Chai Tea - morning and night

I really do love the idea of giving handmade gifts ... and there are soooooo many things to make and create and assemble that can reflect some more creative thought and love ... normally time (aka bad planning) is my enemy. But I got it right this time!! Woot!!

This gift basket is lined with a floral apron (the ties of it are the bow around the front)

CHAI TEA SYRUP

I used this recipe to make the syrup. Actually, I used it twice! The first time I let it boil ... and for a while (I may have got distracted!) and it tasted very bitter! I turfed that and tried again. I added way more sugar than the recipe suggested and found the syrup generally to be a little 'weak' (which is why I suggested 2 parts syrup to one part milk/water rather than the other way around as indicated in the recipe). My only experience of Chai Tea is the powdered, sweet stuff so I don't really know if it tasted as it was intended. There's a lot of room for experimenting and adjusting the various spices and flavours. Go crazy!!

SCRIPTURE MUGS

So, all you have to do is write on the mugs with a Sharpie and then 'cook' them for 30 mins in a nice hot oven. My hand isn't particularly steady and, particularly on the rounded, slippery, awkward surface, I was a little all over the place with direction and sizing etc. GOOD NEWS!!! Before it's been baked on, just a wet cloth or paper towel will wipe it off!!! Yay! I ended up with a cotton bud dipped in water to fix little bits so I didn't have to re-do whole sections.

I looked for a verse to encourage in the morning and one to affirm at night.

These are the 'start' of the verses ...

... and the ends ...

... and the references.

It was a fun project to put together. I'm looking forward to doing some 'tweaking' of the idea for other gifts in future.