The holiday season is in full swing, events are filling calendars, stores are busy, and you’re probably preparing for different parties you’ll buy gifts for. Perhaps you’ve got a Dirty Santa party planned or a White Elephant gift exchange with coworkers coming up. If you happen to be planning a gift exchange and want to try something a little different, allow me to suggest a Favorite Things party!
If you’re not familiar with a Favorite Things party, it’s a really fun twist on a gift exchange where every guest brings in 2-3 duplicates of a favorite thing to gift to others.
I wasn’t familiar with this kind of party until I joined the Knoxville Moms, actually, and when I first learned about it and experienced a Favorite Things party with the other contributors, I learned how much I loved it! It’s an opportunity to get to know other people as they share some of their favorite things, and you get a chance to share something special to you, too.
Here’s a few of the basics you need to know to host a spectacular Favorite Things party:
First, set a reasonable price limit on gifts. Like all gift exchanges, we don’t want someone showing up with a $150 gift certificate to their favorite spa only to receive a $20 coffee mug as one of their gifts. So consider your guests and set a price limit that will suit all budgets; don’t forget that the price limit will be per gift, so make sure to take that into account. A simple idea is a $5-10 price per gift.
Second, choose how many gifts you’re giving. Let’s say you’re going to give three of the same item. You’ll want to let your guests know to bring three of their gift to exchange so that everyone leaves the party with that same number of new gifts in hand.
Third, make sure to communicate whether you want guests to bring their gifts unwrapped or in some simple gift bags. I say this because the first time I ever went to one of these kinds of parties I didn’t realize I shouldn’t have packaged my gifts quite so well that I couldn’t access them to show them off when it was my turn! Let your guests know they’ll be showing off their “favorite things” when it’s their turn to exchange.
Now, when it comes to the party itself, there are some really easy ways to do the gift exchange and have fun in the process. You can prepare ahead of time by having slips of paper for the guests to write their names on. So if you’re doing three gifts, make sure each guest writes their name that same number of times and puts the slips in a box or bag to draw from.
The fun comes when it’s time to exchange! As you go from person to person, you’ll take turns sharing what your gift is and why you chose it. The fun here is that you can also combine this with a theme. Perhaps you have a Christmas pajama party, and everyone brings their favorite self-care gifts to share. Or you could have a bookish theme and everyone brings copies of their favorite books. The ideas are endless, and the beauty is you come away with something you know someone else really enjoys…instead of that neglected picture of a fish someone wanted to get rid of in the white elephant party.
The holidays are too short to spend on exchanging leftover gifts no one wanted. Try a Favorite Things party instead and find out what your friends or family really enjoy.
