Throwing a party is hard work (unless you hire The Party Planning Committee to put together the fete for you...)! Give all of those hard-working hosts and hostesses something great this holiday! 

Here are some of our favourite picks this year:

1. Flowering teapot (Available at Canadian Tire - around $20 with tea flowers).

2, A handsome Christmas ornament (we're impressed with Bowring's selection this year)

3. New kitchen tools wrapped and tied with ribbon in a festive oven mitt.

4. Personalized Pyrex dish full of brownies! (Glass etching cream and stencils are available at Michaels.)

5. If you're handy in the kitchen, these homemade stained glass cookies from Martha Stewart are a showstopper! Even if you're not so handy, buy a roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, cut out ornament shapes, and fill the centre with crushed hard candy (like Jolly Ranchers). Punch a small hole at the top before baking and tie with a ribbon!

6. We love these Kate Spade gold dot napkins. Even better - DIY some with linen napkins, a pencil eraser and gold fabric paint!
- rosemary infused sea salt put your sea salt and rosemary in a sauté pan and warm up for about 15 minutes. Then discard the rosemary and pour salt into individual containers.

7. Rosemary infused sea salt (Warm sea salt and rosemary in a pan and for 15 minutes. Discard rosemary and pour salt into individual containers with fresh rosemary).

What hostess gifts do you love giving?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

One trend that we're seeing with food and drinks these days is the ability for guests to create or personalize their own food, drinks and even favours. Displays can be customized with fun labels in the party's theme and colours. This is a great idea in today's everybody-has-a-food-restriction world!

We can't be sure, but we're convinced the trend started with the now well-known candy buffet. The Party Planning Committee has created lavish candy buffets, complete with candy trees, personalized favour bags, and custom colours - and we loved it!

What we're seeing more recently are 'food stations', which can include anything from appetizers to main courses to desserts to drinks to favours. Here are a few of our favourite ideas!

At one of our favourite Vietnamese restaurants in Ottawa, Ox Head, they serve wrap-it-yourself rice wrap rolls that are delish! Toppings include cellophane noodles, bean sprouts, basil, shredded carrots and cucumbers, chicken/beef/pork, and the yummiest peanut sauce. This would be so much fun for an asian-themed party!

Another fun DIY main course is a mac and cheese station! Offer one or two base mac and cheese types, and set out chopped bacon, chicken, lobster, green onions, shredded gruyere, asparagus, mushrooms, fried onions, and any other yummy things you can think of.

A variation on mac and cheese: a pasta station.

We also loved the idea of a sweet, baked or mashed potato station!

For dessert, an ice cream bar would be a sure hit! Play with interesting flavour combinations - maple bacon, anyone? To keep it frozen, display individual servings in mason jars on ice.

Other dessert ideas: cupcake bar...waffle bar....mmmm!!!

For favours, our favourite trend is the popcorn bar. Super easy, chic and inexpensive! Set out various seasonings, add-ins like sprinkles and smarties, and of course, tons of butter!

As for drinks, the sky is the limit! This bloody mary bar is super fun!

What kind of food and drink stations have you seen recently?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

All images via Pinterest. Check out our Pinterest page for more ideas!