By: Sandra Flor Shower favor ideas Here is a list that I have compiled of all the shower favor ideas that I have seen posted on various newgroups, or gathered email. From: Sandra Flor I made pincushion dolls that were a HUGE hit. They were a lot of work (about 45 minutes per doll), but luckily I had a lot of help. It was also a lot of work because I made 72 of them!! They were the talk of the party though. I have the directions if anyone would like them. They are kind of long to type in but I can fax out a copy. They are also a good craft to make with scraps of material, lace, and ribbon you may have lying around. -- Sandy ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Rebecca S. Sittig" Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed The most fun theme I've ever been involved with was the "Around the Clock Shower". We made invitations that were clock faces and made the hands point to different times for everyone. The guests had to buy a gift corresponding with the time on the invitation. (if your invitation said 8:00 am, you had to buy something for an activity you thought the couple would be doing then - sheets, bathroom, breakfast, etc.) People usually get pretty creative and it's lots of fun - makes opening the gifts a game in itself. R. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Theres a great magazine published 4x per year called Bridal Crafts. They always have lots of ideas for favors. Bridal Crafts 701 Lee Street Suite 1000 Des Plaines IL 60016-4570 phone: 1-800-crafts-1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buy a $1 scratch ticket for each guest. Roll them and tie them with ribbons in the color of the wedding. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may have to go to the library to confirm this, but I believe there's a book out called -- ta da! -- "The Wedding Shower Book" that has _lots_ of good ideas on theme showers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Another idea for bridal shower favors is that you take a square of white lacey material and fill it with a few jordan almonds (colored ones or all white. Draw up the edges of the material and tie a narrow ribbon into a bow to hold it all together. It looks really nice and is not too expensive. Another thing you could do is to go the a craft store and buy those little inexpensive plastic wedding rings or tiny umbrellas and attach these little trinkets to the candy favor you just made from above. Colored mints in tiny weaved baskets that they sell at craft stores with a small bow glued onto the top of the basket are easy to make also. Hope this helps you out. Trese -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My friend threw me a bridal shower and she made some really neat favors. She bought these little baskets about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. Then she sprayed them white and used a hot glue gun to glue some pink and white lace around the edge of the basket. For the shower she got the hotel to make chocolate dipped strawberries and put these in the basket. For the centerpiece she used a medium sized white basket. She glued pink and white lace around the edge of this basket too. The basket was filled with nice things for the bride (eg. scented soaps, face cloth, etc). It was very nice. Another shower I went to had cookies for favors. The bride loved chocolate so she baked chocolate chip cookies (3-4 inches diam) and sealed them in seal-a-meal bags. Then she baked a huge cookie (over 12 inches across) with Congratulations written in chocolate chips. Yummy. Hope this helps, Sylvia ------------------------------------------------------------------------- At a friends wedding, they got netting and ribbon and Ande's mints, and tied up a pair of mints together in a square of netting. It all went together very fast. Netting and ribbons were in the wedding colors, of course, and available at fabric shops. Or, just wander thru a few of the crafts supply stores in your area. One near me has tons of bridal type stuff, from the tiny plastic champagne glasses to bulk jordan almonds. Wander thru and decide what you like. I bet they have idea books there too. (Wish I'd found this place before my wedding....) Also, try a post to alt.weddings, if you get it at your site. They are full of suggestions. Best of luck. -- Kaye Trimbath * Data I/O Corporation * voice: (206) 867-6230 * email: trimbath@data-io.com * My opinions are mine, all mine.. --------------------------------------------------------------------- >From: tang@spectra.com (Melissa Tang) >Subject: Re: shower favors >Date: Thu, 20 Jan 94 22:34:12 GMT >In article farr@ee.ualberta.ca (Catherine Vaike Farr) writes: >> The mention of the pillow reminded me of tablecloths. >> One person I know got everyone to sign a table cloth. She >> then embroydered over the names with various colours the >> bride had chosen. >> Another person has a red cloth with the best wishes from >> everyone that was at their wedding. They have mounted this >> cloth and it is now hanging on one of their walls. >> >> Catherine >> >Was the person who had this red cloth by any chance Chinese? It is a >Chinese tradition to have red silk cloths for the wedding guests to sign. I >had two at my wedding and they ended up being like guest books (I had a >typical guest book too). >Another shower favor that we did for my cousin was miniature wreaths. We >bought small wreaths, wrapped ribbons that matched her wedding colors around >the wreaths, added some babies breath and two small hearts with her and her >fiance's names on them. We made them into refrigerator magnets. >I just remembered another one that I really liked. The bridesmaids bought >the 3x5 clear, acrylic magnet frames and wrote the bride's name on them >using shirt paints. They added ribbons around it too. >Melissa -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: oxton@skopen.dseg.ti.com (Gail Oxton) Subject: Re: shower favors Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 18:53:27 GMT For my bridal shower, the hostess made potpourri bags. She bought blue fabric and white ribbon 1/4" wide (blue & white were my wedding colors), cut the fabric into squares using pinking shears for a "ruffled" edge, placed a small amount of potpourri in the middle of each square and tied up the "bag" with the white ribbon. She also wrote "Gail's Bridal Shower" and the date on each ribbon (probably before tying). They were easy and inexpensive to make, but they looked very pretty. She had them sitting in large basket as a table centerpiece (also adorned with blue & white ribbon). --- --Gail ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My sister made the favors for my bridal shower. She started with small candles (6" tapers). Each candle had a piece of lace wrapped around it and tied into a bow. A small piece of baby's breath was tied into the bow. These were done in my wedding colors (pink candles with white lace). They looked very nice and were quick to make. -- -Beth (bp2f@virginia.edu) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 09:06:37 EST From: Subject: Re: shower favors If you have access to a fabric and craft store, a quick, inexpensive bridal shower favor idea is 8" squares of white bridal veil netting filled with either mints or potpourri (a little more expensive than the mints). Place the mints in the center of the netting and gather up with a thin, white satin ribbon (or you could use white wrapping/curling ribbon). Craft stores sell gold plastic wedding rings which are very inexpensive. Before tying the final knot, slip on two of these wedding rings on each favor. Curl the ribbon, fluff the netting above the knot and you have very nice looking favors that don't cost too much to make. If you use the potpourri, look for netting that is tight or use two squares so it doesn't shake out. If you use mints, smaller (and white) are better. Meryl <>< rohvm1.mahmgr@rohmhaas.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jcm5132@ritvax.isc.rit.edu Subject: Re: shower favors Date: Sat, 8 Jan 1994 01:27:55 GMT One more thought about shower favors. I have been to several bridal and baby showers and have a cupboard full of stupid little do-dad dust collectors I dont know what to do with but just cant throw away. Based on that...I would make a favor that could be used. For my sisters wedding we wrapped small bars of fragrant soap in cloth that matched the bridesmaids dresses. We then tied ribbon around it-like you would a gift and put a small ribbon rose on top. When I got tired of looking at it-I unwrapped it and used it. I guess my point is : if you're going to spend hard-earned money on this stuff it might as well be useful. At one wedding I went to, small silver jelly/condiment spoons were tied w/ribbon and silk flowers. Do you have any "All for a Dollar" stores in your area? Check them out. The bars of soap I spoke of earlier came from the "travel-samples" bin of a drug store. They were 50 cents or something. Check out your local library. Ours has a book devoted totally to baby and wedding shower favors. Keep us posted...let us know what you decide to do. Regards....Mary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Rita M. Motor" To: sandy@sw.stratus.com (Sandra Flor) Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed In-Reply-To: <2kj35g$75n@transfer.stratus.com> Distribution: world Status: RO I'm new to this group, so I don't know what kind of responses you have recieved, nor what types of crafts you have done. But I can tell you some favors I have recieved (and what we did for my shower). A friend had a 'kitchen' shower. The favors were small metal whisks, with a small silk flower hot-glued to the handle (the flowers that come 10 to a small pack, only cost a few cents). For a Cousin's shower, someone made little wreath magnets - the 'wreath' was premade, I think. Small dried flowers where hot-glued onto it. its about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. \Another friend's favors were popourii gathered in nylon mesh, tied with a pretty bow. This was a couple years ago, and it still smells nice! For my shower, we ended up buying very small 'gift' bags (about 1 inch or so high). We got the very thin ribbon, and the small silk flowers (come in bunches of 10 or so), and glued a flower and ribbon bow to the outside of the small bag. Inside, were a handful of mints in nylon mesh, closed with the same ribbon. We had also considered getting the mini plastic gift baskets (wrap the handle with the ribbon), or mini champagne glasses. Good Luck! Rita Motor -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ringuesk@bcvms.bc.edu (Kristin J. Ringuest) Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed If you don't want to go through the trouble of fashioning some intricate craftsy thing that inevitably seems to end up on the back seat floor of someone's car, here's an idea. I gave a shower for my best friend 2 years ago (wow it seems like yesterday). We didn't have much time or much gumption to drag out the glue gun, so I went to a place called the Christmas Tree Shops and bought a couple of cases of glass crystal votive candle holders and boxes of candles in her colors (pink and blue). Votive candles, by the way, are tiny and squat. The holders are no more than 2 inches tall I would say. There was *no* exertion necessary and they were an amazing hit. The whole thing cost about $1.00 a favor. I don't know if you have Christmas Tree Shops, but I'm sure there are different similar type discount stores near you. Good luck and have fun! -Kristin (who refuses to have games at my shower, IMHO) ringuesk@bcvms.bc.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: aboswell@ucrac1.ucr.edu (Amy Marshall Boswell) Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed Hi Sandy, When my sister had a bridal shower for me last spring, she gave the guests pots with tulip bulbs. They were simple clay pots, and she wrapped them in netting and tied them with pretty ribbons. She also attached watering and other care instructions. Everyone I spoke with said they thought this was a wonderful idea. Amy Boswell UC Riverside aboswell@ucrac1.ucr.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: Ideas need for bridal shower Hi Sandra, I recently had to do that do, it does cause some stress doesn't it? You want to be original, but you don't want it to cost a fortune either. I did up some favor using small candles (the hanging one that are connected by the wick). There are alot of different things you can do if you have a glue gun and some ribbon with these. It was a hit at the shower. I also went to a few showers, where they gave away small plants, you can work with that idea too. Good luck!!! From sek@wam.umd.edu (Sonja E. Kueppers) Newsgroups: alt.wedding Subject: Re: Wedding Shower: Favors??? Date: 26 Sep 1993 15:57:36 GMT I was just at a wedding shower last weekend, and they gave out little baskets of potpourri. This may not sound especially useful, but it was very useful to me -- because they also tied ribbons around the basket in the wedding colors. This allowed me to get an exact color match for the sampler I did for the couple. (It just so happens that their home is decorated in these same colors...) I had never expected a favor to be so useful. :-) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From v087q5jd@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Donna M Hutchison) Subject: Re: Wedding Shower: Favors??? Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1993 00:00:00 GMT I gave a shower last March for a very close friend of mine.. the shower favors (which I have recieved some sort of at every bridal shower I have been to) were small crocheted (spelling?) hats that doubled as pincushions for sewing. The bride was planning a victorian style wedding so the lacy-edged hats with ribbon and flowers fit right in. (Public declaration: My mom did all the work, I just glued on the ribbon and pushed in a few "hat" pins). As to games, there are many types mentioned in previous posts here, but since time was short at the shower I hosted, I had everyone write on small cards a piece of advice for the B&G. Then the bride read them aloud. Things like "never go to bed angry" and "Make sure right away he knows who's in charge!" :) and I also made a little True/false quiz of wedding traditions for people to try their hands at. It was a lot of fun, but most of the afternoon was taken up by eating and opening presents. hope that helps! -Donna from Buffalo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Sandra Flor Date: 94-02-28 12:38:46 est From: Lorae McCall (replied) Options: low priority Subject: RE: Ideas need for bridal shower I went to a bridal shower once where everyone was sent a 4 inch square (either blue or off-white) with the invitation and asked to do something creative with it...all squares would be pieced together to make a small quilt for the bride and groom. People either cross-stitched, used fabric paint, made their own 4 in. quilt patch, or whatever. Even people that didn't sew participated... One person sent back the square without doing anything, another just sewed on a pretty lace design that she purchased at a fabric store. The resulting quilt came out pretty nice. Another tradition in NY where I'm from is to have a wishing well. I never saw this at a shower around here. Everyone brings an inexpensive kitchen item in addition to their gift (rubber spatula, mixing spoon, etc)...no need to wrap, and all are thrown into a big wishing well that you can make, or you can just used a decorated basket. Lorae --------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can always make silk roses in the same color theme as that of the wedding. These roses can be filled with candies, potpuri etc The cost to make one is approx 50-70 cents appiece, and in one evening you can make about 50 if you never made one before. For complete instructions on how to make them please send $5.00 to Classic Keepsakes P.O. Box 97143 Pittsburgh Pa, 15229. Please send check or money order only!!! -- Geo G. Zaun Pittsburgh Pa. ggz@telerama.lm.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Mar 94 13:45:42 PST From: Tamra.Heathershaw@gain.com (Tamra Heathershaw (contractor)) To: sandy@sw.stratus.com Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed My favorite favors of all the weddings I've been to were cast paper hearts in the wedding colors...they were about 2 inches across, maybe a little more, pale pink, with a pink bow glued on. I liked them for the simplicity, and also because I could then glue my heart on a card and send it off to my mom and tell her about the wedding! The cast paper things also make great xmas decorations. I believe they were made by making the paper "sludge" and then pouring in into a heart-shaped tin cookie mold that's sitting on a paper-making screen. You could also do pressed paper in the clay cookie molds. There are a couple of books out on the market with good instructions on this. I get my molds and paper linter sheets and instruction books at Michael's crafts, and I've seen several articles in past issues of the craft magazines on the subject. Good luck! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: carole_mahoney@iegate.mitre.org (Carole Mahoney) Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed I got the job of making the favors for my brother's wedding and just started last night. A small potpourri sachet is pretty, simple and inexpensive to make. Cut 7 or 8" squares of inexpensive fabric...I bought some fabric and used some leftover pieces from other projects. The fabric can be all different colors or the bridal color theme. You can cut 15 squares from 5/8 yard of 45 inch wide fabric. Cut ribbon pieces (about 8 inches) to tie them closed. Put about a quarter cup of potpourri in the fabric and hold it together and tie with ribbon. Tie a knot and then a bow. If you want to get fancy, you could tuck a silk flower in the ribbon. My husband and I made 25 last night in an hour. I cut, he scoops and knots, and I tie the bow. Only 75 more to go! The house smells so pretty, too! Have fun! Carole ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: carole_mahoney@iegate.mitre.org (Carole Mahoney) Subject: Re: Ideas for bridal shower favors needed In article sherred@netcom.com (Juggler) writes: > was to have each guest (ahead of time) submit a favorite rescipe. Befor > the day of the shower, put them all togerther My mother's friend came up with a cute poem to include in the shower invitation along with a recipe card. Then of course, the bride will have a nice new recipe box filled with favorite recipes from her family and friends. Here's the poem: Enclosed for you is a recipe card. To fill it in shouldn't be hard. (Bride's name) might like to try your favorite cake, or whatever it is you like to make. So don't forget this card on this special date Fill it in now, don't hesitate. At the shower, there will be a recipe box to fill. So bring this card along, if you will. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: RE: IDEAS FOR BRIDAL SHOWER FAVORS NEEDED I JUST HAD MY SHOWER THIS PAST SATURDAY (FEB. 26). ONE OF THE BRIDESMAIDS MADE MY FAVORS. SHE BOUGHT SMALL GRAPEVINE WREATHS AND DECORATED THEM WITH DRIED FLOWERS AND SOME SPANISH MOSS AT THE BOTTOM WITH A RIBBON IN THE MIDDLE. IT WAS ALL DONE IN MY COLORS AND EVERYONE REALLY LOVED GETTING SOMETHING DIFFERENT. SHE ALSO PUT A RIBBON AT THE TOP, SO YOU COULD USE IT AS A CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATION OR ON A DOORKNOB OR JUST AS A LITTLE DECORATION. SHE MADE TWO COLORS OF THE RIBBON SO THAT EVERYONE HAD A CHOICE. I THINK THE WREATH SYMBOLIZES WELCOME OR SOMETHING. IT IS IN A CIRCLE SO IT COULD ALSO MEAN NEVERENDING LOVE. ANOTHER IDEA IS WOODEN SPOONS WITH A SMALL BAG OF POTPOURRI TIED ON THEM IN YOUR COLORS IS ALSO NICE. I HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL. IN EACH INVITATION THERE WAS AN INSERT TO BRING A RECIPE TOO. THIS WAY THE BRIDE-TO-BE HAD A HEADSTART ON A RECIPE BOX. MARTHA CHEETHAM MARSHALL UNIVERSITY -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jderbog@gmuvax.gmu.edu (Jane der Boghossian) Subject: Re: Shower/Wedding Favors I can't take all the credit for these ideas becuase they are various showers and weddings that I have been to in the past. The first one, which I am making as the party favor for my wedding in 6 1/2 weeks was from a Helouise column in the paper here a couple of weeks ago. Take a wooden kitchen spoon and place two chocolate kisses on it. Wrap the spoon part in nylon tulle. I have two layers of tulle for the two major colors in my dress and my maid-of-honor's dress. In between the layers of tulle, enclose the following saying: A Spoonful of sugar And two kisses Now *Richard and Jane* Are *Mr. and Mrs. Tie the tulle where the handle starts with silk type ribbon. The squares of tulle that I used are 13" square (more or less) and were purchased for $0.50 per yard. I was able to get 150 squares from 15 yards of tulle. I found the wooden spoons at Ben Franklin (now called Total Crafts here) for 3 spoons for $1.00 and the silk type ribbon on those ribbon reels on sale for 4 reels for $1.00. You can make the saying using Word Perfect or something like that with a pretty border around it with nice text. Some of my favorite ideas for favours from showers have been those actibath tablets with a nice ribbon tied around them. Another one I got was a small wooden box that was sponge painted with paper mache stuff to give it a white bumpy feel. On top of the box a small silk rose was glued with a few green leaves. The inside was filled with bath confetti and a small fleck bear was placed inside sitting inthe bath confetti. Others I've received are small sachetsmade from teh same colors as the wedding party or just the colors of the new couple's home with a small amount of potpourri enclosed with a ribbon to ahng it or just with a nice design on the front. Good luck with your search. If you need an idea for a wedding present, I've become quite good at making wedding cakes from towels since many of my friends and my fiance's friends have gotten married over the past two years. They aren't that expensive and they are a definate hit to all that see them. They are also good shower presents or centerpieces since everyone can always use extra towels and white goes with every color scheme almost. Jane der Boghossian (Soon to be Huzil) e-mail replies to: janedb@sylvest.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: jlp@unr.edu (Marge Parker) Subject: Re: shower favours Take about a half a yard of lace fabric, cut into 6" circles, saturate with fabric stiffener, place over the ROUNDED end half of a L'Egg's egg. Once dry, remove & trim with ribbon/tiny flowers etc., use 1 chenille stem folded in half for the handle, curving at the end, and glue into the center of the lace for a parasol. I did these and they were quick, easy and VERY inexpensive. We didn't just lay these on their side like a normal parasol, we stood them upside down, with the handle sticking up and filled the parasol 'cup' with tiny mints. For a centerpiece on the refreshment table, we did a giant sized one with double fabric, which we starched over a basketball! Hey ... it worked! Marge jlp@unr.edu m.parker@hdc.com