Monday, September 2, 2013

How to Host a My Favorite Things Party

Back in July, my friend and I hosted a My Favorite Things party. It was basically just an excuse to have a girls night (I'm always looking for an excuse), but the exchange ended up being a total hit. Clearly, I love talking about My Favorite Things and turns out everyone else does, too.
If everyone is far apart, check out these virtual games to play on Zoom.

(1) Pick a Theme

We did a basic two
color theme, but I know other parties did themes like "brown paper packages tied up with string." I did colors because I'm lazy. I purposely picked colors that matched the decorations I already had around my house. Beyond that, I just bought matching napkins and cups.

(2) Send Out Invites

I used Pingg (free) because I prefer it over Evite (here's why). Just make sure you select the free options while creating your invite. Here's my invite below. Read the bottom half of the invitation to get an idea of how the exchange works. SEE FREE INVITATION DOWNLOAD INFORMATION ON THE CAPTION BELOW! :)
If you "Like" our Facebook page, you can download the free invitation file HERE (in Word format so you can change the information, colors, etc). If you don't have Facebook, you can also comment below or e-mail us and we'll send you the invitation file.

(3) Make Party Favors (Optional)

My fabulous co-host made cute bags (using this printable) and included (among other goodies) a pen/paper so people could take notes on items they wanted but didn't get.

(4) Pick Up a Few Party Essentials

Plates, cups, napkins, silverware. I also made English Triflespa water, and sparking raspberry lemonade (1 can frozen raspberry lemonade, 3 cups (24 oz) Sprite, 4 cups water, ice, and some freshly crushed raspberries--Serves 8-12). We had guests bring their favorite dessert or appetizer so we had SO much food. We encouraged people to exchange treats before leaving.

(5) Set up

Like I said, most of my decorations were things I already had. My co-host also made some adorable banners using paint sample cards and tied some bows around mason jars. In addition to a food table, I had one area next to the entrance where guests dropped off their three "Favorite" items, wrote their name on three pieces of paper, and added them to a bowl. I had some sweet tunes playing (I actually created a playlist so we didn't have to listen to awkward Pandora ads in the middle of the party), but you could only hear the music during the "Favorite Things" presentation. We were a chatty group.

(6) Party

I encouraged people to start in on the food right away (partially because we were running out of places to put goodies). Once the guests had a chance to mingle for a good while, we handed out the party bags and started the exchange. I presented my "Favorite Item" first, then gave each guest a turn. Each guest introduced herself, introduced her item, then drew three names out of the bowl to find out who the big winners were. But like in Miss Congeniality, we were "all winners" because everyone scored three new favorite things.
One corner of the crew--we had about two dozen ladies total.

"What should I bring for $5 or less?"


I brought the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (love that stuff--best nail top coat ever, usually $10, but get it for less than $5 with free shipping from Amazon here). Some other items brought (to get your creative juices flowing):
- Someone brought the Kiera Knightly Pride & Prejudice DVD (good one, huh?). You can actually get quite a few DVDs on Amazon for $5 or less (e.g. While You Were Sleeping, The Notebook, Grease or The Holiday.) 
- Yogurtland gift card cutely wrapped in yogurt cup and cellophane
- Super-fancy water bottle
- Groupon for a photobook
- Dry shampoo (brought by a couple different ladies--I'm sure my husband would be relieved to hear I'm not the only girl who doesn't wash her hair everyday).
- Various Trader Joe's goodies (Everything from sunscreen to Apricot preserves)
- Homemade deliciousness (e.g. granola bars, caramel popcorn)
- Burt's Bees lip balm

And that's it! If you have any questions, shoot me a comment below.
My begging-to-be-pinned image:
 
Share - What would you have brought to this "Favorite Things" party?

What other themed parties have you loved hosting or attending?

50 comments:

  1. this is such a great idea! I want to do this! I'd love your word file! melodykuhre@gmail.com!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome, Melody! Thanks for liking our FB Page. I sent the file to you via FB. Let me know if you have any issues with it--good luck with your party! :)

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  2. Lisa, you amaze me. I'm loving this blog!!! Definitely want the file por favor :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey, Christine! I sent the file to you. Thanks for sharing the link--you're stellar!

      Delete
  3. Love this how to!! I think favorite things parties are so fun!

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  4. Love this, the colors too:-) I would love the file, please.

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  5. Love this, the colors too:-) I would love the file, please.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Shari, your profile doesn't have an e-mail address linked to it, so I'd love to send you the file. If you could e-mail us at contact moneyhipmamas.com so we can reply with the file, I would love to send it to you! Glad you like the colors. :)

      Delete
  6. I just love this idea! What a fun idea for the guests to bring a few of their favorite things. I'm definitely going to have to throw a "My favorite things" party.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment! Let us know how your party goes! :)

      Delete
  7. Could you please send me the file with invites, etc? I'm trying to figure out how to do this with my Girl's Youth Group. But I don't want to ask them to spend ANY money. Share ideas and favorite places and things without buying them. Got to make it creative and fun.

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  8. LOVE LOVE the word file. Please send to me. :) monica.robinson72@yahoo.com
    Blessings,
    Monica

    ReplyDelete
  9. would love the word file of this invite autumnmarkley@yahoo.com

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  10. I would love the word file of this invite. I am going to do it in Christmas colors. I do have a question...do I upload the whole word file to pingg? This site is new to me. Thanks! jennifer.sicilian@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Word file sent! I actually took a screen shot of my computer (with the Word file open), pasted it into a paint file, and cropped the image down to just the invitation. I saved that Paint file (so it's saved as an image) and then uploaded that to Pingg.

      Good luck with your party!

      Delete
  11. I would love the file for the invite! Thinking of having one of these next month! So cute! Thanks!

    amyjkretchman@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I would love the file too. This is all oh so perfect!!! My email is melstoker@msn.com!! YOu rock! Thanks so muches!!!

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  13. I would love the file ealymae@yahoo.com thanks

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  14. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! Please share. jennieraemk@gmail.com

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  15. I would love to have the file. We are having a party on 2/22! We can't wait!
    ntkistler@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. Could you please send me the file with invites? rmelendez73@att.net

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  18. Can you tell me what else were in the favor bags besides the pen and notepad? I've wanted to host one of these parties forever, you did a great job! I would love the invite file too please!

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    Replies
    1. We did pretty low key favors--bags of yummy European chocolates (my co-host had a ton of them). The bags were mostly so our guests had something to take home their "prizes" in. I'd love to send you the file, Taryn. Could you e-mail us your e-mail address? Our e-mail is shown on the top right of the sidebar. Thanks!

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  19. Love this! May I have the invite file too?!? My email addy is shareese1977@hotmail.com. Thank you in advance!

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  20. Hey Lisa!! Will you please send me the invite file? Hope you're well!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hosting my second favorite things party this year and would love to use your documents. Could you possibly send the file to mskewalker@yahoo.com

    Thank you!

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  22. Can you please send your documents to zakiyyahsteinfeld@ gmail.com? I love this idea! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love this idea! Can you please send the files to kimberannw@hotmail.com ? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I just liked your Facebook page. Could you please send the invite file to Kas09g@my.fsu,edu?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just sent it. Shoot us a FB message if you don't get it. Thanks for the FB like!

      Delete
  25. I liked your page and would love a copy of this invitation. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Love your invitation. Can't find the download. Would you please send me the file.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love your invitation. Can't find the download. Would you please send me the file.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love this invitation and all that goes with it. Can't find the download. Would you please send me the file. Thanks so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here is it. Enjoy!
      pages.moneyhipmamas.com/FavoriteThingsPartyInvitation.docx

      Delete
  29. Thank you for all of this great info! I tried to find the file on your Facebook page, but I must be overlooking it. Would love for you to send it to me if it is still available (nickearns723@gmail.com). Thanks so much!

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    Replies
    1. Nevermind ... I saw the link above and used that, but since I don't have Microsoft Word (I have Open Office), it doesn't load properly. :/

      Delete
  30. Would you please email me the invitation file? Tried downloading it but said there was an error. bmmabe1084@gmail.com
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Would love to have a copy of the invitation file please! My mommy group is getting ready to host a favorite things lunch and your invite is the best I've seen! Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's the link. Good luck!
      http://pages.moneyhipmamas.com/FavoriteThingsPartyInvitation.docx

      Delete

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