Previous post
Next post
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links for which I receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Please see my full disclosure here.
I have a friend that never comes over without bringing a gift. It is never extravagant – sometimes a set of cute cocktail napkins. Other times, she has brought a fun, seasonal serving plate, a plant for the patio or a sparkly wine glass.
Bringing a gift for the host/hostess is especially important when they move into a new place. You want to find something they will use or display and not hide in an cabinet until they can donate it to Goodwill, so it helps to know your host.
However, if you are having trouble coming up with some ideas, try one of these.
A trifle bowl is missing from most homeowners cabinets and therefore is a unique gift. They can be used for desserts, salads or even as a fun serving bowl for chips. You can fill it with ingredients for a dessert or just put a bow on it.
Holiday decoration. When I go to someone’s house, even if it is not the first time, I like to bring a little something for the next upcoming holiday. Every store has something – a cute sign, kitchen towel, candle. Hobby Lobby is my favorite go to for something like this as they always seem to have a 40% sale going on. Holiday decorations also make a great wedding shower gift!
Mini crockpot – This is such an easy gift and one that most people don’t have. These mini crockpots are great to use for appetizers/warm dips. I gave these as gifts one year for the kids teachers and attached a cute recipe book to go with it.
You can never have enough coasters. I not only use them in my family room, but everyone in the family has one on their nightstands for water bottles. I love the DIY coasters that use Mod Podge and scrapbook paper. Add a few felt circles from Dollar Tree and voila! To complete the gift, pick up four glasses from Dollar Tree (they have some nice heavy whiskey glasses) and a bottle of your favorite adult beverage.
You can never go wrong with games. When we got our first house, we didn’t have any games or even a deck of cards. We slowly added to our collection over the years, but continue to look out for new games. Wrap up your favorite board game with a ribbon and or fill a bag with card games (like Dose), dice games (like LCR) and box of Dominos.
Movie night. You can fill a Dollar Tree plastic bowl with boxed candy and a jar of popcorn kernels. I love to buy the red kernel popcorn from our local farmer’s market and put it in a mason jar. You can create a cloth reusable microwave popcorn bag or add a stack of paper lunch bags. Finish the gift off with a gift card from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or Red Box.
Who doesn’t like breakfast in bed? I received a bamboo butler tray with handles a few years ago that we use for eating breakfast or snacks in bed. It sits flat on the bed, which I prefer to the tray with legs as they sometimes tip. Add a couple of coffee cups from Dollar Tree and a loaf of homemade zucchini bread to complete the gift.
One of the best housewarming gifts we got was a shovel. Unusual, I know, but since we moved from a townhouse to a single family home, we needed it. If the homeowners have a yard or at least a patio, garden items are an easy housewarming gift. You can fill a bucket with hand shovels, bulbs and a watering can, pick up some cute yard art or a bird feeder & seed.
What about the gift of letting the home owner do something for their home? A friend of mine owns a Board and Brush – a DIY wood sign workshop. They have franchises all over the country. While this DIY gift card might exceed your budget, if you and a few friends go in together and make it a night out, you will fall within the budget.
Buy them the stuff they never knew they needed. You know the stuff. After being married for 30 years, we have now accumulated too much of it, but for a new homeowner, it’s a must have. Fill a plastic bucket with extension cords, electrical and duct tape, WD-40, Krazy Glue, zip ties, twine, toilet plunger, razor blades. etc. This is a housewarming gift they won’t soon forget and will wonder how they managed without it.
