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Maddison has been working in the interior design and home improvement area for the last five years. From hands on projects to writing for your favorite HGTV home reno couples, Maddison has developed a deep love for a well-styled room with the perfect personal touch.

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How to Throw a Favorite Things Party

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We think it's really important to stop and celebrate things that you loved – things that bring you joy.  We also will take any and every excuse to gather with friends and family, stand around a charcuterie board packed with yummy food, and enjoy time together.

Combining our love of celebrating things that make us happy and eating good food with our friends comes our love of favorite things parties. We love hosting favorite things parties throughout the year, particularly during the holiday season. It's a great excuse to slow down a little bit, and take time to really enjoy company and have a reason to talk about things that you really love. 

Hosting these parties doesn't have to be a headache – in fact, one of the things we love most about favorite things parties is that they're very easy to host. If you have seen these parties on TikTok, or maybe you have even seen your friends host or attend one of these parties, and you want to host one on your own – we have a very quick and comprehensive guide on how to make that happen. 

If the concept of a favorite things party is new to you, let us explain. A favorite things party is a gathering of people where every attendee brings an item that they love to exchange for an item that someone else loves. It's like the happy version of white elephant, mixed with all the fun things you wish you could get in your stocking at Christmas time. 

Hosting a favorite things party can be as lavish or simple as you'd like it to be. On concept alone, favorite things parties are very simple. Generally, attendees select one of their favorite items and then they purchase two of that one item. So everyone brings two of the same item and goes home with two different items at the end of the night after they've traded for other people's favorite things. 

We like to have everybody write their name on two slips of paper and place it in a bowl at the beginning of the night. Then we have everyone go around and present their favorite thing, and draw two names out of the bowl to select the two people who are taking home that person's favorite thing. 

Once you've decided to host one of these gatherings, you need to select a budget and pick a theme. We don't always pick themes, but sometimes we do things like bring your favorite stocking stuffers under $15, bring your favorite skincare item under $20, or bring your favorite sweet and savory treat. 

Setting the budget ensures that everybody is shopping right around the same price point. Sometimes you'll see these parties online and the budget is very high. If you intend to have people bring more than one of their favorite item, consider how much you're actually asking people to spend in order to attend the party. 

If you are expecting people to spend around $50 an item, that's actually $100 you're asking people to spend to attend the party. Because we're most interested in spending time with our friends and getting to talk about things that we love, we will either keep our budget low if we are going to request two items to trade or keep our budget in the middle if individuals are only bringing one item to trade. Generally, we find that keeping the items under $15 an item or $25 total works for most people, but you know your friend group, so try to work within what works best for your group. 

When you're hosting a favorite things party, you can provide snacks for your guests or you can ask your guests to bring one of their favorite treats with them to the party. We've done it both ways and it really does just depend on the group that you are gathering with.

At our last favorite things party, we purchased lots of yummy artisan breads and butters, and had a bread-and-butter board that was a big hit. It was a super simple idea, and really easy to execute – but it made for a yummy snack that was a little bit out of the ordinary. We also had a drink bar with some fun flavorings to keep things seasonal and tasty. 

We don't plan any other form of entertainment for a favorite things party except for the gift exchange. We find that even when you’re blending a group of people who may not know each other well, if you kick off the conversation starting with everyone guessing about things they love, conversation usually follows pretty naturally.

These parties are a great way to get to know people who you may want to learn more about in a group setting before you hang out one-on-one, and we like to go around the room with a few icebreaker questions asking people things like their favorite reality TV show or their favorite guilty pleasure snack. These questions usually get people chatting as well. 

Our Favorite Things, Favorite Things: $15 and Under

Maybe you're getting ready to host or attend a party and you're not quite what to take to a favorite things party. If you need a little help jogging your memory and thinking of some of your favorite thing is, here are some of our very favorite things to take to a party and some of our favorite things that we've received at one of these parties — all under $15. 

For us, lippies are an easy win. Whether it’s lipgloss or chapstick, we love putting together a few of our favorites in a cute cellophane bag, or purchasing one, more expensive lip care item that fits in the category. 

 lip gloss, and we love the mint flavor. The packaging is really fun, which makes it easy to wrap up in a cellophane bag with a ribbon. 

. If you live in an area that’s super cold and you end up with really dry skin and lips, this is the win you’ve been waiting for. 

Our favorite giftable chapstick is any and all 

. They last forever and the scents are unbeatable. Plus, they’re more earth-friendly than a lot of mainstream chapsticks. One of these chapsticks will set you back about ten dollars, which makes it an easy grab-and-go gift for one of these favorite things parties. 

If you’re hosting a favorite things party in the winter, keeping the toes cozy is always a win. A few weeks ago we walked away from a favorite things party with nice socks and a pack of foot masks. It was a great gift because it elevated an everyday basic. 

If you want to gift socks at your next favorite things party, or if you’re looking to stuff a stocking with all things cozy, check out these socks from 

. We’ve got big love for both of these pairs of socks because they’re cozy, quality, and very durable. There’s something so happy about putting on a nice pair of socks. 

If you’re trying to stay under $15 an item and you want to gift slippers your best bet is Costco or Amazon. When these two places have sales, you’ll be able to snag a higher-quality slipper at a lower price. We grabbed a pair of Deerfoam slippers at Costco for around $15 last year and have put miles on them with very little wear and tear. 

Food-related gifts are some of our very favorites. Food is a great way to connect with people and share something important to you with someone else. We’ve had friends bake their own food for these gift exchanges, but we’ve also had friends run by the grocery store and bring their favorites from there — which definitely simplifies the process.

 and a cute coffee mug. Crio Bru is like coffee, but it’s made with Cacao. It has tons of health benefits and it’s very tasty. We like adding a little creamer or flavor syrup to ours in the morning, so you could add a bottle of that to complete the gift.

Another fun foody gift is olive oil. A nice

 goes a long way. If you’re feeling up to crafting in the kitchen, we recommend making your own bottles of herb-infused olive oil. Simply simmer your herbs in a high-quality, single-source olive oil and infuse them with tons of good flavors. We like dipping artisan bread in olive oil, so we usually partner this gift with a loaf.

Chocolate is usually a big hit, and showing up to the party with a few nice chocolate bars usually makes you a crowd favorite. We really enjoy bars from the 

, and any Canadian chocolate we can get our hands on. Trust us, it’s better. 

And if you want to gift something for the kitchen that’s not food, tea towels, hot pads, and an elevated kitchen basic like nice wooden spoons or measuring cups is always a win. We like shopping small and local for items like this, but if you don’t have small businesses around you, you can easily grab these items at Target. 

If you’re attending a favorite things party full of people who love to decorate their 

 and fill their home with fun treasures as much as you do, simple home decor items are the way to go.

For home decor, we always gravitate towards pretty candles. They smell good, they’re nice to look at, and we like to repurpose them as planters when the candle is gone. Our favorite home candle falls a little outside of the $15 price point, but 

Frames are also a great gift. You can easily find really 

 for under $15. We like bringing 4x6 frames or 5x7 frames so the gift feels fun, but not overwhelming. The recipient will have a much easier time incorporating a small frame into their space. 

A simple throw is also always a hit. Everyone always wants one of these when it comes time to swap gifts, and if you watch the sales, you can usually find a throw with good reviews in your price range. We always look at Walmart and Target for less expensive throws that are still soft and durable. 

Maybe not a home decor item, but one that’s always a hit, is cleaner. We have gifted our favorite cleaner and cleaning tools more than once — and we don’t want to brag — but the gift is always a hit. It’s practical, but you can make it fun by the way you assemble the gift or by picking cute cleaning accessories. We love 

Have a great gift idea for us? Leave your ideas in the comments below!

How to Throw a Favorite Things Party

21 NOVEMBER, 2022

Written by Maddison Dayton

How to Throw a Favorite Things Party

21 NOVEMBER, 2022

Written by Maddison Dayton

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