STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

hotcocoa · Kate Spade

ideas for my family gift towers

NCshopper · Hermes

Do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? (I think you do--you're in Michigan right? The Zingerman's reference clued me in. ) Anyway, they have really good Thai chilli and lime peanuts, truffle oil, and other tasty snack food. Granola from TJ's or homemade granola is always good too.

Soaps and handcreams from this place are always drool-worthy too: http://www.mistralsoap.com. They also have really nice candles.

And as far as doing amaryllis bulbs or paperwhite bulbs again, I think that's a great idea. If everyone loved them last year, then I'm sure they'd be happy to get them again.

Other ideas I can think of are classic holiday dvd's or cd's. You can't go wrong with the Nutcracker, the Charlie Brown Christmas cd, or this cd:

It's nice and schmaltzy and fun, but it's good background music too.

I love the idea of doing a Christmas gift tower. If I think of any more ideas, I'll pass them along.

travelgirl · Kate Spade

First of all I love your idea, and I may very well steal it! NCShopper had some great ideas, here are a few more:

For the home:

Anything from The Good Home Company (they sell this at high end grocery type stores and at Nordies)...

Monogram napkins from Williams Sonoma...

nestling measuring cups

In keeping with the homegoods theme...these are so cute-from Anthro...

Linen spray...

Shea Butter - Hand Cream : A super-smoothing--and best-selling--synergy of 20% Shea Butter, honey and sweet almond extract, blended with the light and alluring aromas of jasmine and ylang-ylang essences. Texturally pleasing balm glides on and absorbs to help heal and protect dry or dehydrated skin. Anti-oxidizing vitamin E helps nourish. Invites even the most hard-working hands to a fresh beginning.

L'Occitane Hand Creams...

NCshopper · Hermes

Ooh, travelgirl's post made me think of maybe adding pretty scented drawer liners. Those products from the Good Home Company look so pretty--I'll bet they smell great too.

Vanessa · Kate Spade

I second the L'Occitane hand cream.

Or how about a Molton Brown gift set? They have some nice ones that are definitely luxe and are unisex. When I was in Scotland last year, our hotel was stocked with their products. I was so in love that the next morning I talked to the concierge & walked to the nearest Molton Brown brick/mortar :)

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/template/catB18.jhtml?itemId=cat000406&parentId=cat000393&ecid=NMFSGBTYmolton_brown&_requestid=11845

Oh, and i just found out that bath & body works started carrying MB too.
*Note to self: check there after xmas*
HTH

flknight24 · Dooney & Bourke

hotcocoa wrote:

amaryllis bulbs or paperwhites (although i did these last year and everyone loved them... would giving them again be boring?)

hotcocoa - can you elaborate on this. Did you just give the bulbs as gifts or did you plant them and then give the plants? I always have such a hard time finding gifts for my 85 and 92 year old grandmothers and I think this is something they might love because they're both into gardening. TIA!