Handmade gifts are my love language. So whenever I get the chance to make something DIY and cute and give it out to 50 of my closest friends…I take it.
I turned 30 this year and hosted a cute little bday bash at a bar near my apartment. I’ve been an old lady since I was 15, though - so I decided to capitalize on OFFICIALLY being old by making movie night themed party favors - the perfect excuse to stay in.
Party Favor Ingredients
- Four colors of fluorescent acrylic from Canal Plastics
- This textured paper from Amazon
- 4” keychain bead chains
- These adorable little 20 ml cork stopper bottles
- Adhesive glue dots
- My Cricut Explore Air 2
- My Glowforge laser cutter
- Cricut printable sticker paper (I generally don’t love this paper, but had some and wanted to make use of it!)
- Mini m&ms
Making the party favors was basically just bringing together all my favorite craft activities - laser cutting, Cricut-ing and chocolate. Here’s what I did step-by step.
Step 1: Design and engrave the keychains
Since the theme was movie night, I designed movie tickets with the classic “Admit One” text, a little smiley face, and the date of the party. Because I used fluorescent acrylic, I didn’t need to paint after engraving - the engrave showed through perfectly.
Tip: Mirror your engrave, so that the smooth side shows your design for a cleaner look.
Step 2: Design and cut the notes
I wrote a cute little note explaining my rationale for this gift, and to also tie it all together. I designed a sticker to go on the top of the note, and sent it through the Cricut using Print then Cut functionality. I even used the scoring tool to make them easy to fold.
Step 3: Funnel a thousand tiny M&Ms into glass bottles.
I used a funnel and a table spoon to do this. It was relatively painless, and whenever I accidentally overfilled a bottle, I got to eat the extras.
Step 4: Assemble!
Next, I used my little adhesive glue dots to put it all together. They create a really cute seamless look.
A Total Blockbuster
Overall, the party favors were a hit, and I had so much fun making them! My most asked question was definitely how I got the M&Ms in the bottles. I’d like to think people were impressed. Whether they were or not, this project brought me joy. I hope it brought you some, as well!
