Hostess Gifts Your Family Can Make

It's always a fun time when your family goes to visit friends and relatives. Show them how much you appreciate them by bringing a hostess gift along. They will love a homemade gift made by you and your child.

For the Garden
The winter is the perfect time to grow some plants inside. If your hostess misses her garden, bring a few fresh herb pots over. All you need are a few small clay pots, a bag of potting soil, and a few seeds. All kids love to help with this one. Cover a table with a vinyl table cloth and be prepared for them to get a little messy. Have them fill the pot halfway and then drop 2 or 3 seeds in and cover them up. Leave some room at the top of the pot, or when you water soil will spill out. All types of basil, lemon balm, mint, cilantro, or thyme are great seeds to start this way.

Giver's Log has an amazing DIY Seed Tape that's a perfect gift to make. She uses newspaper, flour paste, and seeds to make a gift that gives all summer long. You can use flower, vegetable, or herb seeds. To plant, just roll them out in the garden and cover with a little more soil. Her 6 year old made cool flowers out of newspaper to decorate them, so it's beautiful as well as practical.

For the House
Everyone always needs more napkins. Next time you see some white cotton napkins on sale, stock up. Use fabric paint to add cool motifs on them. Stamps are another tool to use, they are great for adults like me who can't draw. You can even make natural dye from tea or plants and show your children how they used to do it. After the napkins are dyed and dried, teach the kids some napkin folding. Who knows, maybe you can get them to fold them again for your next dinner party.

For the Tummy
Gourmet food gifts are great presents, but they can be pricey. Try your hand at making them at home. Flavored ketchup is easy to make. Family Fun has recipes for Smoky Ketchup, Fiesta Ketchup, and Key West Ketchup that are super tasty. Only let older kids make the fiesta one, since it contains hot peppers. The other two are perfect for younger children. Measure out all the ingredients and let them mix them. Depending on their ages, they could help you fill the bottles as well. Home made labels can be decorated with stamps or brand them with your families best drawing.

Vanilla sugar is an ingredient I'm seeing more in recipes these days. It's as simple to make as putting fresh vanilla beans in a jar and cover with sugar. Try it with orange peel or your organic scented geranium leaves for an unusual treat. You can set up an assembly line with a few children and you'll have gifts for the rest of the year!

Put away a few of your projects for thank you gifts. They are great for last minute baby sitters or for your kids to bring for Grandma when they're staying over night. Everyone appreciates a thank you.

About the Author Kathy Hester lives in Durham, NC with her 2 cats who would rather not live together, a cute dog with a belly rub addiction, her very own picky eater, a kitchen garden, and more slow cookers than any one person should own. Her first cookbook, The Vegan Slow Cooker, is being published the fall of 2011 by Fair Winds Press (http://www.qbookshop.com/products/193950/9781592334643/The-Vegan-Slow-Cooker.html). She writes 2 blogs Healthy Slow Cooking (http://healthyslowcooking.wordpress.com/) and Busy Vegan (http://busyvegan.blogspot.com/). Posted by Kathy in activities on February 21, 2010 More from this author  |  Author Website Follow Kathy on:  |  |  |  |