Home-grown, Hand-made, Vintage Christmas! Vol 1

We have decided here at Your Vintage Life to share you with you some of our Christmas ideas. They are all based around home-grown, hand-made and of course vintage.

There is nothing better than receiving a gift with has had lots of thought, time and oodles of love given into the idea. So, here are is what we will be doing this year.

Volume 1

First the Blackberry Vodka.

Now is the time to go out blackberry picking. They are still very ripe but you need to be quick as the birds are eating them and this late sun is drying them out. We have only a few in our back garden so I went over to our local park, Tupperware container in hand!  Pick high as these are the juiciest. Wear boots as all the nettles will get in your way (I had to go home to change my footwear!) I picked loads..but you only need about 200 grammes of berries for almost a litre of vodka.

You will need a sterilised large jar. I have old Kilner jars but whatever you use it needs to be airtight. An old coffee jar should be fine. This needs to be sterilised. We have kept our baby steriliser as this is so quick for jam jars etc.

Now I’m not one for total precision with measurements. I filled half the jar with washed berries (about 250g as I wanted it to be very strong with flavour). Sprinkle some brown sugar on the top to speed up the process and also to take some sharpness away. I sprinkled some cloves and cinnamon in too, as this will make it very Christmassy! Use 2 cloves and a cinnamon stick (I used ground as this is all I had in the spice rack!)

Fill the jar up to the top with vodka. Buy cheap stuff..keeps the price down but also there is no need to use your finest booze here.  I used about 3/4 of a litre..but this is how much the jar holds. I would suggest using a half berry, half vodka ratio.

Now, give it a gentle shake to dissolve the sugar and store for a week or so in a dry place..room temperature, no sunlight. Give it a shake or stir throughout the weeks to help that sugar dissolve.

I would now leave it alone until nearer the time. Decant it, strain it and pour into nicer smaller bottles for gifts. I suggest getting some small bottles so you can share it around. Don’t waste the fruit either…it will be infused with alcohol so will be yummy, slightly heated poured over ice cream for a winter treat.

Now remember this is a gift not for you (although it’s always best to make enough for your own Christmas Eve cocktail party!)

So we have the home-grown and the hand-made..now it’s time to add the vintage. Team the vodka with vintage glasses, and how about a decanter or a cocktail shaker. Shot glasses are another great idea. Wrap them up in a small vintage basket and add nibbles or olives for the perfect boozy hamper. (Maybe add some headache pills too as you may well need them!) I will show you mine nearer the time after I have decanted them.

Enjoy..not long til Christmas!

p.s. Remember this will be very boozy…please drink responsibly x

Here are some gift ideas from Your Vintage Life, for your boozy hamper. Just click on the photos to buy now!

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This Weeks Giveaway: A crochet throw worth £25.

Simply: 1. Sign up to the blog 2. Leave us a comment about the blog 3. Tell your friends through Facebook, Twitter etc so they can join in the vintage fun!

Winner will be drawn on Thursday 6th October x