Party Favors for Everyone!

by Becky Doland

Party favors - I love giving them and I love receiving them. They are a fun way to thank your guests for coming, and can also serve a dual purpose as decorations. Here are some suggestions you can use:

For New Year’s Eve, Bridal Shower, Wedding, or any festive celebration use chocolate champagne bottles. I have seen these in small sizes – about 5 inches tall, wrapped in foil. Set these here and there along your buffet table as decorations. Let your guests take them home at the end of the party. As a compliment to these, a large chocolate champagne bottle trimmed in ribbon curls and streamers makes a great centerpiece.

For just about any occasion, fill small terra cotta flowerpots with a small seasonal plant, herb, or tiny bloom. Cut fabric strips and use them to tie bows around the pots. For Christmas use a holiday patterned fabric and fill the pots with ivy or rosemary. For a bridal shower, use strips of white tulle for the bows and fill the pots with flowering herbs. Set the pots along the buffet, on tables, etc.

Craft store and wedding supply stores carry place cards that are actually tiny picture frames. At your next party take lots of pictures, making certain to get a shot of each of your guests. Put these photos in the place card picture frames at the very next party where those guests are present. Again, use them as decorations on your tables. These are a great conversation piece, and your guests will be tickled at finding their pictures. Let each guest take their picture home.

If you’re a wiz in the kitchen, food gifts also make nice party favors. Make a batch of homemade jam or jelly, sealing it in small, pretty jelly jars. Trim a pretty basket with ribbons and flowers and fill it with the jars. Set this next to your door and as each guest leaves present them with a jar to take home. In place of jelly you could fill the jars with homemade relish, BBQ sauce, whatever you like to make. Or make two or three different items and let your guests have their pick. This also works with small bundles of candy, cookies, or tea loaves.

You can also come up with party favors that are specific to the group you’re entertaining. For teenage girls tie narrow ribbon around bottles of nail polish. You can even match the colors of the polish to the paper plates and napkins you’re using – silver, blue, pink, etc. Or fill pencil cups with pens and pencils with big, feathery flowers on the ends of them and use them for centerpieces. Each girl gets to pick one to take home. For a fan club luncheon go back to the place card picture frame idea, filling them with small photos of the favored celebrity. A book club? Place a pretty bookmark on each person’s plate.

Once you get your imagination working you’ll find the possibilities are endless. Your guests will all go home with a memento of you and the fun time they had at your party!