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

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.)