Homemade Syrups

I'm not a morning person. My poor husband can attest to that. I get mad at him for even talking to me before I've had my coffee. Which is anytime before 7am usually. He also knows that if we run out of coffee, its NOT going to be a good day. That and when he steals all the hot water and I have to shower in freezing cold water. So cruel! Borderline abusive!....or when he turns on every light possible in the house. Who needs or wants to see that much in the morning!? It practically burns! I may have been a vampire in another life....but not like in a dorky, Twighlight kind of way. Just a normal, I don't like bright light kind of way. ANYWAY.....being out of coffee is a huge tragedy at our house to say the least. It truly is "The Elixir of Life". Studies have even shown it can improve clarity of the mind, among other wonderful things. I found out recently that you can MAKE your own coffee syrups. After I found out this amazing bit of knowledge I have been making ours ever since. Hello, those bottles cost $11 each! Its a rip-off! So if I can make my own, in about 10 mins, for pennies you bet I'm gonna do it. And I'm gonna show you how...

Vanilla Syrup
Ingredients:
Water
Sugar
Vanilla extract
I'm not joking....that's all you need.

In a saucepan place 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Stir over medium heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil. You should not be able to see any grains of sugar. It should be clear. Remove from heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Allow to cool then pour through a funnel into an empty syrup dispenser. Done!

and if you want to make caramel....

Caramel Syrup
Ingredients:
Water
Sugar
Caramel
In a saucepan combine 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar just like you did for the vanilla. When the sugar has dissolved, add 1/2 cup of caramel. (Fran's is especially yummy) Mix well until thoroughly combined. Done!

There are lots of flavors out there you could try. I found Raspberry, Lavender and Honey over at A Beautiful Mess. Yum! Enjoy with your morning coffee or if your feeling gift-y, give to a friend with a cute coffee mug. You can also buy cute fun bottles at The Container Store to store the syrup in if you don't have any old bottles to recycle. (Just make sure they are approximately 25 ounces...that's how much fits in the Torani bottles) See!? They have everything!

I have been using my old Torani bottles to store my syrups in, but today I decided to take it a step further and might I say, "greener" and make chalkboard labels for them so that I can change the label if I'm ever making a different flavor. I didn't think I would be painting again so soon. But here I am. Painting again.

If you want to do the same, all you do is take off the top plastic part on the bottle, then line around the label with blue painters tape.

Spray a light layer of chalkboard paint and let dry.

Then you can label your syrup and make any cute designs you want on it! Adorable. 

My artistry is a little lacking and they still look cute. There now. You can all flavor your coffee for practically nothing! Enjoy!