Flavour Infused Sea Salts and Vodka

For presents this year I made flavour infused sea salts and vodka. For the sea salts I made three flavours: vanilla, citrus, and chili. For the vodka I made espresso. I designed the tags on my computer and printed on recycled cardstock, hole-punched them and used twine to attach the labels to the containers, which can be purchased at any cooking or craft store!

Citrus Salts
Sea Salt
Lemon
Orange

Simply grate the lemon and orange zest. Let it dry for a few minutes and combine well with the sea salt.


Vanilla Salts
sea salt
2 vanilla beans
unrefined sugar

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape out all the sticky seeds and use your fingers to combine well with the sea salt. Add half amount of unrefined sugar as sea salt and mix well.


Chili Salts
sea salt
4 dried whole chilis
dash of paprika
ground peppercorn

crush the chilis with your fingers and sprinkle in with the sea salt. Combine freshly ground peppercorns and mix well. Add a dash of paprika for colour.







Espresso Vodka
Vodka
Espresso beans
Cheesecloth
funnel

Lightly grind the espresso beans and wrap in cheesecloth. Tie very tightly to ensure none of the ground beans escape into the vodka (if this does happen however, you can filter it out later). I let the beans soak for about three days in a mason jar but you can use whatever container you like. Remove cheesecloth and beans from vodka and pour into bottle using a funnel. You can also sift the vodka through a layer of cheesecloth if any of the grounds happened to escape into the liquor during the process!

handmade journals

These journals are super easy and make great Christmas gifts! All you need is:

-thin cardboard/card stock
-needle and thread
-ruler
-exacto knife
-pens
-paper
-tack
-bone folder

Measure out the size of notebook you want to make and cut it out out of the card stock. Measure out about 4 or 5 pieces of paper slightly smaller than the cardboard (anymore and you won't be able to sew through them. Don't forget that it will be folded in half and double sided so you get more like 20 pages in total!)

Using a bone folder, fold the cover and the pages in half. Poke holes along the spine of both the cover and pages with a tack. Take a needle and thread and sew along the spine twice, like the photo below.



Then take some pens (or pencils, or paints!) and draw something on the covers. I drew monsters on mine.





Even kitties like them!

Vegan Mini Apple Pies

For Valentines day I made my boyfriend some mini pies, which I sent through the mail because he lives in another town. Even if you are not long distance I highly suggest mailing them anyways! Nothing is more sweet than opening your mail to find a mini pie in-between your bills.



These are super easy to make, delicious and only require a few ingredients. Plus, they are vegan-friendly!

Pie Crust
1 1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup margarine
glass of cold water
pie tins

Pie Filling
3 apples
2/3 cup brown sugar
spoonful of cinnamon
teaspoon of nutmeg
teaspoon of ginger
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and margarine together until it looks like small pea-sized lumps.

2. Knead together and slowly add a little drizzle of cold water. Keep kneading/adding water until the dough becomes a soft, but moist ball of dough like the image below.



3. Chill the dough for about 20 minutes. While the dough is in the fridge you can prepare the filling. Wash and slice some apples into small pieces. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.



4. Put the apples in a pot with the brown sugar and spices. Cook until the sugar and spices melt. Mix the cornstarch with a tiny bit of water and add that to the pot to help the filling thicken. Continue cooking until the apples become soft and the liquid becomes thicker and more like a syrup.



5. Once the dough is chilled, roll it out on a floured surface and use a glass to cut out circle shapes.



6. Press the circles into the bottom of the pie tins. Press smaller lumps of dough around the edges until the trays are covered like the image below.



7. Cut the remaining dough into long thin strips for the top crust. Once you have filled the trays with the pie filling, lay the strips of dough on top, crisscrossing.



8. Brush the tops with some melted margarine and sprinkle with brown sugar before placing in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.



If you wish to mail these pies to a special someone, wrap the pie carefully in wax paper. Place it in a box that is only slightly bigger than the pie itself and stuff the remaining space full of tissues, that way the pie won't move around inside the container and squish. Make sure to write "fragile" on the box too!

Handmade Tea and Box

I made this for my boyfriend for Christmas this year.





The teas are all bulk loose leaves which I gathered and placed into individual baggies.



I wrapped each one with hemp and attached a cut-out label.



I painted the box with aspen trees and a little bird.



Feathers, fabric and more hemp for the finishing touch.