A poinsettia flower. They come in all sorts of interesting colors these days, not just red, although the red ones are gorgeous too. We have one at our house that is pastel yellow with a wee bit of pink at the tips. I saw some at the store that were red with pink spots that looked like snow. Or These
You can also get Christmas tree-cut potted rosemary plants at the grocery store or local nursery. These Ones are about a foot tall in gallon sized pots, but they have smaller ones that are in pint pots and only about 8 inches tall at the grocery store. The ones at the grocery store are usually decorated, and the ones at the nursery are either plain like the ones in the photo or decorated if you want. We received one of these a few years ago and after it outgrew it’s pot, we planted it in our garden and it’s lovely and thriving.
A loaf of home made quick bread such as gingerbread, banana bread, cranberry orange bread etc. Wrap it up in clear or red cellophane (which I found on rolls at the 99 Cent Only store, love that place!) Here’s an easy recipe that makes 2 Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaves so you could give one as a hostess gift and one to the carpool lady : )
My family always loved it when my Grandma would send us a cheese selection from a company who’s name I’m trying to recall. It was like Hickory Farms, but a different company. I love stuff from Hickory Farms too (and some malls now have kiosks if you don’t have time to order anything online). Some thing like this Cheese Selection would be good. Oh! I just remembered, it was Swiss Colony. Here’s another yummy Cheese Selection
For the carpool lady who is getting presents for your kids, you should probably get presents specifically for her kids, as opposed to the movie tickets which may or may not end up being used for the kids. Just get them something inexpensive and age appropriate. Art supplies are always a good idea. Last year I got all of my nephews a paint by numbers set (I didn’t realize they still made them, but I always liked those) and this year I got them all sets of multi-colored modeling clay. This year I got my 7 year old nephew a set of tempera paints and a decent set of brushes (which I got at Big Lots for $5) As they get older I might get them some oil pastels or an artists set of colored chalks or some charcoal pencils. For younger kids, water color sets are good too.