Party Favor Ideas

Do you remember when you were a child, how you would go over to a friends' home for their birthday party, and their parents would give everyone little trinkets, cards, or gifts that they could take home? Just because you might not be having a birthday party (or because you are no longer six years old) doesn't mean that you can't have some kind of a party favor to give out at your next bash.

It doesn't matter if you are having a New Years' celebration, your own Super Sweet Sixteen, or even an anniversary party—party favors are a great way to turn the average party into a celebration that no one is going to soon forget. In order for you to come up with your perfect party favors, just use a little imagination and some creativity.

• Purpose. When deciding on what type of party favors, you first need to determine what purpose they are going to serve. Perhaps you want to give everyone a nice token of your appreciation? Maybe these are going to be a memento that everyone can hold onto in order to remember the event. Some great examples of this would be a commemorative DVD made of a couple's life for their 50th wedding anniversary, or perhaps personalized cookies, bags of jelly beans or mint tins.
• Party. What type of party is it going to be? You probably wouldn't want to use party favors that are reminiscent of birthday parties for a New Years' or Christmas party. Some great ideas for party favors would be the use of personalized hats for a New Years' party, or a commemorative "cigarette case" filled with jelly beans or "cigarette" gum for a Murder Mystery party.
• Audience. The people who are coming to your party (i.e., the audience) is going to be a huge factor in what type of party favor you are going to utilize. You need to keep in mind the different people who are going to attend your party. Try to tailor your favors as much as possible to your target audience before you actually purchase them. Keep in mind the age of the guests, and treat each guest according to their age appropriately.
• Price. As with most things in life, price is going to affect what type of favors you get. While you can get some absolutely fantastic favors from stores and other locations, try to save as much money as you can by making your own. Printing out a few scaled down pictures of the guest of honor (if a birthday party) can serve as a great way to personalize a bag of cookies or brownies. Just use a little imagination and play around—you may find yourself pleasantly surprised with the results.