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10 thoughtful Thanksgiving hostess gifts

10-thoughtful-thanksgiving-hostess-gifts

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with friends and family. If you’re a guest this year, show your gratefulness and bring a token of appreciation for the hostess. While the hosts pick up the majority of the expenses, it’s good form to bring a hostess gift. The Emily Post Institute maintains that a hostess gift does not have to be elaborate or expensive, and should mark the occasion in a thoughtful way. Wine and flowers are great go-to’s for hostess gifts, but mix in something different this Thanksgiving with one or two of the following options.

Breakfast gift basket

Thanksgiving meals take a lot of preparation and work. Most hostesses spend the better part of the week prepping, making, cleaning and decorating to be ready for the grand meal. Many of the dishes are cooked the day before or early the morning of Thanksgiving. So it’s no wonder that by the time Thanksgiving evening rolls around, the hosts are exhausted.

In the course of this preparation, naturally the hosts have considered what wine to serve and decor. So although wine and flowers are a welcomed hostess gift, it’s not always the most usable gift to bring for the day.

Instead, bring something for which the hostess will be truly grateful. This breakfast gift basket from JSH will be just what your hostess needs after throwing a Thanksgiving dinner.

JSH starts with a quick bread and wraps it in parchment paper, tied together with twine. Banana bread, zucchini bread and chocolate chip pound loaf all make excellent breakfast options. Furthermore these loaves are easy to make ahead of time and freeze for quick hostess gifts.

Honey butter is a nice touch to add to the gift. Furthermore, the honey butter is easy to make. Take a stick of softened butter and mix with three tablespoons of honey and a pinch of sea salt.  Whip together until the butter is airy and smooth.

Next grind up your favorite coffee beans and measure out enough coffee for a pot, about 12 tablespoons. Place inside a small crafting bag and label. JSH uses uber-cute  paper labels, but you can hand-letter the bag, or make your own label.

Finally, place the bread, honey butter and the coffee in a gift basket along with a cloth napkin. Find cloth napkins at thrift stores or check your own linen closet. This is a fun way to repurpose one-off or unmatched napkins.

This Thanksgiving bring your host a thoughtful and considerate gift to make their day-after all the better.


Hostess wine tags

Naturally, wine is always a welcomed hostess gift, and Thanksgiving dinner is no exception. It may be prosaic, but it is always in good taste. Whether carefully procured or selected on the way, a bottle of wine makes a fine hostess gift.

Wine is a terrific hostess gift for more than just Thanksgiving. Consider the gathering, and pick out a wine for all to share, or for the hostess to enjoy once the party is over. For backyard barbecues, select a white wine or sangria. For dinner parties, a bold zinfandel or pinot noir is a great choice. For the easy weekend gathering with friends pick up a drinkable cabernet. If you know your hostess prefers one to the other, bring their favorite. One hostess may love white zinfandel while another prefers petite syrah.

The U.S. is not the only country of the world to bring wine for hostesses. Most countries in the world have customs of bringing wine. Although it’s most customary to bring flowers, chocolates or a small gift, wine is usually reserved for the closest of friends.

Whether you choose red or white, bubbles or no, make a statement with these wine tags. When hostesses receive gifts it’s always nice to know who to thank, so put a label on the bottle with your name.

These hostess wine tags from Ever Mine are perfect for dressing up your hostess gift. Easy, printable, customizable, a wine tag is just what the occasion needs.

Thanksgiving dinner is a wonderful occasion for a fine bottle of wine. Picking a bottle of wine is the most difficult part of the gift. Wrap the bottle in some cute tissue paper, or wrapping paper and add a wine tag to turn the typical hostess gift into something unique and memorable. With these wine tags the gift becomes all the more personal and endearing.


Pumpkin pampering mason jar gift

Thanksgiving can be exhausting. The house has to be cleaned. The decorations have to go up. The meal can take days to prepare. By the time Thanksgiving actually rolls around, the hostess is probably worn out.

This Thanksgiving, bring a hostess gift just for the host herself. This gift of body butters, scrubs, chocolate and lip balm are just what a fatigued host needs. This pumpkin pampering mason jar gift is the ideal hostess gift.

This gift also pulls in the flavors and scents of the season. Pumpkin body butter, pumpkin sugar scrub, pumpkin foot soak…your hostess may want to eat it!

The recipes for the body lotion and scrub use pumpkin-scented lotion; the creator used one from Bath and Body Works. For the body butter, the lotion is combined with Vitamin E cream and petroleum jelly. If the scent isn’t enough, mix in some vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg to intensify the aroma.

The scrub is made from the scented body gel mixed with coconut oil and sugar. Again, you can heighten the scent by adding vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. The scrub will leave the skin soft and smooth.

The foot soak is made from epsom salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. This fizzy foot bath will sooth away the tension and stress of the day.

Scour the local dollar stores for kitchen food storage containers. The original containers were found at Dollar Tree and spray painted silver. Affix some labels and place inside a wide-mouthed mason jar. Fill in the empty space with some pumpkin chocolates and a seasonal lip balm.

This gift can be customized depending on the occasion or season — and a hostess gift is good form. From Halloween to Thanksgiving, be ready for any occasion by having hostess gifts ready. With this mason jar gift, the hostesses in your life will feel the love. This is a kind and festive gift for your Thanksgiving hostess.


Stamped kitchen towels

What hostess doesn’t love towels as decorations? Among the hostess gift traditions, one of the most thoughtful is a gift of towels. Thanksgiving dinner brings a mountain of dishes, and your hostess is likely to need a few extra. These stamped kitchen towels can be used in the bathroom, in the kitchen, or for decorating the home.

Dish towel, hand towel or decorative bathroom towel, all are great hostess gifts for Thanksgiving. Try your hand at creating your own stamped kitchen towel. It’s a simple craft, yet will be appreciated by the hostess.

You’ll need flour sack towels, iron-on foil applique, fabric scraps and a wooden spoon. This is a quick project and will come together in about 30 minutes. The iron-on image is affixed to the flour sack towel, then tied with the fabric scrap. Stick a wooden spoon in the ribbon and you have a hostess gift.

Easily customizable, these towels are fantastic hostess gifts for any occasion. Thanksgiving kicks off a busy social season: be ready for the parties by having a few of these towels ready to gift. Make a couple for Thanksgiving, make a couple for Christmas. We usually have a couple or more Christmas parties happening between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it will be nice to have the hostess gift already done and ready to go.

For Christmas gifts use a Christmas themed iron-on applique. Tie the whole thing up with some holly and a cinnamon stick. Don’t have any wooden spoons? Substitute whisk for the spoon.

For New Year’s parties, grab a stack of towels and make up some festive themed gifts. You can even use the towels to wrap up a bottle of chanpagne for an up-graded hostess gift.

For Thanksgiving this year, don’t forget the hostess gift. Give her a gift of these decorative flour sack towels and she’ll be grateful for your thoughtfulness.


Hand stamped wooden utensils

These hand stamped wooden utensils are perfect for the avid cook and hostess. Obviously, Thanksgiving is all about the meal, and what better way than to show your appreciation for a delicious meal than with these wooden utensils? We think these make a great gift for those hard working hostesses.

Wooden spoons and spatulas are hand stamped with metal letter stampings tools. If you’re new to the hand stamping scene, you’ll need to purchase metal stamps. You’ll find them at craft and hobby stores, or on Amazon.com. A word of caution: once you start stamping things, you may not want to stop.

Find a set of wooden utensils from Home Goods, Walmart, or the like. Sketch out the words you want to stamp with pencil. This is to make sure you have enough room on the handle for what you want to say, and you can adjust spacing before anything can’t be undone.

Once you have the lettering sketched out, it’s time to stamp. Carefully hammer in the letters. Once the words are hammered in, go over them with a fine-tip permanent marker.

Be creative with the words you choose. For the more religious you can choose words like “joy,” “peace,” “patience” and “kindness.” For Thanksgiving, go with “bounty,” “harvest”, “family” and “blessed.” For Christmas choose words like “merry,” “bright,” “let it snow” or “bells.” New Year’s hostess gifts can have words like “happy,” “celebration” and  “champagne”

For Thanksgiving, these wonderful hand stamped wooden spoons make a terrific hostess gift. It is a lasting gift that the hostess will use throughout the entire year, and remember you every time. You’ll demonstrate your gratefulness and appreciation for your host with these delightful cooking utensils.

Hostess gift tag
Crockpot pumpkin butter
Thanksgiving blessing mix
Caramel apple cider kit
Stove top simmer spices

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