A Housewarming Gift to Leave Behind

I'm not sure if most people still do this, but I've always loved the tradition of a housewarming. Getting or giving. Back in the day, people used to bring gifts to welcome others to the neighborhood; sometimes people even threw their own 'housewarming' parties, opening the doors to their friends, or new neighbors.

There's something so nice about someone bringing a gift, to 'warm' your new home, whether it's baked goods, or a doo-dad.

I don't know exactly when we started the tradition, but when we move out of a house, we leave behind a house warming gift for the people who bought our house.

Here's what we leave for those who are moving in:

We usually leave them a list of the neighbors on each side, a map of the town, and what I call a special plate for their new home. Sometimes when I really have my act together, I have a loaf of banana bread in the freezer that I can put on the plate. Before we load the fridge onto the moving van, that is.

You can find it on Amazon for about $35.00. Every family in our immediate family tree has a version of this, and we all use it for good days, terrible days, birthdays, and anything in between. I think it's the perfect 'welcome to your new home that used to be our home' gift. About the cost of dinner at Applebee's for two, but lasts much longer. I believe I bought ours at a Hallmark store, if you have one of those near you. Some of them come with a pen you can write on the back, to note the special occasion when you used it. 

A new favorite we have for giving to family members who move is this:

It runs a bit more, around $100, but it's so nice to have! Especially if you have multiple family members coming and going, and don't want to give pre-teen and full-teens a key they will likely misplace. It's also a nice way to lock the door behind you, when you're leaving. Generally you can set them with many different combinations, so they're nice for pet sitting, or to give a worker access for a day. We found that setting the combo for a person's birthday ensured that they didn't forget the code, and we didn't come home to unfed cats or unwatered plants. 

Then, this is always, always perfect; you can print a certificate out online, and mail it in a card, and can be used for all sorts of things. When we received this as a gift, we bought a Droll Yankee bird feeder, and it's lasted for years. We recently sent this to a friend who'd just moved, and their new home had a pool. They used it to stock up on pool towels, which you never have enough of. 

I heard, years ago, of a friend deciding set gifts for set occasions. For high school graduations, she gave a certain book. For wedding or baby showers, she had specific gifts she gave. I was so struck by the genius of this - how simple it would be to keep things on hand and be ready, rather than trying to recreate the wheel every time you got an invite. So I expanded it to house warmings. 

Which brings me to this: we're out of the option period - inspection went wonderfully, the roof is in great shape (worth gold in Texas with its hail and sun), and we're officially 'pending'. 

Ordering this plate for the family who'll be moving in here in approximately 35 days. But who's counting?!