WFMW: Christmas-y Hostess Gifts

I feel like I have a Christmas party to go to every weekend this December!  I always try to take a little gift to the hostess when we go to parties.  Whenever we've been the hosts (and I can remember one party in particular which found me, after everyone had gone home, vacuuming the kitchen table because it had gotten so gross from the hors d'oeuvres) I really appreciated the people who thought to bring us a little something.  Parties are hard work!  It stinks to be the one left behind with the clean-up.  But they are so much fun too!

Anyway, back to the gifts.  Below are a few ideas of things to bring to a party this season.  I usually keep most of this stuff in the house, and I buy them when they go on sale so that I am not panicking at the last minute.

First, your average bottle of wine, perked up with a ribbon and a cute little spreader for dips and such:

Here's a close-up because I thought the spreader was so cute!

I usually have a stash of this type of stuff below around the house.  Teas, coffees, hot chocolate, and boxes of individually-wrapped biscotti.  I keep another stash of those clear cellophane bags (found at Michaels or similar).  Just put a few of these little goodies in a bag, throw in some tissue paper, tie it with a pretty bow, and tell the hostess that this gift is for tomorrow morning when she is too tired to make breakfast.  :)

How about buying cute kitchen towels when you see them on sale?  Then just tie one with a pretty bow and you have an adorable little gift that the hostess can use to hang for decoration...or to do the dishes when the guests go home!

Here's another twist on the wine theme.  (Can you tell I love wine when I am not pregnant?)  I bought a few generic vases when they went on sale at the end of the summer, and just added a vinyl letter and a cute ribbon.  This is a unique gift that the hostess can use at future parties to keep the opened bottles of wine from dripping all over her table.  (And yes, this photo was taken last month, so the pumpkins are giving me away!)

But don't you love the little button detail?  

Hopefully if you have a few of these items in a closet somewhere, it will be a little easier to get out the door to the next Christmas party.  Works For Me!