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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Homemade Vanilla

  Happy New Year, This year for Christmas presents I made some homemade vanilla.  I have to say it was so fun and so easy, just took a couple of months preparation, but it was simple enough.
First off I ordered some very cool bottles online, then from Olive Nation I ordered all my vanilla beans. Here is the recipe I used from WWW.HAPPYMONEYSAVER.COM

Cut the each vanilla bean in half lengthwise splitting them in down the middle, but leave an inch at the end that is still connected. Then cut the beans in half the other way so they are shorter to fit in the jar.For every 8 ounces, add in pieces of vanilla beans that total 3 or 4 whole beans

.Pour the vodka over the beans so they’re completely covered in liquid. I bought a 40 oz. of vodka and it filled up my mason jar perfectly. I used 16 vanilla beans in my jar.Next, place the cap or lid tightly on the bottle and put them in a cool, dark place (such as a closet or back of the pantry). Once a week, give the bottles a good shake. The length of time you give them will depend on how intense you want the flavor to be. Six to 8 weeks is plenty, or you can let it go longer. Once it’s done, use something like a coffee filter or flour sack towel to strain out particulates from the extract. Put it back in the bottle or split among smaller bottles for gifts
I then went to pinterest looking for a label that I liked so I wouldn't have to make it myself.  I wish I could tell you who I got it from as to give them credit, but I can't remember. So here is the label I chose.

I wanted to personalize it a little more, so I went to my craft table and pulled out my punches from Stampin Up, and made these to tie on.

I think they turned out adorable and so fun to make and to give as a gift. Did you make anything special this year to give as a gift?