Christmas Packages '09 - Part 2.

The rest of our Christmas packages were mostly completed in a single night. We did get the vanilla extract going about four weeks before the intended ship date, since it needs plenty of time and shaking to do it's thing. The big night was spent pouring extract into little 2 oz bottles, making peppermint bark, and wrapping up the gift sets. We had several helpers who should be mentioned. Casey and Ben were our candy cane crushers, Tim helped us temper the chocolate, and Nick helped us taste the chocolate.

The first task of the night was pouring the extract into the bottles. While I poured, Ang removed the vanilla beans and cut them into pieces that we could stick down into the little bottles to give it a more homemade feel and to allow the bean to continue strengthening the vanilla flavor. After sealing up the bottles, we cut out pieces of pretty paper with handwritten "Vanilla Extract" labels to glue onto the bottles. The vanilla beans were the most expensive part of this project - we used the Madagascar variety. With the rest of the extract (bottles and vodka) adding very reasonable cost, the total extract cost came to less than three and a half dollars per 2 oz bottle - much lower cost and higher quality than the stuff you can get in the store!

Tim's job was definitely the most challenging - he, Ang, and I worked together to heat, stir, monitor temps, stir, cool in ice bath, monitor temps, and more stirring - Tim doing most of the stirring. We all read about tempering chocolate from several sources before showtime, so we knew if we didn't get the temps just right that the whole process should be started over. We tempered the chocolate in two batches onto three cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. The dark chocolate layer was first, then a white chocolate layer, then the crushed candy canes. We repeated the tempering process for the second batch, since we weren't positive we hit all the temps right. The heating and cooling happens quickly and it takes some anticipation to prevent over-heating or cooling.

The finished product was gorgeous! Now I'm remembering (with the help of the photos) that we actually let it cool and set for a day. I came over the next day to help break up the peppermint bark and package it up before we arranged and wrapped the completed gift sets.

I would never pass up a chance to read books with Nick, and it's definitely become a holiday tradition to curl up in a chair by the Christmas tree to read books at bedtime. Can't beat that sweet end to a fun-filled evening!

Christmas Packages '09 - Part 1.

Our Christmas packages were SO fun this year. We decided to sew pretty fabrics on dishtowels, then package them with some homemade vanilla extract and peppermint bark. They all turned out great and we learned a ton in the process.













The kitchen towels were very manageable. Angela always makes more gift sets than I do - more family members to make for, and this year with all I already had going on, I only made packages for out-of-town relatives (mom, sisters, grandmother, great-aunt), plus Casey's mom and sis. This plan with a more realistic goal (for a change) was a great stress-reducer for me around the normally-stressful holidays. I found an amazing deal on the kitchen towels on this site and we shared fabric from our stashes, so this part of our packages was very budget friendly.

Ang and I read and browsed blogs and talked a lot about applique before starting on our towels. I decided that I wouldn't have time to fancy mine up with applique this time, but Angela went for it and did an incredible job. She had several different designs - pears, birds, trees, and even a coffee cup and saucer. We both used the basic technique of cutting strips of fabric, sewing them together right sides together on a machine, ironing the edges under, then either using the zigzag stitch to attach to the towels or using embroidery thread to stitch onto the towels. I mainly embroidered the fabric onto the towels, since it was a portable crafting activity in between our craft nights and I like the handmade look of the embroidered running stitches in contrasting or matching colors. It's funny how sometimes we want things to look or feel homemade and other
times we really don't. :-) Ang made so many towels, but they are all so unique and different that I wanted to post all of the different styles and designs.

Part 2 of the Christmas packages will come next. For now, I'm going to show off the rest of the recent crafting from Angela. My favorite thing she made this past year was for her son Nick's birthday this past October - it's a pillowcase with the top-side covered with all of his favorite book characters. It turned out amazing! It has Thomas and Percy, Pooh, Owl, and.. oh, I can't remember the bear's name. Nick so, so loves his pillow! :D He knew his mom was working on something for him and was so excited opening it - so sweet. Ang also made a pillow last year for the daughter of her best friend from college. It turned out really cute - perfect for a little girl and something I'm sure she will have for many years. I love the little ladybug and the bee. I got the tracing supplies from Sublime Stitching and we both use the transfer paper and tracing stylus to transfer images from books or anything else with a good design.

Also crafted by Angela were a baby hat and booty set for her sister who just had a baby in January. This was her second baby set and the neat speckled effect is created by holding a multi-colored sock-weight yarn with a mid-weight (not sure exactly which yarns she used).