Whether you’re celebrating Galentine’s Day with your favorite group of gals, or just getting together for a fun girls’ night, a Favorite Things Party is a great way to get to know your gals a little better while sending them home with a special treat afterwards.

What’s a Favorite Things Party?

Remember the good old days of Show and Tell in school? A favorite things party combines the fun of sharing something about yourself with your friends with the excitement of a gift exchange. A Favorite Things Party is a great way to learn more about your friends while finding new recommended products from trusted sources.

Tips for Hosting a Favorite Things Party

Be sure to tell your guests in advance about the Favorite Things game so they know what to bring. Set a budget and quantity for your favorite things so that everyone is on the same page. If you set a lower budget, you can ask your guests to bring something for everyone. If you set a higher budget, you may want to adjust your quantity to two or three. You should also decide if you want your guests to bring their gifts wrapped or not—this can affect how you play the game, as shown in the options below. 

Hosting Tip: Want a stress-free hosting experience? To go along with the favorite things theme, have a potluck-style evening where your friends can bring their favorite dishes, drinks, or snacks!

How to Play Favorite Things

Guests will all bring a set number of their favorite things that are within the budget the host sets. There are many ways to play, but here are three recommendations, depending on the initial guidelines sent to the guests.  

Option 1: Everyone Gets All the Gifts

If you asked your guests to bring favorite things for everyone attending, this is the way you’ll want to play. This version allows for more of a show and tell and less leaving the gifts up to chance. 

Choose one person in the group to share their favorite thing. Ask them to share why they brought it and what makes it their favorite. Then, each person in the group gets one to take home! Because there’s not an “exchange game” in this version, you can spend more time as a group discussing and asking questions about each person’s favorite things. 

Option 2: Each Guest Gets a Set Number of Gifts: Wrapped Edition

If you asked your guests to only bring two or three sets of their gift, this is one of the ways you can play. Put each guest’s name in a bowl the number of times that correlates with the number of gifts each person brought. For example, if you asked them to bring three gifts, each person would go home with three gifts.  

Names are chosen from the bowl one at a time, and each person can pick the gift they want from a pile of wrapped gifts. Once all the gifts are unwrapped, allow each guest to share what their favorite things were and what makes them special. 

From here, you can choose house rules on how you want to run the gift exchange. Will you allow a second round of swapping?  Can guests “steal” their presents back? It’s up to you to set the rules and have fun! 

Option 3: Each Guest Gets a Set Number of Gifts: Unwrapped Edition

This is the second way you can play if you’ve asked your guests to bring a limited number of gifts. Like the option above, you’ll want to put everyone’s name in a bowl that correlates with the number of gifts each person brought.

However, this time, instead of choosing from a pile of wrapped gifts, each guest can go around and share what their favorite thing is that they brought as a gift. Once the favorite thing has been shared, you choose that many names from the bowl (three gifts = three names), and those guests get to take home that person’s favorite thing. 

Gift Recommendations for Your Gals

If you or your guests aren’t sure what to bring as their favorite things, home goods (that you can never have enough of) are a great place to start. Candles, books, socks, mugs, and blankets all make great gift ideas. You can also set a theme for your party like “Treat Yourself”, “Beauty Sleep”, or “Self-Care.” 

As always, we recommend bedding as an ideal gift. Everyone needs it (and they can always use more!), you can choose a variety of styles, there’s different bedding for every price range, and who wouldn’t love high-quality, cozy bedding? For more ideas, explore our Galentine’s Gift Guide or read more on our blog post, “10 Reasons Bedding Makes the Perfect Gift.”

Our Gals’ Favorite Things

Still not sure what to bring as your favorite thing? Take some inspiration from the Purecare gals: 

Sarah’s Favorite Thing: Everyday Cotton Coverlet

“Our bed isn’t complete without a coverlet. We love the light coverage in the warmer months, and they are ideal for layering in the fall and winter. They are the perfect weight for year-round use!”

Kayla’s Favorite Thing: Refreshing Floral Duvet Cover

“I love re-making my bed using different layers and colors. It's such a fun way to bring new life and energy into the room! The Refreshing floral duvet cover is a favorite of mine, with the reversible pattern and the luxurious and silky feel, it's a layer I keep coming back to!”  

Kelly’s Favorite Thing: Weightless Cotton Sheets

“I sleep on the Weightless Cotton sheets almost every night. They’re my absolute fave!” 

Brandy’s Favorite Thing: Cooling SoftCell® Chill Pillow

“I love my Cooling SoftCell Chill pillow! The top is super soft and comfortable but it's still a firm, supportive pillow, and there’s just something really satisfying about tucking my hands under the pillow and feeling that cool underside!”

From sheets and coverlets to pillows and shams, with quality Purecare bedding, the hardest part will be deciding which to choose as your favorite.