In a society that prides itself on the biggest, shiniest, most expensive new thing available on the market, homemade items can be a welcome gift to both give and receive. As I mentioned in my introduction post a couple of weeks ago, my intention this summer and fall is to create as many DIY gifts as possible in an effort to give meaningful, useful gifts that don’t break the bank!
Now, we all know that sometimes the best laid plans encounter bumps in the road and hiccups on the path, right? Some projects take longer than expected and sometimes life just has plans for us that don’t involve sitting around the house DIYing to our heart’s content!
So, while I hoped to jump start this whole 16 weeks of DIYing a week and half ago, life had some other plans for me and this whole series…and instead of raging against the Universe, I’m doing my best to just roll with it! Is there another option, really?
As we prepare to move away from our little Urban Farm and into the country I will be practicing my very best K.I.S.S.* attitude, which as a very detail oriented person, can be a bit challenging for me! So, instead of doing the most complicated, in depth DIYs as I originally intended, I’ll be doing a few simple projects first…you know, projects that use the same ingredients, projects that are easily thrown together, stored and moved from one home to another 😉
Then, once we’re nice and settled, I’ll get into some bigger (and maybe even more intensive) projects.
However, in the meantime, if you’re itching to start something right now, definitely check out these past projects and start extracting, infusing and tinture-ing!
Vanilla Extract – Vanilla extract is one of my favorite DIY gifts to make because it’s super simple and pretty much everyone needs and uses it! The first year we made this and gave it away to friends and family, one of our relatives was outwardly shocked that one could actually make Vanilla Extract on their own! That was such a fun conversation and thoroughly enlightening on both of our parts 🙂
Echinacea Tincture – While the Echinacea growing in your yard won’t be ready for root harvesting for a few months yet, you can either file this one away for later or order some Echinacea root online now. We’ve only used about half of the tincture we made last year and, I have to say, it tastes better than any other Echinacea tincture I’ve purchased elsewhere!
Whiskey Infusions – This was a very fun project that our friends were so very excited about! So, of course, it is worth repeating and playing with (I’ll use less cinnamon this time around)! Surprisingly enough, the apple-cinnamon whiskey was actually better received by the men in our lives more-so than the women! Go figure! I guess not every woman is a whiskey woman like me 😉
Alright, there you have it! Three projects to get you started!
Happy planning and making and going with the flow, Friends!
xoxo,
M
*Just in case you’re wondering… K.I.S.S. = Keep it simple, Stupid
