DIY: Tea Variety Gift Packages

Do you have a friend and/or family member that you need to get a gift for? Whether it is Christmas, a birthday, house-warming, etc. a Variety package is perfect! 

You can make a variety package out of teas, small coffee packages, coffee k-cups (if the person has a Keurig machine, which I love!), or hot cocoa. 

Today, I made a Tea Variety Package. I bought some of my favorite teas, a metal holiday tin, and created my own gift package. 

Here's what you'll need:

40 Individually Packaged Tea Bags (I like Twinings)

Individual Splenda packets (or sugar, Truvia, Stevia, Sweet 'n Low, etc.)

Tea Spoon (optional)

1 Rectangular Metal Tin (or any other packaging device you want to use)

1 sheet of white printer paper

Scotch tape

Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut a thin strip of white printer paper for each group of teas. 

2. Tightly wrap a thin strip around each group of teas. Cut off any excess paper, and Tape the two ends together.

3. Tape each group of teas to the bottom of the tin.

4. Cut 2 more thin strips from the printer paper. Tightly wrap groups of Splenda packets, or whatever you like in your tea. Cut off the excess paper, and tape this down. Tape these groups to the bottom of the tin.

5. Tape a teaspoon to the splenda packets.

This is the finished product! 

I always pick many different flavors of tea. Some of my favorites are:

Twinings Christmas Tea

Twinings Winter Spice

Twinings Pumpkin Spice Chai

Twinings Herbal Unwind (any flavor)

Be creative with the flavors! This will work great with individual coffee packets, k-cups, or individual hot cocoa packets. I personally prefer using teas.

Homemade Bath Salts

Do you have a female friend and/or family member that you still haven't found that perfect gift for? Why not make her scented bath salts? 

Ingredients

3 cups Epsom salt

2 cups sea salt (or kosher salt)

about 20 drops of essential oil(s)

a few drops of food coloring (or liquid soap coloring or a scant amount of mica) - optional

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the salts, oils, and color.

*This makes 5 cups of bath salt. You can always divide your basic salts into different portions, and make a separate scent for each person, and do 1 cup packages for each friend! Get 5 gifts in 1!

Get creative with your scent mixes!

Here are a few ideas...

1. Lavender and Tea Tree... adding 10 drops each of lavender oil and tea tree oil will produce a great bath salt for someone to soak their feet. Perfect for that great friend who stands on his/her feet all day! (Even guys will benefit from this!)

2. Jasmine and Rose... adding 15 drops each of jasmine oil and rose oil will make a lovely soothing bath salt. Perfect for someone who needs a break from life.

3. Citrus... find your favorite citrus oils (orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc) and drop some into your salts. This is perfect for summertime. Bright and energizing!

4. Peppermint... adding about 20 drops of peppermint essential oil is a great idea to make a holiday bath salt. Think about dividing the salt mixture into thirds, and color two of the thirds; one red, and one green!

The combinations are endless! Mix and match however you like. Always do a small test first, by taking 2 or 3 spoonfuls, and add 1-2 drops of each oil to the salt, and stir. If you don't like the scent, you didn't ruin your whole batch!

The batch I made today was Peppermint-Peach. I added 14 drops of Peach Oil and 7 drops of Peppermint Oil/Extract. I then divided the salts in half, and added a a drop of blue and a drop of green to one portion, and about 8 drops of yellow to the other portion. 

I always put an ingredient label. This makes it seem a little more "professional", even though it is still a homemade gift. It also allows your recipient to know what exactly you put into their gift.

You can either do layers of color, or swirls of color, or even shake the colors together for a confetti effect. Any way you decide to package it will be lovely. 

Spiced Butter Rum Toffee Crackers

Every December, I make Toffee Crackers. Usually I will tweak the recipe to get a new concoction. This year, it was adding rum (yes, rum! I took a cue from Captain Jack Sparrow) and spices. I have also noticed a trend recently in the land of the sweets: chocolate and salt. So, guess what?! I sprinkled some of the top with salt! (You'll see in the toppings part of this recipe).

Ingredients

1 C butter/margarine (I used Imperial Margarine)

1 C light brown sugar

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. rum (spiced or gold)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

saltines (about 1 1/4 sleeves)

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

chopped pecans (optional)

sea salt (optional)

any other delectable topping you would like to put on top of the chocolate :)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with cooking spray, and line with saltine crackers.

3. Slowly melt butter/margarine in a small sauce pot over medium heat.

4. Add brown sugar, ground clove, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon.

5. Stir, and bring to a boil. 

6. Add 1 tsp. rum and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Allow the rum to cook through a bit (about 2 minutes).

7. Pour toffee mixture over the crackers, and spread liquid throughout the entire baking pan. Make sure all crackers are soaked/covered. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

8. Place baking sheet on a cooling rack, and re-organize any crackers that may have moved. 

9. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Allow the chips to heat through, and then spread the melted chocolate to cover the entire sheet.

10. Top with toppings of choice (optional).

(Picture on Right: Half only chocolate, middle with pecans, and right with sea salt)

11. Allow to cool, until toffee is set. (Either in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator).

12. Cut into squares, and enjoy:)

These can be made the traditional way, with only vanilla extract (no rum or spices).

What do you want to top yours with?

xoxo,

Colleen