and put their names in a bowl. Then have each girl tell everyone a little something about their favorite thing and then draw three of these tickets out of a bowl and those named on the tickets get to go home with that item. Everyone loves these parties and they turn out to be a great success for ladies night with some mingling over cocktails and appetizers.

2) Set up a fun table with name cards so that when the guests arrive at the party there is a place for the favorite things.  Don’t wrap the gifts so that they are easy to see. Spend the first hour chatting and eating and then the fun really starts. The host kicks things off by sharing the item she brought. She tells a little bit about it and why it’s one of her favorite things. Then one by one the guests go to the front of the room and share a little about their favorite item. After each person has had a minute to share their favorites the shopping begins. Now the guests will know what everyone brought and have an idea of something they’d love to take home. Start at one end of the room and one by one go to the table and pick an item. After everyone has had a turn to pick one thing, start at the other end of the room and each guest picks something else. Each person usually gets at least one thing they really want.

3) Make your favorite things party like a traditional gift exchange. Have each guest bring one of their favorite things (maybe with a higher price tag) and then exchanged in secret santa form by drawing numbers. Examples could be a favorite magazine subscriptions, plush robe, best sunscreen/skin care products, rare wine, stunning scarf, pretty tea set, or a useful gift card.