The word actor refers to females, unless they receive rewards and the helpful professional on your flight – don’t call her a stewardess, it’s flight attendant. There is something to be said about gender neutrality in the work force, but when it comes to throwing a badass party, leave that to the hostess – tried and true – whose hard work often goes under appreciated. Let’s change that!
Books are dedicated to the subject. Hostessing is an art form in and of itself. You think you just walk into an amazing dinner party and that friendly mood, cocktail in hand and course by course perfection just happens?
A great hostess prides herself on creating a gently (and tightly) orchestrated party. Pulling it off requires an elaborate behind the scenes game that is unobserved by most of the guests – except of course other hostesses who can in a pinch save a party by making simple adjustments with a conspiring wink, like sending your in-the-way husband off for a bag of ice or topping off Aunt Dotty’s martini before she loses her shit.
If you’re not hostessing this Thanksgiving and attending a party, then acknowledge the sweat and tears (we’ve all been there) that goes into so much more than getting up at 6am and roasting a bird.
Here are some fun DIY Thanksgiving hostess gifts to show your tireless hostess that all of her hard work isn’t going unnoticed. By now all you dude hostesses are getting in a tizzy – these gifts and all the appreciation applies to you, too.
Quick note: There is nothing more annoying and stressful than searching for a vase or opening a gift while all of your guests are arriving, so when giving your hostess gift follow these simple steps:
1. Greet your hostess 2. Show her the gift 3. Say “this is for you, open it later” 4. Stash it someplace out of the way of her party prep area
When it comes to DIY, my compulsion to create happens at like 5am when I can’t run to the craft store (I honestly don’t like craft stores anyway) so in my search for DIY projects on the internet, I try my best to find ideas that use things you already have in your house.
1. Teacup Succulents (pictured above)
If you’re my friend and you’re coming to my house and want an idea for a hostess gift – make me a teacup succulent! Hell I am going to make these for myself because the fun of thrifting for old antique teacups then finding cute succulents to plant inside is really even more fun that the actual gift itself!
These Sharpie Coasters are so beautiful and for some reason there are hundreds of old tiles in our basement for there taking. (I know what everyone is getting for Christmas!) Plain tiles are pretty cheap and you can probably repurpose little ceramic dishes and ashtrays using the same technique. The only thing you might not have is “spray fixative” which seals the design and varnish or polyurethane to give it that final gloss. With the vast array of sharpie colors, you can really go wild, or keep it autumnal for your Thanksgiving hostess gift.
3. Mini Pumpkin Candles or Gelatin Air Fresheners
Pumpkins are just as festive during Thanksgiving as for Halloween and with all the shapes and sizes of gourds you can find at this time, these DIY candles make such a perfect Thanksgiving Hostess gift. I’m just getting into making candles and the wicks and wax are definitely worth a trip to the craft store. But you can easily turn the pumpkins into gelatin air fresheners if you have gelatin, vodka and any kind of lovely smelling essential oil in your house. Plus it’s a very eco-friendly option.
This one is a little more intensive and requires painting, but imagine if someone gave you an awesome chalkboard cheese plate that they made! Best guest status. When you read over the directions, it isn’t all that hard, but you need to find the right chalkboard paint, not just any chalkboard paint – specifically porcelain chalkboard paint. This project will need time to dry overnight and you need to bake the paint into the porcelain. While it requires more time, it’s a pretty inexpensive option that seems really fancy. You can pick up old vintage porcelain platters in many local thrift stores.
If you’re a crazy crafter then you probably have tons of fabric lying around and if you’re OCD then this is the perfect DIY project that you can do while on a long trip to wherever you are spending Thanksgiving. This is a great anxiety busting activity if say you’re meeting your boyfriend’s parents for the first time – and look how colorful and fun it is! A great place to store keys, mini airplane liquor bottles and dog toys.
I’ve seen a lot of these really simple painted wooden spoons as gift ideas but these are by far the cutest ones I found because they are NEON colored! Who doesn’t need another wooden spoon? Especially when you have thirty Thanksgiving sides going on the stovetop at once or you have to separate out vegetarian and meat dishes.
The worst fate after a party is to realize you don’t have dishwashing soap or paper towels. Here is a simple recipe for countertop and glass cleaner and if you feel crazy – a candle. This blog even provides the cute labels for you to print out. It doesn’t get an easier than that. Reuse your own spray bottles and squirt tubes and bring green cleaning to your favorite hostess’ home.
8. Vintage Dresser Knob Wine Stoppers
This last gift is half a cheat, because it takes a common and always appreciated hostess gift – a bottle of wine – and makes it crafty. Plus the fun of finding vintage dresser and door knobs is there, too!
To a great Thanksgiving and ever appreciation for the hostess! Cheers!
Hi Jen! Thanks for sharing our mini pumpkin candles! Great roundup of gift ideas. I look forward to checking some of them out.