Gift Idea: Infused Liquor

If you're looking for a gift idea, here's one that's easy to make but delicious. Infused liquor. I was inspired by a friend who makes variations of Christmas cheer each year. The best thing about this is that you can personalize it to the taste of the person you're giving it to. For my first round, I decided to keep it simple and choose one flavour to infuse into each liquor. I went for bourbon infused with figs and gin infused with cucumber. Put your infusing item into a jar, add the liquor, and shake daily. I let them infuse for 6 days, but from what I've read, 4 days is enough time. Afterwards, strain into a bottle, label and gift away!

Tips from experience:
I took the seeds out of the cucumber so it wouldn't water-down the gin.
I used a coffee filter (in a funnel) to filter the little bits out. It's not the easiest - cheesecloth or a fine mesh sieve would likely be easier.

Cheers!

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Gift Idea: Date Box

I've had a lot of wedding stuff going on this summer. With all the different events to attend, sometimes it can be tough to come up with an interesting and original gift. Enter the Date Box. I have to admit, I got this idea from a friend, so it's not an Emma Original, but it was still a really fun present to put together.

The date box is a combination of items to inspire a date (gift cards, things to do, games to play, you get the idea) and other date ideas written on cards. The idea is that on any given night, the couple can consult the box for a date idea. For this date box, we included things like a s'mores kit, gift cards to restaurants, a night out at the movies, a bottle of champagne, a deck of cards, cookie mix and a cookbook of picnic foods.

{I opted for a gender neutral colour scheme since the box is for the couple to share}

{cut the cards into strips and write out different date ideas}

{attach the date ideas to the corresponding item}

{arrange all the date items in the box}

{sprinkle in the rest of the date ideas}

{et voila!}

Ps. to make this gift even better, get together with a couple friends (like I did), that way, you can really put a lot into it.

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Succulent Terrarium

Last weekend was my mom's birthday, and let me tell you, she's a difficult lady to shop for. So what do you give the woman who has everything? A succulent planter of course. Although I consider myself to have a black thumb, I am pretty crafty, so I figured I could put this together without much knowledge of plants. I consulted the internet quickly to make sure I had the right idea (turns out I did). Here's how.

You need:
A terrarium or dish to plant your succulents (I thought a teacup would be adorable)
A small amount of sand
A small amount of soil
Varying sizes of rocks/stones
Succulent Plants

In your dish/planting vessel, layer your sand, and some rocks for drainage. Next, layer in some of the soil. Now, loosen the roots of each succulent plant, and give it a spot in the dish (I found this to be a little difficult based on the size of the terrarium). Layer in a bit more soil, and then some smaller pebbles/stones to keep the succulents in place. Add a little bit of water and you're done!

Water occasionally, but make sure not to add too much (you don't want to see it pooling at the bottom). Look at me, giving advice on caring for plants. Somewhere, pigs are flying.

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Baby Shower Sushi

On the weekend, I went to a baby shower for my friends who are expecting a baby boy in March. I had seen this image on Pinterest, and knowing that they love sushi, I couldn't resist. But since a lot of sushi is pink, I had to be a little creative with colours (I figured they probably didn't want a six pack of pink socks for their little guy).

I opted for colours that would make veggie california rolls and a salmon sushi piece.

Here's how I made them.

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Gardens

I bet you're wondering why I'd write about gardening in the dead of winter. Well, this is an indoor mini garden.

I'm not good at gardening. It's no secret. Last year I attempted to revamp our front garden (with the help of much more plant-savvy Husband), but we never did get to it.

growing my mini garden

But then I got the sweetest gift from my friend Emma (great name, I'd say). It's a pretty little garden, and I actually managed to grow it! Perhaps they make them fool-proof, but I'm choosing to believe that my skills are improving.

Ready for a trim! It's micro-cress, so it's edible too :)

Ps. Why don't we have adorable little things like this in Canada? I'm convinced that the UK has the gift/gift wrap/card market cornered.

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Holiday Gifting

Since the holidays are upon us, many people are sharing their gift guides. Well, I’m not going to do a gift guide exactly, but I am going to give you my gift giving advice.

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 I often end up being the main gift giving counselor when it comes to the men in my life (my dad, my bro, my hubs). They are getting better and do have ideas of their own, but when they get stuck, I’m the go-to.

Choosing gifts for any occasion can be a daunting task. Especially when you’re giving gifts to people who already ‘have everything’ (aka my parents). I can't solve all your gift giving dilemmas in one post, but hopefully these tips will help.

Tip #1: Don’t just go to the mall and look around. 

This is unproductive and stressful. Don’t go shopping until you’ve narrowed down your idea to a few things, or a category. That will give you some direction and make finding a gift easier.

Tip #2: Make a budget. 

If you don’t have an amount that you’re prepared to spend, you can end up getting carried away and buying something that’s way too expensive, or multiple items because you’re not satisfied with the gift.

Tip #3: Stick to the budget. 

If you purchase a quality gift that comes in below budget, don’t go out and buy more items just to spend the money. The idea is about the gift, not the cost (although my dad would say 'of course it's about the money'). Think about it, if you got all the groceries you needed for a week and came in under budget, you wouldn’t just add more food to your cart to use up your extra money, would you?

Tip #4: Shop online. 

Online shopping is so easy now. You can find anything and everything there, without the stress of battling other shoppers, traffic, parking lots, line ups, etc.

Sites like Amazon.com carry everything from housewares to books to electronics. Etsy.com is great for those one-of-a-kind gifts. Plus almost every store that you would find in a mall has an online store.

Tip #5: Get creative. 

Home-made gifts are really thoughtful. Use your talents, whether it be baking, cooking, or simply assembling a basket of great products. Websites like Pinterest also have great DIY gift ideas.

Tip #6: Shop local. 

Check out the small businesses in your city. They often carry interesting/unique items that you wouldn’t find at the mall. Plus you support local businesses, which is always a good thing. 

I hope you'll find these tips helpful!

xx E.

Ps. I'm also pretty good at choosing gifts for people, so if you have a tricky person on your list, feel free to ask for advice :)

Etsy Shopping

With so many weddings, showers and birthdays always popping up, there's always gifts to be given.

Sometimes I want to give a unique gift, and luckily, Etsy is just the place to find one.

Here are a few of my favourite Etsy shops:

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I've given her illustrations to my sister-in-law and my brother's gf. They are all very girly, and also super reasonable.

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I've purchased things for myself from here, as well as gifts for friends. I have this print in red.

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She has great jewellery. I've given a pocket watch from here to my other sister-in-law.

All three have been wonderful to order from and I would totally recommend them. It's nice to give an original gift and Etsy makes it so easy.

My only tip, order well in advance. You just never know how long it will take to arrive (and it's different every time, even from the same shop).

There are so many different shops, you can get lost on Etsy for hours.

Happy Shopping!

xx E.

ps. How cute is this? Find it here.

Valentine's Day DIY

As we all know, we're coming up to one of my favourite holidays, Valentine's Day.

Side note: I love it so much that I even forgot that it's not an official statutory holiday, so when my entire department at work decided to each dress as one of the stat holidays for Halloween (hey, we're in HR, it works), I yelled out "dibs on Valentine's day!" ...then I was not-so-gently reminded that V-Day isn't a 'real' holiday...


Anyway, I love the day so much because I love LOVE and because hearts are my favourite shape.




I'm not that into giving gifts, I much prefer a romantic dinner with a valentine card and some chocolate. That being said, lots of people DO give gifts for V-Day and other than the obvious (flowers, chocolates, jewellery) it's difficult to come up with something original.

Last year, I got Husband this print for Valentine's day. Later in the year, for our anniversary, I was inspired. Framed words are so popular, and they're everywhere. I decided I would create my own.

Here's a quick and easy DIY that your significant other will certainly love, because it carries meaning specific to only you!

Choose one or two songs (or poems) that have particular meaning to you as a couple. I chose our song (It's Only Natural, Crowded House), the song from our first dance at our wedding (Lucky, Jason Mraz) and a song that my sisters-in-law read during our wedding ceremony (Better Together, Jack Johnson).

Out of those songs, choose one or two lines that convey the message you're trying to send (for example, It's always better when we're together)

Type out those lines in the font of your choice, making it bold enough to be able to read from a distance.

Print the lyrics out on cardstock, or pretty paper. Be careful to choose paper that the words will stand out on.

Choose a set of frames, and frame your work!

I chose to do three different fonts and different alignments for my lyrics, just to make each one unique. Husband loved them and they are on display in our bedroom.

This gift could work for any occasion, and for different people (it could be a great gift for your best friend, parents, etc, just choose a song that has meaning)

Happy (almost) Love Day!

xx E.

ps. what are your Valentine's Day plans?