Category: Gifts

entertaining · Gifts · home · Thanksgiving

Being the Best Guest/Best Hostess

RefreshHer4 Comments

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If you’re blessed enough to be a guest in someone’s home for Thanksgiving tomorrow, let me remind you of a few things that will make your hostess sorry to see you leave!

  • Take a thoughtful Hostess gift – even if you’re going to your mom’s!  It doesn’t have to be expensive – just thoughtful.  Here are some ideas:
    • Tea Towel – A Christmas one she can use right away would be nice!
    • A Bag of coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate – Find something they’d love.  Maybe include a couple pretty mugs (unless the already have 1,000,000,000,000)
    • Homemade cookies or muffins on a pretty platter they can keep.
    • Homemade bread wrapped on a cutting board they can keep.
    • Delicious smelling candle – Those 3-wick candles are wonderful!
    • Box of chocolates
    • Guest book
    • Holiday magazines, slipper socks and packages of hot chocolate so she can relax after the crowd has gone home!
  • Offer to help and then stick around and do it.  Don’t say, “Let me know if I can do anything and then leave the room.  Offer to:
    • Wash up any dishes in the sink
    • Fill glasses with ice
    • Pour beverages
    • Cut the pies
  • Keep your children in tow.  In other words, keep them from destroying your host’s home.  Bring things for them to play with while the meal is being prepared and keep them out of the hostess’s way.  Teach them to respect the property of the host.  We recently had little ones in our home (2 and 4) and you hardly knew they were in the house.  They played with toys, chatted, obeyed their parents, and were a joy to entertain!
  • If you’re staying overnight, remove the sheets from the bed the morning you leave and fold them and stack them on the washer.  Remake the bed without the sheets and leave the room tidy.  Place wet towels and washcloths on the washer, too.
  • Let the hostess rise in the morning and have a few minutes to get things together for breakfast.  It’s nice to get the coffee going and breakfast laid out before guests are staring at you!  =)
  • Don’t stay longer than you’d arranged.  Leaving promptly is as gracious as arriving promptly.

Now if you’re going to be the hostess, here are a few reminders that will keep your guests wanting to return:

  • Have something your guests can snack on before the meal is ready.  Crackers and cheese, a veggie tray or chips and salsa would be great.
  • Be prompt with the mealtime.  If you invite your guests for dinner at 1:00 don’t be peeling the potatoes then.  The gravy should be ready to pour at 1:00.  There’s nothing worse than wondering when the meal is going to be ready.
  • Think ahead about who will be there.  If little ones are coming, make it as easy on the parents as you can.
    • Have a place for the children to sit so they’ll be comfortable and won’t have the parents worrying that they’re going to destroy your white covered dining room chairs.
    • Put away anything you don’t want broken.
    • Have a little stash of toys you can bring out for the children to play with.
    • Set a table just for the children.  Include crayons and coloring place mats and fun treats.
  • Provide snacks in the room for overnight guests.  Packages of crackers, granola bars and water bottles are sufficient.  Pieces of fruit would be nice, too.
  • Provide your Internet password for overnight guests.
  • Let them know exactly where the towels and washcloths are.  Keep your pretty “untouchable” towels stashed away.  Nothing like standing at the sink with drippy hands wondering which towel to use!
  • Have breakfast foods prepared and frozen.  The night before, put breakfast foods out so your guests can help themselves.  Set out coffee cups and creamers, too.
  • Make your home inviting by playing soft music and lighting candles.
  • Be interested in your guests.  Ask them questions and listen with caring ears.  Have prayer together before they leave.

I’ve had the blessing of having VERY gracious guests, and I’ve also been the recipient of VERY gracious hostesses.  Let’s each put our best foot forward and strive to be a blessing – no matter if we’re on the giving or receiving end of the Thanksgiving Day celebration!

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!!!

With a grateful heart,

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baking · cakes · Fall · Gifts · hospitality · outfits

Friday Favorites – OOTD video and Pie Workshop!

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Happy Friday, friends!  This has been a packed week, but filled with lots of fun blessings!  Let me share some of them with you:

I held my first Apples of Gold Workshop last night.  It was a class to teach how to make Pumpkin Rolls and Pies!  We had eight ladies attend and we had SOOOO much fun!
The pictures below show

  1.  The calm after the (flour) storm!  Every lady rolled out pie dough and we covered every inch of my island with our flour, dough and fillings.  It was so great!
  2. Cutie Pies as I call them, because aren’t they cute?! Each lady made a pie in a Mason Jar lid and everyone was so creative and did a fantastic job.  They got to eat the fruit of their labors, of course!
  3. I demonstrated the technique of making a sponge cake and rolling it up and filling it.  Pumpkin Roll is loved by many and can be made ahead and frozen, making it a great dessert for Thanksgiving dinner!

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I bought some little plastic silver coffee spoons at the Dollar Tree and turned them into Chocolate Spoons for coffee or hot chocolate for when you want to turn your beverage into a bit of a dessert.  They would make great gifts, attached to hot chocolate packets and slid into seasonal bags!

I encouraged the ladies last night to use this holiday season to share the Gospel.  Bake up something or fix these spoons up and give them to a neighbor or co-worker and tell them you trust this will be good, but one thing we can always count on is that God is good (Psalm 34:8) and share the Gospel with them!

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Then lastly, I did a quick video of my OOTD (Outfit of the day) .  You can check out my You tube channel under Denise Cunningham and subscribe so you’ll be notified each time I upload a video. You can just click on the You Tube Icon on the video below and it will take you to my channel. I’m thinking of adding some Christmas prep videos in the next few weeks, that you won’t want to miss!

I have a little video of the Chocolate Spoon tutorial that will be posted later today!  I hope you’ll come check it out on my channel.

What have you been up to, what are you wearing and how are you experiencing the blessings of the Lord this week?

Stay refreshed!

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Encouragement · friends · Gifts

Refresh Others

RefreshHerLeave a comment

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It’s easy to know what you could use to refresh yourself – a little quiet, a hot, soaking bath, a cup of coffee or glass of tea, a magazine full of great recipes, and on an on.  But have you considered what you could do to refresh someone else?

This week I realized it had been a long time since I’d made any Sour Dough bread, because we’re trying to steer clear of such delicious carbs.  But I was reminded that I have a couple of neighbors that might appreciate a loaf!  One of them loves homemade bread; the other had given us fresh eggs from his hens and I thought a loaf of fresh-baked bread might be a good thank you.  So, I quickly mixed up two loaves and let them rise.  One loaf has been delivered and the other is set out and ready to go next door after Bible club.  It wasn’t a whole lot of trouble!  I love to bake!  I had everything on hand to make the loaves.  I sent them with a longing to be a blessing, and to represent Christ – the Giver of every good and perfect gift.  How can I not share with others?!

What do you have that you could give this weekend?

  • Time to make a visit to someone who may be lonely or discouraged?
  • An extra batch of cookies?
  • A book or magazine you’ve read and could share?
  • A meal?
  • A helping hand with housework or yard work?
  • A card with encouraging words?
  • Chocolate?

Proverbs 11:25b

He that watereth shall be watered also himself.

When you refresh others, you’re refreshing yourself!  So…

Stay refreshed,

Christmas · Gifts

The Ultimate Gift To Give

RefreshHer1 Comment

If you’re still struggling with gift ideas for some of the people on your Christmas list, I have a suggestion for you! It’s something I received in October from the ladies of my church –

  • It’s something I need today, but it will benefit me and others for eternity.
  • The size was extra large, but it fits perfectly.
  • It’s applicable for today, but it’s also perpetual.
  • It’s so practical, but it is more precious than anything money could buy.

What is it? Maybe you’ve figured it out?

Prayer.

One lady from my church is praying for me every day. They were given specific requests to pray on “their” day. Let me share an example of how I’ve recently seen God answer their prayers.

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Last Friday the prayer request was, “Pray that God will bring godly friends and encouragers to her, to strengthen her for the ministry and to provide meaningful fellowship, accountability and times of rest.” On that day:

  1. My husband and I had been invited to go to a Christmas concert in Asheville, sung by a Messianic Jew. The music was uplifting and worshipful.

  2. We rode in our church van with eight other friends from church, enjoying fellowship and encouragement all the way there and back.

  3. While at the concert, I saw that Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth from Revive Our Hearts, was also in the relatively small crowd. After the concert, I made my way to her so that I might thank her for the impact her radio ministry has had on my life. That was such a blessing!

Do you see how those prayers were answered on that very day?! Not every prayer is answered in that way, but it was so wonderful when a friend (who happens to be praying for me every single day) reminded me of what the prayer request was for that day, and that God had answered!

I am covered by these dear ladies every single day at the Throne of God. I cannot tell you what that means to me. I need it. I am desperate for it. I am thankful to have it. What better gift could they give?

You might consider compiling a list for someone and telling them how you will pray for them each day for 31 days (or the whole year). Revive our Hearts has several lists you could choose – one for your husband, children, pastor, or pastor’s wife.

Daily,

Detailed,

Definitive prayer.

It’s a gift that could really touch someone’s heart and change their life.

James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Whom could you bless this Christmas with the gift of your prayers?

With love,

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