Party Favors That Won’t Break The Bank

You probably don’t have room in your budget for $150,000.00 for party favors and you’ll probably limit your guest list to well under 150 guests, so you’re in luck. There are a lot of really cute and easy party favors that you can make yourself for just a few bucks.

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 that the guests would like it too. We put together individual packets of Stash Vanilla Honey Tea, honey sauces, 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 to look at and just more fun. Most of the things we use for packaging can be found at one of the many dollar or party supply stores. We use clear cellophane bags, the kind used by florists known as corsage bags. You can also find printed bags with various themes at party supply stores.

We cut a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the bag and glued the items to the cardstock. We used glue dots, but a glue stick will work too. The Bit-O-Honey bar colors didn’t match our color scheme, so we wrapped the bars in paper. We personalize the bars with the date and the name of the Mom 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 by googling “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 elements, we thought of putting them all in one cup. The mug would have made a nice party favor to go, but we still would have had to use the cellophane bag and ribbon 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 about two to three inches. With the hole punch, make 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 they want.

Once the bags are decorated, fill them with the treats you have chosen. Instead of going for all the sweets, include some healthier options like granola bars and peanut butter cookies. Fold the top of the bag down 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, 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 nice 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.