Easy DIY Mason Jar Easter Gift

This year I decided to do something a bit different for Eric's Easter gift. We generally don't go crazy with celebrating Easter around here so I often don't like to spend too much money on buying Easter gifts. 
While we do a small Easter egg hunt at home, as well as one in the community, Eric also usually gets some chocolate from his Nana and Papa (their grandchildren are spoiled!), so I keep our gift for him pretty minimalistic.
Instead of just getting him a chocolate bunny and some Easter eggs, this year I decided to go with something smaller - but way cuter!
This super easy DIY mason jar gift idea is perfect for those struggling with finding a last minute Easter gift, or for those who just want to take their gift up a notch. It's inexpensive and takes no time at all to put together!
Supplies:

• Mason Jars
• Easter grass
• 2 - 3 small Chocolate Bunnies, per jar
• 10 - 12 mini Easter eggs, per jar
• Small piece of fabric for lid, optional

Directions:
It's simple really! 
1. Put the grass in the mason jar (you may need to press it down a bit in order to slightly flatten it out.
2. Arrange the chocolate bunnies on the grass.
3. Place the mini chocolate eggs around the chocolate bunnies.
4. Cut the piece of fabric to the size of the jar lid and place it over the top; screw on the lid.
I mostly used the fabric to cover up the label sticker that wouldn't come off, so if you don't have this issue, this step is optional (though it looks pretty).

Teacher Gift Idea: DIY Crayon Wreath

I made this crayon wreath for my son's daycare teacher and gave it to her on his last day there. She loved it so I have also decided that I'm going to make one her his Kindergarten teachers as well. 
It will be the most perfect Christmas gift for them; unique, unexpected, and I am sure all the kids will love it too!
Oh, and it's super easy so you can have the kiddies help too!
What you need:

• Two Embroidery Hoops (one 12 inch and one 8 inch).
• 64 Crayons
• Ribbon
• Assorted school stickers
• Block letters
• Hot glue gun (forgot to include that in the photo!)

How to:

1. Place the small hoop inside the large hoop, ensuring there is equal distance all the way around. I put the embroidery hook the at top part of the wreath because it's easy to cover with the ribbon later.

2. Starting at the top, glue the crayons on one-by-one by using your hot glue gun; dabbing a a small dot on the top and bottom embroidery hoop, placing your crayon on top. 

Leave a small gap at the bottom as it can get pretty tricky to get the nice even circle if you don't. Spacing as you go works well; and you don't need to be afraid of pull off the crayon if you make a mistake - I did that many times!

I've seen many tutorials that have you lay out the crayons on the embroidery hoops first, but don't waste your time with that. It takes too long and the crayons never stay in place anyway.

3. Once you glue all the crayons, tie the ribbon at the top around where the embroidery hooks are; the ribbon covers them really well. I just tied a bow at the top, but you can get more creative if you want. Just make sure that the bow or knot is tight at the top so when you hang up the wreath it doesn't fall down!

4. Arrange and glue your stickers and block letters as you wish. The stickers will not stay on on their own, you will need to use the glue for them.

That's it! Super easy right? And once I was in my groove, it took me about half hour total to do.

I am sure your child's teachers will love it!

Chocolate Fudge Crackle Cookies

This Chocolate Fudge Crackle Cookie recipe is my all time favourite recipe to use during my Christmas baking. It's the cookie that gets even more raves than the Peanut Brittle Cookies! These are just so good! They are also good for freezing if you don't eat them right away (which is very hard to do, trust me).

This too, comes from 'The Love of Baking' recipe book from www.robinhood.ca. Lets get to it!

Prep Time: 15 mins + refrigeration I Bake Time: 13 mins per sheet I Makes: 48 crackles

¼         cup (50 mL) Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening

1          cup (250 mL) semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼         cup (50 mL) granulated sugar

2          eggs

²/₃        cup (150 mL) Eagle Brand Regular or Low Fat Sweetened Condensed Milk

1          tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

1 ½      cups (375 mL) Robin Hood All-Purpose Flour

½         tsp (2 mL) baking powder

¼         tsp (1 mL) salt

1 ½      cups (375 mL) Chipits Milk Chocolate Chips

¾         cup (174 mL) icing sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325^oF (160 ^oC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a glass bowl in microwave, melt shortening and semi-sweet chocolate chips on Medium (50%). Add in sugar and then eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Let cool 5 minutes.

3. Mix in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Add next four ingredients; mix well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 ½ hours up to 8 hours.

4. Sift icing sugar in a shallow bowl. Between palms of hands, roll pieces of chilled dough to form 1 ¼" (3 cm) balls. Drop balls in icing sugar and toss lightly until well coated. Place on prepared baking sheets and flatten very slightly. Repeat with remaining dough and remaining icing sugar, spacing about 1 ½" (4 cm) apart.

5. Bake each sheet in preheated oven for 11 - 13 minutes or until just beginning to feel firm when pressed in centre. Let cool on baking sheet on wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer crackles to wire racks to cool completely.

I really hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we do here. Let me know how you like them!

Enjoy!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

With Christmas just over 5 weeks away, I am seriously starting to think of gift idea's for the many people in my life (you really wanted that reminder, didn't you?). Along with the gift-giving that comes along with Christmas, there is also the many dinners and parties you'll attend. In either case, wouldn't homemade vanilla extract be a wonderful gift idea for your family, friends and colleagues? Homemade gifts are really awesome and many people really love things that comes from the heart. It's within the meaning of Christmas after all.

Thanks to Bethany Actually (whom I found on Pinterest) and a couple of other online sources, I found out that making your own vanilla extract is actually super easy! 

Here's what you'll need: 

• Vanilla Beans
• Vodka, any brand and can be inexpensive. I used Absolut Vodka.
• Glass bottles with lids
• Measuring cup
• Funnel
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Paper Towels
• Ribbon or twine (optional)

For the vanilla beans themselves, I bought mine through eBay from Vanilla Products USA and used Grade B Bourbon Planifolia Vanilla Beans grown in Madagascar. The service and delivery time were pretty good and I would purchase from them again. It costs about $24 (including shipping) for 30 beans.

For the glass bottles I used, I used 4 oz. Boston Round bottles purchased from Uline, which is located in Brampton, ON. You will need to purchase a case of 24 as a minimum. They were about $30 for the case.

First and foremost, be sure to wash your bottles and lids with hot soapy water and then let them air dry.

Using your sharp knife, cut your bean in half. Then, about a half inch down from the end slice the bean in half lengthwise.

Once you have all your beans cut and ready to go (I used all 30 of mine for 12 bottles), put 5 pieces (two and half full beans) of bean into your glass yours. If you have any extra pieces (I had one), just add it to a jar.

Once your jars are full of beans, you ready to pour the vodka. Add half cup of vodka to each bottle ensuring that the beans are fully covered.

Your funnel likely wont stay still on it's own so be sure to hold the funnel while your pouring in the vodka.

After adding the vodka, simply screw on the caps tightly and you're done! You can see the vodka starting to change colour almost instantly.

Important care instructions: Be sure to store these in a cool dry place. From what I read online, the vanilla will be good to use in about two months time. Just be sure the give the bottles a gentle shake a few times a week.

After the vanilla is ready you can remove the beans or leave them in, just note that the vodka will evaporate over a long period of time. In this case, simply top up the vodka to ensure the beans stay covered.

Since these are Christmas gifts, I went a step further and created these labels using MS Publisher. I followed the same label idea as Bethany Actually. Ingredients listed is love, vodka and vanilla beans. A sweet touch for your friends and family.

In my case I only labelled 6 as I will likely keep a couple bottles for myself with all the baking I do, but also because I'll be including a bottle in my Secret Santa gift at work and will create a more generic label for that (will post about this gift idea sometime in November).

Since the vanilla takes about two month's to be ready, you can also add a 'Best After Date' to your label or simply add that piece of info in your card (assuming you give them one).

I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. The picture below shows how the colour changed in only a 24 hour period. They'll eventually be very deep amber in colour.

You can also dress up the bottles with ribbon or twine for a nice added touch.

I hope you enjoy making your vanilla as much as I did! Feel free to comment below with any questions, etc.

Good Luck!