Christmas gifts from the kitchen: chai tea mix

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, dear readers!

My husband had the brilliant idea of gifting jars of chai tea mix last year and we have continued the "tradition" this year. We like to give these small, simple gifts to those who take care of us all year round: our mail carrier, the newspaper delivery family, our pastors, our teachers, and so on. It is a sweet and simple thank you.

Last year we bought some beautiful canning jars. We spent just as much on the jars as we did on ingredients. This year we saved and sterilized the glass jars from my peanut butter addiction, which conveniently have a red lid. Not only were we doing some earth-friendly upcycling, but people did end up with a little bit more chai tea. I am sure they are not complaining!

I stamped the tags at a Pinterest party, where we were experimenting with various crafts and recipes found on the famous website. The original idea was to use the base from celery to stamp roses. The snowflakes on these tags were stamped with a slice of okra. I made the tags themselves from a red paper bag from a store. I already had the glittery stars on wire, which worked especially nice because it could be twisted firmly around the neck of the jar (no ribbon slipping here!).

what I'm reading right now

If I am not actually crafting, I am doing the next best thing: reading about crafting! I can't get enough of new project ideas and beautiful inspiring photography. Here's what I have perusing these days:

Scrap Republic: 8 Quilt Projects for Those Who LOVE Color
I got this free from a friend at work what passed it along from someone else. How fabulous is that? And you know that I just loved loved loved the colors. I am very interested in doing patchwork in the more traditional sense this next quilt. I basically did large blocks of fabric on my first quilt, which was a really good place for me to begin. However, I am very interested in experimenting with piecing together individual blocks and then combining those. This book is all about using up scraps so I may wait until I have some more projects completed before I get serious about any of these quilts.

 Sew What You Love: The Easiest, Prettiest Projects Ever
I got a gift card to a book store for Christmas and treated myself to this beauty. I love that it does not have a narrowly defined focus. There are purses, skirts, home decor items, toys – all with beautiful photography and patterns. I felt validated in my purchase after Amanda Blake Soule mentioned using the book on her own blog!

The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a Sense of Wonder through the Seasons
Speaking of Ms. Soule, I indulged and bought myself her latest book, The Rhythm of Family. There is a chapter for each month with essays and projects meant to be done with your children. Some are of the gardening bent, some of the art making bent, some of the kitchen creations bent. My older daughter and I managed to make one of the ice wreaths, similar to these seen on The Artful Parent, with the help of our freezer. We'll have to try to go more natural next winter when it is actually below freezing outside! I love nature and I am inspired by this book to slow down and enjoy it more.

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook from Scratch -- Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods
This is not exactly "art" but it is all about "making." The author of this book does an analysis on whether or not things are worth making the old-fashioned and homemade way or not. She compares the cost, the hassle factor, and, of course, the results. The best part of this book is her writing. She is absolutely hilarious. I would recommend reading the book simply for the chapter on chickens (for the eggs), maybe followed by the chapter on goats (for milk for making cheese, of course!). Both had me laughing out loud. I am working on perfecting my own hummus based on her recipe and have great plans for bread and perhaps a few other recipes.

Now, onto some actual making!