You probably don’t have room in your budget for $ 150,000.00 for party favors and you will probably limit the guest list to much less than 150 guests, so you’re in luck. There are a lot of really cute and easy to make party favors that you can make yourself for just a few dollars.

I was recently asked to make party favors for a baby shower. There were 20 guests and the theme was Winnie the Pooh. We all know that bears like honey, so we thought guests would too. We gathered individual packets of Stash Vanilla Honey Tea, Honey Sauces, some Honey Candies (the wrappers had cute little bees on them), and Bit-O-Honey candy bars.

We could have put all of these honey-flavored treats in one bag, but I had another idea that would make them prettier to look at and just more fun. Most of the things we use for packaging can be found at one of the many party supply or dollar stores. We use clear cello bags, the kind that florists use, known as corsage bags. You can also find printed bags with various themes in party stores.

We cut white card stock to fit inside the bag and glue the items to the card stock. We use glue dots, but a glue stick will work too. The colors of the Bit-O-Honey bars did not match our color scheme, so we wrapped the bars in paper. We personalize the bars with the date and the name of the mother and baby. If you have a good graphics program on your computer, you can customize the wrappers just like we did. You can find a FREE template from Google by searching for “candy wrapper template” and there are YouTube videos explaining how to wrap the bars. If your party has a popular theme, you can use themed wrapping paper instead of white paper to wrap your candy bars.

We closed the bag with a pink, blue and yellow curling ribbon to match our color scheme. The total cost, including the treats, was $ 2.75 each.

The idea we decided for the baby shower was not the only one I had. Since tea and honey were the main items, we thought about putting them all in one cup. The mug would have made a nice party favor to go, but we still would have had to use the cello bag and ribbon and since a mug would have added another dollar to the total cost, we decided against it.

Are you planning a birthday party for a child? Why not include them to help create personalized party favors? All you need are paper, kraft, or white bags, a hole punch, colored markers, and some tape. You can add stickers if you want.

Fold the top of the bag about two to three inches. With the hole punch, make a hole about an inch on each side of the center. The gift bag is now ready to decorate. Your child can write each guest’s name on the bag with a colored marker and add an original drawing or stickers if desired.

Once the bags are decorated, fill them with the goodies of your choice. Instead of choosing all the goodies, include some healthier options like granola bars and peanut butter cookies. Fold the top of the bag down and tie the ribbon through the holes and make a bow. For a more colorful bag, choose a couple of different colors of curling tape and instead of a bow, curl each strand, giving your gift bags a very festive look.

Fill small mason jars with cocoa and mini marshmallows and tie a recipe card with your favorite cookie or bread mix for a wedding gift. A plastic beer mug with some beef jerky and a packet of popcorn would be fun for Jack and Jill, and a small bottle filled with jelly beans or other treats makes a cute party favor for a baby shower. Visit local farmers markets to see if there are soap makers that wrap goat’s milk or other handmade soap in a custom wrap. The possibilities are endless.