Gather together friends for a ‘crafternoon’ of festive food while you create bespoke handmade gifts
A truly personalised gift, you can make these rustic bags with your friend’s name on and their favourite tea.
Handmade tea bags
Makes 18–24 tea bags – six per gift
unbleached cheesecloth
fabric for the label, string, twine, linen ribbon, silver ribbon
a needle and thread
loose leaf tea
small brown Kraft bags seasonal foliage
black ink stamp
alphabet stamps
1 Cut the cheesecloth into 13 x 13cm squares.
2 Cut the string (that attaches the tea bag to the tag) into 15cm lengths.
3 Cut your fabric into a long 2.5cm strip and then cut that into 6cm pieces.
4 Fold down one short end of a fabric piece with the right side of the fabric facing away from you, then place one end of the string in the centre and sew into place.
5 Fold the fabric in half so the ends meet, and sew the sides together. Repeat until your required amount of tags are done.
6 Place around 2 tbsp of tea into the centre of the cheesecloth square. Gather the corners to make a pouch.
7 Tie the string from your tag to the pouch very securely, sealing the tea within.
8 Trim the excess cheesecloth and any excess string. Repeat.
9 Add 6 tea bags to each brown bag. Fold down the top twice, make a hole centrally with a hole punch and thread through and wrap around string, twine or ribbon. Add some seasonal foliage.
10 To create the name tag, cut a strip of wide linen ribbon, use a hole punch to create a hole at the top end, and use an ink pad and stamp kit to stamp the name. Attach to your bag with the ribbon.
Turn to page 30 of December's The Simple Things for three more makes - Stollen muffins, Peppermint creams, and Lemon, olive oil & rosemary body scrub - plus a menu fit for a crafternoon, including Chicken & bacon pie, and Eggnog with cognac.
