One of my favorite things I’ve done with my friends recently is a Favorite Things Party. If you haven’t been to one before, it’s a party where (like Secret Santa) you have a person you’re giving to and you have a certain amount of money you should spend. The difference is that instead of buying something you guess the receiver would enjoy, you buy something that is one of YOUR favorite things.
I’ve been to a Favorite Things Party where lots of people are invited and the receiver is chosen by raffle/on the spot. But my friends really enjoyed the smaller nature of this gift exchange. We did it for Mother’s Day, but you could choose any holiday (or no reason at all!). It was really fun to all deliver our gifts to a friends’ porch on the same day, and to reveal what we received through a text chain. Many of us ordered some of the things we didn’t receive, as well!
If you and your friends want to initiate a Secret Favorite Things Party, send out these instructions to all the friends you want to include. We had a group of 7 which was PERFECT in my view.
1. Give everyone a person. I was the leader, so I assigned everyone a recipient. Don’t tell your person that you have them!
2. Buy something that costs $25 or buy a couple things that add up to $25. Do not buy something on sale for $15 that is worth $25. If you get it on sale for $15, buy something else for $10 so that you actually spend $25. Do not grab something you own that is worth $25 to re-gift. The rule is SPEND $25. This keeps it more fun, and fair for everyone.
3. Plan ahead so that you have time to get something that’s actually your favorite thing. Some of the fun is that when you buy, we get to know something about you! We will text the items we receive on the drop off day (ours was Mother’s Day), so other people can buy it as well.
4. Wrap it up! This is a pain. I’m the worst at it. But it’s such a treat to get something prettily wrapped. This will be worth it. Also, write a short note saying why you love this/these thing(s) and how you use it.
On the same day, we all delivered a wrapped gift to another friend’s porch. And then we texted pictures of what we got to everyone else on a text chain. It was so fun! The gifts were extremely creative — everything from a designer lifestyle magazine to a symbolic houseplant. And everyone wanted to do it again next year. I highly recommend this as a fun summer activity to do with your mom friends!
Leave a comment below of what you would buy with your $25 budget. I am always looking for new ideas!
