Photo Credit: Mistral Soaps website

Colin Cowie is one of my favorite party planners/design gurus. I have used several of his ideas while planning parties. One of the absolute favorite hints/tips from him is the gift closet. The gift closet doesn't necessarily have to be a closet. It can be a drawer, a box or just one shelf. Basically, it holds goodies  you can give as hostess gifts when visiting friends, impromptu Christmas  and/or birthday gifts, etc. Mine has candles, notecards, soaps, picture frames, wine markers, etc. I think of my friends as I am purchasing the items so that they  are still somewhat personalized. It beats having to run around trying to find something to take when visiting friends. I usually buy my items on trips to TJ Maxx or HomeGoods.  The bad thing is I usually end up buying two of an item. You know - one for them and one for me - LOL. You can group several items together and create a gift basket should you need a bigger gift.  Be sure to keep wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper stocked in or near your closet as well. I also keep small blank gift cards in my closet.

We don't have kids, but I also have a kids shelf for my two youngest niece and nephew. It's filled with crayons, coloring books, bubbles, stickers, blocks, etc. The kids LOVE it.

Do you have a gift closet? I'd love to hear what you store in yours and where you find your items.

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