Color-blocking - a new way.

A warning: you should probably anticipate further prolonged absences in the coming weeks.  AHHHH!  I'm so behind in gift making!  (I didn't say it was a NEW warning, just a warning.)

I've got another:

 idea for you.  

I personally think candles are naturally the perfect hostess gift.  A hostess gift should be something kind of simple but heartfelt, not super extravagant but not cheap, and related to hostessing in some way, right?  Candles.  They make your house smell good.  They look awesome in a centerpiece.  They're not too fancy shmancy but they're indicative of thoughtfulness.  And they're easy to dress up.  Here's just one idea I had for dressing up a plain pillar candle.

I used orange lentils, plain white rice, black beans, and dried split peas.  All of these can be found at either the dollar store or your local grocery.  They won't set you back much, and you might have some of them on hand in your food storage, yes?  I did.

Use a foam brush to brush the mod podge onto the bottom half of the candle.
Roll the candle around in the lentils/beans/rice.
Let this dry.  Then coat over the top with more mod podge, paying special attention to empty areas and uneven edge around the top.
Roll around in the lentils again.  Push down any lentils that are popping up too much.
Let this dry overnight.
Tie a short length of raffia around the candle, just above the pop of color.

Easy.

I really love this.  Why?  Easy.  Not super expensive.  AND vibrant pops of color with natural elements!  It's unexpected.  Fun, but in a classy, understated way.

Or maybe I'm insane.  ???

Here's an idea about wrapping it all up.  (You know it's all about presentation, right?)

Obviously this particular basket was "Thanksgiving"y themed.  Which is funny, since I hosted Thanksgiving, so it was like a present to myself?  Anyway... you can obviously do this with any colors, combinations of colors, combinations of lentils, etc.

Once fun idea for Christmas would be just white rice on red candles.

And of course, you need a tag.

Now, wrap this guy up in cellophane or something similar and you're good to go!

Deets:

Cost - 
4 candles; dollar store, $1 each
beans, rice, lentils, peas; walmart/dollar store, about $1-$3 each 
Raffia; craft stores, I have no idea how much, I've never bought it.  I inherited this stuff.
Basket; dollar store, $1
Basket filler; dollar store, $1
Table scatter; dollar store, $1
Mod Podge; craft store/walmart, about $5.  Hopefully you have this on hand though.  And if you don't, why not?!?  Have I taught you nothing??

Total = about $5-$13 depending on where you find your materials.

I had some on hand, so that was helpful.

Time -
About 10 minutes active craft time per candle
15 minutes plus overnight drying time (for the mod podge)

Here's your free tag.  Happy hostess-gift-giving!

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!