{quick and easy hostess gift}

I was always told not to show up empty handed when someone invites you over for dinner; and like most people, our go-to hostess gift is usually a bottle of wine or an interesting whiskey.   It's certainly a hostess gift we don't mind receiving ourselves, but sometimes you want to do a little bit extra for those inviting you into their home.  I picked up these drink stirrers the other day as a simple addition to our bar and it occurred to me that given a little effort they could make a great hostess gift!

Drink stirrers have quickly become one of those things that is almost mandatory at weddings and parties.  Usually made with just a simple bamboo skewer, cut to length and adorned with a colorful flag of sorts.  While you could create this gift for someone using the regular bamboo skewers, I feel that these unique cocktail sticks elevate the stirrer to something a little more special- plus they have a sort of awesome preppy vibe.  I quickly typed up "cheers" in a few of my favorite fonts and then hot glued the cardstock flags onto the colorful array of sticks.  Topped off with a simple gift tag and these will make for a cute hostess gift your friends wont forget.

Click here to download the file I used to create these flags.  These flags are also now available for purchase in my Etsy shop right here!

Another option if you are really pressed for time, is to make the flags blank so that they can be used as-is or written on as drink markers.

{gift tag downloads}

 {my gift wrap with Hey Look's tags!}

 
This past weekend, I finished all my Christmas shopping AND wrapped everything- this is something I am incredibly proud since in the past I generally like to leave the shopping and wrapping right up until the last minute!  I picked up the candy cane wrapping paper from Target and used a free printable gift tag download from Hey Look Events.  I particularly like this gift tag download since the design lends itself to many different colors of paper so you can tailor it to match your wrapping paper theme.  I printed them onto simple white cardstock, but I think they could look especially fun on kraft paper!  Here is a round up of some other wonderful and free gift tag downloads to jump start your holiday gift wrapping!

 {the full set of gift tags that I used, download here}

 {another gift tag set from Hey Look! I really wanted to use these, but they 

clashed with my gift wrap, two different colors available for download here}

{modern gift tags from Jones Design Company, download by giving your email here}

{red & blue tag set from Gifted Magazine, download here}

{another fun set from Gifted magazine, download here}

{free envelope wrap label download}

As promised in yesterday's post, here is a download I created for the envelope wrap address labels we used on our engagement invites.  You will need to purchase full page printable sticker sheets to print these on, we used these ones from Amazon.  I have kept the original crest shape on the label, but if you would like to use a a more intricate shape I highly recommend these free monogram generators.  Once you have created a custom monogram, save it to your desktop and then insert it into microsoft word and copy it throughout the document.  Once you have entered all of your addresses simply print onto the photo paper, cut along the guides on the outer margins of the sheets and then cut down the middle between each label.  These labels are sized for 5" by & 7" envelopes, but would work just fine on anything sized a little bigger or smaller. Enjoy!

 Click here to download the Microsoft Word file for the envelope wraps

 

This is the first time I have uploaded a document for this blog, please let me know if you have any issues.