Can you say "Hostess Gift?"

From oola designs

From oola designs

From Vintage Lucy's

From Red Bridge

From saarela

From Michelle Brusegaard

From Branch Handmade

Good ole Etsy.  So much good stuff!  Check out these great tea towels!  One for every personality...what fun little hostess gifts these would make.  A pretty, unique tea towel wrapped around a jar of homemade jam or a box of scone mix...what hostess wouldn't be delighted?

The Hostess with the Mostess

If your family is like ours, everyone seems to gather in the kitchen to help get the holiday meal on the table. If you are the hostess, it is a good idea to have several aprons on hand to loan out for meal prep. SpiceRak Designs has several that we think are especially darling. These make great hostess gifts, too!

From a Stylish Reader...

Thanks to Elizabeth for leaving this post for us. It's such a great idea for holiday creativity! And, what a great way to give something handmade. Not only is it easy on the budget, but handmade gifts are special and from the heart. Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing with us! We hope more readers will share their great ideas for a "spend-less Christmas!"

"I collect small glass vases and candleholders through the year as I visit flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores, and dollar stores (with a few dumpster diving adventures thrown in) and toss them in a box year-round to be decorated for gifts at the end of the year. Sharpie markers, squeeze-on fabric paints, inexpensive craft paint, book-pressed leaves, broken jewelry, even pebbles make fantastic adornments for these unique gifts. Try this: Start with a clear votive holder. Draw a simple heart or some holly berries on the glass using sharpie markers. Pipe on an outline of "Liquid Lead" found at a craft store. Pop a scented candle in the holder after drying for a day, and you're ready to wrap it! Take a single sheet of tissue paper, ball it up around your candle holder, drop it into a sandwich baggie and tie off the top with curling ribbon. Presto! Protect your work surface with newspaper and throw some rubber or latex gloves on a child and set them loose with a package of colored Sharpie markers and a few candleholders, and Grandma and Auntie and Teacher will love the results. Enjoy"

Letters of Gratitude...

Okay, it's December 1st. By now, you're likely thinking about a holiday celebration or two that you've been invited to attend. It's always important to show the hostess you appreciate her efforts. After all, if you are the guest at a party, it means that somebody else was scrubbing toilets, banishing dust bunnies, and putting out a platter of sweet treats in your honor. Never thought of it that way? Well, it's true. It's a lot of work to put on even the most casual shindig and the hostess should always be thanked. A small hostess gift is not necessary, but it's rather nice, don't you think? Check out Anthropologie for these sweet little monogrammed gifts. They won't break the bank, but they will show somebody that you were thinking of them and that you appreciate their hospitality!
***Remember, if you didn't have time to pick up a hostess gift you should send a thank you note a day or two after the party, just to show the hostess that you were so happy to be included :)

Fall Hostess Gifts

It is that time of the year again... crisp weather, shorter days and the beginning of the party season. So, whether you are attending a Harvest celebration or a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we have found some delightful hostess gift ideas on Etsy.com! Click on any of the pictures above to start shopping.

Blissful Birds

By now, it's obvious that The Babs Blog loves Etsy.com. There is no end of wonderful, whimsical, and inventive stuff on that site! We ran across a truly delightful shop on Etsy recently, and we would be remiss to not share it with you! Cotton Bird Designs makes the most precious little fabric sculptures of birds! These little guys are perfect for the baby shower you are throwing OR to place on the top of a wedding cake, forgoing the traditional wedding cake topper. Mostly, they just make us smile.

Great gifts!

Etsy.com is a wonderland of handcrafted items. You have to wade through some "junk," but overall, Etsy is full of things that have been handmade with love. Here are two especially darling sites worth checking out. The first is the Mia Joie Boutique. Mia Joie makes the most precious baby items! Their organic cotton baby shoes are a mommy favorite (this theory has been tested on several new moms lately, and each has raved over their Mia Joie baby booties). The second site on Etsy worth checking out is Chic to Chic. Chic to Chic makes fabulous aprons in fun retro prints. Many of the aprons have matching tea towels that can be purchased. These aprons are great to stock up on and use for hostess gifts...because being a grateful guest is as important as being a gracious hostess!