If you ever meet me, it will probably take you about a minute and a half to figure out that I’m a complete sucker for a good party.
I’ll also go ahead and let it be known here and now that one of my all-time favorite things about a really good party is an excellent party favor.
Can you imagine leaving an event with one of the fantastic pyramid favor boxes (above) from Dauphine Press? Just think what treasures could lie inside!
My friend Adrienne (who is the brilliant designer behind these birthday invites) often creates custom party favors for people. And I often watch her for inspiration. I’ve seen her make yummy cookies, like these from Martha Stewart (packaged in fantastic jars like these Gabrielle featured here); beautifully decorated pretzel rods; diva kits with custom bath soaps and fizzies; hand-painted onesies; custom stationery; and the long list goes on. The woman is amazing. 
So I asked her for some help last week when I was charged with making party favors for a couples baby shower.
Now I generally find the couples shower to be a tricky beast—frilly pink baby gifts in one room, soccer playoffs in the other—but favors for a couples baby shower, a definite challenge. So I figured I’d give the varied guests a choice. Options. Selection. Memory books. Or chocolate.
Lucky for me, I found these extremely nice memory books and/or photo albums at,…wait for it,…the dollar store!!! With a little packaging and a custom label a la Adrienne, perfect.
And for those not on a low-carb diet…custom pink M&Ms;!
Overall, I’ll say the options were a crowd pleaser.
So hey, do you have a party favor favorite? Sometime you’ve received as you headed out the door?
(Probably my favorite of all time…a goldfish I received at a birthday party when I was about seven. It lived for almost two years. I think that’s a record in goldfishland.)
Or what do you wish you’d received? And what would you put in that pyramid box up there?
(I’d suggest not a goldfish.)
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
the best was a pineapple one year at the blair family christmas recital…wrapped in red twine…such a lovely presentation and great idea for a favor
As a baby shower favor attendees got satiny sleep masks with “hey baby” and lavender relaxation oil as a tribute to all of the sleep the parents wouldn’t be getting.
Are the holidays here already?!
Jenni, I love the pineapple idea!
Super Zoe, Hey Baby sleep masks and lavender oil…fantastic!!! That definitely beats a goldfish.
What a great pyramid box. I wouldn’t even care what I got in it if I could just have the box.
those are great christmas gift ideas. thanks!
You are my hero. You made a dollar store gift look like luscious red-carper swag.
Best party favor? I don’t know if this counts but once I went to a party where there was a ton of food left over and the hostess gave me a giant popcorn bucket filled with hundreds of mini eggrolls.
Did I mention that I love eggrolls more than life itself?
So yeah…my favorite party favor was left-overs. But um…the pyramid box is nice too.
Our goldfish didn’t fare so well. My six-year-old brought one home from a birthday party a few weeks ago. It didn’t last through the night….poor thing. One of the best party favors we’ve gotten is from a friend who designs iron ons and puts them on t-shirts. The kids actually come home with something they’ll use for more than an hour! The designs are always awesome and totally professional.
If i owned that goldfish I would name it mathusaluh.
Jenny, love the eggrolls. That would be my favorite party favor too. But even more than mine, it would be Super Zoe’s super most favorite party favor ever and ever.
Rebecca, does your friend who does iron ons have a Web site? How cool! What a great idea.
Salem, “Mathusaluh” is a fantastic name for a gold fish. Really good. That and “Child Actor Turned Superstar Steve Jones The Wonderfish” are my current favorites. Two very good options.
GCQ–I do iron ons w/ paper that I buy at Target or Office Max and print them on my computer….it is easy peasy. On another blog I saw a lady did little aprons for a kid party. She embellished them with ribbon and did an iron on with their name on it. Really fun. E mail me if you want more details…
I loved your favor for the couples shower. I have to throw a big party in a few weeks and I have lots of ideas. I do favors. I think it is fun (not many people do them in my area so it is also a good way to be sure people come!!). I have done tons of events and have never recorded or taken pictures. I am inspired to start.
Here are a few of my old stand-by’s….personalized notebooks (you can put pretty paper on the top layer of a small “legal pad” type notebook. Tie w/ ribbon and a pen. Chinese food containers with frozen cookie dough in it (drop the cookie dough on sheets and when frozen, put the indivudial unbaked cookies in the box. Easy). Tiny martinelli cider bottles (we are non drinkers)tied with tulle. Cover the label with paper printed w/ the name of the couple or new baby, we do this with water bottles at showers too. The list goes on and on……. I love this idea.
Oh,
This is for kids, but when I do parties for my kids I always send home a coloring book for the favor. Sometimes I laminate the cover and sometimes not…but you can find coloring pages online. I have done Tinkerbelle books, Veggie Tale books. For our Halloween party I did Halloween books (and made a CD of Halloween music…). It is SO cheap and fun for the kids (at least for mine…they love to color). I will put them in a clear, gusseted bag and put in a pack of crayons…….
I don’t care what’s in the box…I just want the box! I’m all about containers…I have a container addiction! My SIL’s bridesmaids got her the M&M’s in purple for her shower…so cute!
There are so many great ideas. Thanks for sharing. For my kids birthdays, I usually try to pick and age appropriate craft type project and the final project serves as their favor.
I’d heard about custom M&Ms but had never seen proof. They are awesome. GcQ knows hows to put a gift together!
My favoritest thing I’ve given out as a party favor were some beautiful french fly-swatters. I have been trying to track down a source on them ever since. Love anything that’s useable and beautiful.
I remember those fly-swatters and we love and use ours to this day!
I love all these ideas given out today – thanks!
At a baby shower I went to, we drank smoothies out of those inexpensive baby bottles, where the nipple tip had been cut off to put a bendy straw in. They finished the look off with a cute pink ribbon around the bottle neck and put a baby charm on the ribbon–it was a lot cuter than I’m making it sound out to be.
Bek, You make your own iron ons. Very cool! My husband just informed me as I type that he has done this before and it’s very easy. Hm. I didn’t really think to ask him for design advice! But I guess you guys are way ahead of me on that one. Excellent idea. Ooo. The apron idea is fantastic too. All of your ideas are. Thanks for sharing them.
Mamalang, that’s a great idea about the crafts.
Design Mom, French fly swatters? Now that is a unique gift! Very cool!
Factotum, That’s very clever. And I totally got your description. Fun.
Thanks for the great ideas! Unfortunately, the link for more information on the jars didn’t work for me. Could you let me know where I can get them? Thank you!
Aww, you also should have gotten something like a lingerie or a nipple cover. That’d be a pretty cute gift with a touch of kink! ;)