yule gifting help

[daniwithtea]

okay, so we're trying to get crafty (read: cheap) for the family holiday gifts. we're doing cordials/liqueurs for the drinkers (in dollar-store bottles), and I'm thinking homemade bulk teas (with dollar-store mug and strainer) for the non-drinkers. It wasn't until I started thinking about this that I realized how long it's been since I played with herbs outside of cooking. I know one flavor I want to do is blackberry sage, and I pretty much just need freeze-dried blackberries, bulk black tea leaves, and dried sage for that. but i'm running low on ideas for other flavors. i'd like one black (the blackberry sage), one green, one herbal, and something else. Help??? I'd like somthing a little more interesting than "here's some chamomile in a jar. it's chamomile tea." i also need good sources for the ingredients....oh, i'm a mess.

i've also thought about making soaps. anyone know anything about soap-making?

in the past, i've done hand-painted wine glasses, hand-made candles, and last year was quilts all around, so i'm running a little low on options. any other crafty ideas are very, very welcome.

ETA: ooh, i just had a good idea for a mixed basket, something my ex used to drink: earl grey tea with earl grey liqueur. hmmm...i can use my coffee liqueur recipe and substitute brewed earl grey for the coffee...oh, yum.

ETA Again: I've also done homemade chocolates.

Comments

[juergen.livejournal.com]

Soap, huh? We considered this once upon a time.
First bit of advice: Don't try to make it from scratch. Pure lye is devilishly hard to come by in small amounts (and no, Red Devil brand lye is not pure enough for soap making). Besides, it comes with all kinds of interesting hazards, even after the process is complete.

If you want soap, try your hand at hand-milling. I'll try that one day, when I have too much time and money. And don't get the raw soap at a craft store. They overcharge so much, it's not funny. If you look for castille soap on eBay, you'll probably find something that'll work for you at a reasonable price.

Hugs & Good Luck!

[(Anonymous)]

I actually have made soap with Red Devil lye, and it worked fine. (though I prefer a better grade).

Juergen is right, of course, about lots of interesting hazards. You have to take a fair number of precautions. Also right about it being hard to find in small amounts, since the rules about shipping changed a few years ago.

But, in my opinion, it's so much finer than any other option I've found that it's worth looking for the lye and taking the precautions. I, personally, just prefer the final product to any of the alternatives, especially since you have complete control over what oils/fats you use.

[trinapink.livejournal.com]

I actually have made soap with Red Devil lye, and it worked fine. (though I prefer a better grade).

Juergen is right, of course, about lots of interesting hazards. You have to take a fair number of precautions. Also right about it being hard to find in small amounts, since the rules about shipping changed a few years ago.

But, in my opinion, it's so much finer than any other option I've found that it's worth looking for the lye and taking the precautions. I, personally, just prefer the final product to any of the alternatives, especially since you have complete control over what oils/fats you use.

soap hazard

[juergen.livejournal.com]

The thing that made us drop the project (for the time being) was the possibility of pockets of undissolved lye in the soap - which would make for a rather nasty surprise, indeed. Nothing that can't be solved by hand milling the soap, though, I suppose.

Red Devil's customer support, by the way, strongly discourages the use of their lye for soap making. We wrote to their customer support to find a retailer that still sells it and got a message back that basically said 'please, PLEASE don't buy our product!'.

There are a few places that sell lye in bags of only a few pounds - might be the betterer choice for soap making, I suppose.

(And one does wonder why LJ's spell checker will accept bitterer but not betterer - everybody knows that that's a proper word!)

Re: soap hazard

[trinapink.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. Lye pockets. I've made a number of batches of soap (maybe 25?), and that only happened once. Supposedly if you mix it correctly and correctly identify saponification, it won't happen, but I'm sure you learned that soapmaking is a very inexact science!

Lye pockets are, however, easy to identify. When you cut the soap into bars, you see holes that ooze liquid. Then you just have to throw the batch away. There's no saving it, at least no way I was comfortable with. And that can really hurt, especially if it was a batch that used a lot of expensive specialty oils (jojoba anyone?) and essentials!

I'll bet Red Devil's position is based on liability rather than feasibility. In fact, I have a pamphlet dating from the 1930s or 1940s from Red Devil that talks about all the ways you can use lye, and it tells you how to make soap, even from bacon fat drippings (ewwwww). But if you don't know what you're doing, it's very easy to make a soap that will "burn" if you use it, and they're probably afraid they'll get sued.

And between us, I'll bet we've convinced Dani and Mere to make tea.

(Bitterer, Betterer, Betty Botter would no doubt have a say about that.)

my two cents

[hhholiday.livejournal.com]

green tea is good w many kinds of dried flowers in it (not just jasmine; my fave is osmanthus)... and sometimes a light vanilla or citrus note is good w that.

Re: my two cents

[hhholiday.livejournal.com]

oh, you could add a few little pieces of dried ginger, too...

[arcadian72.livejournal.com]

We've done make your own holiday gifts for MANY years. We do soaps, we buy the bulk glycerine base either from craft stores when they are on sale or online...but watch the shipping costs online...it's often just as cheap at a craft store for smaller amounts needed. then we buy or make funky mold...tinfoil makes GREAT molds, btw. We do some straight, some scented, some dyed, some with the milk glycerine (read, white). They ALWAYS go over well, and for about 20 bucks in components we get a good 20-30 bars of soap.
We also give coffee mixes that I make as well. I mix instant coffee with various other things like hot chocolate, powdered flavored creamers, and spices. And my kids make ornaments...but I can get away with that because...hey...I have kids! LOL

Good luck!

[(Anonymous)]

Gee...I want to be on YOUR Christmas list!! All those gifts sound fabulous.

I have made soap and have some wonderful (and relatively easy) recipes. Are you wanting to make it from scratch (i.e. mix lye and fat), or melt glycerin soaps and add ingredients to make it unique (easier, but less cool IMHO)? E-mail me (fuzzybutchkins has my address).

I also have tea recipes, etc. And a great collection of homemade cosmetics (salt scrubs, bath bags & bombs, aftershaves, linen sprays, etc.). And suppliers for everything but lye (it's gotten very difficult to ship lye; you have to find it locally). I can't do it right now, but I could this afternoon or evening (Sunday at the very latest). It would help if you knew for sure whether you wanted to do soap vs. teas vs. something else. ;-)

In the meantime, here's my favorite supplier of soapmaking products. She has a huge selection. I believe recipes are posted as well: Majestic Mountain Sage (http://www.thesage.com/)

Here's a total aside: I made elderberry honey once, which is a medicinal preventative/treatment for winter coughs and colds, but we didn't use it all. It turned into the most heavenly, unbelievable, scrumptious homemade mead! I'm not sure if it would work every time; it might have just been the type of bacteria living in my 'frig at the time, and it took a LONG time (a year or longer), but...O.M.G.

Good luck. Keep us posted with what you eventually decide. I'll be vicariously enjoying the adventure.

[trinapink.livejournal.com]

Ugh. That was me, [Bad username or site: trina pink @ livejournal.com] who posted above and said to e-mail me. For some reason, this just isn't letting me log on.

I am about to throw my satellite internet receiver through the window of the company store: they say "rain can affect" its functionality; duh! I live in the Pacific NW! It rains 250 days a year!

[fuzzybutchkins.livejournal.com]

one day, i will make meade. and it will be good, godamnit. and then I will ice distill it and it will be... ice meade wine? meade brandy? fuck if i know, but it will be good, too.

[darkest-mind.livejournal.com]

I know many soapmakers who use Red Devil Lye.. but concidering that Red Devil Lye will no longer be sold on store shelves, its useless to talk about it. They have stopped producing lye and selling it because aparently Meth labs also need lye... or some such nonsense.

I have made melt& pour glycerine soap for years and sold it at craft shows.. but by the time you're done buying fragrences, molds, colors, and the soap (MMS is a good source for recipes as someone said above) its no longer a "cheap gift".

I vote for teas. I love Teavana loose teas - the Earl Grey Creme is to die for.. I have about 8 canisters on my stove right now that I drink daily. Good stuff.. not bad prices either and speedy shipping (though I live close to a mall with a Teavana store.. lucky me) its.. www.teavana.com