I made homemade vanilla extract and homemade vanilla sugar to gave out this past Christmas.
To make the vanilla extract, you need vodka (80 proof), vanilla beans and bottles. I bought one pound of the Madagascar Bourbon Grade B Extract beans from Vanilla Products USA (http://www.vanillaproductsusa.com/servlet/the-33/One-Poun.... Grade A beans have more moisture and you would need to use more beans. So just get the cheaper Grade B beans.
I bought my bottles from SpecialtyBottle.com. I bought the 4 oz. clear round bottles with polyseal caps. After I bought them, I found out it would have been better to get the amber bottles to help block out the light. The clear are OK, but you just need to keep them in the cupboard so the light doesn't breakdown the vanilla.
You will need 6 vanilla beans for every cup of vodka (anything less then you are just making vanilla flavored vodka). So if you use the 4 oz. bottles, you need 3 beans for each bottle. Split open the vanilla beans and put into your bottle (if you use the 4 oz bottles, you will need to also cut your beans in half). Then pour in vodka. Leave a little room at the top so that it will mix when you shake the bottle. Shake every few days.
There are some differences of opinions as to when the vanilla is ready. Some say in as little as two weeks, the vodka is ready, others say anywhere up to one year. So you can start your vanilla extract now and it will definitely be ready for Christmas. I didn't find out about making vanilla extract until the beginning of December. I just let the recipient know that the longer they let it sit before using, the stronger the flavor so it was up to them as to when they wanted to start using it.
Also you can just keep refilling the bottles with fresh vodka and keep reusing the same vanilla beans until they start to lose their flavor and disintegrate (about 1 year). For my personal use, I have one bottle that I use and one bottle that I just leave sitting to strengthen the flavor. I then refill the bottle I use with the vanilla from the other bottle (I then refill that bottle with more vodka). That way I always have the stronger vanilla extract to use while the other has time to steep and strengthen.
To make homemade vanilla sugar, split open two vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds inside. Add the seeds to two cups sugar. Then I take a fork and really work the seeds into the vanilla otherwise the seeds just clump up and don't disperse in the sugar. Then add the rest of the vanilla bean and shake to cover with sugar. The sugar is ready in a couple days. You will know when you open the jar and can smell the vanilla. Just refill with sugar as needed.