These suggestions are to make your life easier throughout the holiday so you can spend more time voluntereering, spending time with family, eating gorgeous food & making interesting crafts. Enjoy!

For Kids

Dinosaur Set – What kid doesn’t like dinosaurs? My four year old nephew played with this set all day! He put them in his race cars, took them in the bath and even ate with them at meal time. Let your child’s imagination soar with this educational 12 piece dino set. This quality set is lead free, certified for EN71 and does not have any funky plastic smell! If you have Amazon Prime, free shipping! *

For Tweens, Teens

DIY Jewelry Stamping Kit – Forget the beading! Pull out the hammer included in this set and get pounding! Come on, Mom – it’s not THAT dangerous! This DIY Jewelry Stamping Kit includes a small metal stamping hammer, a full set of letters and numbers, plus all the materials you’ll need to make two finished necklaces.Available from Point Loma Gifts. Shipping within the U.S.

Foodies/Chefs or Wannabe Chefs

Clean Glass Containers – Stylish & Easy to Clean. Drinking out of glass is always best – no funky aftertaste like plastic of aluminum containers. Yes, it’s glass – so be careful, but the risk is well worth the reward. Dishwasher safe and great for water, teas, iced coffees and smoothies. They are also very cost-effective. $11.99 for two. Pair these with some nice teas and gift as an ‘ice tea’ set. Free Shipping with Amazon Prime. *

Knive Sharpener – There is one thing that people who love to cook must have, and that’s sharp knives. A sharp knife is actually safer to use because you can cut with precision and less likely to ‘roll’ your food which can then cause the knife to slip and cause injury! The Priority Chef knive sharpener is easy to use. Simply choose rough or fine sharpening depending on the condition of your knive, and run it through four times per instruction. I sharpened some of my favorite paring knives and Wow! What a difference! The sharpener is ergonomically designed handle with rubber grip that is comfortable to use and the modern looking design will complement most kitchens.*

Chef Herb Scissors – Fab kitchen tool alert! Herb scissors (with 7 blades!) cut herbs quickly & smoothly. Look at these awesome little mint slices that took me literally 2 seconds to make! This is not only a huge time saver, but the snips come out even and beautiful! Great for herbs, chives, lettuce confetti, and let your imagination run wild! This would make a great & unique stocking stuffer for anyone who loves to cook! *

Wine Enthusiasts

VinOrama Waiters Corkscrew – Premium Rosewood – Every wine enthusiast has a favorite wine opener style (rabbit, twist, automatic or jack-style) and most likely an actual favorite opener. Some people actually name their favorite openers. “Have you see Harry today?”  And, should that favorite wine opener gets lost in say a park, or left behind in a vacation rental, there is often surely hell to pay – and then some serious groaning. Openers are not all that unique, but after opening as many bottles as I do, quality really counts. A poor quality opener will not barrel down into a cork correctly, often resulting in a fractured cork and cork bits in every sip of wine. The VinOrama Corkscrew is not only beautiful, but is very well crafted with a double hinge fulcom to accomodate even the longest of corks! Get this one as a gift, and then one for yourself and think of a nice name for your new ‘best friend’. Free shipping with Amazon Prime. *

Vino Mio Foldable Wine Bottle – Have wine, will travel! Glass-free, BPA-free foldable wine bag for picnics & other outings where glass is not allowed.  Rinse out when done, hang upside down to dry, and it’s ready to go again!‬ Pair with a bottle of wine and give as a gift!  A pack of two (red wine & white wine) is available on Amazon/Free Ship if you have Prime. *

FTC Statement * I received the following sample items in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated are that of my own.

One day I bopped into a local thift shop and found a set of six vintage bridge plates that are rectangular and even had little square separations for things like olives, chutneys and dried fruit. So fun! However, I had at least 35 guests attending. I initially thought that perhaps I could find more of these vintage style bridge plates, but in different patterns. So, off to the next thrift shop to see what I could find! Lo and behold, I found four more in the exact same pattern! Being a complete loon, I then decided that with a little more effort, I could probably find a set of 35 matching vintage bridge plates. These luncheon plates were popular in the 1950’s when it was common for ladies to lunch and play bridge or pinocle. One of the little square plate partitions has a little indent on the side. The groove may be there to place a small fork, but it’s so small and roundish. I had to do a little research, the mystery groove is for ladies to rest their stinky smoking ciggy! Eww! As if!

After I put out an emergency broadcast to friends that I frequently torture with odd requests, I had everyone looking through thrift stores high and low. It took me a little over a month, but I did end up finding 30 matching vintage plates, and I settled for 5 more that were pretty darn close in style. The plates were a huge hit at the party. Everyone loved the heavy quality look and feel of them, and yet they are so pretty and look upscale. Many of the guests also had fond flashbacks of how they, or their mothers used these plates for luncheons.

The best part is that these plates cost me about $1.50 each. Honestly…how great is that! I could have bought some junky plasticware for not much less.

After the big soiree, I ended up giving away sets of 10 to some friends, but I kept 12 for myself. I still love pulling them out when I have friends over. We make our fancy cheese plates and pretend like we have ciggies hanging over the edge.