Simple Hostess Gifts They Will Actually Use

It’s an entertaining season, and I have a few simple hostess gifts they will actually use! A small gift for your host or hostess, besides a bottle of wine or flowers.

Homemade granola

Homemade granola is a simple thing to make, and often, you may even have all the necessary ingredients on hand. First, granola is very adaptable. When I’m making it as a host or hostess gift, I avoid nuts unless I’m certain no one in the household has a nut allergy.

Store in a decorative jar, such as a Weck jar, to make it part of the gift. You could add a few jars of yogurt or a quart of milk if taking to someone as a gift at a vacation home. You could even add some pretty cereal bowls and a new dish towel.

Ingredients you will need to make homemade granola

You’ll find the recipe at the bottom of the post.

• Rolled oats
• Pumpkin seeds
• Chia seeds
• Coconut
• Dried fruit
• Golden raisins
• Maple syrup
• Honey
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Cinnamon

Olive Oil

One thing everyone uses is olive oil. Whether using it for cooking or to make a vinaigrette, everyone would appreciate a nice bottle of olive oil.

You can find a good bottle even in grocery stores or places like Williams-Sonoma. Mary Ann gave me this bottle last year, and Cindy and her husband bottle their olive oil from olive trees on their property in Paso Robles.

I love these dish towels with a ruffle when using them to wrap up a bottle. It makes it look like a gift with a bit of twine and a tag. I used to use cello bags and ribbon, but over the past few years, I have preferred to use more sustainable alternatives when possible.

The olive oil shown is Alziara Olive Oil from Nice.

Homemade Vanilla

A bottle of homemade vanilla makes a great gift. It’s easy to make, but it does require some time. You can get the recipe and complete details in this post. Pair it with a pretty wooden spoon and a linen dish towel.

A new cookbook

There are so many great cookbooks out there. We recently found ourselves in the cookbook section at McNally Jackson in NYC on a rainy afternoon, and we were amazed at the inventory of cookbooks. Some new ones include Mostly French from Mackenna Held (the woman who bought Julia Child’s summer home in Provence), (read more in this post)–and the latest book from The Cook’s Atelier. You can read more about the Cook’s Atelier in Beaune in this post.

There were also old favorites like The New Basics from Julie Russo and Sheila Lukins. And I even saw a copy of the red and white check cookbook. Of course, all the Ina Garten and Martha Stewart books were on the shelves, too. I guess what I am saying is there is a cookbook for everyone. Even in this digital age, it’s so lovely to have a physical cookbook in your hands.

My friend Elizabeth of Pinecones & Acorns wrote a post on this very subject. Read Elizabeth’s post here.

Use arrows to scroll, and tap to shop one of the items below.

More Sunday Favorites

A charm necklace from Kozakh

I have an entire Pinterest board with photos of charm necklaces and layered jewelry. I recently discovered the jewelry brand Kozakh, where you can build your own charm necklace. They make it easy with a template where you choose your chain and then start adding charms. You can move them around until you have it the way you like it.

What I love about these charm necklaces is the meaning they can hold. I chose the Saint Christopher Medal as one of the charms because it always reminds me of my son. He has worn one since he was little…to keep him safe in the waves.

I’m mixing my Kozakh charm necklace with a pendant from my mom. It’s a black onyx piece she gave me a year ago. She’s 89 and has had it since high school. Madeline wears the ring that matches it. Wearing these pieces together brings me happiness!

KOZAKH jewelry is waterproof, tarnish-free, hypoallergenic, and made to wear 24/7– Kozakh is offering MLT readers a 20% discount. Use code: ANNIEDIAMOND20.Personalized matchbooks

Personalized matchbooks – from For Your Party

You know I’m always saying it’s the little things…well, custom matchbooks are the perfect “little thing” and you can choose a design and customize it, or completely design your own. I used my new logo for Our French Finds. I love how they turned out. I keep a bowl of them and give them to everyone! I will also include a box with every order from my shop!

For Your Party has everything from napkins and matchbooks to coasters and drinkware. But it’s the custom matches that got my attention. We ordered them for Madeline’s 30th birthday party. I think they would make a great housewarming gift.

If you enjoyed this post, Simple Hostess Gifts They Will Actually Use, you may also like these posts:

The Best Hostess Gift for an Overnight Stay

How to Decorate a Bottle of WIne for a Hostess Gift

Let’s see what Cindy & Mary Ann found this week!

Cindy Hattersley Design

You can read Cindy’s Sunday post here.

Classic Casual Home

Read Mary Ann’s Sunday post here.