5 Simple steps to host a MY FAVORITE THINGS party!
Getting together with friends is always fun but wait until you see how easy it is to host a MY FAVORITE THINGS (MFT) party! I co-hosted with my bestie, photographer Laurie Denney, and we put together our list of 10 friends. We wanted to keep the gathering on a small scale because of COVID-19 guidelines but also because we hadn’t all seen each other for several months and we wanted to be able to spend quality time together! A bigger number of guests is definitely doable and I’m already planning my next MFT party with my entrepreneur friends because this one was so much fun!
The Invites!
The first step is to build excitement for the event. To do so, Laurie and I chose Taco Tuesday as our theme and planned the invitations and food around it. We had a lot of fun with the invites, delivering a lime green bag filled with a Corona, a lime and festive straw + napkin to each gal’s doorstep for a fun surprise!
We asked each guest to bring 3 of ONE thing that they love under $20 each! You can choose how to do the gifting part in several ways - another option is to ask guests to bring 3 of THREE of their favorite things under $5 or $10. The more items that are brought, the more each guest gets to take home! As an added bonus, Laurie and I chose to add trios of extra items that WE both love so in all, each guest walked away with a bag full of goodies!
NEXT: we chose our menu and of course, geared it toward all things Mexican. This black bean filling below is delicious in burritos, tacos or as part of a big tostada salad. Here is our recipe that takes 10 quick minutes to prepare and can be made ahead of time:
The food:
2 cans drained black beans
1 small can diced chiles
3 diced roma tomatoes
1/2 cup or more of diced green onions
1 bunch of rinsed cilantro, finely chopped
Mix the first 3 ingredients well in a large bowl. Top with the cilantro or set it aside in a small bowl so guests can add as much or as little as they wish.
We also included all the yummy sides like tortilla chips, salsa, pico de gallo and shredded cheese and lettuce. Shredded chicken completed the menu (thanks to our bff, Kim, who offered to make it!) so everyone could make their own meal to their liking. A big hit was the Taco Bell mild sauce, found in most grocery stores on the top shelf - yep, it’s the same insanely good sauce you get in packets at Taco Bell. I’m not sure if should say “you’re welcome” because now you know that you can buy a whole bottle - or if I should say “I’m sorry” because you’ll basically want to put it on everything you eat! It’s THAT good!
The display:
We set the table up the day of the event and used all of my cake platters (to add height) for the gifts to be displayed on. I didn’t realize I had a platter addiction until this party and I’m glad I do because the table looked so pretty! Some of these have been gifts and many I’ve picked up over the years on sale at Home Goods, Ross or TJ Maxx. A yard sale is also a great spot to find kitchenware like these where they don’t have to be perfect, just pretty.
Extra touches:
To make sure everyone felt spoiled, we purchased a few extra items for each of us (so 11 total including us hosts) and we set those up before the guests came. These gorgeous Remi spatulas were on a 75% discount at Anthropologie and added a bright spot to the display. Individually packaged facial masks were also bought there (2 boxes with 6 in each) and of course, every girl loves a new lip balm so some Burt’s Bees 3-packs were an easy find at Target!
The how-to:
We counted out how many sets of 3 there were (once everyone had set theirs out on the table) and then divided that number by 11 (the amount of guests, inlcuding Laurie + I). We started the night with each guest picking out 3 things from anywhere on the table. It was a mad dash and they each got a pretty floral bag (.99 each at Home Goods) to carry their things in. After we ate and visited a bit, we did another round and everyone got to choose 3 more items. We also told them to take one of each goodie that all of us would be taking home, like the spatula + lip balm (with a sign that said Take One). By the end of the evening, everyone got to choose 2 more goodies to fill their bag, leaving an uneven number of gifts left so we saved those few extra items for our good friend who couldn’t make it.
This MFT party would have been magical outside by the pool but weather didn’t permit it. However, we planned ahead - the back patio was cleaned up (thanks to my hubby) and blankets and throws were set out in case the rain stopped. We ate dinner and partied inside and then as soon as the showers cleared, we headed to the patio to unwind by the fireplace. Wrapping up our MY FAVORITE THINGS party with my favorite friends and a glass of wine, along with a lot of laughs and heartfelt chats, was just what my soul needed.
P.S. This was such a fun evening that our friends are still talking about it, even texting photos using some the items they got that night Here’s our friend, Kelly, using her new spatula and making vegan quesadillas - see what she cooks up below:
Vegan quesadilla filling:
Meatless ground beef crumbles (Beyond Meat), chopped peppers, onions, garlic, garbanzo beans, black beans and taco seasoning.
I can’t wait to hear how your MFT party goes! Be sure to tag #bloommomtribe so we can follow along in the fun!
XO Kelsy