<p>I just started a new job and am invited to the company owner’s house next week for the holiday party. We had to RSVP, so it seems that this party is more formal than other company parties I’ve attended. Usually, I bring a bottle of wine to the host/hostess of the company party, but I don’t know this owner at all. I have no idea if she drinks, is allergic to flowers, etc. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any good ideas for a hostess gift I can bring to someone I know nothing about?</p>
<p>I sometimes bring a nice candle. Box of nice chocolates that she can serve if she wants. Coffee.</p>
<p>I once received a beautiful set of spreaders. Now, it is my favorite hostess gift - I have given ones by Oneida, some cute holiday ones, ones with grapes, etc. Oneida has a set on sale right now - so there’s one idea.</p>
<p>It’s a formal party so whatever you bring needs to be easy to put away and forget about until the next day. Don’t expect it to be opened then and there. Something consumable or perishable is always a good idea so that the hostess doesn’t need to worry about getting it out the next time you come. I like to bring winter bulbs that are about to bloom, in a nice but unremarkable pot (like a nice hyacinth glass). </p>
<p>A bottle of wine is fine. If she doesn’t drink, she can give it away.</p>
<p>Holiday hand towels or decorations (small but nice quality). If you get something with snowmen, you don’t have to worry whether they are Christians. We usually have a holiday open house and we get so much wine, which just gathers dust.</p>
<p>We too have a huge annual holiday party. I get tons of wine and chocolates. One woman brings me the UGLIEST tree ornament every year and then wanders over to my tree and look for her previous ornaments. Eeeeek! My favorites to receive are something other than wine (like Baily’s), fresh roasted nuts, and the best of the best is a tin of Godiva hot chocolate mix.</p>
<p>I like getting wine. Usually it just gets served at the party, but we are happy to drink it later, and if we weren’t wine drinkers it’s easy to regift. Chocolate is nice too, but more perishable. Homemade Christmas cookies are nice at this time of year. I like candles as long as they are unscented. Flowers can be a problem if you don’t bring them in a nice vase. I love the idea of winter bulbs.</p>
<p>One of the nicest hostess gifts I have received are some bar towels from Williams Sonoma. Even if the hostess doesn’t drink alcohol, they are great for drying glasses - and pretty, too.</p>
<p>I get nervous bringing wine/spirits to someone I don’t know - just in case they/their spouse are/is a recovering alcoholic - it might seem very insensitive. There are gifts here I hadn’t thought of before. Thanks for the great ideas.</p>
<p>William Sonoma also has some nice kitchen liquid hand soaps.</p>
<p>I love the Williams Sonoma hand soaps ( but then it is my favorite catalogue ) What about one of those bulb-flower gifts , like paperwhites…there is a place near my hometown that you can get them in a nice Nantucket Style basket and they grow them themselves</p>
<p>I try to take either something small for the hostess’ kitchen or something that can be consumed. I often bake several loaves of banana bread during the holiday season to take as gifts. They can be frozen or eaten right away. Little holiday towels and spreaders also make nice hostess gifts. (I never seem to have enough of those cute little knives!)</p>
<p>If you live near a Home Goods, there’s tons of things there to give as hostess gifts. I always enjoy getting specialty foods, things I would never buy for myself - exotic olive oil, marinades, etc.</p>
<p>Also love the Williams Sonoma soaps. I’ve given Caspari cocktail napkins with a coodinating spreader.</p>
<p>Whenever I find a gorgeous bar of foreign hand soap (I find ones that aren’t too smelly), I buy one. I take it home and wrap it up nicely in some tasteful paper and fabric ribbon and stow it in my closet along with the greeting cards and stationery that I’ve accumulated. Whenever I need a hostess or housewarming gift, I dash off a nice little note on my stationery thanking them for their hospitality or welcoming them to their new home, and I grab a bar of the wrapped soap and hit the trail. It’s non-perishable, it’ll last stored in a cool and dry place until I need it, and it’s one of those nice little touches that I always wish I had when guests are around-- a fresh bar of soap to put in the bathroom. </p>
<p>If it’s a ritzier party that requires a nicer hostess gift, then I can always go shopping for some fingertip towels with a monogram of their last initial on it. They usually carry them at BB&B.</p>
<p>If it’s even ritzier than that, then I can monogram their whole darned name on some fingertip towels. </p>
<p>If it’s even ritzier than THAT, then I’m probably not invited. ;)</p>
<p>Beil1958 - If you invite me to your house, I promise I will bring a set! Sometimes I also bring my Three Pepper Hummus or my Caponata spread.</p>
<p>Aprons are “in” now. FlirtyAprons was my source for first apron for the hostess, then her dtr and granddtr wanted one. I got the cupcake pattern for the little girl. I also like the I Love Lucy aprons. I showed my apron to someone who sews, and she is making a dozen for holiday gifts.</p>
<p>A few years ago we were invited to a very fancy wedding (nephew) in New York City. All the out of town guests were invited to a Saturday brunch at an apartment just off Central Park. I thought I should take a hostess gift, so I got a package of wild rice (since we are from Minnesota) and put it in a little gift bag. When we go to this apartment, we stepped off the elevator into a penthouse apartment that took up the whole top floor of the building and looked over the park (I should have known when we went into the building, which had the name “Trump” in the building name. The doorman told us to press P - - what is P, we wondered?).</p>
<p>I gave my bag to the hostess, and it was whisked off. To the kitchen and the chef that resides there, I am sure. I felt like such a little country mouse!</p>
<p>intparent - what a great story! I’ll bet the chef loved getting Minnesota wild rice.:)</p>
<p>I remember watching Martha Stewart a few years ago tell the story that she had been invited to (if I remember correctly) the Bush Family retreat in Kennebunkport. She struggled with what to bring for a hostess gift and finally settled on bringing fresh-picked vegetables from her garden, nicely arranged in a basket. I’ve always wondered how that gift was received. I"ll bet the chef was thrilled to get such fresh produce!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, no fresh produce will be arriving at the company owner’s house by my hand next week. I’m also nervous about baking something to take. I’ve made a list of all the good ideas posted here to take with me shopping the first part of next week.</p>
<p>I like to bring flowers or a plant as hostess gifts. This time of year, I would get for a Christmas cactus plant that’s in bloom or ready to bloom. I received one from a guest at my home 5 or 6 years ago and it’s still going strong.</p>