Love It : How to Throw a Favorite Things Party

We love gathering our girlfriends for conversation, good food and a little fun! It’s easy to host a ‘Favorite Things’ party and with a few tips and tricks, you’ll be ready to invite a handful of friends over to exchange goodies in no time. In a nut shell, each guest brings multiples of one of her favorite things to exchange for the same number of other guests’ favorite things.

• Mark your calendar and pick a theme

  Because this is a low key party it is perfectly suited to any day of the week. A Tuesday, a Friday or a Sunday for brunch – pick the day that works best with your schedule. Then choose a theme. “Love it” was our most recent but for Halloween think “No tricks, just treats!” or even specific to a genre like “spa” or “kitchen”.

• Make a guest list

  We’ve found that 8 to 12 people is the perfect number of friends to invite. It keeps conversation lively and you’ll still get to visit with everyone. 
  

• Set your numbers

  I’ve attended four favorite things parties and each had a different dollar value and a different number of items to bring – for example, you could ask your guests to bring 5 items in the $5 range, or 3 items in the $10 range, or whatever works for your guests budgets. The key is that everyone spends in the same range and each guest brings multiples of just one thing.

• Plan and Prep

  Plan your menu and prep your party space

• Divvy it up

  There are MANY ways to exchange the goodies. Our Love It party was the most stress free and easy method I’ve used so far. Each guest brought three items so each guest wrote her name on three pieces of paper and put them in a bowl. Before we were ready to exchange, two people then sorted the piles into sets of three. One person drew the names (without looking) and the second screened the sets to make sure there were no duplicates. Then each set of three names (or the same number of items that each guest brought) was placed face down on the counter. Leave them for the time being.

• Make the Exchange

  One of the hostesses should go first to set the tone. She’ll gather her items and collect a set of name papers, explain why she chose her item as one of her favorites, and then read the names she collected. Those are the guests that will go home with the items she chose. (Clear as mud?) The next person goes, and the next and so on. Presorting the names helps it from getting wonky or off kilter – which at all three other parties I’ve hosted or attended, has happened.

It’s so fun to see the things your friends bring and try some new goodies. At our Love It party, we had quite a selection of really fun things:

• A Flavor Infuser Water Tumbler: Sorbus® Flavor Infuser Tumbler
• Linen Napkins with a crochet trim like these: 1 Dozen Ecru Scalloped Crochet Lace Dinner Napkins
• LUSH Bath Bombs and Face Mask like this: LUSH – Mask Of Magnaminty 125g and Butterball Bath Bomb by LUSH
• COACH Roll On Perfume similar to this: Coach Love by Coach For Women Eau De Parfum 0.20oz/6ml Rollerball (Roll On) New in Box
• Boxed note cards from Target – we found these online: Eiffel Tower Boxed Thank You Notes
• Cucina Counter Top Spray
• Evian Mineral Water Spray
• A letter press card, Le Pen , and Orangina Sparkling Citrus Beverage with Pulp – 4 Glass Bottles – (Pack of 2)
• L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream
• and eos Organic Lip Balm Sphere

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