DTY- Do Tea Yourself
/The once frowned upon has become mainstream. Being thrifty is now in! But that’s not news to most people. DIY has become so popular in the past years that it’s common for “nice scarf,” to be followed directly by “did you make it yourself?” or even reciprocated with “Thanks! I made it myself!” Up until very recently I figured there was no downside to the DIY movement and I was all for it. But then I read this article published in The Dartmouth about the potential downsides or dangers of this ever-growing fad and now I’m not so sure. Andrea Nease makes many good points about the reasons people are doing and making things themselves and brings to light the real reasons we should, or shouldn’t, be doing them. I agree with her that we are more likely to be attached to something we paid close attention to producing, like that scarf you took five hours to make, than to something you didn’t even have to leave your apartment for and purchased online only to have it arrive on your doorstep a few days later.
This mainly applies to things like sewing your own hats, crocheting a pair of mittens, or refinishing your dressers among plenty of other things. A million websites are ready to supply you with easy-to-follow instructions on how to do almost anything. I feel safe in assuming that Pinterest is one of the most popular websites for today’s DIY adventurers. But did you know Pinterest is also great for recipes? Okay I’m sure you did, but did you know you can also find tea recipes and make your own blends?
Of course, you don’t need recipes for tea unless you’re trying to recreate something specific, or to find some magical cure for something, and then again it’s mostly the ingredients you need to know about. One of my favourite tisanes (or herbal teas) to make at home lately is fresh gingerroot with lime and a few grains of rock sugar or drops of honey. You find the best combinations by just exploring. I’ve found that peppermint goes quite well with this combination, believe it or not. You can always use recipes as guidelines if you don’t know where to start. If you want to try it out, Bulk Barn is a great place to get dry ingredients and spices. Yes, you can put spices in tea.
Photo Credit: Meghan Anderson-Colangelo
ROXANNE PEPIN
I’m Roxanne Pepin and I am a Professional Writer, blogger, realist, cyclist, and cat lover at large studying at Algonquin College, in Canada’s capital city. I am an aspiring fiction writer and copy editor who writes for my fellow fiction lovers, music lovers, book worms, cycling enthusiasts, tea devotees, and real-time, high-on-life junkies.
