My Favorite Things Party Haul
A Favorite Things Party is when you get together with friends and bring one of your favorite things to give in a gift exchange. This was my second year having a Favorite Things Party, and I love what everyone gifted! I just had to share my haul.
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My Favorite Things Party Haul:

Donna gave a snackle box filled with goodies. I have seen these food storage containers on TikTok, and they look so fun for take snacks on a road trip.
Sometimes I cut up fruit, veggies, meat, and cheese for my kids’ lunch and put it all in a muffin tin. The next time I want to do a “muffin tin lunch” I am going to use my snackle box instead.

Emily gave us a bag of tulip bulbs. Honestly, I got a little misty eyed when she said, “When they come up in the spring, you’ll think of me.” Isn’t that just the best??? Seeing signs up friendship blooming in your yard is the sweetest thing.

Kendra gave each of us a glass pitcher she loves. She first saw someone using this style of pitcher at a retreat she was attending. Kendra loved the elegant design, and I do too. The lid has a built in strainer, which makes it perfect for adding fruit, cucumber, or mint to your water.

Sarah gave everyone a tabletop fire pit that is fueled by rubbing alcohol. She has used it when hosting events outside to add to the ambience of her tablescape (pictured above). Of course it can also be used for roasting marshmallows, which my kids are looking forward to doing.

Lastly, I gave everyone bread and oil dipping spices and dishes. One of my favorite things is adding a nice loaf of bread with some olive oil and spices to a meal when I am serving soup or pasta. It elevates the whole meal, which makes it nice for when I’m hosting guests. Plus, my kids love it too!
Bonus Favorite Things:
These are some of the favorite things gifts that we gave the first year we hosted our favorite things party.

I gave these clean dot markers. I love using them when I write out my to-do lists. One end is a regular fine marker. The other end makes a dot, the perfect size for a check box in front of each task on my list.

Sarah gave these beautiful gold spoons that she uses on her coffee bar. She also included circular ice cube molds.

Emily gave a homemade loaf of sourdough bread, and some items to refresh the kitchen. She loves getting new kitchen towels and also included some lemon hand soap.
Tips for Throwing a Favorite Things Party:
The most important decision to make when hosting a favorite things party is to decide how many gifts everyone should bring, which might vary based on how many people are invited.
The first year we had our favorite things party, we decided everyone would bring one gift and we would exchange them in a “now you have it, now you don’t” style of gift exchange. Five of us attended the party, and we each came home with one gift.
We loved our first favorite things party so much that we decided to do it again, but this time we brought a gift for everyone. There was 5 of us, so I bought 4 identical gifts to share with my friends. We each came home with 4 gifts.
If your budget allows for it, I highly recommend the exchange style where everyone brings a gift for each person.
If you are hosting a larger group, and bringing a gift for each person isn’t practical:
- For this example, we’ll imagine the party has 15 people attending and you want each person to go home with 3 gifts.
- Write each person’s name on a slip of paper 3 times.
- Put all of the slips of paper together, and have everyone pull 3 names. Duplicate names or your own name should be put back in the pot.
- Hand out your favorite things gift to each person that you pulled.
You will also need to set a budget. How much should be spent on each gift? This will vary depending on personal preference and how many gifts you are purchasing. When we decided to bring a gift for everyone, we lowered the budget per gift a little to accommodate buying more gifts.
Lastly, give plenty of time for people to plan their gifts. My friends have decided to make our favorite things party an annual tradition. It is nice to have a full year to think about what stand out item to give, but only a couple weeks would also work.
Do you want more inspiration?
On episode 416 of the Sorta Awesome podcast, we all shared what we would love to bring to a favorite things party. It is an episode full of great recommendations.
Check out this list of awesome Amazon finds that cost $25 or less.
I would love to hear what gifts you would bring to a favorite things party!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, I may receive a commission based on your purchase. Thank you to Kendra, Sarah, Emily, and Donna for your help with the photos in this post.