One of the best Christmas gifts you can get from neighbors is vanilla they make themselves. You can be that neighbor! You do need to start on it now. Let the vanilla beans soak in alcohol for a year for maximum flavor. Emilie Peterson shares how to make your own vanilla. Different alcohols will lead to different flavors. Once it's done, leave the beans in the bottle and pour out the extract! You can fill it one more time and get another delicious bottle of vanilla.