Festive Fall Favor

I recently wrapped up this fun little gift for my bestest gal in the whole world, my Ma, and took some photos as I wrapped up the fun little package.  I think it would be a lovely gift for any host, especially this week as many of us are guests in others' home for the Thanksgiving holiday.  One of the easiest holiday hostess gifts is a bottle of alcohol or a potted plant, but sometimes it's nice to get out of the expected, ordinary favor train.

First, find yourself a vintage or antique nutcracker.  Not the Christmas soldier type, but a solid metal nutcracker.  These can be found vintage on eBay or Etsy or in thrift stores everywhere.  They're very clever hostess gifts, as nutcrackers seem to create many handy uses for themselves besides cracking nut shells.

The nutcracker gift I chose for my dog-lovin' recipient.  Lift his tail and crack nuts in his mouth! 

I found this one, an iron dog, on Etsy; I like that he's a little worn & vintage-y.  I had seen a similar one in the Neiman Marcus Holiday Gift catalog many years ago, and have been keeping a subconscious eye out for something similar ever since. 

Pretty ribbon and a small card serve as accessories to this favor

SHELLED NUTS!  L-R: Pecans, Hazelnuts, Walnuts



My gift was being sent in the mail, so I used the nuts as packing material!

  

I tied one end of my ribbon around the doggie nutcracker

And buried him in the nuts!



The other end of the ribbon tied to the card, wishing my wonderful recipient a Happy Thanksgiving!

 Depending on how much you spend on the nutcraker, this can be a very, very inexpensive gift with lots of impact.  If I was bringing this directly to the home of my hostess, I'd nestle the nutcracker with shelled nuts in a pretty basket, decorated with fabric ribbon and maybe some pretty fresh herbs tucked into the crevices of the nuts. 

Happy cracking!
Cheers,
Whitney