The holiday party season is in full swing. It may be a little old fashioned but I believe in hostess gifts.
I know how much work and effort goes into throwing a party and I believe the hostess deserves an extra little something. I know how much I appreciate it when I receive a hostess gift and the thoughtfulness that has gone into the gesture.
Each year I try to come up with some type of hostess gift I can do up ahead of time and have on hand so as I am running out the door to that week’s holiday party or parties I can just grab it and be good to go – no stress or last minute worries.
Earlier this fall I attended a craft night at church. One of the crafts for the evening were these cute little soap bottles.
They had purchased empty soap bottles and pumps and then we filled them with soap they had bought in bulk at Target (the Method brand) There are several colors and scents to choose from. I chose the green Cucumber!
The fun words were printed onto an overhead transparency. I printed mine up at our local UPS Store (Hi Renae!). You can personalize it by using the person’s last name – Wilkes’ hands – or I just left it generic so I didn’t have to worry about who I was giving them to at the time I made them. You could also use a favorite holiday quote, scripture or words to a carol instead. I was able to fit 4 on a page.
Just cut the transparency down to size, roll it up and then slip it through the top of the bottle. When you pour the soap in it will hold the transparency piece up against the side of the bottle.
Add your pump and ribbon and you are ready to go!
Our bottles and pumps were ordered from a website so you may need to store this idea away for next year unless you can find empty bottles locally (try Storables or The Container Store).
The website we ordered from is Industrial Container and Suppy Company. You can not order through the website, you will need to call the number listed on the site to place your order.
The order numbers for the bottles and pumps we used are:
Bottles -B3221 46 cents each
Pumps -DP111E 38 cents each
What is your favorite thing to give as a hostess gift?
What is a fun hostess gift you have received?
Okay those are so darn cute I’d like to order 5 bottles. How much is shipping? Oh wait – do I have to be a hostess to get one?
I absolutely LOVE this idea! Thank you for sharing!!! Merry Christmas!
Brilliant, just brilliant.
Thanks you for the idea. Great for hostess any time of the year.
How *adorable* are those?! Did you have to order in bulk? Those are really fun and I can see changing out the sayings for several occasions. I just love your site. So glad I subscribe.
Happy holidays to you and yours.
These are so cute.
I wanted to make the cookie bark that had the red/green candy corn in it but it doesn’t appear to be for sale in my area. Would you be able to suggest something else to add. Maybe Christmas colored M&M?
Thank you
Celeste
this is SUCH a great idea!! i’ve been looking for some little gifties for some neighbor baskets…these are perfect!
I can see these with a monogram or one of those cute family caricatures, too. Wonder if hand sanitizer would cause the ink to come off of the transparency?
I think a monogram is a great idea! Would be perfect all year round. Let me know if you experiment with hand santizer and how it affects the transparency.
Great idea! I’m wondering if the transparency couldn’t be done on one of those that you could apply to the outside of the bottle…I’ve got a few left over from hand soap that I use in the kitchen…and they have the name and description on a peel off label.
As for what I take for hostess gift at this time of the year: I make English toffee and creamy caramels each year…I package some of each in gold Chinese take-out boxes with a bit of ribbon and an ornament or pinecone..
Really nice idea. Antibacterial soap is so great right now. Its needed everywhere.
Here’s the info I got from the gal that ordered them for the church activity –
“I don’t know exactly how the price vs quantity works, but my first order was for 25 bottles and I paid .84 each plus $9.01 shipping. The second order was for 145 bottles and they charged .76 each plus $21.93 shipping”
This is a great idea. It’s economical, festive, consumable (no storage needed) and personalized. Thanks for the idea!
What a great idea!!! Useful, affordable and adorable!!!!!
Love this idea! I think I’ll use it for going visiting teaching too! It can have a saying on it that goes with the lesson. Your Ward does fun activities. When’s the next meeting?
As for a hostess gift…..if I am invited for dinner, I usually bring flowers. It’s a tradition I learned from living in Europe. If it’s Christmas time, I bring a pretty plate of cookies and hand dipped chocolates.
So the transparency goes on the inside of the bottle? Is there a reason for the inside versus the outside? Just to look more professional looking? Cool idea.
Totally loving this idea! Thanks for sharing!
We made this for a craft at Girls’ Camp, but I didn’t do the ordering so I really appreciate you sharing that information!
Does the transparency stay put? Does it ever curl or come away from the side? You’ve always got the best ideas going on!
Love this idea! I think I am going to give these out for next year. Maybe I could make these in the summer and store them away for a few months and then that would be one less thing to worry about during the month of December!!! I just love all of your ideas! Thank you much!
Jennie
I love this idea! And who knew you could make your own soap bottle labels with transparencies? So cool! I’m bookmarking this in my “Ideas” folder. Thanks for sharing!
How stinkin cute is that? I can’t wait to make some!
very cute! can you re-run this blog post next year in the summer? That way we can get a start!
I try to always take a hostess gift. I do not think it is old fashioned at all. I usually take homemade cookies if I know the hostess doesn’t bake. Otherwise, some cute note cards or small flowering plant is nice.
Leigh Anne,
We just made these last weekend as a church project! Someone had done all the work and we preordered the labels with our own name personalization. I did them for all of my family. I was prepared to glue the labels on the outside and what a surprise to learn that they were rolled and slipped inside to be suspended in the liquid. (Be careful not to put them in upside down like one friend did!)
One of my favorite hostess gifts is along this same line…Bath and Body Works
scented antibacterial hand soaps in the pump dispensers. It’s my way of keeping everyone as germ free as possible.
Fabulous idea! Of course, I expect nothing less from you
For hostess gifts this year, I am giving Penzey’s mini gift boxes. (Thanks for the info on Penzey’s I love that place, and their spices are amazing!) Each box has 4 jars of spices (fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, and mural of flavor). Reading your posts is always a bright spot in my day, thanks. 
What a fantastic craft idea, I’ve never seen that one before. I love it! Thanks for sharing
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
TEACHER GIFTS! I’ll fill them with hand sanitizer. I was able to get six labels on a page. I printed it on regular printer paper on my inkjet at home and had it copied onto the transparency paper at OfficeMax on their laser copier for maybe 75 cents a page (give or take a couple of pennies).
I think hostess gifts are the way to go, and I take a candle or cookies. I’m thinking that the Reindeer Bark might be even better than the cookies, though! Love all your recipes–thanks for sharing.
Adorable!
I made these for teacher gifts for all the “specials” teachers (art, music, PE) as well as the regular teachers. I copied your Hands verbiage but added Teaching Hands toward the top and a little larger font than the others. Lots of compliments! Thanks for the great idea!
Soo cute! What a great idea. I love the fact that it is creative and inexpensive! Thanks for sharing.
Learned one lesson from making these and that is that you can’t use your home printer. After a while the ink just drops off the plastic and settles in the bottom of the bottle.
Cool idea!! And, better yet, I called to order my bottles and pumps from the suggested vendor and they’re on sale! The plastic bottles B3221 are now 42 cents each. The matching pump is a penny more but, still a bargain! Thanks for this neat idea.