DIY Party favors

Party favors are some of the easiest crafts you can make yourself. Some are more difficult than others, but whatever your skill level, there’s at least one kind of party favor you can craft, and it will be far more memorable than anything you could buy. Homemade party favors impress guests and create an instant memento of an enjoyable party.

A party favor can be as simple as a cute little gift bag with a cute little gift inside, or… well, you’ll see.

Party favors

1. The Bead Box. This party favor is ideal for crafty guests. You simply put a selection of beads and string/cord into a decorative box or bag, then lead your guests through the process of beading their own necklaces. Very simple and fun!
2. Beaded necklaces. If you bead necklaces yourself, you could also make some nice-looking beaded necklaces and hand them to guests as party favors.
3. Mini-board game. Make a miniature memory game and put the pieces in tins. This is surprisingly simple to do, and the result is cute and fun.
4. Recipe Jars. Put all the dry ingredients necessary to make a recipe into a jar, then print a pretty label for the jar with instructions for making the item, add some ribbon and you’ve got a gorgeous party favor guests will actually enjoy making later (while remembering your party fondly).
5. Flower pinwheels. Make your own pinwheels. This may actually cost more than buying them, but it also looks much better. It’s sophisticated enough for adults, too.
6. Sachets. Make your own potpourri, put it into simple sachets and tie them off with ribbon. Very simple, but a gift your guests may actually use and remember for some time to come.
7. Soap. You can make your own exciting soap, print simple labels on plain paper on it and wrap it with ribbon.
8. Milk cartons. Make your own half-pint retro-looking milk cartons and put some wax-paper wrapped cookies inside.
9. Playdough. Make some modeling clay from the easiest recipe around, package it decoratively, and you’ve got a fun party favor for kids – and a hoot for adults too.
10. Personalized Bookmarks. Print your own bookmarks, and personalize them for guests. There are plenty of templates to choose from. Either print them on sturdy paper or laminate them after you cut them out.
11. Mix CD. Hand out CDs of songs that fit the occasion. Play it safe and present them in a decorative paper case instead of putting a label on the CD (they can sometimes come loose and damage the players).
12. Fortune Cookies. Bake your own fortune cookies and personalize the messages inside! This is a fantastic ice breaker.
13. Photo Albums. Make a simple photo album by tying construction paper together with yarn and gluing photos onto the pages.
14. Printable Popcorn bags. You could actually print whatever you like on the outside of this and put any sort of gifts or food items in it. But these DIY popcorn bags would be perfect for a party that involves watching a movie.
15. Recipe booklet. You can print a small recipe booklet and pass them out as party favors. You can download a template for it to get started.
16. Candles. You could make your own personalized candles for each guest, in fragrances or colors they’ve chosen.
17. Picture frames. Either buy inexpensive little picture frames or make some with Fimo or Sculpey. Decorate them anyway you like (or if the party’s for kids, this is a great activity to have them do).
18. Homemade lollipops. Making lollipops is pretty simple – and you can make them like hard candy or out of molten chocolate.
19. Candy bar wrappers. Make your own personalized candy bar wrappers and wrap store-bought or homemade candy bars in them. These are a big hit.