You probably don’t have room in your budget for $150,000.00 of party favors and you’ll probably limit the guest list to much less than 150 guests, so you’re in luck. There are lots of really cute and easy party favors that you can make yourself for just a few dollars.
I was recently asked to make party favors for a baby shower. There were 20 guests and the theme was Winnie the Pooh. We all know that bears like honey, so we thought the guests would like it too. We rounded up individual packets of Stash Vanilla Honey Tea, honey dips, some honey candies (the wrappers had cute bees on them), and Bit-O-Honey candy bars.
We could have put all these honey-flavored treats in one bag, but I had another idea that would make them prettier on the eye and just more fun. Most of the stuff we use for packaging can be found at one of the many dollar or party supply stores. We use clear cellophane bags, the type used by florists known as bouquet bags. You can also find bags printed with various themes at party supply stores.
Cut a white card to fit inside the bag and glue the items to the card. We used glue dots, but a glue stick will work as well. The colors of the Bit-O-Honey bars did not match our color scheme, so we wrapped the bars in paper. We personalize the bars with the date and the name of the mother and the baby. If you have a good graphics program on your computer, you can customize the wrappers like we did. You can find a FREE template on Google by searching for “candy wrapper template” and there are YouTube videos explaining how to wrap the bars. If your party has a popular theme, you can use themed wrapping paper instead of plain white paper to wrap your candy bars.
We tied the bag with pink, blue and yellow ribbon to match our color scheme. The total cost, including the treats, was $2.75 each.
The idea we decided on for the baby shower was not the only idea I had. Since tea and honey were the main items, we thought of putting them all in one cup. The mug would have made a nice takeout party favor, but we still would have had to use the cellophane bag and tape and since a mug would have added another dollar to the total cost, we decided against it.
Are you planning a birthday party for a child? Why not include them to help create personalized party favors? All you need are paper lunch bags, either kraft or white, a hole punch, colored markers, and some tape. You can add stickers if you want.
Fold the top of the bag over about two to three inches. Using the hole punch, punch a hole about an inch on each side of the center. The gift bag is now ready to be decorated. Your child can write the name of each guest on the bag with colored markers and add an original drawing or stickers if he wants.
Once the bags are decorated, fill them with the goodies you have chosen. Instead of going all candy, include some healthier options like granola bars and peanut butter cookies. Fold the top of the bag under and tie the ribbon through the holes and make a bow. For a more colorful bag, choose a couple of different colored curling ribbons and instead of a bow, wrap each strand around, giving your gift bags a very festive look.
Fill small mason jars with cocoa and mini marshmallows and tie a recipe card with your favorite cookie or bread mix for a bridal shower favor. A plastic beer mug with some beef jerky and a packet of popcorn would be fun for Jack and Jill, and a small baby bottle filled with jelly beans or other sweets is a cute baby shower favor. Visit local farmers’ markets to find soap makers that wrap goat’s milk or other handmade soap in custom wrapper. The possibilities are endless.