Hostess Gift Suggestions!

It won't be long before I’m heading to Texas for some much needed girl time! Every February we get together for a girls trip with my college friends.  This year we’re heading to a friend’s ranch outside of Dallas.  In an effort to make my mom and Emily Post proud, I made sure that we had a gift for the hosts as a way to say thank you for having us to their ranch.  Hosts’ gifts don’t have to be elaborate or expensive.  Instead, they are a way to say thank you for opening up your house or having us over for dinner.  With a little thought you can come up with the perfect hostess present for any occasion.  Here are some of my favorites that I have received or given recently:

As a thank you for a recent trip to our hunting lodge, Laura and JJ Wright gave us this book centered around SundaySuppers.  Think about giving a decorating or entertaining book that the hostess can relate to.

One of my favorite housewarming gifts is a guest book for the new home.  I’m particularly partial to this one that I have in my own guest bedroom.  You Nashville folks can pick one up at White’s Mercantile.

These personalized fireplace grates are the perfect gifts for friends or families who have invited you somewhere for a longer stay. 

Every year we host a Friendsgiving.  Someone brought us this gravy ladle as a hosts’ gift the first year and we’ve used it every year since.

I love anything local when going to visit out-of-towners.  I’ve traveled with Nashville coffee, local chocolate bars, and other Nashville goodies. This Sunday Morning Pancake Mix is always a crowd favorite!  Taking local gifts allows you to bring some of your home to thank them for letting you into theirs. 

Heading somewhere soon?  Be sure to pick out the perfect hostess gift to say thank you!

Bunches and Bunches of Flowers!

I love having fresh flowers around the house.  It’s a simple way to spruce up the house. Fresh flowers is also a simple way to bring the outdoors in and bring something organic into your house.   This doesn’t have to break the bank as you can start with flowers from your local grocery store.  This week I picked up three bunches at Trader Joes for only $12.00.  

I always buy in bunches of three.  I believe in decorating and floral arrangements you should always have an uneven number.  Look for a foundation, a filler, and a flair when buying my flowers.  One flower should be the foundation flower; something substantial that allows you to fill most of the vase.  The filler goes next taking up the rest of the vase.  Last but not least I add some flair! To get started you can look for flower bunches similar to the ones I bought.  Over the years, I’ve collected various vases of different sizes. You can use something as simple as a glass jar.  So, grab a vase and get started!  Play around with the flowers until you get an arrangement you like!  It’s art.  There’re no wrong answers!

Oh Baby! Dr. Seuss Themed Baby Shower!

I admit.  I’ve been holding out on y’all a bit.  You should know that party planning really is my number one passion.  So when I get an excuse to host a party I am all in! My friend Quinn recently had the world’s most precious boy, Roy.  Prior to his arrival, a few of us got together to host a shower for the Mom to be.  Quinn is a librarian and a natural born reader so we decided that a Dr. Seuss theme would be ideal.  I think having a theme helps to focus your party ideas.  You don’t have to go overboard on themed party pieces but it does help to set you on the right track.  The first thing I do when I plan a party is head straight to Google.  Often times I will find images or quotes that will give me inspiration for fun things to incorporate into the party.  For Roy’s shower we introduced the theme with a Dr. Seuss invitation mailed to guest’s homes.  

Via

Think of invitations as your opportunity to make your party’s first impression.  You only get one chance.  So many people are skipping the snail-mailed paper invitation these days, opting instead for evites, or an email.  I beg you, don’t skip the invitation.  There are so many inexpensive resources out there these days that will allow you to do invitations on the cheap.  More on that later. Once guests arrived we had themed Dr. Seuss foods and decorations based on various Dr. Seuss characters.  Guests could choose from Thing 1/Thing 2 Cupcakes, Poodles Noodles (Pasta Salad), Cat in the Hat Skewers (banana and strawberry kabobs), Green Eggs (deviled eggs) and Ham (mini ham sandwiches), and other Dr. Seuss themed goodies. 

Via

The bar is a critical component of a party. We served brunch themed drinks at Roy's baby shower and were sure to include a non alcoholic drink for the mom to be!

Via

As a thank you for “popping by” we provided guests with bags of popcorn on their way out. The tags read "Oh me! Oh my! Thanks for Popping by!" The party was a success and ‘Thing 1’ arrived on August 27th!  

Via

We didn’t want to leave Roy out so we made sure everyone signed his birthday book with a special note about his arrival.  The party was a success and ‘Thing 1’ arrived on August 27th!  

Window (overhead door) to my soul

I like to think we survived the worst of the winter weather and spring is right around the corner.  I can’t wait to enjoy spring in our new digs.  We had just finished up the project when winter hit so we didn’t really get a chance to enjoy fall.  The thing I’m most excited about is opening up the overhead door in our new den. Yes, we have a full glass garage door in our den.

Installation Day!

The overhead door opens up to a screened in porch allowing us to practically double our living space when the temperature is nice.  Space heaters in the porch ceiling allow us to enjoy the space most of the year and have more space to entertain! 

                                 Friends enjoyed Friendsgiving Dinner both inside and out!                                         

When we told folks about the overhead door some thought we were nuts, others thought we were very brave.  It is certainly a design choice that wouldn’t make sense in every house or for everyone.  Once the decision was made there was no turning back.  It’s one of the defining features of our house both aesthetically and in how we use the space.   Designing around a glass overhead door helps to define how you will design the rest of the space. You don’t have to install a glass overhead door to bridge the space between the inside and outside.  There are plenty of other options out there like French Doors or NanaWalls.  Any of these options allow you to open up your home and let the outside in.  It’s hard to believe that we’ll get there but I just know spring is right around the corner and I’ll leave the overhead door up for days!