Christmastime spells parties, dinners, families and friends. Its all so much fun! If youre usually invited to several special events over the holidays, and it gets a little too costly to present the hostesses with gifts, make them yourself. There are lots of cheap but nice hostess gifts you can make in no time. Your gift will stand out from the others and, chances are, cost a fraction of what they spent! If your hostess has a fireplace shell love incense logs you make yourself. Theyre so easy! Just take empty paper towel rolls and fill them with dry potpourri. Wrap them in Christmas wrapping paper (no foil) and tie the ends with ribbon. The logs will look like giant pieces of candy, but when you throw them in the fireplace, they let out a scent that fills the room.
Make your own dry potpourri by gathering tiny pine cones, leaves and other dry goods and scenting them yourself. Sprinkle cinnamon on the dry mix or soak the dry goods in lemon or vanilla water, allow to dry on paper towels, then insert into the cardboard tube. Stack the "logs" in a pyramid shape, tie with a ribbon, then present it to the hostess. You can also stack the logs in a nice wicker basket and add a bow.
Your hostess will love beautiful Christmas soaps that you easily make yourself. Purchase ordinary soaps and use Christmas cards to decorate them. Cut an image from a Christmas card and use decoupage adhesive to attach it to the soap. Youll find the adhesive at any craft store or craft department. Use a foam brush to spread the glue on the soap. Press the picture into the glue. Now put several coats of the decoupage on the picture, allowing each coat to dry thoroughly before brushing on the next coat. You dont necessarily have to make Christmas soaps just because its Christmastime. If you happen to know that the hostess loves lighthouses, for instance, you can decoupage lighthouse and beach images on the soaps. Even place a few shells in with the soaps before gifting. Place the soaps on a hand towel in a wicker basket or purchase a gift box for presenting the soaps. Make a sucker tree in no time to give to your hostess. It looks beautiful sitting on a table or mantle and everyone will love the candies. Use a Styrofoam cone to make the tree. Push the sticks of the suckers into the Styrofoam, starting at the bottom, and working up towards the top. When the cone is full of suckers theres one last step that will help hide the cone. When placing the suckers in the cone they wont butt together and the cone underneath can show, here and there. Curl pieces of Christmas ribbon by running scissors across the ribbon. Tape or glue the ribbon pieces onto the ends of toothpicks or pieces of skewers. Stick the toothpicks into the cone, between the suckers, to hide the cone and give the tree a more festive look. Make a cheap and easy jar of bath salts for the hostess. Purchase a nice jar at a dollar theme store and fill it with Epsom salts. Stir in some baby oil, or scented body oil, and youve created a fabulous gift the hostess will love. Use ordinary food coloring to tint the bath salts. Tie a nice ribbon around the jar before giving. Any hostess would love a potpourri lamp that youll make for next to nothing. Purchase or use a tall clear vase. Use one strand of Christmas lights inside the vase. Fill in between the lights with dry potpourri. Use a skewer or other long object to push the potpourri to the bottom of the vase. Cover the top of the vase with a piece of lace then use a rubber band to hold the lace in place. When you put the rubber band on trap the cord of the light underneath it. This will make the cord run down the backside of the lamp. Tie a piece of ribbon around the rubber band then give the beautiful gift. When the lamp is plugged in the potpourri scent escapes through the lace and fills the room with a wonderful aroma. Dont forget your thoughtful hostess when you show up for Christmas festivities this year. Its proper to take the hostess a gift but you dont have to spend a lot of money. Make the hostess gift
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