It is 6:40 on a Saturday in December. The sitter has arrived, your shoes are on, and you are halfway to the car when it hits you: you have nothing to bring. Somewhere across town, a gracious friend is lighting candles and setting out the good glasses, and you are about to arrive with empty hands.
Every hostess has been there. The secret of the women who always seem to arrive with the perfect thing is not that they shop better. It is that they planned for the last minute weeks ago. These last minute hostess gift ideas are all about building a small stash now, so that in December, a lovely gift is never more than a closet away.
A hostess gift is not payment for dinner. It is a small, warm way of saying "thank you for opening your home." The best ones are not expensive. They are personal, a little bit pretty, and easy for her to enjoy after the last guest has gone home.
That is why a gift with a personal touch always lands better than a grabbed-at-the-register candle. It shows you thought of her, even when you were running out the door.
The easiest way to never shop at the last minute again is to spend one afternoon in November getting ready. Pick up a few bottles of wine or sparkling cider, a couple of boxes of good chocolates or shortbread, and a jar or two of something homemade if you love to bake. Keep it all on one closet shelf with ribbon and tissue paper.
The one thing that cannot be bought at the last minute is the personal touch. Personalized pieces are made to order, so they need to be ordered ahead. Do that once, and every bottle and tin on the shelf is ready to go.
A bottle of wine is the classic hostess gift for a reason, but on its own, it can feel like an afterthought. A tag changes everything.
Our Santa Stringed Gift Tags come in a set of 24, printed with your name or family name, so the gift is already signed before you tie it on. They are 2" x 3.5", printed on both sides of substantial cardstock, and drilled with the string included. Slip one around the neck of a bottle on your way out the door, and it looks as though you planned it for days. With 24 in a set, you will have enough for every party, cookie tin and neighbor gift of the season.
Some hostesses deserve a little more, like the friend who hosts the big holiday dinner every single year. For her, choose a gift that comes back out of the cupboard every December.
A personalized holiday plate printed with her family name is that kind of gift. It is a 10" plate, dishwasher-safe and made in the U.S.A., and it is just right for Christmas cookies, a cheese board for two or the plate of treats left out for Santa. Order one or two ahead, wrap them in tissue and keep them ready for the hosts who matter most.
If her kitchen is the heart of every gathering, give her a place to keep the recipes everyone asks for. The Holiday Recipes Blank Book is a 6.5" x 9" personalized hardcover with 100 blank pages and a gold wire-O binding that lies flat on the counter.
For an extra special touch, write your own favorite holiday recipe on the first page before you wrap it. It turns a beautiful book into a gift she will keep for years.
The most thoughtful hostess gifts have two parts: something she can enjoy right away and something she can keep. A few easy pairings from your stash:
None of these takes more than five minutes to put together when everything is already on the shelf.
What is a good last minute hostess gift?
A bottle of wine tied with a personalized gift tag. Label Circus Santa Stringed Gift Tags come 24 to a set, 2" x 3.5", printed with your name and with the string included, so one order covers the whole season.
How do you prepare hostess gifts ahead of time?
Keep a small stash on one shelf: a few bottles of wine, boxes of chocolates or shortbread, ribbon and tissue. Order personalized pieces like stringed gift tags ahead, since they are made to order.
What do you give a friend who hosts Christmas every year?
Something she will use every December, like a personalized holiday plate with her family name. It is a 10" plate, dishwasher safe and made in the U.S.A. For the friend who loves to cook, the Holiday Recipes Blank Book is another lovely choice.
When should you order personalized hostess gifts?
By mid-November, before the holiday rush, so your tags and plates are on the shelf when the invitations arrive.
Order your personalized pieces by mid-November, before the holiday rush. Then the only thing you will need to do in December is choose a ribbon.
Your friends will never know you put it together at the last minute. They will only know you thought of them.
Shop personalized Santa Stringed Gift Tags at Label Circus and stock your hostess gift shelf before the first invitation arrives.