"favorite things" party

Back in the beginning of August, as sort of an "unofficial' birthday party for myself, I threw a "Favorite Things" party.

I'm sure by now most of you know what a  "Favorite Things" party is, right? They've been going on for a few years now, the oldest I've been able to find on Pinterest is from 2011; but since Pinterest didn't even start up until Spring of 2010, there could have been many much more before that. ;)

As much as I love real paper invites, I went with an Evite because, let's face it, people suck at replying to an RSVP, and I feel like you've got a better chance when it's electronic.

There are several different ways that you can go about this, but being a frugal and budget-conscious person, I tried to keep it manageable for my guests. The Evite read: 

"Hey ladies, I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a girl's night in! So let's all get together and share some of our favorite things! 

Think of something you LOVE (under $5). Bring THREE of that item; we'll draw names and everyone will go home with THREE new favorite things! 

Please also bring a favorite appetizer or dessert to share!"

My hope was that at $15 total for the items, and whatever money they might spend on a treat to share, that $20 would be the max spent and that would be a comfortable amount for anyone.

It was fun having everyone bring in their favorite (or one of their many favorites!) goodies to share. I had simple kraft paper signs for people to fill out so we could see who brought what. I shared artichoke and jalapeno dip (From Costco! SOOOO good! Thanks to my sister-in-law, Rachel for introducing me!) and also a chocolate cake. :) I LOVE chocolate cake... seriously.

Thinking about it as I type this is making my mouth water.

It was funny, most people brought savory goodies to share! Everyone kept commenting on how surprised they were. 

The color scheme was aqua with yellow (my two favorites!) and I kept decor really simple. Just some bright yellow blooms in some of my favorite aqua containers (Ikea SOCKER vases, which unfortunately I don't think they sell anymore) and a few white and yellow tissue paper poms hanging above the table.

I already had my gorgeous aqua mason jars and some bright yellow straws (also from Ikea!).

Since a couple of my favorite things are relaxing and making my own bath products, I had a little station set up to make some to take home. 8 oz. jars from Ball's Platinum Collection made for beautiful and simple containers for homemade bath salts. I had out Epsom salts, lavender, oatmeal, and essential oils for people to create their own blend. I think it was a fun activity to do together, and I hope people had fun with it!

Other than eating, making baths salts, and lots of talking, we of course also had the favorite things exchange, but of course, I completely forgot to take pictures of everything and only got a few of them!
Epic fail.

Here were the items that we exchanged:

• Tan towel
• Essie nail polish
• Aladdin water bottle
• Bath and Body Works foaming soap
• Yogi herbal tea
• Eos lip blam
• Cute knee high socks
• A gift card to a local frozen yogurt shop
• Haagen Dazs strawberry ice cream
• Favorite lotion
• Favorite hand soap
• A necklace
• Favorite candy

 I had a great time, and I hope everyone else did too! I think this might become a yearly tradition! :)


**Link contain affiliates, which means if you click on them and end up buying something, I receive a small percentage, at no extra cost to you! And by small, I mean really minuscule. Like, probably not even enough for a postage stamp.


Linked to: Organized 31, Lamberts Lately, Polkadots on Parade