Every year we throw a holiday party for our employees. Last year I had this idea to invite a few regular customers, the folks we consider part of our family at this point. We continued that tradition this year, and also invited business contacts, purveyors, coffee roasters, farmers, brewers, etc.
Ayr and I were thinking about invitations. We wanted something that would be a tiny gift in itself. So I bought tiny manila envelopes from Staples, printed them with the holiday party information, and filled them with Star Anise, Cinnamon, and Allspice. Anyone who got an invitation also got some spices they could use to make mulled wine, hot cider, etc.
We got so many compliments that we figured we should extend the Spice theme to the gifts we gave at the door.