‘Tis the season for gathering. From the traditional holiday meal at a loved one’s home to the festive parties hosted by friends or acquaintances, here are 10 gift ideas you can take along with you for the hosts.
Olive Oil, $18-$100 at Each Peach Market and EachPeachMarket.com.
Mount Pleasant spot Each Peach Market is full of food-themed gifts—including their own bottles of cold-pressed organic olive oil. Looking for something a little bigger? Their $100 olive oil basket includes the olive oil and other treats.
Mulling Spices, $35 at Williams Sonoma.
We love a warm mulled red wine in the winter—mulled apple cider, too! This particular set of mulling spices with a mulling ball are on food editor Anna Spiegel’s Black Friday shopping list.
A Festive Candle, $38 at Anthropologie
Candles are an easy gift, but you can show you’ve put some thought into one by choosing a design or scent you know the recipient will appreciate. This metallic green fir-and-firewood one at Anthropologie has a seasonal smell (though it comes in gold with a citrus scent, too). Prefer a local option? Here are six DC-area candle makers you can check out.
A Cheese Stone, $100 at Tuckernuck.
Pair a cheese stone with a book like “Fromages: An Expert’s Guide to French Cheeses” ($40) for a swanky yet practical gift. For a cheaper but still sophisticated option, try the $32 Brooklyn Slate cheese board from Salt & Sundry and/or other books on cheese from Bold Fork Books.
Copper Mugs, $38 each at Salt & Sundry.
Build your own set of copper mugs and the cocktail ingredients to go with them—a great gift for a cocktail-crafting host or hostess.
A Puzzle, $35 at Jonathan Adler.
Happen to know your host loves puzzles? This one doubles as coffee table decor.
Fancy Chocolates, $10.50 and up at The Chocolate House.
The Chocolate House offers some half a dozen options for picture-perfect truffle boxes—but if you’re looking for something else, there’s no shortage of DC-area chocolate shops to check out.
Another Locally Sourced Snack, $5 and up at Nido Wine Shop and Market.
If sweet treats aren’t your thing, this Mount Pleasant market has a bunch of other homemade and pre-packaged offerings, from homemade ricotta and pesto to stuffed olives and homemade granola.
Quirky/Cute Dish Towels, $32 for a set of two at ShopMadeInDC.com.
With a wide range of designs, these dish towel sets are made in Logan Circle. Some (not all!) of the designs are currently sold out, but we’re checking back for more.
A Mini Air Plant in a Rainbow Planter, $18 at LittleLeafShop.com.
These little air plants are supposedly super easy to take care of—even without a green thumb. For a less colorful option (although, note, this one also comes in pink), we like these mini concrete planters.
Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.
