Rewinding to the very first My Favorite Things Party, which eventually led me to launching Debbee’s Buzz.

The party presented an opportunity to unleash my inner maker; whether it was creating invitations, decorations, food or favors.

If you follow this blog, you know I love to use themes when decorating, entertaining and crafting.

Today, I’m sharing bee party gifts, favors and prizes from the French Queen Bee theme event.

I hope you find creative inspiration in this post. Perhaps, to host your own gift exchange, tea, birthday party, shower, or to apply guest favor ideas to a rustic wedding.

Learn more on the ins and outs of the My Favorite Things gifts exchange, DIY insights on crating bee party gifts, and fun games and prizes to entertain guests.

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Uh, What’s a Favorite Things Party?

This was the first My Favorite Things Party any of my guests had ever attended.

A Elegant French Queen Bee Invitation provided some necessary explanation of how the gift exchange would work.

Basically, the ladies were asked to pick a favorite thing and bring three of that item — wrapped and tagged with their name. Each item was not to exceed $8 in cost.

As guests arrived, I steered them to a designated drop-off area for their favorite thing gifts.

Once guests deposited their trio of items, the area quickly overflowed with enticing packages. Opening them would have to wait though — building the anticipation.

Note: The bee theme party took place over three years ago. Back then, I wasn’t snapping photos to share on a blog. Please forgive any glare, poor light or blur!

The bee party gifts exchange was the grand finale of the party. First, there was mingling, eating and games to play!

Cross-Pollinate

As I explained in How to Host an Extraordinary My Favorite Things Party (Part 1), most of the friends and family attending the first gathering had never met before.

That called for name tags, introductions and ice-breaker party games.

The name tags were actually Mason jar labels. I used a white paint pen to write guests names, and embellished them with adorable, wooden bees.

After mingling over beverages and hors d’oeuvres, guests moved on to the dessert table for Bee Theme Party Food Features Honey, Lemon.

It was time for the games to begin! We played a total of three. Two games would probably have sufficed, but everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. The games were a great opportunity to get to know each other.

What’s in Your Wallet … Purse?

The first thing I did was ask the ladies to gather in the family room, finding a seat next to someone they didn’t already know.

There are a lot of different versions of the What’s in Your Purse game floating around Pinterest. I came up with my own, and created a tally sheet for each guest. Items were segmented into sections, worth between one and five points each.

Working in pairs, the gals tallied each other’s score, using a bee party gift pen I made.

This was another Pinterest-inspired craft, made with a package of black pens (Dollar Tree) (10 for $1), chenille pipe cleaners and glue-on eyes.

It was pretty amazing the amount of stuff most of the ladies were packing in those purses and wallets!

Bee Party Gifts Table Displays Prizes & Favors

During the meet and greet, guests were encouraged to browse party favors and prizes displayed in the dining room.

I had such fun locating and wrapping bee party gifts and prizes! Many were found at Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Home Goods, costing $3-$5 each. There were honeycomb soaps, jars of honey, lemon-scented hand cream, mini beeswax candles, and soap in a beehive-shaped dispenser.

The bee party gifts table was also where guests placed their vote for Favorite Fashion, Favorite Package and Favorite Gift Overall. 

Those receiving the most votes won prizes at the end of the party.

Talented M won for beautifully-crafted brown paper packages. Each was decorated with handmade paper flowers.

Inside the box was her favorite tea.

What’s the Buzz?

The second game I created from my own crazy imagination! It started with a bee-skep decorated jar full of lemon drop candies.

You might recognize the skep on the jar lid as a twin to one in Bee Wreath and Skep Bee-autiful DIY Inspiration, Party Decorations. The candies came from Party City.

To hold their lemon drops, each guest was given an adorable, yellow basket embellished with a bee. I added “How sweet of you to bee here” tags.

The bee baskets were a last-minute find from Pat Catans.  I just couldn’t pass them up at only $1 each. Could you?

Candy Confessions

The objective of What’s the Buzz, was to have the most candies at the end of the game. I created a list of “yes” or “no” questions. Depending on the response, guests held or forfeited a piece of candy to the person on their left or right.

The questions had a sort of ‘truth and confessions’ element to them: 

• Do you exercise at least once a week? (no, forfeit)
• Have you ever double-dipped a potato chip? (yes, forfeit)
• Do you participate in a volunteer activity regularly? (no, forfeit)
• Did you ever get a hickey in high school? (yes, forfeit)
• Have you ever or do you smoke cigarettes? (yes, forfeit)
• Did you ever inhale? (yes, forfeit)
• Have you ever fudged how much something cost to your husband? (yes, forfeit)
• Have you ever lied about your age? (yes, forfeit)

Get the idea? There were 25 quick-fire questions I read off. Guests didn’t answer out loud, but would silently “confess” by passing over a lemon drop. What began with sheepish smiles, turned into giggles and bursts of laughter around the room. There were a few questions where everyone was ‘guilty’, LOL!

My Aunt C kept running out of lemon drops in her basket to pass! Let’s just say the lucky lady sitting next to her won the prize!

My Favorite Things Game

Below is the classic game to play at a My Favorite Things Party. I created my own game sheets.

Categories ranged from favorite book to ice cream flavor to local restaurant. I gave the girls all a few minutes to write down their personal favorites. The scoring system wasn’t explained until after everyone had filled out their sheet.

Then, we went around the room, taking turns sharing our answers. One point was given for a favorite that no one else shared. Three bonus points were awarded if your favorite matched Queen Debbee’s!

Taking Notes

Before we began the gift exchange, I had a few more bee party gifts to distribute.

The first favors were little honeycomb paper pads, held together by a queen bee clip.

The pads were so the ladies could jot down favorites and shopping ideas during the bee party gifts exchange. I made the pads from materials found at Michaels. The blackboard crown clips couldn’t have been more perfect for a queen bee!

Crafty M, who won Favorite Package, also made the adorable Curvy Box bee sitting in the center.

Lottery Numbers & Wild Cards for the Bee Party Gifts Exchange

Each bee box held three different numbers, on different colored pieces of paper. The color represented the round in the bee party gifts exchange.

The number was the order in which guests chose their gift from the pile.

To add a twist on the traditional lottery, I created these Wild Honey Cards. The envelopes did double-duty as a decorative garland.

To attach the envelopes to the yarn garland, I also made cute bee party gifts out of clothespins.

Inside, were one of three different cards. A Honey Pot card allowed the guest to jump ahead of the line to declare a gift from the pile. Ladies could steal a gift from another with a Wanna Bee card, while a Beekeeper Card allowed the guest to defend against the steal.

Playing a Honey Pot or Wanna Bee card took the place of your draw in that round of the lottery.

Learn the ins and outs of using wildcards for the gift exchange in Host an Extraordinary Favorite Things Party (Part 2).

Bags of Goodies

After three exchange rounds, everyone took home three gifts, plus favors and prizes in large chevron bags (Michaels).

Favorite things in the gift exchange included:

• • Honey with recipe
  • Tea
  • Soaps
  • Candles
  • Potted bee balm plant
  • Blank journal
  • Sunflower paper plates & napkins
  • Wine cooler with carry bag

Since the party was over three years ago, memory fails me of all the fabulous finds. In keeping with the French Queen Bee theme, my gift was a large cardboard book box. It was decorated with a vintage Parisian scene of the Eiffel Tower. I like to use faux book boxes to store cards and letters, stationary, little keepsakes, and other odds and ends.

For more exchange gift ideas, see 16 Favorite Beauty Basics.

Thanks for Buzzing By!

As guests made their goodbye’s, each received a honey dipper from a bright yellow basket.

Attached to each dipper was a different message, like “Hap Bee Day.”

The honey dippers were another easy DIY project and sweet bee party gifts

Like the sign says!

Have a great Labor Day holiday weekend.

 

 

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I regularly participate in: Metamorphous Monday, Share Your Style, Tablescape Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Saturday Sparks, Happiness is Homemade, and Love Your Creativity.