Whether you’re hosting this holiday season or heading out to visit friends and family, simple gestures of thoughtfulness and hospitality are a sure way to warm spirits and make everyone feel right at home.
1. Soothing Sachets
There’s nothing like lavender’s calming scent to relax a weary traveler. Welcome a special guest to a good night’s sleep with a lavender sachet on her pillow. A quick way to make your own no-sew sachet is to place a generous pinch of lavender in the center of a lace-edged handkerchief, pull the corners together, and tie a ribbon around the bundle.
2.Homespun Hospitality
Everyone appreciates personal space while visiting others, and gracious hosts go the extra mile by offering the comforts of home. Invite relaxation with a low-watt lamp and a mesmerizing selection of reading material in the guest bedroom. An alarm clock is requisite, but how about a CD player with a couple of soothing seasonal discs? Provide a pretty take-home journal too, encouraging guests to jot notes and musings from their holiday stay.
3. Relax and Recharge
After a day of play in the brisk outdoors, gather your guests for a revitalizing afternoon warm-up. Replenish spirits with bottomless cups of homemade cocoa and organic local wine. Add a cornucopia of satisfying winter snacks to tide hungry tummies over until the dinner bell rings. Easy and energizing munchies include dried fruits and nuts, sausage, cheese slices, and a platter of fresh-from-the-oven walnut-raisin focaccia bread made with my quick Organic Focaccia Bread Mix.
4. Discovery Jars
Looking for an intriguing party favor to break the ice among dinner guests? Try a “Discovery Jar.” Place a handful of trinkets in a lidded jar, fill jar with sand to about 2 inches from the top, tighten the lid, and attach a list of clues to help identify the buried treasures. For example: Frosty’s nose was a … ? Button! Each guest reads a clue, then shakes the jar to try and find the matching object in 1 minute. When time’s up, pass the jar.
5. Bath & Beauty Basics
Don’t wait for guests to worry that they’ve forgotten toiletries. Stock a cute caddy with all the “green” basics and beyond: Preserve’s Recyclable Travel Set of toothbrush and razor, Cinnamon Clove Toothpaste from Tom’s of Maine, J.R. Liggett’s Old-Fashioned Bar Shampoo, and Avalon Organics Hand and Body Lotion (all available from vitacost.com). Include a couple of plush towels and a soft pair of slippers to bathe your guests in luxury.
6. Bundle ’Em Up
With winter visitors on the way, have extra outerwear—stocking caps, scarves, and mittens—on hand for kids and grownups so that no one is stuck indoors at sledding time. Wool socks will warm toes after the snow and make thoughtful spur-of-the-moment gifts too!
7. Spiced Sampler
Gift baskets are classic tokens of thoughtfulness, whether toward host or guest. The best offer bountiful goodies both practical and luxurious. Instead of settling for pre-packaged, create your own sampler of spicy scents that echo season’s greetings with an undeniably personal touch. Thrift stores are often a wealth of castaway baskets waiting to be repurposed. Fill with anise star pods, flowering teas, votive candles, and essential oils.
