Hostess Gifts for the 4th of July

Are you traveling for the 4th of July? Perhaps you're attending a BBQ at a friend's house? Maybe you're going away for a couple days with your family? Whatever your plans are, don't forget to thank the people who are hosting you. Especially if you're bringing your entire family like we are!

Our gracious friends have invited us to come stay at their beautiful house on the St. John's River. We are all giddy over here as the excitement is beginning to build.

Menus are being planned. Fireworks are being bought. Bug spray and sunblock are packed and ready to go! (And don't worry, we have a great house/bunny sitter that is going to be taking care of our home while we're gone, just in case anyone was worried about crazy cyber stalkers).

In preparation for this vacation, we wanted to be sure to give our hosts a special "thank you" gift considering they are allowing us to stay in one of their houses, taking us out on their boat every day and doing all sorts of preparation for us that we'll probably never even know about (not to mention the clean up after we leave - yikes). They are just "those" kind of friends. And to say thank you, I created a gift basket with all sorts of fun 4th of July items, along with a few personal things that we know they love.

Here's a breakdown of what's inside:

I'm also preparing my family's favorite meal to share with them one night. We're gonna have a real Italian feast!

I can only hope that this basket conveys just a little bit of our gratitude for all that our friends do for us, and what they mean to us.

So, whether it's a beautiful potted orchid, or a batch of your famous fudge brownies... don't forget to say "thanks" to your hosts this special holiday.

Oh, and don't worry, there's gonna be a big ol' ribbon stuck to the front of that basket... I just didn't have the right shade of "4th of July Red" satin ribbon on hand. Gotta get that tomorrow. :)

P.S. Someone else is already packed and ready to go...