I know that it’s been forever since you have seen this logo in a blog post. Let’s just say that when I got sick, all of my responsibilities regarding the “Every Needful Thing” program got put on hold (understandably). I have since then handed over that job to another wonderful woman because I do not have the ability to do it myself. However, right before I got sick I had written this post about an activity that was coming up for us. I decided that I still wanted to share it with you even though it happened almost six months ago. I didn’t get to go to the activity itself because I was so ill, but I helped plan it and got many of the decorations ready for it and all of that good stuff so I wanted to make sure I posted how we made it happen. It is one of my favorite ideas for a party and can be adapted for any situation so here goes my original post….
Entry Display for Our Party
You’re My Favorite!
You are my favorite friends, favorite artists, favorite moms, favorite cooks, favorite gardeners, favorite bloggers, favorite people. And I want to invite you to celebrate your favorite things at our neighborhood “Every Needful Thing” activity – a FAVORITE THINGS PARTY! Positive self-esteem is a vital ingredient in a happy life so we decided to focus on that concept for this activity. What could be more “needful” than to feel loved and celebrated by those around you?
What Did We Want to Have Happen?
- have a sit-down, yummy dinner
- have fun
- share with and learn from each other
- get to know and celebrate one another
How Were We Going to Make That Happen?
- set up the round tables at the church building in clusters of 3 so that we can be in little groups
- have different women volunteer to decorate and set a table that reflects their favorite things
- serve a fresh, tasty dinner family-style to encourage communication and getting to know one another
- decorate with quotes that the women have said about each other: “My favorite thing about (insert person’s name) is (insert favorite thing)”
- invite each woman to bring a “gift to swap” that contains their favorite things ($5 limit)
- give each woman a take-away gift to remind them that they are “our favorite”
- celebrate each woman as an individual
This was a big event. It took a lot of hours from a lot of people to make it happen and I am infinitely grateful for those women who caught hold of the vision of what can happen when we have a purpose and work together to achieve it. Our purpose was simple. Our purpose was good: Celebrating each other. Just for the sake of giving hugs and smiles and a round of applause.
Celebrate those in your life that are your favorite! Here are some ideas of how to make a “Favorite Things Party” happen:
- invite your favorite people and tell them that they are your favorite! They don’t have to know each other, they all just share one thing in common – they are your favorite people for one reason or another.
- ask each person to bring their favorite food to share (no rules – you may have all desserts show up and that’s ok!)
- ask each person to bring 5 of a favorite thing to share in a gift swap (that means that 5 people get to have that person’s favorite thing and each person walks away with 5 different things, get it? Setting a $5 limit seems to work well.)
- at the party, have each person share why their food is their favorite…then eat!
- then put each person’s name into a hat 5 times (for the number of gifts they brought). Each person then draws out 5 names. Those are the people that they give their gift to. But wait! First they share why their item is their favorite. Then, when everyone is hoping to get that item, the person sharing reads the names of the people they drew and gives them their gift! Don’t you just love sharing favorite things??!!!
Can you envision it? Celebrating each other. Learning about one another. It’s the perfect party idea for any occasion. Actually, no occasion just might be the best occasion for this get-together. Wouldn’t you love to simply get an invitation to a party for no other reason than to say, “You’re My Favorite!”? I definitely would. They just might be my favorite three words that I could hear from someone.
Have a Favorite Things Party – just for the sake of laughing and sharing and loving each other. For our neighborhood party, I was able to plan it with our committee but I got sick right before it happened. I actually got home from the hospital that first time on the very day that our party took place back in May. Needless to say, I was unable to attend. But I heard reports about it and saw photos from the night and wanted to still share it with you six months later. I feel like it is one of the most fabulous ways to celebrate those we care about and didn’t want to miss the chance to tell you about it.
For our neighborhood party, we had asked each person to bring just one item to swap, simply to keep it simple for everyone to participate. We wanted each person to feel special and to take a break for the night so we also fed them dinner instead of having them bring the food. How about if I post the recipes in my next post and I’ll show you pictures of how it all turned out as well. Even though I wasn’t there, I heard only great things about the joy and love that was shared that night.
Cheers to Favorite Things Parties! I can see about a million ways that you can spin this to fit the holiday season or maybe you want to save the idea for later, when the blues of winter settle in. Whatever the time of year, a “Favorite Things Party” is sure to boost everyone’s spirits and become a favorite memory for all.
What favorite things would you bring to swap?
Read Full Post »
It’s a good thing I didn’t make any firm commitments of posting every week because I clearly have already failed! It is amazing how just trying to become a Mom again takes up so much time and energy. I am so grateful that I have gotten at least to this point in my recovery process – Cole and I are doing great together. I try and do an activity each morning…for me it helps me get out and active, for him it just gives him something to do other than hang around at home. Jason will often take us on our outings to the store or running other errands. I do better when I don’t have to be in charge of driving as well as getting out. But we also like to have friends come over to play. There are plenty of families with little ones in our neighborhood that we invite over or head to their house for an hour or two. I love those days because it gets Cole around some action and it gives me a chance to visit with my friends. It’s good for my healing process.
