I know everyone is thinking about all things holiday right now! We've put together a list of our favorite hostess gifts for this season, perfect for bringing your mother in law as she hosts you for a few days or perfect for giving the hostess at a holiday cocktail party. My general rule of thumb for hostess gifts is to bring something consumable. I really think consumable is key! That way, your hostess can enjoy what you bring over the Christmas season and they don't instead have to figure out a place to put the cute little chotski you brought her!
I LOVE bourbon balls this time of year. If you haven't had one of these southern treats, either make them or order some pronto! Last year I made a big homemade batch to take to my in-laws, but if your short on time, I've heard these Happy Balls are the best and they are handmade in Kentucky. How cute is all of this packaging, and if your hostess has a good sense of humor, I love all of the naughty phrases on this cute Feelin' Sassy pack! Perfect to tuck these sweet treats in a stocking too!
I'm loving these specialty cocktail mixes by White Whale. Auntie's Old Fashioned, Your Older Brother, and The Filthy Liar cocktail mixes are all available online at Furbish. These would be so fun to bring to a dinner party, and again perfect for your guy's stocking!
I usually switch up my Mrs. Meyers scent this time of year to something more festive and wintery. How about a nice set of holiday scented dish soap and counter top spray, and you can even be cheesy and add a little note that you'll take dish duty after the holiday meal! Mrs. Meyers has Cranberry, Iowa Pine and Orange Clove scents to enjoy this time of year.
You can't go wrong with bringing a specialty hot chocolate mix and homemade marshmallows. Obviously hot chocolate is a holiday staple, but it would be nice to treat your host to a nicer than average cocoa mix and fun homemade marshmallows. Peppermint and Coconut would both be really good marshmallow flavors!
If your hostess enjoys entertaining, I think these custom letterpress coasters by Haute Papier are the perfect unique gift. You could select a more standard monogram that could be used year round, or even select a color and style that would be more specific for the holidays. If you're local in Charlotte, Paper Twist represents this line and they have lots of beautiful samples for you to see!
What are your favorite hostess gifts? A bottle of wine is usually my go to when I haven't planned ahead! :)
~Mary Keller
Great tips!! My boss at work just found out she is preggers (yay!!!)!! MK do you have any favorite stores for maternity clothes, particularly work maternity clothes?
ReplyDeleteHey Katie! So exciting for your boss! I wore a lot of Gap maternity clothes, and I had really good luck at nice consignment stores. I got my favorite jeans and dresses at maternity consignment stores. I also bought a lot of stuff that wasn't maternity but just bigger than my normal size. Most maternity stuff is pretty blah! Hope you're doing well!
ReplyDelete~Mary Keller
LOVE bourbon balls! I had some for the first time in Kentucky. Are they easy to make or think I'm better off buying?
ReplyDeleteHey Dinah, I LOVE bourbon balls too! They aren't hard to make if you want a big batch of them to take to a party or something. I made a big batch last year to take to J.D.'s and everyone gobbled them up. But if you just want a few to nibble on, it's probably easier to order them. That's my plan this year. Virginia's not much help in the kitchen right now. :) We will miss yall!
ReplyDeleteMK