Last Minute Hostess Gifts on Pinterest #holiday #entertaining

Quick! You've been invited to a last minute celebration, and you have no idea what to take for the hostess! Here are five quick and easy projects to help you out

Clockwise from top Right

Rit Dye Note Cards by Snaps of Ginger - Simple and sweet, and if your hostess throws alot of parties, she will certainly appreciate some stationery!

Dipped Utensils from HGTV - An incredibly easy project, and one that can be delegated to your children if you are in an extra time crunch trying to get everything ready to go to the hostesses home! Just get some wooden utensils and paint from the dollar store, dip, and dry!

Antler Ornaments from Tatertots and Jello - With it being Christmas and all, some simple glitter dipped antlers add a charming touch to home decor and a Christmas tree!

Black and White Wine Carafe on the DecoArt Blog - One of my favorite projects and it was so easy to whip up. Bring a bottle of wine, or two plain glasses!

DIY Vanilla Coffee Sugar Scrub by designed by dawn nicole - Just fill a mason jar with the mixture, tie with some ribbon and you're good to go!


No matter which project you go with, your hostess will be pleasantly surprised, I promise you that! These also make great last minute gifts for any woman on your list, and great stocking stuffers too!

DIY Country Chic Christmas Stockings

This year for Christmas, I really wanted to get new stockings but I couldn't find anything that was perfect out there that matched our home decor and was a little rustic at the same time. So, I decided to whip up a quick and easy DIY project...one that you can definitely throw together in no time!

Materials

Stockings (the ones I purchased were from Walmart and were $8.98 each)
Burlap ($4 for a 18"x24" panel)
Wooden monograms ($0.67 each)
Paint
Twine

Your first step is to inspect your stockings. See anything out of place, discolored or torn? Fix it with the materials that you have. One of my stockings was missing a third sequin, so I popped them all off and added twine to the centre of the poinsettia's.

Next, paint your letters. I chose Deep Scarlet Multi Surface Satin. I absolutely love this paint. Depending on the color that you choose, you likely will only need one coat.

While your monograms are drying, get creative with your burlap. I entertained the idea of making burlap rosettes or folded poinsettia's, but figured that my husband would want something more masculine for his stocking (and our sons) so I just wrapped the top cuff with burlap. Glue it down with hot glue, and it makes this project even easier!

Once you're done that step, it's time to put your monograms on. At this point, I ran out of hot glue so I used Decoart Bead and Glitter Glue. It definitely did the trick and kept my monograms on! I used some heavy glass bowls to weigh them down while they dried.

Now, you're ready to hang your new stockings! I tied them with twine to a long branch that is up on our mantle, and voila! They're ready for Santa!

Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas

Did you remember to get your brother's girlfriend, son's teacher, bus driver, letter carrier, husband's boss a little something to say Happy Holidays?

No?

Well here is a a super easy, and impressive, idea using DecoArt 3D Opaque Gloss Enamels.

First, go to your local dollar store and pick up a couple of coffee mugs in the colour of your choice. For me project, I went simple with big white oversized latte mugs.

Next, pick up your DecoArt 3D Opaque Gloss Enamel paint at your local craft store. I used the black, but it is available in a wide variety of colours including silver, gold, green, blue and orange.

Then...write out a sentiment, their name, draw a design! You certainly could create a beautiful pattern {I'm thinking paisley in orange, green, blue and yellow for a mug all to my own} or keep it simple and sweet. The writer tip on the Enamels making writing and detail work a breeze!

Now comes the hard part. Let dry for 4 days. Yes, FOUR! The paint needs the four days to cure and set, and I promise you...it's worth it.

After you've let the paint dry, bake at 325F for 30mins and you have a beautiful, personal, easy and dishwasher safe gift to give that didn't break the bank.

I promise you, once you finish your project you're going to want to find other things to use the Enamels on! I'm already scheming serving platters for bridal showers, special wine glasses and of course a mug for myself!

Disclaimer: I was provided the 3D Opaque Gloss Enamel paint by DecoArt for the purposes of completing and blogging about this project. Views and opinions expressed are my own.

DIY Bleach-Dye Scarf

I saw this tutorial for a DIY bleach-dye scarf over on Made By Andi, and thought...what the heck, why not? It might just turn into some really neat Christmas gifts.

Supply list:
Coloured scarf - make sure it's a natural fibre like linen, silk, rayon or cotton. My scarf was rayon/viscose
Bleach
Vinegar
Ribbon - I had some blue plastic raffia ribbon on hand, so that's what I used
Rubber gloves

Top l to r: all bunched up, getting bleached. Bottom l to r: vinegar soak, all done!

Edit: Before you get started, make sure that you open the windows, or better yet...do this outside or in your garage. Holy fumes, batman and those fumes can be dangerous for your breathing!!

1. Bunch and scrunch and roll your scarf, then tie it with the ribbon.

2. Place your bunched scarf/scarves in a basin. I did this project right in our laundry room, in the plastic wash tub. This made clean up a breeze!

3. Carefully pour bleach onto the scarf balls, first one side and then the other.

4. Let stand 20 minutes or so.

5. Repeat if necessary. I was happy with the first two, but not the chocolate brown one. Keep in mind that if you only pour a little bleach on your scarf ball, then only a little of it will lose its colour!

6. Pour vinegar into a seperate basin.

7. Dunk your scarf balls in, one at a time, and let stand 10 minutes.

8. Squeeze out the excess vinegar, and toss the scarves directly into the washing machine.

9. I washed my scarves on the delicate cycle for 45 minutes, and washed them twice before tossing them in the dryer.

Eggplant purple hand dyed scarf

Chocolate brown hand dyed scarf

Eggplant purple hand dyed scarf

I'm thrilled with the results, and what's even better is that they were really inexpensive to make. I picked up the scarves (two purple and one chocolate brown) at Walmart for $10 each. The bleach was $1.77 for the entire jug, and vinegar $1.98. Gloves to protect my precious hands were $3.00.

Each scarf $12.25

Have fun with bleach-dying! The impact is amazing, and I'm excited to see what people think of their custom made gifts!