December 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Can a handmade gift truly capture the spirit of the holiday season? Join us on Bite Me as we explore the art of DIY cannabis gifts that promise to surprise and delight. This episode is a treasure trove of ideas for anyone looking to create thoughtful, budget-friendly presents with a personal touch. From crafting mouthwatering infused chocolate bark and caramels to creating soothing body oils and pain-relieving salves, we guide you through the process of making gifts that are as unique as the people receiving them. Plus, discover the secrets to festive packaging and clever ways to communicate potency, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.
Step into the world of homemade cannabis gift-giving that not only warms the heart but also soothes the soul. Whether you're whipping up spiced nuts, infusing hot sauces, or concocting your own cannabis-infused olive oil, these ideas cater to both sweet and savory palates. Elevate your gifting game with personalized spa sets or infuse a little magic into holiday drinks like hot chocolate and eggnog. Throughout the episode, we emphasize the joy of crafting these gifts even amidst busy schedules, offering tips to reduce holiday stress and overconsumption. Your loved ones will appreciate the thoughtful, handcrafted touches that make these gifts unforgettable.
Links & Mentions:
- Chocolate Citrus Nut Bark
- Fudge
- Caramels
- Roasted Nuts
- Hot Chocolate
- BBQ Sauce
- Body Butter
- Pain Relieving Salve
- Body Oil
- Butter & Flower
- Chill A Wine Lover's Intro to Cannabis
- Bite Me Edibles Journal
- Cannabis in Your Kitchen
- Calculator
Happy making!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to episode 279.
Today we are doing DIY cannabisgifts from the Bite Me archives
.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedgonger, margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here.
(00:28):
Welcome back, my friends, toanother episode of Bite Me, and
this one is coming out at a timewhere we're getting close to
the big day.
If it is Christmas that you'recelebrating, perhaps it's not.
You might be celebratingsomebody or another another
holiday, of which there are manythis time of year, and I hope
you're enjoying your holidays,no matter when and where they
(00:49):
happen to be occurring.
But if you are celebratingChristmas, then this episode is
coming out.
It'll be out a week before,just actually less than a week
before Christmas.
So tick tock, my friends, am Iright Now?
I know there are some of youare listening who have probably
gotten all of your Christmasshopping and baking and all
these things done bymid-November, and if that is you
(01:12):
, well, I commend you for thatlevel of organization.
Unfortunately, that is not manyof us, and so this episode is
to help you folks out there whoare needing some gift ideas for
the upcoming holidays.
It's going to include food,edibles, of course, and body
(01:32):
care products, and I personallythink that DIY gifts are really
thoughtful, they're fun to makeand they're perfect for cannabis
enthusiasts and the cannabiscurious as well.
So don't think that DIY giftsare lesser than a store-bought
gift.
I personally think they're not.
I love getting DIY gifts, likeI have a friend who loves to
(01:53):
make soap and she'll gift mebars of soap, and I love that
because that's what I like touse and it just means that you
have poured some of your time,energy and love to the thing
that you're making with thosepeople that you're gifting it to
in mind, and it's such aspecial thing to be like hey,
that person was thinking of mewhile they were making this.
So I hope that you can spendsome time in the kitchen, put on
(02:15):
some Christmas carols orChristmas music or whatever it
is that you like to listen to,because I know there's also
plenty of you out there whoprobably opt to not listen to
any Christmas music and you know, personally I don't mind some
Christmas music.
I have a couple of Christmasalbums that I love to listen to.
Michael Buble and Diana Krallhappen to be a couple of them,
both Canadian artists that putout fantastic vibey Christmas
(02:41):
albums and I really enjoylistening to those.
I'm not doing Mariah Carey overhere, I'm sorry.
I haven't really listened to alot of it this year, so maybe
I'll have to put some of that onmyself.
Take my own advice, but I dohave the Christmas tree up and
I'm getting pretty much ready.
I still have a few things to doand I have made quite a few DIY
gifts already this year, so I'mnot as organized as having
(03:04):
things done by mid-November, butI'm not also completely
unorganized either.
So this is to help you and tohelp me as well.
But why DIY gifts?
Well, personally, I think youadd that personal touch and
customization when you're makinga gift yourself and, like I
already mentioned, people reallyappreciate the thoughtfulness
(03:25):
yourself and, like I alreadymentioned, people really
appreciate the thoughtfulness.
They can also be budgetfriendly while also being
meaningful, and you knowfinances are tight for a lot of
folks this time of year andincreasingly, all times of year.
So why not do yourself a favorand find a way to have that
meaning and impact withoutbreaking the bank, because
Christmas the holidays is notsupposed to be about stressing
(03:49):
out and going into debt forChristmas.
I'm kind of over that, overconsumerism, over consumption
that we seem to get pushed moreand more every year.
I do recall earlier this year,halloween was over, it was
November 1st and I opened up asocial platform I think it was
TikTok on November 1st, and Iwas served my first Christmas ad
(04:13):
.
It's too soon, it's too soon,but there was this real focus on
buying stuff that people don'tneed and a way to get around
that is DIY gifts, and it's alsoa great way to share your
cannabis knowledge andcreativity as well with loved
ones who might not otherwise askquestions or use cannabis in
(04:36):
this way, and I do love that.
If you have folks in yourfamily that are, or friends
circle as well, that are notcannabis consumers, you can
still gift them topicals, andtopicals are such a beautiful
entry point into cannabisbecause they're safe and they
are incredibly effective for somany people and they're not
(05:03):
going to get high, so it's justone way to be like check out
this plant.
I know, you know that I use it,but you don't have to use it
the way that I do.
You can still benefit from it.
Diy cannabis.
Gifts are impactful in a lot ofdifferent ways.
All right, so let's get into it,shall we?
First of all, we're going tostart out with our sweet and
savory treats, because a lot ofpeople love to get tasty treats
(05:27):
and if they're infused it makesthem even better.
Let's be honest.
I mean, getting a box ofchocolates is nice, although
sometimes I may curse a person,because the last thing I need is
more chocolate or more sweetsthat I know I'm going to eat and
then I'm going to have toexercise even harder later to
work it off.
But if it's infused now, nowyou're speaking my love language
(05:52):
, because, one, I love an edibletie and, two, I can't eat the
whole box if they're infused,because we all know what will
happen if you do that.
So a sweet or savory treatthat's infused chef's kiss.
Now, the first one I'm going tostart out with I did this
episode recently was an infusedchocolate bark.
(06:13):
The one that I did for the BiteMe episode a few weeks ago was
a chocolate citrus nut bark, butof course you can tailor nut
bark to your audience if you'renot keen on.
On the citrus, the citrus was areally nice twist, but it's
perfect for the sweet tooths andwhen you cut it up into the
(06:35):
nice shapes, it really it reallylooks like a sophisticated gift
or sophisticated treat, andit's really easy to make as well
.
So it's not going to besomething you're going to have
to spend tons of time on in thekitchen to make an impressive
looking gift.
The next one I'm going torecommend is infused caramels or
fudge.
Now, I've made both of thesemore than once.
(06:58):
I have made probably three orfour pans of fudge already this
holiday season, and I have noneleft to gift at the moment.
So I'm going to have to makeanother four pans of fudge
already this holiday season, andI have none left to gift at the
moment, so I'm gonna have tomake another pan.
But fortunately, fudge is veryeasy as well.
Definitely falls into thecategory of of simplicity, along
with the chocolate bark, and ofcourse, you make a whole tray
of it and you cut it up intolittle pieces.
(07:19):
It's a lovely gift and you canalso modify your recipes to suit
suit you and your tastes or thetaste of whoever it is that
you're gifting it to.
Now.
Caramels are also a lovely gift.
They do require more hands-ontime, so they're not as fast,
but if you have somebody thatyou really care about and you
have the time, then it'simpressive visually because each
(07:41):
of the caramels are wrapped ina little piece of parchment
paper that you've cut out tolook like the ones that you
might buy at the store.
Of course they don't look likethe ones that you buy at the
store.
They definitely look DIY Atleast they do when I make them.
I am no Martha Stewart, butthey still look great.
And when you put them in a nicefestive container they have
(08:02):
that wow factor.
And I've had people try thecaramels.
I haven't made them in a while.
I really should revisit thembecause they also do freeze well
and usually the batch makesquite a few caramels.
You're not just making ahandful, you're making a number
of them and I've had peoplerequest caramels because they
are so good and they make agreat treat.
(08:22):
Now, of course, if you aregifting to people who are not
really into the sweets, whatabout those folks?
Well, this is where I thinkyour spiced nuts really comes
into play.
I did a sweet and spicy nut mixbefore for this episode, for
this, for Bite Me, the Showabout edibles and you can put
(08:43):
that in a nice little jar, againvery simple to make.
These are all ideas that arerelatively simple to make
because, of course, when we're aweek out, you don't have a ton
of time and I know you folks areall busy anyway.
So, even if it wasn't theholidays, you're all busy,
you're working and you're you'replaying and doing things.
So, uh, the spice, the uh, theuh, the roasted nuts is another
(09:05):
nice way to give the gift ofedibles.
Now, of course, you could alsoinfuse a favorite hot sauce or
barbecue sauce to somebody who'sinto that kind of thing.
That would make a really nicegift as well, so somebody who's
looking more towards the savoryend of things.
So don't forget about infusingsauces and hot hot sauces,
(09:26):
because that can make afantastic gift too.
And finally, I would be remissif I didn't mention eggnog and
hot chocolate.
Now, these might notnecessarily be gifts, although
what you could do with the hotchocolate is prepare a jar with
all the ingredients and theninclude a little vial of the
(09:49):
infusion that you would add intoit to make it an infused hot
chocolate.
That could be kind of fun to do.
But if you're having companyover for any kind of festive
celebrations, then hot chocolateis nice, but I love, love, love
.
I don't know if I can express toyou how much I love eggnog, and
I don't buy the store-boughtstuff.
It's not quite the same.
I figure, if I'm going to enjoyall that fat and sugar combined
(10:14):
together, I might as well makeit myself, and it's pretty easy
to make.
Actually, often I am one of thefew people imbibing in it.
My dad has partaken with mebefore, so I have to be mindful
of how I'm infusing it.
Of course, depending on who'sgoing to be enjoying it.
You can spike it or not.
I tend to not spike it if I'minfusing it with cannabis.
(10:37):
But you could always make twobatches and spike one with the
booze and spike one with thecannabis and see who wakes up at
the hangover the next day,although you'd have to drink an
awful lot of eggnog for that tohappen.
So you know, tread lightly, ofcourse, but I love eggnog.
There's just the combination ofall those flavors with the
(10:59):
spice.
That's just so good.
But you know, I drink it prettymuch like two days out of the
year and then that's it.
I mean, I don't buy it.
Like I said, I already don'tbuy it, but I'm not making jugs
of eggnog before Christmas, likeI am fudge.
So there's that.
Now, if you're looking for otherideas, don't discount the idea
(11:22):
of pantry staples.
You could gift honey or maplesyrup infused Beautiful, perfect
for people who like tea or whoare using honey or syrup on a
regular basis in their diet.
Tea just comes to mind becausethat's a lovely way to use honey
or syrup and of course, you canjust put it in a nice jar.
(11:45):
But that makes a lovely gift.
Also, what about cannabisinfused olive oil?
A gift of that?
That would be lovely.
Or cannabis infused butter.
But the olive oil is kind ofnice because it doesn't
necessarily have to be likerefrigerated or anything like
that.
Nothing necessarily have toinfuse or refrigerate the butter
, but you probably should.
Same goes, you could do acoconut oil as well.
(12:07):
But there's something nice andsophisticated, I think, about
the infused olive oil.
And you can get a nice, a niceolive oil, infuse it and you
could put it back in the samebottle.
You just got to make sure youwould label that bottle.
But those are two ideas thatwould make really nice gifts
because, as we know, there issome time time involved in
making an infusion.
You have to decarb that weed.
You have to.
(12:28):
You have to get the plantmaterial in the first place,
then you have to decarb it, thenyou have to infuse it and then
strain it and then bottle it.
But it can be used in so manyways.
And, of course, why not?
If you're going to go the routeof an infused olive oil, you
could consider pairing it with asmall loaf of homemade bread or
some nice buns or somethinglike that, and maybe a holiday
(12:51):
recipe card.
So it gives them some ideas ofhow to use that olive oil once
they have it.
So it gives them some ideas ofhow to use that olive oil once
they have it.
(13:17):
Next, like I mentioned at thetop of this episode, body.
This is a wonderful way tointroduce them to how fantastic
cannabis can be.
So why not think about makingan infused bath salt or soak?
I've done that before for theshow.
I believe I've also done bathbombs, but if you're running
short on time, you need, do needto get molds for the bath bombs
(13:37):
, and you can find them prettyeasily, probably like a craft
supply store or Amazon, ofcourse, but you're running out
of time, I'm going to say so thebath salts, actually, if you
put them in the right container,can look just as pretty and
impressive as a bath bomb, andthen people can use how much,
however much they want to use,to use, and you can customize it
.
Of course you could customizethe bath bombs as well, but with
(13:59):
your favorite essential oils,and that's a really lovely gift.
But I would say, when it comesto the bath bombs of bath salts,
the bath salts are probablygoing to be better.
That's what I would suggest forthat.
Go with the salts.
Now, of course, you can alsomake a cannabis infused body
butter or salve.
(14:19):
Those are one of the bodybutter.
I make a body butter all thetime.
I use it pretty much year round, but it is a godsend in the
wintertime because my skin getsso dry and I'm sure that's the
same for many of many of you outthere, especially if you're in
those cold climates that yourskin can just dry out and you
feel like you're a crocodile orsomething like that.
The body butter is rich andit's emollient, but the one that
(14:40):
I make, which I will link to inthe show notes, does not sort
of soak into the skin too well.
It does sit for a while andsome people like that feeling
and other people don't.
One way that I love using it isI will, I will put it on my
feet and then put my socks onand my feet have never.
I've been doing that a lotlately and my feet have never
been softer.
And it's so nice and you justdon't worry as much about how it
(15:04):
doesn't soak in as fast whenit's on your feet.
But I love doing that.
And a salve?
I do have one, a pain-relievingsalve that a listener sent to
me quite some time ago that Idid an episode around and that's
just a very simple pain reliefsalve that you can put in a nice
little tin and give to somebodythat you care about that you
know might be suffering fromsome arthritis or other kinds of
(15:25):
aches and pains, and that'sanother lovely way to show
someone that you care.
And introduce them to cannabisas well, if they're not regular
cannabis consumers.
If you don't think that thebody butter, if you think that
that might be a little bit toothick for someone, a body oil or
massage oil is also a wonderfulgift.
I use the body oils all thetime.
(15:47):
I've been using like a face oilon my face, but the body oil is
great for when you do wantsomething to sort of soak into
your skin faster but you want toreally fight that dry winter
skin.
And of course, you can createscent combinations depending on
what essential oils you have orcan pick up, and that makes a
really nice gift as well.
(16:09):
You can also, if you want, tocreate sort of home spa gift
sets.
You can have your infusedproducts like a body butter or a
body oil or your salts, andthen maybe you go to the store
and you get a bar of soap and aloofah or something like that,
just to make it all cometogether.
Maybe you're going to throw insome of your fudge or your
spiced nuts or whatever it is.
(16:31):
But creating combinations isalso a great way to sort of put
some of these together in anattractive package for somebody
that really deserves it thisyear.
And you know, baskets, giftboxes, reusable bags there's a
lot of different ways that youcould sort of put those together
to make it look really nice.
Finally, how are you going topresent and package all of these
(16:51):
?
Well, ideally if you can useeco-friendly or festive
packaging Now, that's gettingeasier these days to do.
I went to the dollar store theother day to get some cardboard
boxes.
They had festive ones, they hadplain ones that were for other
times of the year, I guess, andfestive can mean very
Christmassy, with like SantaClaus on it or something.
(17:11):
But there's plenty of optionstoo that are more wintry, which
I sometimes like to go forinstead of the overt Christmas
stuff.
And the dollar store alsocarried a lot of glass jars, and
some of them were like justreally nice glass jars with a
bamboo lid and like a rubberstop.
So those are nice options aswell.
But there's all kinds of thingsyou can just pick up the dollar
(17:33):
store for just a little bit ofmoney and it can really take
your your, your topical, yourbody care product or your edible
and make it look wow.
For not a lot of money you canget pretty creative with that
kind of stuff.
The other thing I would mentionis personalized labels.
That's another way to make youredibles or your body care
(17:55):
products really stand out, andyou can go to an office supply
store and pick up blank labelsand then design something online
that you can print, and it justadds that little professional
touch.
And why not consider alsoincluding recipe cards or how-to
notes along with the productsthat you're gifting, because
that way people will receivethem and they'll know how to use
(18:17):
them if they're unfamiliar orif they're new to edibles,
because some they might not knowthat when you apply a topical
it can sometimes take up to 20minutes for that topical to
really start to do its magic.
A card that would include alittle bit of that information
would really help, and sometimesit's nice to you know, just
talk about the fact that youmade this and maybe you grew the
weed or or whatever the casemight be, and like show that
(18:40):
farm to table kind of journey oror just personalize it to the
person who's receiving the gift.
And this is also important aswell If you're going to be
including edibles gifts withpeople where you're maybe unsure
of their tolerance as well.
So do be sure that you're doingthe math on anything that you're
(19:00):
gifting.
I can't stress that enough, andI of course have a calculator
over at bite me podcast that'sfree to use and you can figure
out the potency of whatever itis that you're making with a
reasonable amount of accuracy.
I mean, you do have to considerif you don't know the potency
of your cannabis your startingmaterial is going to.
You might be guessing a littlebit, but it gives people at
(19:23):
least a benchmark of wherethey're at and you can say well,
if this thing is 20 milligramsper piece of fudge, let's say,
then you could include enoughfudge so that, if they want,
they can cut that piece into upto four pieces and then they can
go from there and then you knowwork from there.
(19:43):
I like to do stuff like that,because receiving edibles blind,
without any kind of idea howstrong they are, just doesn't
work.
And experienced cannabis users,depending on your tolerance, I
mean, you might be like, oh,that's fine, because you have a
high tolerance, you know thatsomebody might gift you
something.
You'd be like, yeah, it'sprobably not strong enough.
I myself don't fall into thatcategory.
I have a higher tolerance thansome people.
(20:05):
I'm about a 20 to 30 milligramkind of gal.
But that 20 or 30 milligramsfor somebody else might cripple
somebody.
And of course I know people whocould eat 100 milligrams and
barely be affected by it.
So don't forget the tolerancesvery widely and include as much
(20:25):
information as you can in a niceway, like including the note
and of course, if you're also soinclined, including a recipe
card if you're going the routeof pantry items, a recipe card
or something to that effect canbe something nice to include
with your gift as well.
Don't forget to labeleverything properly.
Just because you're doinghomemade labels doesn't mean
(20:46):
that it can't look attractive.
But when I say label, I'm notjust saying, oh here's, you know
, margaret's body butter, alabel like that, but make sure
you have somewhere that it'sclearly infused and how much is
in it.
Now, it's not really soconcerning when it comes to the
topicals, of course, because youcan't get high from topicals,
but if you're doing anythingthat they're going to be eating,
(21:07):
you have to include that umpotency with whatever it is that
you're gifting, um, and youneed to be mindful of your
recipient's preferences andtolerance levels, and if you're
unsure, this is why that becomeseven more important.
The last thing I want to mentionand this isn't necessarily a
(21:27):
DIY, but as a book lover, I lovegifting books, and there are
several people that have put outbooks this year that I think
are worth sharing, and if thisis something that you're
interested in, you might be ableto pick them up at your local
bookstore.
That's where I always checkfirst.
Then books are also always awonderful gift as well, and if
(21:48):
you know somebody that's reallyinto making edibles, a cannabis
cookbook can be a wonderful wayto give them some inspiration.
Besides, of course,recommending bite me the show
about edibles, but let merecommend ann alchin's book
butter and flour and stoned.
I'd also like to recommendamanda breeze's book that she
(22:09):
put out uh, I can't remember thename of it off the top of my
head is escaping me.
I'm Amanda, but she did a bookon making topicals and that's a
gift that can keep on giving aswell, and I made the lotion bars
from her book and they arefantastic.
I'll be gifting a number ofthose to friends and family this
year as well, but I use itevery day on my back.
It's just infused cacao butterwith some other ingredients and
(22:33):
it's really soft, and I rub iton my back in the morning and I
rub it on my at night and alsowhenever else I need a little
relief and it it's magical.
So I would recommend that bookalso.
Jackie McGaskill she was also aguest on the show earlier this
year, not that long ago, and sherecently came out with a book
called chill the wine loversintroduction to cannabis, and
(22:55):
that is a book, obviously forwine drinkers who are new to
cannabis, and it really showsthe parallels between cannabis
and wine, and she does that insuch an approachable way.
So if you have any people thatare curious about cannabis, or
maybe they're still harboringsome of that stigma or some of
that propaganda that we all manyof us grew up with depending on
(23:16):
aging myself right here, datingmyself because I did grow up
with some of that propaganda andso if you have wine lovers in
your life that are curious ormaybe they're holding some of
that stigma, this can be areally great approachable book
to give them, just to get themthinking about it, maybe trying
some things out for themselves,like a nice topical.
So those are some books that Irecommend.
(23:38):
There are so many wonderfulcannabis cookbooks out there.
I may create an Amazon list andjust list some of the ones that
I have on my shelf, because Ihave a number of them now and I
do like to collect them, but Ialso like to have ones that are
unique.
It's really easy to just end upwith a shelf full of all kind
of the same book, but I thinkthere's some wonderful authors,
(23:59):
many of whom have been guests onthis show as well.
So that's not exactly DIY, butyou are supporting other fellow
cannabis creators out there thatare doing some cool stuff in
the world.
So thank you for listening in.
I hope this gives you a littlebit of inspiration as we get
closer to the holiday season,and I hope you're looking
(24:20):
forward to some downtime withyour friends and family.
But take this inspiration, runwith it.
Tag me in anything that youcreate online.
I would love to see it.
And until next week, my friends, I am your host, margaret.
Stay high.
Welcome to episode 279.
Today we are doing DIY cannabisgifts from the Bite Me archives
.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedgonger, margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here.
(00:28):
Welcome back, my friends, toanother episode of Bite Me, and
this one is coming out at a timewhere we're getting close to
the big day.
If it is Christmas that you'recelebrating, perhaps it's not.
You might be celebratingsomebody or another another
holiday, of which there are manythis time of year, and I hope
you're enjoying your holidays,no matter when and where they
(00:49):
happen to be occurring.
But if you are celebratingChristmas, then this episode is
coming out.
It'll be out a week before,just actually less than a week
before Christmas.
So tick tock, my friends, am Iright Now?
I know there are some of youare listening who have probably
gotten all of your Christmasshopping and baking and all
these things done bymid-November, and if that is you
(01:12):
, well, I commend you for thatlevel of organization.
Unfortunately, that is not manyof us, and so this episode is
to help you folks out there whoare needing some gift ideas for
the upcoming holidays.
It's going to include food,edibles, of course, and body
(01:32):
care products, and I personallythink that DIY gifts are really
thoughtful, they're fun to makeand they're perfect for cannabis
enthusiasts and the cannabiscurious as well.
So don't think that DIY giftsare lesser than a store-bought
gift.
I personally think they're not.
I love getting DIY gifts, likeI have a friend who loves to
(01:53):
make soap and she'll gift mebars of soap, and I love that
because that's what I like touse and it just means that you
have poured some of your time,energy and love to the thing
that you're making with thosepeople that you're gifting it to
in mind, and it's such aspecial thing to be like hey,
that person was thinking of mewhile they were making this.
So I hope that you can spendsome time in the kitchen, put on
(02:15):
some Christmas carols orChristmas music or whatever it
is that you like to listen to,because I know there's also
plenty of you out there whoprobably opt to not listen to
any Christmas music and you know, personally I don't mind some
Christmas music.
I have a couple of Christmasalbums that I love to listen to.
Michael Buble and Diana Krallhappen to be a couple of them,
both Canadian artists that putout fantastic vibey Christmas
(02:41):
albums and I really enjoylistening to those.
I'm not doing Mariah Carey overhere, I'm sorry.
I haven't really listened to alot of it this year, so maybe
I'll have to put some of that onmyself.
Take my own advice, but I dohave the Christmas tree up and
I'm getting pretty much ready.
I still have a few things to doand I have made quite a few DIY
gifts already this year, so I'mnot as organized as having
(03:04):
things done by mid-November, butI'm not also completely
unorganized either.
So this is to help you and tohelp me as well.
But why DIY gifts?
Well, personally, I think youadd that personal touch and
customization when you're makinga gift yourself and, like I
already mentioned, people reallyappreciate the thoughtfulness
(03:25):
yourself and, like I alreadymentioned, people really
appreciate the thoughtfulness.
They can also be budgetfriendly while also being
meaningful, and you knowfinances are tight for a lot of
folks this time of year andincreasingly, all times of year.
So why not do yourself a favorand find a way to have that
meaning and impact withoutbreaking the bank, because
Christmas the holidays is notsupposed to be about stressing
(03:49):
out and going into debt forChristmas.
I'm kind of over that, overconsumerism, over consumption
that we seem to get pushed moreand more every year.
I do recall earlier this year,halloween was over, it was
November 1st and I opened up asocial platform I think it was
TikTok on November 1st, and Iwas served my first Christmas ad
(04:13):
.
It's too soon, it's too soon,but there was this real focus on
buying stuff that people don'tneed and a way to get around
that is DIY gifts, and it's alsoa great way to share your
cannabis knowledge andcreativity as well with loved
ones who might not otherwise askquestions or use cannabis in
(04:36):
this way, and I do love that.
If you have folks in yourfamily that are, or friends
circle as well, that are notcannabis consumers, you can
still gift them topicals, andtopicals are such a beautiful
entry point into cannabisbecause they're safe and they
are incredibly effective for somany people and they're not
(05:03):
going to get high, so it's justone way to be like check out
this plant.
I know, you know that I use it,but you don't have to use it
the way that I do.
You can still benefit from it.
Diy cannabis.
Gifts are impactful in a lot ofdifferent ways.
All right, so let's get into it,shall we?
First of all, we're going tostart out with our sweet and
savory treats, because a lot ofpeople love to get tasty treats
(05:27):
and if they're infused it makesthem even better.
Let's be honest.
I mean, getting a box ofchocolates is nice, although
sometimes I may curse a person,because the last thing I need is
more chocolate or more sweetsthat I know I'm going to eat and
then I'm going to have toexercise even harder later to
work it off.
But if it's infused now, nowyou're speaking my love language
(05:52):
, because, one, I love an edibletie and, two, I can't eat the
whole box if they're infused,because we all know what will
happen if you do that.
So a sweet or savory treatthat's infused chef's kiss.
Now, the first one I'm going tostart out with I did this
episode recently was an infusedchocolate bark.
(06:13):
The one that I did for the BiteMe episode a few weeks ago was
a chocolate citrus nut bark, butof course you can tailor nut
bark to your audience if you'renot keen on.
On the citrus, the citrus was areally nice twist, but it's
perfect for the sweet tooths andwhen you cut it up into the
(06:35):
nice shapes, it really it reallylooks like a sophisticated gift
or sophisticated treat, andit's really easy to make as well
.
So it's not going to besomething you're going to have
to spend tons of time on in thekitchen to make an impressive
looking gift.
The next one I'm going torecommend is infused caramels or
fudge.
Now, I've made both of thesemore than once.
(06:58):
I have made probably three orfour pans of fudge already this
holiday season, and I have noneleft to gift at the moment.
So I'm going to have to makeanother four pans of fudge
already this holiday season, andI have none left to gift at the
moment, so I'm gonna have tomake another pan.
But fortunately, fudge is veryeasy as well.
Definitely falls into thecategory of of simplicity, along
with the chocolate bark, and ofcourse, you make a whole tray
of it and you cut it up intolittle pieces.
(07:19):
It's a lovely gift and you canalso modify your recipes to suit
suit you and your tastes or thetaste of whoever it is that
you're gifting it to.
Now.
Caramels are also a lovely gift.
They do require more hands-ontime, so they're not as fast,
but if you have somebody thatyou really care about and you
have the time, then it'simpressive visually because each
(07:41):
of the caramels are wrapped ina little piece of parchment
paper that you've cut out tolook like the ones that you
might buy at the store.
Of course they don't look likethe ones that you buy at the
store.
They definitely look DIY Atleast they do when I make them.
I am no Martha Stewart, butthey still look great.
And when you put them in a nicefestive container they have
(08:02):
that wow factor.
And I've had people try thecaramels.
I haven't made them in a while.
I really should revisit thembecause they also do freeze well
and usually the batch makesquite a few caramels.
You're not just making ahandful, you're making a number
of them and I've had peoplerequest caramels because they
are so good and they make agreat treat.
(08:22):
Now, of course, if you aregifting to people who are not
really into the sweets, whatabout those folks?
Well, this is where I thinkyour spiced nuts really comes
into play.
I did a sweet and spicy nut mixbefore for this episode, for
this, for Bite Me, the Showabout edibles and you can put
(08:43):
that in a nice little jar, againvery simple to make.
These are all ideas that arerelatively simple to make
because, of course, when we're aweek out, you don't have a ton
of time and I know you folks areall busy anyway.
So, even if it wasn't theholidays, you're all busy,
you're working and you're you'replaying and doing things.
So, uh, the spice, the uh, theuh, the roasted nuts is another
(09:05):
nice way to give the gift ofedibles.
Now, of course, you could alsoinfuse a favorite hot sauce or
barbecue sauce to somebody who'sinto that kind of thing.
That would make a really nicegift as well, so somebody who's
looking more towards the savoryend of things.
So don't forget about infusingsauces and hot hot sauces,
(09:26):
because that can make afantastic gift too.
And finally, I would be remissif I didn't mention eggnog and
hot chocolate.
Now, these might notnecessarily be gifts, although
what you could do with the hotchocolate is prepare a jar with
all the ingredients and theninclude a little vial of the
(09:49):
infusion that you would add intoit to make it an infused hot
chocolate.
That could be kind of fun to do.
But if you're having companyover for any kind of festive
celebrations, then hot chocolateis nice, but I love, love, love
.
I don't know if I can express toyou how much I love eggnog, and
I don't buy the store-boughtstuff.
It's not quite the same.
I figure, if I'm going to enjoyall that fat and sugar combined
(10:14):
together, I might as well makeit myself, and it's pretty easy
to make.
Actually, often I am one of thefew people imbibing in it.
My dad has partaken with mebefore, so I have to be mindful
of how I'm infusing it.
Of course, depending on who'sgoing to be enjoying it.
You can spike it or not.
I tend to not spike it if I'minfusing it with cannabis.
(10:37):
But you could always make twobatches and spike one with the
booze and spike one with thecannabis and see who wakes up at
the hangover the next day,although you'd have to drink an
awful lot of eggnog for that tohappen.
So you know, tread lightly, ofcourse, but I love eggnog.
There's just the combination ofall those flavors with the
(10:59):
spice.
That's just so good.
But you know, I drink it prettymuch like two days out of the
year and then that's it.
I mean, I don't buy it.
Like I said, I already don'tbuy it, but I'm not making jugs
of eggnog before Christmas, likeI am fudge.
So there's that.
Now, if you're looking for otherideas, don't discount the idea
(11:22):
of pantry staples.
You could gift honey or maplesyrup infused Beautiful, perfect
for people who like tea or whoare using honey or syrup on a
regular basis in their diet.
Tea just comes to mind becausethat's a lovely way to use honey
or syrup and of course, you canjust put it in a nice jar.
(11:45):
But that makes a lovely gift.
Also, what about cannabisinfused olive oil?
A gift of that?
That would be lovely.
Or cannabis infused butter.
But the olive oil is kind ofnice because it doesn't
necessarily have to be likerefrigerated or anything like
that.
Nothing necessarily have toinfuse or refrigerate the butter
, but you probably should.
Same goes, you could do acoconut oil as well.
(12:07):
But there's something nice andsophisticated, I think, about
the infused olive oil.
And you can get a nice, a niceolive oil, infuse it and you
could put it back in the samebottle.
You just got to make sure youwould label that bottle.
But those are two ideas thatwould make really nice gifts
because, as we know, there issome time time involved in
making an infusion.
You have to decarb that weed.
You have to.
(12:28):
You have to get the plantmaterial in the first place,
then you have to decarb it, thenyou have to infuse it and then
strain it and then bottle it.
But it can be used in so manyways.
And, of course, why not?
If you're going to go the routeof an infused olive oil, you
could consider pairing it with asmall loaf of homemade bread or
some nice buns or somethinglike that, and maybe a holiday
(12:51):
recipe card.
So it gives them some ideas ofhow to use that olive oil once
they have it.
So it gives them some ideas ofhow to use that olive oil once
they have it.
(13:17):
Next, like I mentioned at thetop of this episode, body.
This is a wonderful way tointroduce them to how fantastic
cannabis can be.
So why not think about makingan infused bath salt or soak?
I've done that before for theshow.
I believe I've also done bathbombs, but if you're running
short on time, you need, do needto get molds for the bath bombs
(13:37):
, and you can find them prettyeasily, probably like a craft
supply store or Amazon, ofcourse, but you're running out
of time, I'm going to say so thebath salts, actually, if you
put them in the right container,can look just as pretty and
impressive as a bath bomb, andthen people can use how much,
however much they want to use,to use, and you can customize it
.
Of course you could customizethe bath bombs as well, but with
(13:59):
your favorite essential oils,and that's a really lovely gift.
But I would say, when it comesto the bath bombs of bath salts,
the bath salts are probablygoing to be better.
That's what I would suggest forthat.
Go with the salts.
Now, of course, you can alsomake a cannabis infused body
butter or salve.
(14:19):
Those are one of the bodybutter.
I make a body butter all thetime.
I use it pretty much year round, but it is a godsend in the
wintertime because my skin getsso dry and I'm sure that's the
same for many of many of you outthere, especially if you're in
those cold climates that yourskin can just dry out and you
feel like you're a crocodile orsomething like that.
The body butter is rich andit's emollient, but the one that
(14:40):
I make, which I will link to inthe show notes, does not sort
of soak into the skin too well.
It does sit for a while andsome people like that feeling
and other people don't.
One way that I love using it isI will, I will put it on my
feet and then put my socks onand my feet have never.
I've been doing that a lotlately and my feet have never
been softer.
And it's so nice and you justdon't worry as much about how it
(15:04):
doesn't soak in as fast whenit's on your feet.
But I love doing that.
And a salve?
I do have one, a pain-relievingsalve that a listener sent to
me quite some time ago that Idid an episode around and that's
just a very simple pain reliefsalve that you can put in a nice
little tin and give to somebodythat you care about that you
know might be suffering fromsome arthritis or other kinds of
(15:25):
aches and pains, and that'sanother lovely way to show
someone that you care.
And introduce them to cannabisas well, if they're not regular
cannabis consumers.
If you don't think that thebody butter, if you think that
that might be a little bit toothick for someone, a body oil or
massage oil is also a wonderfulgift.
I use the body oils all thetime.
(15:47):
I've been using like a face oilon my face, but the body oil is
great for when you do wantsomething to sort of soak into
your skin faster but you want toreally fight that dry winter
skin.
And of course, you can createscent combinations depending on
what essential oils you have orcan pick up, and that makes a
really nice gift as well.
(16:09):
You can also, if you want, tocreate sort of home spa gift
sets.
You can have your infusedproducts like a body butter or a
body oil or your salts, andthen maybe you go to the store
and you get a bar of soap and aloofah or something like that,
just to make it all cometogether.
Maybe you're going to throw insome of your fudge or your
spiced nuts or whatever it is.
(16:31):
But creating combinations isalso a great way to sort of put
some of these together in anattractive package for somebody
that really deserves it thisyear.
And you know, baskets, giftboxes, reusable bags there's a
lot of different ways that youcould sort of put those together
to make it look really nice.
Finally, how are you going topresent and package all of these
(16:51):
?
Well, ideally if you can useeco-friendly or festive
packaging Now, that's gettingeasier these days to do.
I went to the dollar store theother day to get some cardboard
boxes.
They had festive ones, they hadplain ones that were for other
times of the year, I guess, andfestive can mean very
Christmassy, with like SantaClaus on it or something.
(17:11):
But there's plenty of optionstoo that are more wintry, which
I sometimes like to go forinstead of the overt Christmas
stuff.
And the dollar store alsocarried a lot of glass jars, and
some of them were like justreally nice glass jars with a
bamboo lid and like a rubberstop.
So those are nice options aswell.
But there's all kinds of thingsyou can just pick up the dollar
(17:33):
store for just a little bit ofmoney and it can really take
your your, your topical, yourbody care product or your edible
and make it look wow.
For not a lot of money you canget pretty creative with that
kind of stuff.
The other thing I would mentionis personalized labels.
That's another way to make youredibles or your body care
(17:55):
products really stand out, andyou can go to an office supply
store and pick up blank labelsand then design something online
that you can print, and it justadds that little professional
touch.
And why not consider alsoincluding recipe cards or how-to
notes along with the productsthat you're gifting, because
that way people will receivethem and they'll know how to use
(18:17):
them if they're unfamiliar orif they're new to edibles,
because some they might not knowthat when you apply a topical
it can sometimes take up to 20minutes for that topical to
really start to do its magic.
A card that would include alittle bit of that information
would really help, and sometimesit's nice to you know, just
talk about the fact that youmade this and maybe you grew the
weed or or whatever the casemight be, and like show that
(18:40):
farm to table kind of journey oror just personalize it to the
person who's receiving the gift.
And this is also important aswell If you're going to be
including edibles gifts withpeople where you're maybe unsure
of their tolerance as well.
So do be sure that you're doingthe math on anything that you're
(19:00):
gifting.
I can't stress that enough, andI of course have a calculator
over at bite me podcast that'sfree to use and you can figure
out the potency of whatever itis that you're making with a
reasonable amount of accuracy.
I mean, you do have to considerif you don't know the potency
of your cannabis your startingmaterial is going to.
You might be guessing a littlebit, but it gives people at
(19:23):
least a benchmark of wherethey're at and you can say well,
if this thing is 20 milligramsper piece of fudge, let's say,
then you could include enoughfudge so that, if they want,
they can cut that piece into upto four pieces and then they can
go from there and then you knowwork from there.
(19:43):
I like to do stuff like that,because receiving edibles blind,
without any kind of idea howstrong they are, just doesn't
work.
And experienced cannabis users,depending on your tolerance, I
mean, you might be like, oh,that's fine, because you have a
high tolerance, you know thatsomebody might gift you
something.
You'd be like, yeah, it'sprobably not strong enough.
I myself don't fall into thatcategory.
I have a higher tolerance thansome people.
(20:05):
I'm about a 20 to 30 milligramkind of gal.
But that 20 or 30 milligramsfor somebody else might cripple
somebody.
And of course I know people whocould eat 100 milligrams and
barely be affected by it.
So don't forget the tolerancesvery widely and include as much
(20:25):
information as you can in a niceway, like including the note
and of course, if you're also soinclined, including a recipe
card if you're going the routeof pantry items, a recipe card
or something to that effect canbe something nice to include
with your gift as well.
Don't forget to labeleverything properly.
Just because you're doinghomemade labels doesn't mean
(20:46):
that it can't look attractive.
But when I say label, I'm notjust saying, oh here's, you know
, margaret's body butter, alabel like that, but make sure
you have somewhere that it'sclearly infused and how much is
in it.
Now, it's not really soconcerning when it comes to the
topicals, of course, because youcan't get high from topicals,
but if you're doing anythingthat they're going to be eating,
(21:07):
you have to include that umpotency with whatever it is that
you're gifting, um, and youneed to be mindful of your
recipient's preferences andtolerance levels, and if you're
unsure, this is why that becomeseven more important.
The last thing I want to mentionand this isn't necessarily a
(21:27):
DIY, but as a book lover, I lovegifting books, and there are
several people that have put outbooks this year that I think
are worth sharing, and if thisis something that you're
interested in, you might be ableto pick them up at your local
bookstore.
That's where I always checkfirst.
Then books are also always awonderful gift as well, and if
(21:48):
you know somebody that's reallyinto making edibles, a cannabis
cookbook can be a wonderful wayto give them some inspiration.
Besides, of course,recommending bite me the show
about edibles, but let merecommend ann alchin's book
butter and flour and stoned.
I'd also like to recommendamanda breeze's book that she
(22:09):
put out uh, I can't remember thename of it off the top of my
head is escaping me.
I'm Amanda, but she did a bookon making topicals and that's a
gift that can keep on giving aswell, and I made the lotion bars
from her book and they arefantastic.
I'll be gifting a number ofthose to friends and family this
year as well, but I use itevery day on my back.
It's just infused cacao butterwith some other ingredients and
(22:33):
it's really soft, and I rub iton my back in the morning and I
rub it on my at night and alsowhenever else I need a little
relief and it it's magical.
So I would recommend that bookalso.
Jackie McGaskill she was also aguest on the show earlier this
year, not that long ago, and sherecently came out with a book
called chill the wine loversintroduction to cannabis, and
(22:55):
that is a book, obviously forwine drinkers who are new to
cannabis, and it really showsthe parallels between cannabis
and wine, and she does that insuch an approachable way.
So if you have any people thatare curious about cannabis, or
maybe they're still harboringsome of that stigma or some of
that propaganda that we all manyof us grew up with depending on
(23:16):
aging myself right here, datingmyself because I did grow up
with some of that propaganda andso if you have wine lovers in
your life that are curious ormaybe they're holding some of
that stigma, this can be areally great approachable book
to give them, just to get themthinking about it, maybe trying
some things out for themselves,like a nice topical.
So those are some books that Irecommend.
(23:38):
There are so many wonderfulcannabis cookbooks out there.
I may create an Amazon list andjust list some of the ones that
I have on my shelf, because Ihave a number of them now and I
do like to collect them, but Ialso like to have ones that are
unique.
It's really easy to just end upwith a shelf full of all kind
of the same book, but I thinkthere's some wonderful authors,
(23:59):
many of whom have been guests onthis show as well.
So that's not exactly DIY, butyou are supporting other fellow
cannabis creators out there thatare doing some cool stuff in
the world.
So thank you for listening in.
I hope this gives you a littlebit of inspiration as we get
closer to the holiday season,and I hope you're looking
(24:20):
forward to some downtime withyour friends and family.
But take this inspiration, runwith it.
Tag me in anything that youcreate online.
I would love to see it.
And until next week, my friends, I am your host, margaret.
Stay high.
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