Simple Chai Tea Latte Recipe To Save You Money!

Lately, I'm pretty sure I have ingested more chai tea latte than actual water. If I could live on the stuff I totally would! Unfortunately, at about $5 or $6 a cup at Starbucks, because of course I have to get a venti, they don't really fit into my budget. I actually have no idea what they cost me because I kind of just throw my money at Starbucks and try to not think about it, oops. Let's just say it's $5 for a venti. At $5 a day for 365 days, that comes to a total of $1,825. That's enough to pay for the Louis Vuitton travel bag I've had my eye on and I would even have some left over! I thought to myself one day, "There must be a better way to get my fix." So one night I decided to try making a chai tea latte at home and what do you know, it turned out great! This recipe is to make a whole pitcher because one cup just won't cut it for me.


What You Need:

8 bags of chai tea
4 cups of water
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup of honey
Optional cinnamon
Optional whip cream if you want to drink it hot


The Process:

1. Boil 4 cups of water in a medium pan.
2. Steep 8 bags of chai tea for about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of honey. I added a little bit of cinnamon but you don't have to since chai tea is already a spiced tea. 
4. Pour into a pitcher and let it chill in the fridge for an hour.

For an iced latte, just pour over ice and enjoy. If you would like a hot latte, pour into your coffee cup and warm in the microwave. Add whip cream and a little bit of cinnamon on top for a cute Instagram picture.


Experiment with different brands of teas and different types of milk until you find something you like. I used Tazo Chai Classic and 2% milk. A fun variation would be vanilla almond milk! Have fun and enjoy!

How To: Make A No Sew Tie Blanket

The colder months are finally upon us which also means that gift giving season is here. I've always believed that homemade gifts mean much more than something that is simply store bought. I'm sure that many of you would agree with me here but who has time to sit down and craft a bunch of gifts?! Maybe if you're the "Stepford Wife" type but then you wouldn't be reading this in the first place. Any project that I don't want little hands helping me on are done during nap times and we all know how short those can be when we have things to do! With time and level of difficulty in mind, I give you the simple no sew tie blanket!

Here is a YouTube video that I made to help you visualize what I'm describing. (There are a few times that I get my wording mixed up but hey, I did this at 2am.)

Supplies

• A good pair of scissors. You will be cutting through a double layer of fleece. Bad scissors will make this process absolutely horrible!
• 2 1/2 yards of two different styled fleece materials. You can do the same for both sides but I've always found it more fun to do a top layer and bottom layer that are different. Whether it's a child's blanket or an adult's blanket, I have always used this much. I like my little one to grow into her blankie. The final result will actually be a little smaller than this because we are cutting and tying.
• A 5X5 piece of paper or box. 

Steps

1. Lay your fleece on top of each other. Keep in mind that some materials have a "good" side and a "bad" side. For example, one side of my 49ers material was very blurring. I wouldn't want that side to be facing up because then that would be the side that I see on the blanket.
2. Put your 5X5 paper or box into the corner of the blanket. Cut around the box and remove the pieces. Do this in all four corners. This step is very important! These cutouts will insure that our blanket remains a rectangle after we tie the fringe. Skipping this will leave you with a somewhat circular blanket.
3. Cut your fringe around the entire blanket. Make sure that the height of your cuts are meeting with how tall your cutout is. Your fringe can be as thin or as wide as you would like.
4. Tie each top layer with it's matching bottom layer. I always double my knot and make sure that it is very secure that way it won't fall apart in the washer. There are several ways to tie them but just doing normal knots is the fastest. 

And there you have it! You now have a beautiful fleece blanket. I usually keep my fringe long but you can cut them to be shorter after you have tied them. I have put mine in both the washer and dryer with low heat and haven't experienced any issues.


Happy crafting!