Hand Made Gifts for 2015

This year my gift bags contain Rhubarb and Vanilla infused Vodka that I made some months ago. Assorted cordials include, Wild Nettle, Rhubarb and Blackcurrant.

These are lovely with chilled sparkling water but can also be used as syrups for desserts. The blackcurrant is particularly good with hot water for a bedtime soother.

As for last year, I have used the chalkboard look labels and very sorry to say that I have sourced the last of these bottles. I love being able to keep everything uniform in the goodie bag.

I made some "Tranquillity" room sprays for a soft calming fragrance (sometimes Christmas gets a little tense don't you find). These atomisers are about 50ml. I filled 3/4 of the way with witch hazel and added 9 drops of my blend (lavender, bergamot, ylang ylang, geranium and chamomile) and then topped with distilled water.

Last month I made a series of soy wax candles and named their different fragrances for local areas that they inspired. 

I can make jam but I bow down before Miss Kate, a true artisan of preserves, and I am so excited to share some of these creations with loved ones and colleagues. As you can tell from the labels, she sources local produce and blends the most incredible flavours. But even beyond the flavours, she works with the textures of the fruit and the moisture contents that vary from season to season and even the weather on the day plays a part in her delicious science. 

Her label name is...

JustAddMoonshine

My all time favourite is Blue Raja and to be honest I even just eat it off the spoon!

Kate's creations were also in keeping with a natural and black colour theme so I kept carrying that through with stamped tags and plain brown bags and silky black cord.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

They are not created overnight and are the product of seasonal selection and preserving. 

Made with thought and love.

I have done several posts on cordial making and you can find them all by simply typing "cordial" into the search box on the right somewhere over there.

All Kate's contact info can be read easily from the labels in the pictures above. 

You can re-read last years' gift bag post here

So what have you made for gifts this year? I'm looking already for new ideas for next year... 

Preserver's Wish List

Know what preservers want?

for Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Christmas....?

LABELS!

Can never have enough of them.

We love them and when you are flat out bottling, decanting, tincturing, pickling....

it's really a treat to be able to reach for a label.

Above are just some that I have found for free at The Graphics Fairy and they can be printed onto adhesive labelling or plain card stock with double sided tape attached.

Very quick, very easy, very appreciated.

Or,

get the kids to do some stamping or stencilling and create labels for giving. They could practice their scissor cutting with some fancy pattern scissors out of your scrap booking supplies.

Failing that if you really want to purchase a gift for a preserver then go ahead and shop for a funnel....we have a penchant for funnels. Or is that just me....I do love a variety of funnels.

And strainers....

beautiful knives,

and perhaps just one more cook book....

Pulling It Together

There is a dozen reasons why I haven't posted recently, most of them boring and some just ugly so instead I give you the "pretty" reasons...

I have been making and creating over the last few weeks and now it is time to pull it all together with some labelling and packaging.

I am having a love affair with these cute self adhesive labels that give a chalkboard effect. 

In my baskets are;

Gardeners' Soaps

Hand made soap

Preserved Peel

Rose Petal Jam/Sauce

Home made Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Beans

Elderflower Cordial

Tub Teas ("Revive","Calming" and "Soothing")

Throw in a ric-rac trimmed teatowel and some colourful tissue paper and your done!

I also include some recipe ideas for using the ingredients too.

And some smaller bags for the great staff I work with.

And the giving is great.

I had a beautiful day at work today with people popping in and sharing the love, lots of smiley faces and a special surprise visit from Pat of Hooks and Books. So lovely to see you and share you exciting plans and news.

xxx

More Gifts From the Kitchen

So how are your gift preparations going?

My vanilla extract is still macerating away in a dark place but there is plenty still happening in the kitchen.

Elders are in bloom here now and the last of my late winter lemons have gone into the Elderflower cordial. Truly it is the nectar of fairies.

Here is the recipe I use.

On Sunday I foraged for spray free rose petals of divine fragrance.

It's that time of year again for making rose petal jam.

I have previously posted here.

I'll not lie to you. It took me a couple of hours to collect the petals and then FOUR hours of sorting, cleaning (read: de-bugging) and snipping before allowing the mass to macerate in sugar overnight.

I then had the crazy idea that I could whip this jam up before work this morning....

54 jars later....

not really but almost....

8litres of jam people!!!

What was I thinking. Before work. Really?

Just finding lids to match that many jars took forever let alone the sterilising.

But it's done.

TRULY WORTH THE EFFORT!

Food of the fairies

Can't you just imagine fairies sipping elder flower nectar from acorn cups and licking rose petal jam from velvety petal bowls.

I've already made my preserved peel last month. This year I also used orange peel and I have bought some special couverture chocolate from the famous Tasmanian House of Anvers and I'm going to half dip those. The bitter orange peel and rich chocolate will be a divine Christmas treat.

So get to gathering and foraging and cooking to make some unique and magical gifts from the kitchen. You still have four weeks to go.

Rose Petal Jam

Like fairy cups of shimmery magenta and fuscia velvet.

Petal by petal, each hand selected for pureness and perfection.

Heady scent fills the kitchen and makes me smile in a secret kind of way.

A romantic nostalgic kind of way.

Remember when perfumes and talc were simple fragrances like roses or Lily of the valley or sweet pea or violets.

I'm remembering shelf paper and correspondence stationary and bath salts.....

I'm making rose petal jam.

I love the surprise on peoples' faces when they bite into a scone with rose petal jam;

delighted astonishment.

There is nothing quite like it.

It's elegant, exotic and bespeaks of summer.

The recipe is in this post from the past

Etsy Party Night

In Launceston we gathered together in a church hall in the centre of town to celebrate Etsy's birthday as did thousands all over the globe. It was a cold and windy night with heavy rain, making the thought of crafting at home by the fire infinitely more attractive....until we got there.

What an awesome night we had meeting so many wonderful wise and inspiring people from all crafts and ages. I picked up Jenny Wren and Blue Paper Doll along the way and were the first to arrive. We were soon joined by people from Deloraine, Frankford Glengarry and Exeter....

This is the delightful Killiecrankie Farm and her etsy shop is called Ginger's Revenge (in the foreground is Little Jenny Wren).

I met some ladies from the Spinners and Weavers Guild and was particular fascinated with their varied dyeing techniques as seen in the very first photo.

These socks were being knit with wool dyed in a fry pan.

The sock wool was rolled into balls and then placed into a fry pan with water coming about a third of the way up the ball and then orange dye was added. This was allowed to "cook" for about 20 mins and then turned up the other way and green dye was added. The ball takes up the dye randomly and stronger on the outside so the other ball is unwound and re-wound inside to the out so that the two socks will knit with a relative "sameness to the randomness" if you get my meaning. Fascinating!

Here is another pair that this talented lady knit from her own dyed wool.

Aren't they gorgeous!

I also met the internationally famous doll maker and sculptor,Susie McMahon, an incredibly talented artist and was not surprised when she sat down at one of the spinning wheels and spun with a beautiful deft and sensitive touch.

Our fabulous organiser Sara, aka Eco Kitty on etsy arranged everything so beautifully and even found some heaters to keep us warm. Lucy Lou Lewis says my scones with (very Arabian) rose petal jam were a real treat for her and has asked for the recipe which I shall provide here for all.

Rose Petal Jam

50grams of perfumed dark red or pink rose petals

1 cup of sugar

2 tabs of pectin

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup of water

1 teaspoon of rose water (optional)

Roughly chop the rose petals and place in a bowl with sugar. Cover and leave for 24hrs.

Next day, place the rose petal and sugar, pectin, lemon juice and water in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 20 mins.

Boil for 5 mins until setting point is reached. Add the rose water to increase the flavour if desired. Ladle into warm sterilised jars and seal well.

Thank you ladies (there are many I haven't mentioned) one and all for a wonderful evening of friendship and crafting. Hope to see you again at another one soon.