Now that your Christmas shopping is complete (yeah right!) and the cards have been sent (gulp, mine might make it before Christmas!), it’s time to spread some holiday cheer. It’s right about now when my neighbors whip out their aprons and the doorbell starts ringing with fun little gifts to make you really appreciate the holiday season.
Our Smarty team has put together some “think outside of the box” ideas for great neighborly gifts. Make sure you chime in with your ideas as well in the comments section below.
My neighbors will receive 
Itty Bitty culinary delights (I cannot stop eating these!). I also considered putting together a small basket of oranges & tangerines from the Farmer’s Market. Citrus seems to be so much tastier this year – it must have been a good season. This is a healthy treat that the whole fam can enjoy.
One gift that our Smarty sales rep, Kaylee, delivered was a personalized wine bottle. She is going to kill me because I cannot find the photo I took, but trust me, it was so cute and yum! You just soak your favorite wine in warm water for a few minutes, peel off the original label, and apply your customized label. So clever!
Krista bakes her famous “
Smarty designer, Rachie, gave me the most delectable sea salt caramels from Trader Joe’s – OMG, that is the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I may head over there today to load up!
Smarty Susan whipped out this extensive list of quick things you can put together (she’s such an organized workin’ mama!):
-Bread from Nova’s or Great Harvest plus a jam/gourmet butter from Fresh Market
– Sock monkey wine sleeve (Sur la Table, located in SouthPark Mall, $10)
– Aeorolatte frother (Sur la Table $15) plus a bag of gourmet coffee
– Party people glass markers (Sur la Table $7)
– Bath & Body works handsoap (for kitchen or powder room)
– Buy a potted plant. English Ivy is inexpensive and it has some health benes – get small pot at Lowe’s/Home Depot/Harris Teeter floral dept at Taj)
– Subscription to Charlotte magazine (we Smarties love us some BOB!)
– A pack of dish towels from William Sonoma or Crate & Barrel (has anyone looked at their dish towels lately?? Pitiful at our crib.)
-Reusable grocery bags. Paper Twist has a great selection of 
– Reusable travel coffee mugs (this will keep coffee or tea hot and disposables out of the landfills)
Keep the list comin’, Smarties! Together, we will spread some cheer all over Smarty Charlotte!
1 comment
That monkey sock wine cover is darling! I like that it adds a bit of extra suspense before you get to the actual bottle of wine itself, too. I may wrap a few of my remaining gifts in those, if I can head out to Sur La Table during the shuffle this week. I'll post this round-up on our Facebook page, too, to give some ideas to those gifting our 2006 Napa Valley Cab (it's high rated and still available for holiday shipping, if any of your readers are also interested – http://bit.ly/h9vwlw ). Happy holidays and thanks for these suggestions!