Unlike Carole, who gets invited to a bunch of holiday parties, we aren't going to any Christmas parties, but if we were I might bring one of the following:
1. Flowers! I'm all for flowers. It's the right thing to do, or so I was taught by my parents. Unfortunately flowers are damn expensive here, especially in the winter, and I can see why few people bring flowers. Some celebrity host said on the radio it's rude to bring flowers, since it implies the host(ess) hasn't decorated the house nicely; he also complained that flowers are an inconvenient gift because the host(ess), who's busy entertaining, needs to take a break from doing so to find a vase. Unless we're talking about a wedding, neither reason makes sense to me. I'm pro-flowers.
2. Carole lists wine and champagne as good hostess gifts. I'm with her, sort of. The one time we went to a dinner party here in Utah we wanted to bring a bottle of wine but were told explicitly not to: the hostess and her family are Mormon and non-drinkers. So, I guess you better make sure beforehand that alcohol isn't going to offend anyone. Now, if I were the hostess I'd be happy about a nice bottle of something--wine, champagne, an interesting Belgian beer, homemade eggnog.
3. I'm running out of ideas. But I like Carole's suggestion of bringing a lovely kitchen towel. Napkins might be nice too.
4. How about a beautiful tin with some very nice but relatively common tea, such as Earl Grey? Everyone drinks tea, right?
5. Coffee?
6. Would it be weird to bring yarn? Yes. Unless we're going to a knitter's party. In which case you should scratch all the above and bring yarn. Definitely bring yarn when coming to my Christmas party! :)
7. A nice lip balm or (as Carole already listed) hand lotion. Both are perfect for a wintery party!
And now what NOT to bring:
8. A store-bought fruit/candy/nut/etc. basket. To me that is very "corporate."
9. Scented candles.
10. Food, unless it's a potluck dinner or you're a genius of a chef.
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