We have a few holiday traditions every year – we attend the drive-thru light show, we help my family decorate the Christmas village and we spend every single Christmas Eve at my Aunt Elisa’s house. Some of you who have followed for a while may have heard me mention Elisa once or twice, but she lives up the street from me + I am very close with her. I grew up spending summers (here in Long Beach!) at her house, and my cousin Sammy even helps me on this very blog sometimes! Anytime you see Stories of me hanging around at a house that isn’t my own, it’s most likely her home, which is mere feet from mine!
Anyway, Elisa pretty much has it all. She was one of the first people I know who was obsessed with ordering things online (she showed my dad Ebay in like 1999 lol) and there’s literally nothing that she doesn’t own. Literally. She even has a VW bus, 2 vintage Beetles and every adorable festive holiday mug you could ever want. Matt and I always joke that it looks like her home “threw up” Christmas, she loves the holiday so much. She has about 15 bins filled with Christmas decorations that she pulls out every year, and then she oohs and aaahs about her decor every day til’ Christmas – it really does look MAGICAL in her house. I can’t even describe it for you guys. Because she graciously hosts us every Christmas Eve, I wanted to bring her something extra festive this year, and was excited to order this Grand Hickory Collection gift basket from Hickory Farms for her, knowing that it’s filled with Cheddar, Swiss, Crackers, Trail Mix, and festive holiday cookies that she can eat after the holiday ends, while she relaxes and doesn’t have to lift a finger.
BUT, I also wanted to make sure the basket was personalized, so it feels more her style. Knowing she is obsessed with the Christmas Season, I wanted to add some extra colors + textures to the basket. I picked up this adorable star tissue paper and took all of the products out to wrap the bottom of the basket. Then I added in a few pinecones that smell delicious, and some red tissue paper for a pop of color. I also included some cute candy cane colored straws for a little extra touch! I wrapped the entire basket in cellophane, and added an adorable buffalo checked ribbon + bow on top! To top it off, I added a cute little candy cane, and some bells!
^^ Here you can see the star tissue paper a bit closer up! It’s so magical, and gives the basket such a festive feeling!
^^ I pulled out all of the items in the basket, wrapped the bottom in tissue paper, and then put the items back in, with a few extra things!
I am so excited to bring this over to her on Christmas! What do you usually bring for the host?
Thank you to Hickory Farms for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.