I love to give hostess gifts because they don’t cost very much at all, but can say a lot about who you are and the person you are giving it to. In my opinion, giving a homemade gift shows that you care enough about that person that you would devote time towards making something special just for them. The best part about the homemade gift is that you can make it very inexpensively, but leave a lasting message for your recipient.
I wanted to share a few of my favorite hostess gifts to give for the holiday season from our website…
A jar of pumpkin butter with some buttery bread machine rolls.
A snowflake knitted dishcloth with a personalized family tag.
A coffee cup or waffle-weave dishcloth with a bottle of hand soap tied with a little raffia.
A knitted or no-sew scarf with a repurposed container housing some homemade vanilla chai tea or other great drink mix.
A batch of ready-to-bake homemade cinnamon rolls to make your host’s morning brighter.
A set of bubbly magnets in a creatively wrapped Altoid tin.
A fresh batch of Oreo Biscotti in a pretty coffee mug.
A mix of your favorite holiday music wrapped creatively in your family holiday picture.
A can of sugar & spice nuts- the perfect holiday treat.
A batch of vanilla scented granola in a thrifted jar.
Easy and delicious quick breads pulled from your freezer.
A small box filled with Christmas goodies- don’t forget some holiday-esque sugar cookies!
A jar of homemade hot cocoa mix tied with some festive ribbon.
A jar of fancy candy cane bath salts tied with a candy-cane striped bow.
What will you be giving as a hostess gift this holiday season? Feel free to share your links to recipes and ideas!
I decided to be rather thrifty and eco-friendly at the same time this year. I made paper angels as tree ornaments for friends, neighbors, playgroup moms, etc. I used up all my pretty leftover scrapbook papers for the bodies, used coffee filters and tissue paper as wings and used cut outs from cardboard boxes for the faces. They have hemp hangers and include a self-written, personalized angel poem.
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Great roundup! Next year I know exactly where I need to go to get organized for homemade gifting!
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I made little tins of Cake Balls. They were yummy and excitingly new to everyone.
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Amy,
I'd love to make the oreo biscotti – but I can't get the link to work – no matter what I try. Can you help?!?! thanks! Love you blog! (Wish I could knit like you do!)
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Anonymous- I am so sorry- I think I accidentally deleted my own entry (what was I thinking??)
Here is a direct link to the recipe:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Oreo-Biscotti-10839
So sorry about that!!
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One of my favorites:
http://reluctantentertainer.com/2009/12/sweet-spiced-apple-butter-easy-to-give/
Sweet spiced apple butter!
Have a good day, Amy!
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Amy,
Thanks for posting the Oreo biscotti recipe link. I'm going to try these with Peppermint Joe Joes from Trader Joes. Hope that will add an interesting flavor. Did you ever get to try this recipe – how did it turn out? Thank you again!
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Autumn- I did make a batch of these one year and they were delicious. I think I accidentally deleted that entry that the picture is from because I can't locate it. They were amazing and easy to make. I love the idea of using the Trader Joe's cookies in place of the Oreos. Let me know how the turn out. They were a complete success in our kitchen (although I am missing the post to prove it)
Happy Holidays!!
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I will be sharing my Chocolate Cherry Granola- http://www.mypetitechefs.com/2009/12/chocolate-cherry-granola-with-chefs.html
jen
my petite chefs
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Amy,
The peppermint Joe Joes were so yummy in these. I divided the dough in two and made 1/2 with the Joe Joes and 1/2 with some anise seed and chocolate chips (a bit more traditional). Both turned out yummy! Thanks for sharing – I love biscotti!
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My children and I made sugar scrubs (warm vanilla sugar & also white peppermint) and milk bath powder (cinnamon & chocolate). They have been pretty well received!
Here's how we did it: http://www.echoleigh.com/blog/?p=2953
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Each of the links are broken.
I tried the bath salts, pupmkin butter, magnets, and cocoa mix…all have 404 error code messages.
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Amy Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Can you give it another shot. All of them are coming up for me!
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Karen Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for the feedback, Amy. I did try again and am still getting 404 error codes. I did manage to gt to the nov 09 archives, which it seems all these links have in the address, but not all these posts are displayed there. There’s only three links. http://www.momadvice.com/blog/2009/11/
Weird too, on tht page, if I click onto the post title, it does nothing. I can click onto the Comments link for the individual posts and the comments display.
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Karen Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
That should have read: If I click onto the post’s Comments link then the post and comments page is loaded.
Amy Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Let me talk to my programmer hubby tonight and see what is going on. Be back soon!!
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