Hello! Each year I like to make a little something crafty for my gal pals for Christmas. I wouldn’t call myself a particularly crafty person at all but I do like to try and use that side of my brain once and awhile. Often I make ornaments like these adorable sleighs I made a couple of years ago. But last year I decided to switch things up and make Homemade Vanilla Extract instead. I found an awesome tutorial on Pinterest (where else?) and decided it looked easy enough even for me to do. And thankfully it was super easy and they packaged up so beautifully too. So I took a bunch of photos last year and have been waiting all year to share them with you. I highly recommend this fun DIY Christmas gift idea!!
*I receive commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.*
Okay so I want to start off by saying this is not my recipe. You’ll find the link to the tutorial I used below. Natasha even provides the adorable printables I used for free on her site which is incredibly nice of her. There are literally two ingredients in this recipe. Vodka and vanilla beans, that’s it. I used the Smirnoff brand of vodka and Native Grade B Tahitian Vanilla Beans from Amazon. These ethically sourced beans have excellent reviews and now that I’ve been using my homemade vanilla extract for a year I can honestly tell you that it tastes delicious!!
I really can’t get over how easy it was to make and will be making up some more batches for myself soon. You only need one and half beans per 4 oz jar so you can do 6 jars from one 10 pack of vanilla beans. Although if you want to make more they also sell a 30 pack of vanilla beans as well.
The jars I used I also purchased from Amazon. I choose to use 4 oz amber glass jars with lids for this project and they worked really well. I am just so happy with how these gifts turned out!
Here is an easy to read product list for you: (affiliate links)
- any kind of vodka (I used Smirnoff)
- Native Grade B Tahitian Vanilla Beans
- 4 oz glass jars with lids
- Avery High Visibility Round Labels 5294
- Red and white kitchen towels
- Mini cookie cutter set
- Red and white string
These do take 3 months to brew but you can still go ahead and make them up now for Christmas gifts. Simply mark on the label when they were bottled and when they’ll be ready to use.
I also loved how Natasha packaged these up for gift giving so I copied that as well. They are just so cute and festive!! I wrapped them up in a kitchen towel and tied off with a cookie cutter and ribbon. Adorable right?!
You can find a complete tutorial over at Natasha’s Kitchen. If you decide to make your own homemade vanilla extract, please let me know. I think you’ll be very happy with the results! Trust me when I say if I can do it, anyone can! 🙂
And if you haven’t had a chance to, don’t forget to grab your free printable Christmas Planner to keep you on track of all the holiday things!
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PS: Want to know how I organize my Christmas craft projects? This method works!
Marilyn Dolce Davis says
Thank you so much for your wonderful idea and especially for sharing it all with us!!! I am excited to make these as special little gifts for friends this Christmas. I am loving your emails!
Marilyn
Laura Wittmann says
Awww so nice of you to say Marilyn, thank you so much for stopping by!!
Laura