Daily Party Dish : Party Favors

Posts categorized "Party Favors"

February 02, 2017

Nursing School Graduation Party Favor Ideas

I wanted to make sure to celebrate my friend Tamara's graduation from nursing school, and now that she "calls the shots", it was time to come up with some amazing nursing school graduation party ideas! I decorated a green and pink party table, and decided to hand out chocolate bars packaged in these graduation nursing school candy bar wrappers. They were such a fun and personalized touch to the party - I chose a custom message for Tamara, her family, and all of her friends!

Along with chocolate, each person received a "Happy Pills" favor. I scored these glass prescription bottles from my mom (who's a nurse) and filled them with Skittles. An easy label completed the look, and these Happy Pills matched my nursing theme perfectly! I also set up a nursing themed candy bar where guests could grab their favorite treats. Clear jars filled to the top with delicious candies made the candy bar table look amazing! Make sure to include a few of these themed goodies - each with its own little sign, of course:

Clogged Arteries: Red licorice, Twizzlers, or Red Vines
Antibiotics: Mike N Ikes
Urine Samples: Lemon Heads, gold wrapped Rolos or mini Reese's Cups (any yellow candy will do!)
Kidney Stones: Malt Balls or Milk Duds
Cotton Swabs: Marshmallows
Kisses for Your Boo Boo: Hershey's Kisses
Gauze: Cotton Candy
Red Blood Cells: Red Hots or Red Gummies
White Blood Cells: Life Saver Mints
From the Doctor: Safety Suckers, DumDums, or Blow Pops (because everyone wants a sucker when they go to the doctors!)
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Caramel Apple Pops
Thermometers: Pixie Sticks

Don't forget to pass out graduation nursing school theme favor bags, so your guests can easily pack up all of their goodies! I love how these favor bags were personalized to match the chocolate bar favors, too.

Setting up a small favor table near your party's entrance/exit is another great way to display favors. If a candy bar isn't your style, try one of these nursing graduation themed favors:

Graduation Nursing School Lollipop: Leave a personalized message on these graduation nursing school lollipops to families and friends!
Germ Juice: Slap a "Germ Juice" label or a small tag on mini bottles of hand sanitizer.
First Aid Kits: Mini first aid kits that can easily slip into a purse or glove box are practical and thoughtful favors.
Latex Glove Favors: Fill a latex glove with an assortment of candies, and ties at the top with ribbon and a note from the grad.
Doctor Kit Sets: For the kiddos at your party, pass out doctor kit sets you can find for cheap at the dollar store.

Whatever you choose, the guest of honor will never forget this once in a lifetime party. Make it special with a favor they'll remember forever! Once you've decided on favors, check out more of my nursing graduation party ideas below:

Posted at 07:30 AM in Christine's Posts, Graduation Parties, Party Favors, Theme Parties | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 13, 2015

Oktoberfest Party Beer Station Ideas

If you’re hosting an Oktoberfest party, you need to make sure to have one very important thing in abundance – BEER! In fact, there’s little else besides beer, some good food, and a few Oktoberfest Party Ideas to throw an amazing Oktoberfest theme party.

Make serving tasty bubbly beverages a little easier by setting up a Oktoberfest theme beer station. I came up with a simple one that my husband set up in the garage for our “haus”-warming party. While a cooler with beers might have sufficed, I wanted to add personal touches with personalized Oktoberfest Beer Bottle Labels and Oktoberfest Banners. Plus, I wanted everything to match our other Oktoberfest Party Invitations and Favors!

One of the highlights of our party was our specially brewed Oktoberfest beer! We brewed it a few months earlier at a DIY micro-brew place called Brew Kettle, and then we had personalized Oktoberfest Beer Bottle Labels printed for the oversized bottles. Even when stacked in large white tubs with other local brews, our special beer was a party favorite! Plus, the labels matched our Oktoberfest Invitations perfectly!

We had a few non-drinkers at our party too, so we made sure to put out some water bottles. Of course, they had to have personalized Oktoberfest Water Bottle Labels as well!

To finish off the beer station, we added one of our Oktoberfest Banners, which we personalized. Everything matched, from the beer labels to the banner - it looked fantastic!

Overall, the table was easy to put together and looked great. With almost 100 guests, the beer station worked logistically as well. We stored extra beer under the table (hidden by the table cloth), and just restocked throughout the party. You also might want to keep in mind a hot drink station, too. It was a chilly fall day when we threw our Oktoberfest party, and guests were glad that we also served coffee, hot apple cider, and tea.

Good luck planning your Oktoberfest beer station! Want to see more ideas from my Oktoberfest party? Check them out here:

Posted at 08:00 AM in Christine's Posts, Food and Drink, Holidays, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (1)

Oktoberfest Gingerbread Cookie Party Favors

We invited nearly every friend and family member we could think of to our Oktoberfest Hauswarming Party! Apart from great food (brats and sauerkraut, anyone?), entertainment, and some other awesome Oktoberfest Party Ideas, we also wanted to send each guest home with a tasty Oktoberfest party favor – which means we would need a favor that was easy-to-make and would appeal to our large guest list.

There were tons of easy personalized Oktoberfest Party Invitations and Favors to choose from that required no work from me at all. But I couldn’t help baking up something sweet for my 80+ guests. I decided on Oktoberfest theme gingerbread cookies – how fun!

Because I had to make A LOT of cookies, I started with this simple gingerbread cookie recipe from Food Network. (Don't forget to chill your dough beforehand - it makes rolling so much simpler!) Heart-shaped cookies are perfect for Oktoberfest, by the way. Germans traditionally give gingerbread heart cookies with mottoes on them to family and friends during Oktoberfest! Too cool!

After I made dozens and dozens of cookies (those aren't even all of them pictured above!), it was time to decorate. I don't have much experience piping frosting, but I knew I needed to have this great royal icing recipe from Cake Journal. I divided the icing between three different bowls and added red and blue food coloring to two of them. (Icing Tip: Cover your bowls of icing with we paper towels, so it doesn't harden!)

Fill your icing bags with your mixtures, making sure to either use a #1 or #2 piping tip, so you can draw designs and write "mottoes" on your cookies. Start with one color at a time like I did. I first drew a blue b border on each cookie, then added the word "Prost" or "Love", and finally dotted on a couple of hearts where there was room. After letting the icing harden for a few hours, I bagged the cookies in clear cellophane bags for guests to take and served the extras on trays during the party.

Of course, don't forget to add a little "motto" on your gingerbread just like the Germans do! My cookies were pretty small, so I just put the word "Love" or "Prost" (the German word for "Cheers") on mine. If your cookies are larger, try a couple of these traditional German sayings insted:

Ozapt'is - It's tapped
Ich Liebe Dich - I Love You
Glueckspilz - Lucky Toadstool
Mein Traumprinz - Prince Charming
Weil I Di mog - Because I like you
Meiner Kuschelmaus - my snuggle-mouse

Have fun making your gingerbread favors, and make sure to check out my other Oktoberfest party posts for more great ideas:

Posted at 07:15 AM in Christine's Posts, Food and Drink, Holidays, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 19, 2015

Teddy Bear Hats for a Kids Birthday Party

I love celebrating my nieces’ and nephews’ birthdays! They are still so young (all of them under 3!), and each birthday is a new surprise where they get to be the center of attention. My little niece Lily is turning three next week, and her mother is hosting a Teddy Bear Birthday Party! Because I’m the auntie with all the best Kids Birthday Party Ideas, I knew I just had to make these adorable teddy bear party hats as my contribution to the festivities!

They were easy to make (all I needed to know were a few simple sewing techniques), and I’m sure these party hats will last for years to come in everyone’s dress up bins. Plus, my baby niece Lizzy loved this hat (see pic above) - wouldn't these be great 1st Birthday Theme Party Ideas, too? Follow my tutorial below to make your own easy headbands, and take a look at our Personalized Kids Party Invitations and Kids Party Favors to coordinate your party’s look!

Materials (makes one party hat)

1-2 sheets brown felt
1 sheet tan felt
1 plastic headband
Dark brown embroidery floss
Embroidery needle
A little poly-fil (for the ears!)

Directions

Cut out four half circles from the dark brown felt. (These will be your ears!) Next, cut two smaller half circles from the tan felt.
Using the brown embroidery floss, use a straight stitch to attach each of the tan half circles to one of the brown half-circles. These will be the front of your ears.
Next, put the ear pieces together, wrong sides facing each other. Use a blanket stitch (see tutorial here) around the curved bit to attach the pieces. (For right now leave the bottom of the ears open.) You should have two ears ready to go! Lay these off to the side.
Then, cut a long strip about 1 ½” wide to wrap around the headband. The length of this strip will depend on the size of your headband. I actually needed two strips (about 18” in length total) to make it all the way around mine.
Lay your strip(s) flat and fold it around the headband. Using a straight stitch, work around the inside of the headband until it is completely encased in felt.
Finally, fill each of the ears with poly-fil, and then position the ears where you like on the headband. Wrap the bottom straight edges of one ear around the headband, and sew them together with a straight stitch so the ear is attached to the headband. Repeat this with the other ear, and you’re done!

Have fun planning your little one's party, and Happy Birthday from the Party Girl!

Posted at 08:44 AM in Birthday, Christine's Posts, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 10, 2015

St. Patricks Day Shamrock Party Favors

I've been coming up with a lot of St. Patrick's Day Party Ideas for my family's annual get-together (we're Irish!), and, of course, I decided on a chocolate favor that is everyone's favorite St. Pat's color - green!

Making these St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Favors was pretty easy and a blast! I modified this great idea from Qbee's Quest to make the favors larger so they could hold more kisses. Follow my tutorial below, and check out some of our St. Patrick's Day Party Favors for more inspiration!

Materials (makes 1 favor)

1 sheet green cardstock (8 ½ x 11”)
Paper cutter and scissors
Double stick tape
6 Hershey kisses

Directions

Step 1: Cut a strip of paper, 1 ½ x 9 ½”. Then, make two slits on one side of the paper at 1 ½" and 8". Cut a slit on the opposite side at 4 ¾". Make sure that the slits are cut halfway up the cardstock.

Step 2: Loop one end of the strip around and attach the 1 ½" slit into the center notch.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 on the other side, making a second loop.

Step 4: Cut a second strip of paper, 1 ½ x 6 ¼”. Then cut notches on one side of the strip at 1 ½ " and 4 ¾”. Make sure that the slits are cut halfway up the cardstock.

Step 5: Bend the strip in a loop so the two notches align. Add the loop to the center of the first larger strip.

Step 6: Attach the "stems" of the shamrock with double stick tape.

Step 7: Cut three more strips that are each 1 ½ x 4". Mark and score the papers at 1" intervals.

Step 8: Fold the slips into three triangles and add two Hershey's kisses to each. Secure the triangle with a piece of double stick tape.

Step 9: Insert a triangle into each loop of the shamrock. Display on a tray or in a bowl for guests to enjoy on their way home from your Easy St. Pats Open House Party. Sham-ROCK the House.

Have fun making your favors, and take a look at all of our other St. Pats Day goodies, too:

Posted at 08:13 AM in Christine's Posts, Holidays, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 27, 2015

Valentine's Day Favors for Kids

I created these adorable Valentine’s Day Party Favors for all of my youngest family members! I’ll be handing out these cute fishbowl favors as they leave my annual Valentine’s Day for Kids party.

These favors were simple to make; I just designed the Valentine 's Day Fishbowl Favor Insert (which you can download yourself for free), put them in clear cellophane bags, and added a baker’s twine bow! After making these fun favors, check out my other fun Valentine’s Day favor ideas below, and don’t forget to take a look at more of my Valentine’s Day Party Ideas, too.

More Valentine's Day Party Favors for Kids...

Cookie Decorating Station: Bake a bunch of heart-shaped sugar cookies, and set up a cookie decorating station! Put out bowls of pink and white frosting and bunches of themed decorating goodies. Red sprinkles, white chocolate chips, and crushed Oreos are fun options!
Valentine's Candy Bars: Keep it simple with a Valentine’s Day Theme Candy Bar Wrapper. Customize the label with your own special message to your young guests!
Valentine's Cards: Have your young guests make fun Valentine’s for their special someone! Put out markers and crayons along with construction paper, glitter, lace, and Valentine’s Day stickers. Not only are these fun favors, but this activity will keep the kids occupied throughout the party.
Valentine's Candy Buffet: A candy buffet is always an exciting favor, especially with kids! Make your buffet themed with red, pink, and white candies. Red Hots, Smarties, Pop Rocks, and Hershey’s Kisses are all seasonal favorites. Make sure to hand out Valentine’s Day Party Favor Bags for guests to fill!
Valentine's Day Lollipops: You can’t go wrong with a Valentine’s Day Lollipop! Your young guests will jump for joy when they see these big impact favors.

Good luck planning your Valentine’s Day Party, and we have more Valentine’s Day Ideas for the Classroom to browse through, too.

Posted at 08:09 AM in Christine's Posts, Holidays, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 08, 2014

Office Christmas Party Chocolate Favor Ideas

As you’re coming up with Christmas Office Party Ideas, make sure to send your co-workers home with a Christmas party favor that they’ll be sure to enjoy! Chocolate! Friends and co-workers at my Christmas office party will be munching the M&Ms and popcorn from these fun candy ornaments on their ride home.

Plus, I came up with five more delicious chocolate favors listed below that you can pass off to your guests as they’re headed out the door. Nothing says Christmas spirit like a little chocolate treat! Plus, they’re easy to make or order in large quantities. Keep it simple! Need more inspiration? Check out our other Custom Christmas Invitations and Party Favors, too.

These M&M ornament favors were so easy to make! I just filled a clear plastic ornament with half popcorn and half red and green Christmas M&Ms. With a little ribbon at the top, I was able to hang the ornaments all over our office Christmas tree. Co-workers just took one off the tree as they headed home from the party!

5 More Christmas Chocolate Favors...

Christmas Personalized Candy Bar Wrapper: Choose a candy bar wrapper to match your party's theme! This easy favor works fantastic for large numbers.
Hot Chocolate Mugs: Put packets of gourmet hot chocolate in a personalized mug. Wrap the whole thing in cellophane for a gift that will work for every guest!
Chocolate Dipped Spoons: Dip plastic or wooden spoons in melted chocolate and holiday sprinkles! Crushed peppermint, Oreos, and mini-marshmallows are fun, too.
Chocolate Ornaments: Put metal ornaments on a cookie tray covered in parchment paper. Pour melted chocolate (mixed with walnuts, crushed peppermint, Oreos, etc) into the ornaments and cool them in the fridge to harden. Wrap each ornament individually in cellophane as a favor perfect for any sweet tooth!
Christmas Candy Buffet: Jars filled with chocolate covered pretzels and marshmallows along with Christmas favorites, like chocolate Santas will be instants favorites at your Christmas office party! Make sure to pass out personalized Christmas party favor bags for guests to fill.

Enjoy planning your office party, and Merry Christmas from the Party Girl!

Posted at 09:11 AM in Christine's Posts, Holidays, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 22, 2014

Easy Halloween Party Favors: Ghost Suckers

The kids at my Open House Halloween Party will love putting one of my ghost sucker favors into their Halloween candy buckets! These candy favors were easy to put together (all I needed was tulle and felt!) and actually made a great centerpiece for my inexpensive Halloween mantle. These favors will go perfectly with the Custom Halloween Invitations, Party Favors and Decorations I’ve chosen for my party, too, and I can’t go wrong with the other Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com!

Follow my easy tutorial below to make your own:

Materials

Tootsie Pop Suckers
White and black felt
White tulle
Twine
White thread
Hot glue and gun
About two feet black pipe insulation (I had some leftover from my DIY Halloween Chains.)

Directions

For each sucker, cut a four inch square of white felt and tulle.
Layer the felt and tulle, wrap around the sucker, and secure the fabric at the base of the sucker with white thread.
Then, cut three small circles from black felt. Two for the eyes and one for the mouth. Hot glue them into place on the sucker.
Fluff the felt and tulle, and finish off the look with a small twine bowtie.
To display the suckers, stick the stems into a section of black foam pipe insulation about 2-3 inches apart. Cover the black foam with cheap stretchy spiderwebs!

Enjoy making your Halloween party favors, and take a look at my other posts on these spooky decorations:

Posted at 08:44 AM in Christine's Posts, Halloween, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 15, 2014

Cheap Halloween Party Decorations and Favors

I wanted to add some cheap and easy decorations to my Halloween décor this year, so I designed a Halloween mantle that cost me under $10. Wow! Between the spider webs, ghost sucker favors, and the DIY foam chain, these Halloween Party Ideas looked great but didn’t break the bank.

The mantle will go well with the Custom Halloween Invitations, Party Favors and Decorations I’m using for my annual Halloween open house, too. I can’t wait to show everything off to family and friends!

Check out my cost breakdown for this decorative mantle below. Some of the supplies I already owned (like the ball jars), but the supplies for the sucker favors, DIY chain, and spider web candle jars were easy to find and cheap. (Most of the stuff came from the dollar store!)

Halloween Mantle Materials and Total Cost = $9.67

2 6-foot tubes of pipe insulation = $2.16
Hot glue/Hot glue gun = $0 (already had)
Tootsie Pop Suckers = $1.07 (from the dollar store)
White felt, black felt, and tulle = $0 (already had)
Mason jars = $0 (already had)
LED candle lights (4 packs) = $4.28
2 packs stretchy spider webs = $2.16

For either end of the mantle, I wrapped different sized mason jars in stretchy spider webs and plastic spiders (which came with the webs). The jars were perfect for holding the super light DIY chains in place on the mantle.

These ghost suckers served double duty as a favor and the centerpiece of my mantle decor. I just stuck the suckers in some extra pipe insulation and covered the base with extra stretchy webs.

Plastic Halloween chains from the store are so expensive! So I made my own for under $3 with black foam pipe insulation I found at my local hardware store. They looked great draped across the mantle. I made the look extra spooky by hanging stretchy spider webs among the chains.

The mantle looked great during the day and at night, too! I added fire-safe LED votives to the ball jars and on the mantle under the stretchy webs, adding an eerie glow. I bought 16 votives for around $4! LOVE the dollar store!

Have fun decorating your home this Halloween, and check out my posts on the DIY chain and ghost suckers, too:

Posted at 11:03 AM in Christine's Posts, Decorations, Halloween, Party Favors | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 11, 2014

Mad Scientist Halloween Lollipop Display

The Halloween Lab Lollipop display I made for my Mad Scientist Halloween Party was a huge hit with family and friends. I created two stands with glass vases, Styrofoam balls, stretchy spider webs, and a lot of patience. It took me a while to make the lollipops work in the first stand, but after I figured out the logistics, my second display was easy!

I thought I’d pass along a tutorial to help you make your own. My twelve lollipops really popped with all the other desserts in my Halloween Spooky Lab Candy Buffet. Make sure to take a look at all our other Mad Scientist Laboratory Halloween Ideas, too, so you can surprise all the monsters at your next party!

Materials (makes 1 display)

A glass vase
Black permanent marker
Two pieces cardstock (theme colors are yellow, green, and blue)
White stretchy spider webs
Styrofoam ball
Small glass vase (same diameter as Styrofoam ball)
Six Halloween Lab Lollipops

Directions

First, draw the "beaker" measurements on the side of the vase with black permanent marker. It should dry quickly in about 5 minutes.
Then, cut the paper cardstock to the height of the vase and arrange the paper around the inside edge. The cardstock will help hide the styrofoam stand.
Next, wedge the styrofoam ball into the second small vase, and push the lollipops into the Styrofoam about 3 inches.
Put the small vase into the large vase. You may need to pad the smaller vase with hand towels so that it doesn't slide around in the larger vase.
Finally, arrange the stretchy spider webs at the base of the lollipops so it looks like "foam" in a "beaker". Enjoy!