With the holidays around the corner, I’m hard at work seeking and testing out fun & creative “Do-It-Yourself” ideas for this year’s gift giving festivities. Not enough money in the world can ever replace a gesture straight from the heart, and what better way to express your appreciation by hand-crafting presents for your loved ones (plus, it’s a bit easier on the pockets).
Since one of my besties adores tea, I came up with the idea of creating a personalized tea collection to give her during our annual ‘Kris Kringle’ gathering. I found this simple tutorial on Indigo’s Blog on how to create test tube favours. I chose to use loose tea as my filler, but theoretically you can use any filler you want – spices, candy, or bath salts are all great filler options.
Let’s get started shall we?
Time Needed: 1 hour per set
Budget (5 sets): $50-$60
Materials Needed:
- Test tubes with Cork Lids (suggested quantity: 5-6 per person)
- Loose Tea (I’m using @DavidsTea Fall Collection Loose Leaf for this one – yum!)
- Cotton string
- Construction Paper
- Decorative Rubber Stamps (maximum ¾-inch wide)
- Ink Pad
- Scissor
- Heavy duty punch
- Black Pen
- Plain paper
Instructions:
1. Create your tags: Trim construction paper into ¾-inch by 3 ½ inch rectangles. Use your decorative rubber stamp and ink pad to decorate your tag in any way you want. I had these handy alphabet stamps so I opted for using the letter “T” as my main design (get it….T = tea!).
2. Fill test tubes with loose tea: Scoop approximately 50ml of loose tea onto plain paper. Carefully twist the plain paper to create a make-shift funnel, and funnel loose tea into test tube. Secure cork lid
3.Affix your tags: Punch a small hole on your tag. Use the cotton string (approximately 10 inches long) to affix your tag onto your test tube. Make sure you wrap the string around the test tube a few times to ensure your tag’s nice and secure.
Voila! Easy peasy. Feel free to play around with cute ways to package your tea collection. You can use anything – clear vases, wooden test tube holders, even a spice rack will work depending on the size of your tubes. Since this present will be a part of my friend’s stocking, I’m keeping the packaging simple and wrapping more cotton string around all the tubes.
Happy D-I-Y!
Inspiration: Hand-Made Weddings
