Coco’s Top 10 Hostess Gifts
I won’t tell you how old I am, but I am not too old to have become jaded or weary of this special time of year, especially when it comes to Christmas parties. One of my favorite moments in life is going to my mailbox and finding an invitation to open, even more so during the holiday season. I have thrown a few holiday parties in my lifetime, so I very much appreciate how much thought and time goes into the party planning. Here, especially. Alexandrians really seem to know how to throw the most elegant of parties: sophisticated, elegant, with a touch of southern charm. But as a guest of one of these beautiful parties, I need to play my part. This means showing up with a worthy hostess gift. Here are ten suggestions that I think will keep you on everyone’s invitation list.
1) Votivo Aromatic Reed Diffusers fill the home with a memorable fragrance, adding another dimension of style to any décor. $55
2) Expat Susan Loomis shares tips, secrets, and 85 recipes that come straight from French cooks in In a French Kitchen, showing how they turn every meal into a sumptuous occasion. $26.95
3) Barr Co. fine shea butter lotion is soothing, calming, and hydrating, with no parabens or petrochemicals. $33.75
4) Votivo Joie de Noel candle evokes hearty cut spices, woody strands of aged rosemary, fragrant spruce, and delicate hemlock boughs mulled with herbs and thickened honey combs in a copper kettle over an open cherry wood flame: an unspoken welcome home anytime throughout the year. $40
5) Fine sheets of metal are etched with mistletoe leaves and adorned with glass beads to create these festive sprigs. $45
\6) These beautiful, clear, hand-blown, delicate glass vases have the detailed markings of sea urchins; perfect for a mini bouquet or a single stem. $11.25, $13.75, $16.25
7) Here are a couple of sweet little hostess gifts. They are perfect for her dresser for that special place she keeps her ring. $20 and $15
8) French lavender-filled closet or drawer sachets will leave her clothes smelling heavenly. $31.50
9) In To Have and Have Another, Ernest Hemingway enthusiast and cocktail connoisseur Philip Greene offers dozens of authentic recipes for drinks directly connected with the novels, history and folklore, and colorful anecdotes about the man himself. With this cocktail companion, she’ll be able to fully enjoy Hemingway’s works beyond the limits of the imagination. $24
10) And of course Christmas ornaments are always the perfect hostess gifts. We have a large selection! $8-$25
- About the boutique
Using the soothing color palette of a coconut by the sea—whites, neutrals and splashes of turquoise—Coco Blanca has created a trademark look. Her lifestyle boutique offers expert solutions for home design and women’s fashion—blending a clean, fresh, sophisticated, feel-good style.
210 South Union Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.535.8002
