Pt.3 Winter Gifts DIY & Budget buys

I stress now & can not stress enough... Packaging & Presentation.  You MUST NOT skimp on these with your homemade gifts. Yes, what is on the inside counts but your presentation/packaging hold their attention. Intrigue, pulling them in with desire & appreciation for the time & effort you put into a gift JUST for them. It is what sets your gifts apart from the rest. 

 Think local & natural for a theme in your gifts.

 I came across an *article sharing "More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce", according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety news.

Food Safety News decided to test honey sold in various outlets after its *earlier investigation* {Honey Laundering} found U.S. groceries flooded with Indian honey banned in Europe as unsafe because of contamination with antibiotics, heavy metal and a total lack of pollen which prevented tracking its origin.

YIKES! And that is just with Honey.Once you have had Raw, unprocessed honey from a true bee keeper, you will forever be spoiled to the taste, color and texture.It is DiViNe! Either buy from a LOCAL beekeeper, or if you have your own hives, PACKAGE them up GOURMET STYLE! Truly people. The simple method is fine for selling to keep cost down. But should you GIFT them... Put more effort into it. If you from a local, there is nothing wrong with making a more gift worthy label. Just be sure to add the beekeeper information in respect to their work as well as giving the recipient a way to seek out where their gourmet honey can be purchased.

Unusual Farm Chick's Honey. Jarred & custom Label.

I LOVE the amazing Graphic Fairy and all she shares of antique/Vintage graphics. I pieced together bits I found on her site to create my own Gourmet Honey labels to adorn the Hexagon jars I grabbed up at The Flower Factory {12 jars for less then $7!}. The labels were finished up in Pic Monkey after a simple edit program for combining. Printed out at the local office supply store which I had done on the white linen resume paper, costing twice the normal printing cost for colored. Great for gifts but the not so much for paper labels in LARGE quantities. I found a natural twill cotton ribbon but do not favor it's thickness. It leaves me not so thrilled. It will do for now, but I am on the hunt for a cotton ribbon less "bulky".

  I discovered some great gift & special occasion recipes from a book entitled *Gifts from the Kitchen by Annie Rigg.*

I'm eyeing the Limencello recipe for an after the New Year treat. {This is a lemon infused vodka ,only the outer zest is used to produce the lemon essence. Have storage containers handy so as not to waste the excess lemon juice.- I highly recommend using a nice smooth Vodka. I have tasted many varieties from low to high end and have found Seagrams Extra Smooth Vodka with the dark blue label to be very fine.It is distilled 5 times from the finest American grain . My preferred cocktail Spirit. I pay $10 for the 750 ml- 80 proof bottle.}

Finished Limencello bottle photo via Matt Bites

Mason jars are nice for canning and if you really do not have the extra $$ to go out & purchase bottles for packaging your gifts. Believe me, I totally understand and is the main reason I shop for unique/pretty food & drink usage jars/bottles year round. My eye is always on the lookout for sales & clearance items of this category. Over at *Matt Bites*, he shares  the source for his bottles which are no longer available, at the *World Market*<~ click that link for a direct trip over to their current available glass containers.

 Matt has me swooning over these Limencello labels he printed at home, totally making up for the fact he has teased me with those not so ordinary capped bottles..

He explains his label making process and exclaims it truly is easy to do. I like easy.. I like the label inspiration even more... I normally go freestyle with my label making being I just print onto normal paper and use elmers glue to affix them. So you have a few ways available now creating custom labels.

See what a little extra effort does for something otherwise just O.k?

 My kids LOVE Nutella. Personally I had never heard of this chocolate hazelnut version of Peanut Butter.  Thankfully Aldi's has their own {much less in cost} version. Now if I can only find a local source for Hazelnuts, I can eliminate the store version ingredient questionable's. This is not a healthy food. It is an indulgence of taste best for occasional eating.

Whip this up {double/triple etc to your needs} and use spring latch or unusual shape jars with lids for packaging. Add some *Homemade Graham Crackers* ,maybe *Raising Janes {Mary Jane Butter's daughter} recipe here* English Muffins, a small similar shaped tin of homemade nibbles or pretzels for dipping into the spread to the top of the Jar{s}.I LOVE me some Alton brown and recommend  should you wish to make some impressive Hard pretzels, try *his recipe here*. No need to make them into sticks. Just play with twisting to fit in a smaller tin. Secure your jar & tin with a pleasant ribbon or natural twine. Don't forget the label as well as all their recipes so they can make more themselves!

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Makes One - 1 pound jar

1/2 Cup Blanched Hazelnuts

3 1/2 ounces DARK chocolate{72% cacao content}, chopped

1/3 Cup & 2 Tablespoons sweetened Condensed Milk

1-2 Tablespoons Hazelnut Oil

pinch of salt

3-4 Tablespoons Hot Water

Preheat Oven to 350 {F} degrees. Place Hazelnuts on cookie & toast 5-7 Minutes until pale golden color. Remove & let nuts slightly cool.

Put warm nuts into food processor & chop until almost smooth Paste texture.

Gently Melt Chocolate, condensed milk & hazelnut oil in saucepan over low heat.Stir until smooth & ADD TO the Hazelnut paste in food processor.

Add pinch of salt & blend. Add hot water & blend again until thick & spreadable consistency.

Spoon into Sterilized/clean Jar{s} & let cool. Place on lid & store in refrigerator.

This will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Do you prefer something long lasting? Maybe your just not feeling crafty. Then I HIGHLY encourage you to buy up a few of these* Cast Iron bread pans*. The exact same ones My Captain bought for me a few years ago. I'm not sure if they offer the custom engraving for the bread pans as he had done for my cast Iron Pie pans. But if they do, why not have it personalized while your at it. I refuse to bake my breads in anything else. What a difference they make and once you try it, you'll know why I'm hoping for a few more under the tree this year.

Sportsman's guide* is where their at. For under $17 each. The Captain LOVES buying from them and if you become a member {for $30 a year which gives you lower prices & optional payment plan for your purchases- no hidden or additional fees}. Very nice for budgeting gifts. Back to those pans.

If you do not wish to bake bread in them as part of the gift, then why not cards filled with yeast bread recipes. Even better... A yeast bread baking book.

Many women and men complain about the time making bread. It really is not that much time. If you can sit on your arse in front of the t.v or face glued to your phone for hours on end, then your "excuse" is mute.

Besides, making multi batches in one day and freezing the ones you will not eat within the next 48 hours will SAVE time in the end.

I suggest browsing these for the perfect to your recipient:

* My Rustic sandwiches: 50 great recipes to savor Artisan bread *

*Artisan Breads: Practical recipes and detailed  instructions for making the worlds finest loaves*

Plenty more where that came from. Remember, all my links are highlighted in pink and just in case a comp should display it differently, an asterisk will hug the words you can click on. 

Hmmm. I'm feeling a bit adventurous with the pines dusted in white. A sudden yearning for a stroll in the woods. Maybe a walk along the Lake's edge. Which inspires me to explore' into.... well. I guess ya just have to wait & see for the next installment of my Winter gift giving DIY's for what is up my sleeve..

Wishing all of you the sweetest of Sweet dreams,

~Tammie

Pt.2: Winter gift DIY on a budget

Before I head much further into the human gifts, I would like to dedicate Part 2 of my series to the Family Dog{s}. In Honor of our new addition, which hence forth, will be referred to as "Moose". As in, he is just 9 months old and already a Moose, seen here with Frog on her 7th birthday last week:

His Mum is a large Full grown Saint Bernard and dad was just a young Black Mouth Cur pup. Moose came to us very well trained for his age and has made a most amazing and appreciated Intelligent addition. Overjoyed we found each other.

Now back to those gifts. I have begun making instead of buying dog treats. I found a slew of Dog food  recipes that are grain free, which is the route we are heading with our Moose. After some research, book reading & recipe searching I came up with a Grain Free Dog treat using inexpensive ingredients with healthy & tasty results. Buy a few pumpkins while they are still available for making Pumpkin flour and grab up those in super sale 25 cents a pound sweet potatoes as well. You make flour with them for inclusion in the dog treat recipes. They can be stored in freezer bags as one would with Flour for keeping bug free and longer "shelf life".You can make your own pumpkin or Sweet potato flour by peeling, slicing  thinly-think potato chip- such as with a Mandolin.  Drying via Oven at 200{F} degrees or in a Dehydrator. Then grind in Mill or blender until powdered. It's that simple. Now to the treat recipe.I have included some Nutrient packed ingredients so the treat is not Junk but the dog will beg for more.. 

Moose Bites Grain Free Dog treats

1 Pound ground Turkey          1 Egg       8 ½ tablespoons sweet potato flour { equals 4 pounds fresh sweet potatoes that are thin sliced, oven dried at 200 degrees, ground into a flour via blender or mill.} 1 teaspoon Baking powder        ¼ cup FROZEN blueberries                     1 ¼ cup FROZEN Green Peas

I warn you now, your hands will be cold but frozen blueberries and Peas worked much better then fresh/defrosted. You want tiny particles not sludge. 

Heat Oven to 350 {F} degrees. Mix egg & meat together, thoroughly, in a large bowl. Add baking powder & Sweet Potato flour. Mix this into meat & egg very well. Place frozen Blueberries & Frozen Peas into a blender and mix on high until they are small particles.

 A few pea chunks is fine but the blueberries should be just particles when done. Scrape out into meat mix bowl quickly with rubber spatula- do NOT let this defrost or it will become sludge.  Mix in the blueberry and pea particles by blending with your hands until everything is thoroughly mixed together{ Resembling a meat loaf}. Roll a teaspoon worth of mix in your hands to form a ball, like a mini meatball. Place “meatball” onto cookie sheet and slightly flatten for perfectly round cookie shape. One Bite sized morsels are your aim. 

You can always spread the mixture out in a pan. Bake and then cut into tiny squares before they cool if the round bites are too much work.

Bake at 350{F} degrees for 30-40 minutes.Dry appearance with just a slight overdone texture to achieve "drying them out". Set your Moose bites out on cooling racks.

 Store in container with tight fitting lid. Refrigerate or Freeze.

Another great treat for the dog{s} are new toys you can whip up using heavy duty canvas their teeth will not shred in minutes. Make these *Squeaky Bones* {Thank You to Laura Griffin for this Fab Tutorial} in accordance to the dog's size. Enlarging via photocopy machine for the right adjustment. For larger dogs I would switch out the Fabric "strings" to rope. I found some "tug of War" style knotted dog rope at our Local Dollar Tree stores. I went with the single piece with 3 knots. This will be the "stuffing" for the canvas bone. I do not like batting/stuffing in dog toys. They somehow get a hole and it ends up in their stomach as well as the floor. 

Just fold a Rope piece in half, at least 8-10 inches total length,if you do not have inexpensive rope toys in the pet department. Sew in place with the Canvas construction.

Via http://laura-griffin.com/blog/2011/01/07/squeaky-doggie-bone-tutorial/

 Have an old Pair of Duck Cloth/ Canvas pants? Recycle them for dog toy fabric after soaking in vinegar water 20/80 for a day or two  before washing so as your "scent" is removed. Why do that? let's NOT encourage your dog to chew on something with your scent embedded. Just not a good idea.

Both items above would be great as a bundle gift for a new dog owner. A nice Dog treat Tin for storing in the fridge would be perfect! Don't forget to include the recipe for the dog treats so they can continue the healthy snacks and encourage healthier dog habits producing more years worth of memories together.

Frog & Lil Man playing Super Dog with Moose. They hid his Flying pig-the "kidnapped child" and he had to actually find it for rescuing. And so he did...

Up next. Gifts from the Kitchen never get old. Just step away & think "out of the Box".
Sweetest Dreams,
~Tammie

Winter gift DIY on a budget series 1

You all know how I LOVE making Homemade gifts for the holidays. A few years back I began my

* Straight from the Farm winter holiday gift baskets *. Each year our family makes something different to go into these. The items are created throughout the year with our Loved Ones in mind. Being we do not exchange gifts amongst the adults, we do this as a family gift. Sharing with others what we grow & make for ourselves. A few additions thrown in but ALWAYS home & handmade.

 In this series, I will share & hopefully inspire your Hand & Home made Holiday gift baskets beyond the average perishable cookie & bit theme.

 

These DIY inspiration's are non edible. Versatile enough for everyone.

First up is Concrete candle holders. None of that dixie cup crudeness.

How about a cool dozen of these square low boys to line a deck side, a drive or walk path. Even the porch railing would benefit from their soft glow. Inside, a flight of stairs would be stunning.

 Collect small to medium waxed cardboard cartons {like whipping cream,milk, half & half, etc} to create the shape.Even jewelry gift box or other small containers can be utilized. Lay container on side, cut hole on top candle side, using your tea light metal base as the pattern. Seal all excess openings with wax paper/duct tape. Scoop cement mixture,{using Fine concrete & not rocky} into the hole you cut. An old funnel would work well too. Once filled 99%, insert tea light with metal base into hole. Let sit 2-4 days until dry before removing the waxed cardboard container.

Package them with tea lights or flameless flicker votive. Wrap in 3's with a wide ribbon or even rustic twine with a note card suggesting o their use & your wishes for a bright season.

This next one can be achieved by cutting luan wood or THICK cardboard for each side & secure with a wrapping of duct tape. Don't forget to close up the bottom with same. Use Hard as Nails glue to attach the top candle holder portion to the Pedestal.

 

While your at it, why not whip up a * concrete vase * {&lt;~click for DIY} similar to this, with or without the succulant to make as a set:

Photo Via Home Beautiful
 

Candles more up your alley? Then take a moment to explore this Pinterest collection of Candle love:

http://pinterest.com/rustico3059/candles/

SO many inspiring snippets such as this personal Favorite {and soon to be in my home item}:

 or maybe a nice concrete bird bath bowl paired with the most useful creation I have

 ever seen with Acorns.

Floating Acorn Cap candles! It is become more rare to find candle making supplies in local stores so call around to craft & hobby stores before making the drive to assume it will be stocked. These are made from those Oak Tree fallings, just a dab of wax & the small thin NON Zinc core wick and smallest wick plate clamp. If you have access to Oaks, make it a family hunt to find those perfect caps. Don't forget a few nice quality snapshots to use as a tag for the gift. Showing you together. As a Family with the oak tree, leaves or handfuls of Acorns & grinning faces..

 

One last Candle cuteness. Burlap wrapped glass holders with a hand stamped message. I envision these with the Family Last name, and/or words such as Cherish, Dream, Strength, Hope, or other inspiring quality/encouragement you feel may be fitting.

 

No worries if none of the idea's appeal to you. I have a heck of a lot more for feasting your eyes and oiling those Creative gears. From kitchen to workshop. Share the TRUE meaning of the season and not the Market disease it has become.

Now off to refashion the baskets I found for all the great wonders of our Little Stone Cottage Holiday baskets.

 

Wishing you the Sweetest of dreams,

~Tammie