"You can take a girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl."

Although I no longer live in the south, I continue to practice quite a bit of the unwritten southern hospitality etiquette.  One of the many unwritten southern rules pertains to hostess gifts.  Not only taking one when invited, but also giving one to departing guests.  In the south, the only thing more important when attending as a guest, or receiving guests, is the hand written, snail mailed thank you note.

I've mentioned numerous times that hostess gifts need not be expensive, it is genuinely the thoughtfulness that matters.  This year, I found a brand new, unopened package of 12 mini stockings at my favorite thrift store for only 50 cents!  I've filled them with a few candies and placed them in my sparkly blue bowl next to the mud room steps where they are handy to pass out to departing guests OR quickly grab as a little hostess gift when going to another home.