Beyond the Food Gifts: Holiday Chai Tea
My 9-year old daughter, Lila and I were assembling this year’s handmade Christmas gift the other day, a charming little chai tea handmade gift set, and she asked me how long I’ve been making holiday gifts. Honestly, probably since I was about her age. I remember making peppermint bark with my mom and giving it away to family and friends. I’ve always loved this tradition, and for years my gifts were food treats – truffles, fudge, decadent trail mix – that I inevitably treated myself to throughout the holiday season and left me feeling guilty and ill.
When I embarked upon my PCOS Diva journey, I decided I was no longer going to self-sabotage by giving food gifts that tempted me. This is my 6th annual “Beyond the Food Gifts” blog post, and I’m happy to share I’ll be giving Holiday Chai Tea.
We ended up making 40 gifts. Some I will pair with pretty holiday mugs and/or teapots. Here are all the details:
How To Make A Chai Tea Handmade Gift
Chai tea blend
I considered creating my own chai tea blend from scratch, but decided to go with a blend that is available at Monterey Spice Company. I have used this company for spices, including the mulling spices in the Winter Spiced Kitchen Spray and the Mulling Spice sachets I gave with bottles of wine. This chai blend is made with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and black pepper; the spicy blend is then coupled with a hearty black tea. I purchased 5 count 1lb. bags
Glass jars
You could use a variety of containers to fill with tea, but I chose 4 oz. glass jars with white caps from Specialty Bottle Company. They only cost .80 cents!
Labels
I have been using Evermine for my gift labels and tags for years. I love how the “Holly Rustic” design looked on the craft color background. I ordered the 2″ circle and they fit perfectly on the glass jar caps. I also bought the scallop hang tags in the same design.
Tea balls
I thought it would be a nice touch to attach a tea ball to the gift. I purchased the tea balls from Lionsdeal.com.
Recipe tag
I also included a recipe card for a Holiday Chai Tea Latte to finish off my Chai Tea handmade gift idea.
Holiday Chai Tea Latte
Makes 1 serving
You will need:
1 cup boiling water
1-2 tablespoons Holiday Chai Tea blend
1/4 cup hot milk
Optional sweetener to taste: honey, coconut sugar, or maple syrup
Grated nutmeg or cinnamon stick for garnish
Preparation:
Fill a tea ball with 1-2 tablespoons of Holiday Chai Tea. Steep tea in 1 cup boiling water for about 5 minutes. Remove tea ball and add ¼ cup hot milk, heated and whisked until frothy in a small saucepan. Stir in sweetener to taste. Enjoy!
For more non-food gift ideas, see my posts from years past below. Happy giving!
2013 Bath Salts
2014 Lavender Linen Spray
2015 Homemade Vanilla
2016 Mulling Spices (pair with a bottle of red wine)
2017 Kitchen Spray
Amy Medling, best-selling author of Healing PCOS and certified health coach, specializes in working with women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), who are frustrated and have lost all hope when the only solution their doctors offer is to lose weight, take a pill, and live with their symptoms. In response, Amy founded PCOS Diva and developed a proven protocol of supplements, diet, and lifestyle programs that offer women tools to help gain control of their PCOS and regain their fertility, femininity, health, and happiness.
