Ultimate Favorite Things Party Gifts Ideas Under $20 – Tik Tok Favorites!
**Updated November 2025
I’ve attended my fair share of White Elephant and Secret Santa parties in the past. For reference, a classic white elephant is when you exchange silly and unexpected gifts (often something from your house that you no longer want or need OR a prank gift and a Secret Santa is the ever-mysterious gift-giver reveal. These seem to be popular December parties but last year my friends and I discovered the “favorite things party” courtesy of a trend one of my girlfriends was seeing all over Tik Tok.
The concept is as simple as it sounds: guests bring their most-loved item from the past year — maybe a must-have kitchen gadget, a beauty essential they swear by, cute, affordable jewelry, or that cozy find they rely on all winter. It’s a fantastic idea because you get to share a go-to item with friends, knowing they’ll likely love it too!
We did a “favorite things” party for our end-of-the-year book club gathering. Our book club is fairly small, with only six of us, so we set a $15 – $20 limit on gifts and gave each person one of our favorite things. that You would have thought these women were little girls on Christmas morning. It was a HIT! We’ve decided to do it again this year.
If you’re in a larger group and $15-$20 will be too much to spend on gifts for everyone, an alternative is for each guest to bring three of their favorite items, and you draw to decide which three gifts you’ll take home. Have a crafty group of friends? Feel free to also suggest a DIY gift, which can help save on costs.
Some things to keep in mind when planning a Favorite Things Party:
- Set a budget – most people agree upon $10 – $15 items but feel free to discuss with your group to find what you’re all most comfortable with!
- Consider Your Audience – Remember that your gift needs to work for everyone attending your party. I was considering giving some super cute pearl studded headbands but there are 2 in my group that I know headbands just aren’t their style so I went with something that appealed to everyone – a dry bar hairbrush.
- Find a Gift in your price range – Feel free to deviate from Amazon where you know you can get things cheap and quick. Consider shopping on Etsy to support a local artisan or head to your local boutiques on Small Business Saturday.
These are some great options for the Favorite things party all under $20. There’s really a wide range so I hope you can find something that suits your group of friends! Cheers to celebrating and introducing your pals to your favorite things this holiday season!
FAQs
A “Favorite Things” party is a fun gift-exchange where each guest brings one their favorite things under a set dollar limit (in your case, under $20). Then guests swap so everyone leaves with something new they love.
This depends on how you organize your group. You might ask each guest to bring one item under $20 (which is then swapped), or to bring multiple duplicates of the same item so each attendee can go home with the same thing from several people. If you’re attending a party that someone else hosts, be sure you know how many gifts (just one, or one for everyone) to provide.
Think shareable things you personally love and feel good recommending. Ideal gifts should be:
Affordable under the budget
Something you already love/use (so you’re genuinely recommending it)
Broad appeal (so other guests will like it too)
Visible value (small luxury, fun, beautiful packaging)
Presentation adds to the fun! Include a small card with sentence like: “I use this every morning and thought you might love it too.” That little personal note makes the exchange meaningful.
Absolutely! It just means you might broaden the gift-categories (e.g., travel gear, tech accessories, home office items, coffee & snack items) and remind guests: “Think of something you love that almost anyone could enjoy.” If kids are involved, you could also do a “junior” version with gifts under $10 or have a separate “kid swap.” Kids are almost always happy exchanging candy!
– Set the budget clearly and early.
– Decide how many items each guest brings (one vs. multiples).
– Provide or link to sample gift ideas so people who have never attended a favorite things party can get the gist of what kind of things to bring.
– Consider how you’ll swap (random draw, steal-game, etc.).
– Remind guests if you’d like them wrapped or unwrapped.
– End with a photo-op with everyone holding their new favs!
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