Hostess gifts!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of visiting friends on the East End of Long Island. It reminded me that I need to stock up on hostess gifts. Here's what I usually have in my stash:

First, I stock up on thank you notes. I need to make sure that I can at least be ready to say thank you!

I love to give monogrammed notecards - just the kind with a single letter on them. They are good for any occasion.

If I have time, I make granola or muffins, especially if we're visiting someone for an over night. Dessert is also a good idea. Long Island has loads of road-side stands & the summer pies cannot be beat.

This is what I brought (below) to our hosts last weekend - Granola! The recipe is from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. The jar is an old pickle jar that I saved. I cut a square of leftover fabric an 1 inch bigger on each side than the jar top. Sprayed the top with spray adhesive (do that outside with the wind blowing away from you!) and pressed the fabric onto the wet lit. The ribbon was the final touch!

Oh, and wine is always good...something light & summery. Last weekend we took a sparkling rose from Wolffer Estates, a great Long Island vineyard, to our friends house. Delish!

gift bag from my shop!

Most of the time I'm shopping for all of these things for myself, so I just pick up an extra to have on hand. Makes putting together something super easy! When I can't find what I want or need, I end up making it & as you can probably tell from the pictures I've used in this post, a K. Batty Design & Stationery product is usually born from that.

Thoughts? What do you like to bring to your hosts?

Better yet, as a host, what do you like for people to bring??