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Homemade Gift Ideas - Crafts

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Homemade gifts blend your time, talent, and treasure to create a unique gift made with love. Whether you are on a budget and need to use what you have or if you simply want to create something unique, making your own Christmas gifts can be a great option. Here are a few homemade gift ideas our family has enjoyed: CRAFTS Christmas Tree Ornaments The girls and I made angel ornaments by upcycling old pant pockets. We found a photo on the web for inspiration. We used the legs of the pants to make quilts some time ago and cut out the pockets thinking we would eventually find a use for them, and we did! Angel ornaments made from pant pockets There are many other great ideas for DIY Christmas ornaments out there. Here are some other ideas you can check into: Ribbon Ornaments We made something similar to this several years ago. They turn out beautifully and are so easy! Clothespin Ornaments  Here is a site that lists 5 ways to make ornaments from clothespins. More Ornament Ideas The Pioneer
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Russian Tea Recipe

This is another recipe for the powdered drink mix series. While we don't normally advocate for using store-bought drink mixes, there are times when they are useful and they are a great option for your food storage or preparedness plan. Why? Because even if they have more sugar than you would normally allow, they add variety to your diet. They can encourage people to stay hydrated by making plain water more appealing. They can also help to mask the taste of stale or purified water, especially if you have used iodine or chlorine to purify your drinking water. Should you find yourself in an emergency situation where you are having to use your stored drink mixes, it will be helpful to have the option to make a variety of flavors. You don't want food fatigue to keep you and your loved ones from staying properly hydrated. Russian Tea calls for several mixes you might already keep in your pantry: instant tea, orange drink mix (the original recipe calls for Tang), lemonade mix (the ori
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2024 Christmas Gift Guide

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November is here and so is our Christmas gift guide! We spent some time getting input from our family and compiling it into a usable list. It is a combination of health and preparedness items we have and use and items we would like to have. We hope you enjoy perusing the list as much as we enjoyed putting it together for you. We have a photo compilation of this list over on the website for fast and easy shopping. Large Item Wish List Camp Stove - This is a must-have for emergency preparedness. Having more than one way to cook is important for any situation resulting in a power outage. Boxed snacks are fine for a time, but never underestimate the power of a hot meal or a warm drink in an emergency situation. Big Berkey Water Filter - While we originally purchased our Berkey water filter as a camping and emergency filter, we use ours every day to filter our tap water for drinking and cooking. The Berkey filters a wide range of contaminants from almost any water source. Click here  to
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Winter Coffee Recipe

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This week we are sharing another drink mix recipe. This one is for winter coffee. It is a recipe my mother has had for years. She sometimes makes it for Christmas gifts. I haven't had it in years, so I think this might be the year to make a batch! As with the other powdered drink recipes, this uses shelf stable ingredients, making it a great recipe for preppers, too. It is important to stay hydrated in the winter as well as the summer and having drink mixes on hand makes it easy to do. Winter Coffee 2 c. powdered creamer (the original recipe calls for non-dairy creamer) 2 c. hot cocoa mix (click  here for the recipe we use) 1 c. instant coffee 2 t. cinnamon 1 1/2 c. sugar Mix together. Store in an air tight container. To use: Add 2 T. (use more or less to taste) to a cup of hot water. Stir well until dissolved. Sip and enjoy!
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The Best Homemade Chai Spice Mix

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Making your own chai tea mix gives you a healthy and frugal drink option. It mixes well with whatever black tea you happen to have on hand.  This mix is good enough to give away as a gift. Simply put the mix in an attractive jar, attach a bow, and include a card with written instructions. You can even add a mug and some black tea to make it a gift set. The chai spice mix is popular at our house - this batch is almost gone Chai Spice Mix for Tea   Ingredients 1 c. organic sugar ½ t. cloves ½ t. ginger ¾ t. Ceylon cinnamon   Mix Directions: Mix the ingredients well. Store in a glass container with a lid.   To Make Chai Tea or a Chai Latte: 1.      Steep black tea in hot water. 2.      Add 2 t. of mix. 3.       Add milk to taste for a Chai Latte. Notes: 1)     We like to use raw cane sugar. 2)     This tastes wonderful with mixed in Earl Grey tea in place of regular black tea.
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