Saturday, June 9, 2012

My Favorite Things: Summer Edition

a my favorite things party is now one of my new favorite things to host!!
i was at first intrigued when a person i follow on instagram posted a pic of just the letters my favorite things. she had me at that. i had no idea what it was. but, i knew i had to find out!! i was instantly excited as i started my search on the internet and pinterest. i found out the jist of how it works and decided to add my own twist to it. i was in love with this concept! and started planning immediately!!

with summer quickly approaching and one of my favorite seasons, i thought it would be so fun to make it a summer theme, where everyone brings their favorite summer necessities. and a fun way to kick off summer with my closest girlfriends!! i sent out a save the date via evite. and went to work brainstorming! ;)

the basic idea is to tell everyone you invite to bring 5 of their favorite items $6.00 or less.
after you introduce your item to the group, you pick 5 different names and those five girls go home with that item. so, the idea is to leave the party with 5 new things! so fun!

i was planning on sending out cute little invitations, but, i just ran out of time! oh well! ;)

so, here is my version of my favorite things!:)

i set up a table that would display all of the the favorite things. and accented with some summeryness ;)



 i found cute printables on pinterest. (i have a board labeled my favorite things that has a lot of this stuff in it if you're interested).
another cute printable. i just painted and shabbied up the frames.
and created this banner...
which leads me to some of my favorite things ;)
 my 5 items were these scentportables from bath and body works. love them for the car! they are so cute and smell great. so i picked up 5 different summer designs along with 5 different summer scents. and later found that 2 other girls brought this as their favorite item too! haha! needless to say, everyone left with one!;)
i decided it would be fun to play one of my favorite games...scattergories! but, i just made up my own summer version and we only played 2 rounds. ;)
the winners of the 2 rounds got a prize...
this prize included my favorite candle and tarts from swan creek candle co. along with my favorite summer scents..coconut buttercream, vanilla pound cake and coconut lime.
and the next prize included eos chapstick, essie nailpolish in orange (my favorite color right now) and bath and body works true blue shea cashmere lotion. i swear by the body cream!! love!
and then at the end of the night everyone voted on their favorite favorite thing and the winner got the picnic basket along with these goodies. i am living on the tejava tea right now and it's usually always in one of those cute cups because i am always on the go!  and a couple of my favorite chocolates right now. the picnic basket is so great..cute, insulated, practical and a perfect size! 
 i love mason jars!! and was inspired by another fellow instagramer by tea staining a doily and wrapping it in bakers twine.




i bought each of the girls a beach bag that they could stuff their things in. i love these bags for summer!
i made a summer rag garland to display.



 another printable..painted the frame, shabbied it and embellished it with some flowers ;)



 onto the goodies...


 you must try the peanut butter snickers if you haven't already!
 i personalized a mason jar cup for each of the girls...

 filled cones with m&ms...

 made baked s'mores..which were sooo good! perfect summer treat! i also have this recipe pinned.
 fresh from the stand strawberries...
 that were cut up and put on these strawberry angel food cakes and made into strawberry shortcakes for dessert! yum! light and tasty!

 summer drinks...

 this drink was the most popular!;)








 this has also been a favorite lately..banana bread..a recipe passed down from my grandma.
 mango peach salsa and chips along with some veggies and dip

i made these pinterest inspired frame wreaths that welcomed guests at the front doors


 now onto the girls' favorite things...

 summer bingo






 a great variety of fun things!
 all the girls ready to start the game and sharing!
and of course hanging out with these girls is another favorite thing. ;)
it really was such a fun night! i loved it! we decided that we are going to have one for each season! a different girl will host each one and take turns! i can't wait for fall!!:)

4 comments:

EB said...

Love. Love. Love this!!! Looks like sooo much fun!!!

Anonymous said...

this is awesome! could u please tell me where u found that cute picnic basket as well as how u played summer scattergories? such a fun idea:) thanks,
jessica

Kelli said...

What a fun party! Strawberry pineapple cooler sounds yummy...is it from pinterest as well? I really like the vintage looking bucket you have with starfish in it.
Kelli

jessica said...

thanks girls!:) i found the picnic basket at homegoods! they had a cute variety there! summer scattergories is just having 12 subjects/things (in this case had to do with summer)..then you roll an alphabet dice and you have to come up with things that start with the letter that was rolled. and there is a timer. if you buy the game, scattergories at the store you will have the dice/timer/and better directions. it's my favorite game anyway..i just put a summer twist on it.;)

hi kelli! yeah, the strawberry cooler is pinned on my pinterest as well. except i couldn't find the frozen pineapple juice it called for so i substituted with a hawaiian blend. and it was really yummy!:)