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To make a tea blend, you can start with store-bought black, green, or rooibos tea and add other ingredients like spices, dried citrus peels, and dried flowers. Or, you can make an herbal tea with organic, dried herbs from your garden, farmers' market, health food store, or online source such as Mountain Rose Herbs.

Here are just a few blends:
• Authentic Chai with black tea and spices like cardamom, peppercorns, and cinnamon
• 1 cup black tea, 1 tablespoon dried orange peel, 1 tablespoon cinnamon bark
• 1 cup green tea, 1 tablespoon dried lemon peel, 1 tablespoon dried ginger
• 1 cup rooibos tea, 1 tablespoon dried lavender
• equal parts lemon balm, mint, and lemongrass
• equal parts rosehips, hibiscus flowers, and mint

For more ideas, check out Straight from the Farm's herbal tea recipes. Or just experiment! And please comment if you have a good blend to share.

When it comes to packaging, you can use pretty (and preferably light-proof) canisters or make your own tea bags. Here are a few options:
• Home Made Tea Bags from Bonzai Aphrodite – tutorial for rounded sachets (shown above)
• Tea Bags for Gifts and Favors from lillyella – tutorials for no-sew and simple sewn rectangular bags
• Press & Brew Tea Bags from Mountain Rose Herbs – all you have to do is fill the bags and iron them shut (shown above)

Related: Holiday Gift Guide: Homemade Edible Presents for Mailing

(Images: Bonzai Aphrodite, Flickr member superiphi licensed under Creative Commons, Mountain Rose Herbs)