Whatever kind of special event you’re putting together – whether it’s a wedding, a birthday party, a bridal shower, or a 4th of July get together – you’ll want to give your guests a gift to take home.
Party favors are easy to come by, but so many of them get left behind, stuffed in a box in the garage, or worse, thrown in the trash. These kinds of favors are just not what guests want. And when you really think about it, you probably wouldn’t want them either.
So when it comes time to plan your party favors, first ask yourself, “Would I enjoy receiving this gift?” If the answer is yes, then there’s a good chance your friends will love it too.
To give you a head start, we’re offering you some of our favorite ideas for military-inspired party favors. They’re all ages appropriate, so whether it’s a military-themed wedding or an army birthday party for the little ones, everyone will love these goodies.
Candy Favor Station
This DIY project is worth the time it will take to set up when you see the smiles it brings. You can put as much or as little details into this station as you want, so if you don’t have a lot of time, you can still set up an area that’s fun for guests to visit.
Take the above photo for example, Norene Cox of Party Pinching put together a “Mess Hall” station for her son’s birthday. The station was decorated with camo and wooden crates – simple, but effective! At a station like this, guests can “fill their tanks” by stuffing a bag, box, or bucket with their choice of candies or whatever you choose to offer as favors.
You can also call your station something else, like Drop Zone, Out Post, or Candy Headquarters. If you want to get really creative, give each kind of candy a clever military-related name, like chocolate bombs or gummy grenades.
Care Packages
A gift box is a great way to include a few small favors that you think your guests will love. Label it as a “care package,” fill it with goodies and attach a personalized dog tag to top off the military theme.
The great thing about this favor option is that you can customize it to fit any kind of party. For a military-themed bridal shower, you might put in some camo-colored nail polish, red, white and blue popcorn, and a necklace with a military-inspired charm.
For a child’s birthday party, you could include plastic army men, cookies, and a dog tag necklace.
Bottle Openers
This favor is a great idea for a wedding, bachelor(ette) party, or other get together that’s mostly for adults. Military-themed bottle openers can also be given as groomsmen gifts along with mini bottles of alcohol.
There are all kinds of shaped bottle openers to choose from: dog tag, anchor, bullet, soldier, etc. Just do a search for “military bottle openers” and find one that best fits your party guests’ vibe.
Edible Mixes
Edible favors are among the most popular, because who doesn’t love a delicious treat? You can almost guarantee an edible party favor won’t be left behind or thrown into the trash the moment your guests get home. They might even eat their gift at the party!
We love the idea of edible mixes or “rations” if you want to put a clever spin on the name. A few ideas:
- Camo-colored candy: fill a bag or jar with green, white, and brown M&Ms or jelly beans.
- Sweet and salty mix: create a rations trail mix with candy, pretzels, peanuts, raisins, etc.
- Mason jar mix: fill a jar with something the guest can put together (like s’mores, bean soup, hot chocolate and marshmallows, etc.) and decorate the jar using DIY embellishments like in the photo above.
Token of Remembrance
A simple, but sweet way to honor our troops is to set up a box of army men with a sign that says something like, “Take a soldier home to remember our troops.”
You can take this party favor even further by including an information tag on the token that gives guests instructions on how to give to a military charity. This is a great favor idea for small-budget weddings, as it not only saves the couple money, but more importantly, supports a special cause.
Handmade Soap
Even if these handmade soaps look too cool to actually use, they make for great bathroom decor. Plus, house guests will have no doubt you’re proud of your military spouse when they see your soap set.
You can find all kinds of handmade soap online by searching for military-themed soap. You can also make your own by searching for soap tutorials. Craft stores stock everything you need to make whatever kind of soap you want, or you can find supplies online.
Handmade soap is the perfect size to put in one of the gift boxes we mentioned above.
Temporary Tattoos
Another small party favor you can include in a gift box is a temporary tattoo. Kids and adults alike love adorning themselves with flash tattoos. And even if you don’t include them in a “care package,” you can hand them out at a bachelorette party for everyone to wear or as a small welcome gift at a birthday party, wedding reception, or backyard 4th of July bash.
We hope these favors have given you some ideas on what kinds of party gifts guests will love. The main things to remember when choosing your favors is what kind of event it is, the general age group, and what favors you would enjoy receiving. Get creative, and most importantly, have fun! When you enjoy the process, you’re more likely to find and/or make favors that your guests will love receiving.