Housewarming Gift Ideas for Spring

Host/Hostess gifts can sometimes be a challenge to think up.  Wine is always an easy go to, but lately I have grown tired of being so predictable and have been on a search for great gift ideas.  Here are a few of my favorite housewarming gifts for spring.

Agate Coasters

When hosting a party, I always make it a point to have my coasters strategically placed around the house and in abundance.  As a hostess or host, you are always wanting protect your home from accidents (ex. water rings on wood surfaces), so it's important to set your guests up for success and keep coasters easily accessible.  Why not have chic and unique coasters, like these agate coasters from West Elm?!?  These coasters come in a variety of colors that can definitely add a spring-like feel to any space and a personalized touch to your gift by choosing a color that may work best with your hostess/host's room decor. 

A Beautiful Book

Depending on your hostess or host's interest, a really well done coffee table book or cookbook can be a great gift.  A few of my favorites include: Scalamandre Haute Decor, Beauty at Home, Plenty More, Houses of Veranda and Ad Hoc at Home.  

A Fragrant Candle

Candles are a staple in my home.  Each room has at least one (and sometimes more than one) candle with its own unique scent.  Fragrant candles are a great addition to your coffee table, bedroom and of course the bathroom!  There are so many deliciously fragrant candles on the market, you really can't go wrong gifting your host/hostess with a beautiful candle.  If you are concerned about selecting the right scent, do a little research on your host/hostess to figure out their scent preferences.  If you aren't inclined to do that, here are a few that I would highly recommend:  Nest Fragrances Blue Garden, Williams-Sonoma Vert Frais, Voluspa French Cade & Lavender, NEST Fragrances Luxury Mini Votive Set, Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt. 

A Set of Gourmet Chutneys or Jams

When I am hosting guests, especially overnight, there is nothing I love more than to receive a set of delicious and unique chutneys or jams.  Why?  Because I can use them right away!  Chutneys make a great addition to any cheeseboard and jam is a must have when I am hosting guests for breakfast.  For chutney, I am a huge fan of the Virginia Chutney Company's entire line of products, as you may or may not have noticed from their regular appearance in my cheesescapes.  For jam, I am really loving the Eat This jam company (they were also mentioned as one of Oprah's Favorite things this past December).  These jams have very unique flavor combinations that work beautifully together and can be paired with both savory and sweet foods.  Both the chutneys and jams come in very unique flavors and beautiful packaging, making them ideal housewarming gifts.  *I recommend gifting a set of 3 chutneys or jams.*

My belief is that a housewarming gift should be somewhat unique but also practical.  A pretty coffee table book or set of fancy jams might not be something that the gift recipient would buy for themselves, but they would certainly use and enjoy if they were gifted with these items.  Whatever you decide to bring, as long as it's a thoughtful gift your host/hostess will be appreciative. 

Hosting an Elegant Winter Cocktail Party

This party idea was inspired by the newest addition to my cheeseboard collection.  I recently found this fabulous new marble cheese board with glass dome at Crate & Barrel, and decided that it only seemed fitting to take it for a test drive (aka host a cocktail party) ASAP!  

My goal with this look was to keep everything sleek and sophisticated.  I kept the color palette to a minimum by only using black, white, gray and silver table accessories.  I wanted to have a low but full floral arrangement, so I decided to go with white hydrangeas in a low glass cylinder vase.  Instead of using a table runner, I lined up 3 of my square gray croc embossed placemats (similar to these). I also chose to accessorize my new cheese board with my simple but modern CB2 cheese knives. 

Unlike my previous cheesescapes, I kept this board fairly minimal.  The reason for this approach was two fold.  First, the actual surface area is generous but not overly abundant.  Adding in my cheesescape extras (herbs, fruits, etc.) would have created a cluttered/cramped look.  The second reason (really the main reason) being that I did not want to take away from the fabulous dome!  The dome is such a unique and sophisticated addition to this board, so I wanted to make sure that it remained the focal point.  

Cheeses for this board included: Cypress Grove Midnight Moon (a personal favorite), Aged Cheddar with Carmelized Onions and a classic Bucheron.  Stonewall Kitchen's Old Farmhouse Chutney accompanied these three cheeses under the dome.  All nuts, charcuterie, fruits and crackers were served along side the cheeseboard in both silver and glass bowls.  

This party was so much fun and I loved that my new cheeseboard forced me to go outside of my comfort zone.  In the past I would have thought to only include all cheese accoutrements directly on the cheeseboard, because that always seemed to be most practical.  This time I was forced to think outside of the box to find a functional yet aesthetically pleasing way to include everything.  All said and done, I would have to say "mission accomplished!"