Homemade Pepper Vodka

One way to guarantee an awesome bloody mary is mixing it with pepper vodka. I had regular vodka, but that just wouldn't do. So, I made my own pepper vodka. I have to admit, its better than any pepper vodka I've ever bought! Here's how you can make some too!
All you need is vodka, a jar, and an assortment of peppers. I also got some sour cocktail onions, but that's totally optional.

Slice up your peppers.
Put in jar. Pour vodka over them. Close jar, give it a little shake.
I let the vodka "marinate" for about a week prior to our bloody mary buffet. When making the bloody mary's I used a strainer to pour the vodka into a shaker. Trust me, your bloody marys will never be the same again. Oooh spiceeeey!

Merry Meet

Ever since I started (and finished) my once a month party challenge last year, I can't seem to stop planning little get togethers! I had this idea for awhile now to do a bloody mary buffet, so I decided now was as good a time as any. I invited the girls over for some appetizers and an appetizer in a glass! This would make a fun party with grillin season around the corner!

I made sure we had all the fixins....and an excuse to use my super cute veggie dishes!

I even used my dollar store mirror "vases" to create arrangements of lettuce, cabbage and artichokes.
We enjoyed mini caprese salads too!
My party wouldn't be complete without cookies! I made some to represent veggies and others inspired by the table cloth.
I wanted the "title theme" to be a play on "Mary" but didnt have much success. So I used a common Wiccan greeting, Merry Meet.
I also designed some subway-style art!
On each end of the table was a recipe for a Minnesota Mary or Wisconsin Mary (I'm originally from the real cheese state!)
Mmm...mmm....MMM! Appetizer in a glass!

You Capture: Youth

This week's challenge on You Capture was "Youth". At first, I was unsure about this because my exposure to children is limited. I'm not around them much. So then I got to thinking, children are not the only subject matter that can represent youth. I ended up taking a few more photos than I expected because I was having so much fun!! I also loved the black and white effect too. Check it out....

One of my favorite childhood toys....Troll Dolls!

My very favorite Barbie Doll. I loved her because she wasn't blonde and didn't look like the rest of the Barbies.
Quints! Anybody remember these?
Sweet Secrets....these were my favorite! I carried them everywhere. I also believed them to be magic. I still do. One may end up in my purse now.
This is especially for my friend Robyn. We were obsessed with harp seals, and saving the endangered harp seal. We drew all kinds of pictures and made all kinds of art, all for the love of these seals.
This is actually the original idea I had for my Youth shot. Youth...is fleeting. Now that I'm 30, I'm being shall we say, proactive, about caring for what is now considered my "aging" skin. I am hanging onto my youth by using these products. Clinging to the hope that I will stay young for as long as I possibly can.

Billiard Balls

Here is a recent collection of cupcake toppers I did. Perfect for the billiards enthusiast in your life!

Zebra Fashionista

Recently I made this collection of cookies "Zebra Fashionista" for my dear friend Holly. She has been one of my biggest supporters and loves zebra print. I couldn't resist!
The collection includes:

• Handbag
• Dress
• Shoes
• Bustier (Gotta look good under the dress too!)
• Heart (A true fashionista has a big beautiful heart....like Holly!)
• Music (Fashionistas put their style together while rockin out to the best tunes!
  

Here are a couple of close ups...

Thanks for all of your support Holly!!

You Capture: Emotion in Black & White

This week's You Capture challenge was "Emotion in black and white". I really want to get into more black and white photos, so I was excited. Then I realized, not many people around me enjoy having their photo taken....especially if I'm trying to capture something when they don't realize it. I didn't have a lot of social interaction over the week, outside of work. Creeping around my job trying to capture people's emotions, sure wasn't going to go over well with a bunch of rough neck mechanics!
Then there was an afternoon that I was running an errand to the post office. I walked out, past this line of newspaper boxes. All of the headlines were about the devastation in Japan. It hit me, emotion isn't just on people's faces. Emotions are behind everything we do, say, think, and even read. Looking at rows of newspapers with headlines like these captured emotion for me this week. Its not what I imagined. No children laughing, or sweet elderly couples holding hands. But the emotion is raw, even if its in print.

For Japan With Love

Watching the news is surreal. I can't quite wrap my mind around the devastation in Japan. When I learned about For Japan With Love, I knew I had to join in. My heart goes out to everyone who lost, lived, and is trying to find their way through this tragedy. I am participating in Bloggers Day Of Silence, tomorrow March 18th. Over 300 bloggers will be silent to honor those in Japan who have suffered in such an unimaginable way.
This brilliance began with the ladies at Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours teaming up with Shelterbox to create a fundraising site, For Japan With Love. Shelterbox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth, and dignity to those worldwide who have been affected by disasters. To donate, or for more information visit For Japan With Love. Spread the word.

Oh Lucky Day!

Mark this one on the calendar kids! I actually got a holiday post up before the holiday. Nevermind that its the day before! Actually the reason I was able to pull this off is because David and I have to make our own holidays. Our work schedules don't usually jive well so we often have to "reschedule" holidays. This is the St Patrick's Day table I did for us. Hope it gives you some last minute inspiration!

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I am so lucky to be part of such a talented and generous blogging community. For example, check out the awesome banner on top....That is from the lovely Lindi at Love the Day. I used many more of her St Patrick's Day printables to create the bands on the glassware, the paper rosettes and the photo props!!
The incredibly talented ladies over at Eighteeen 25 created this lucky subway art printable!
I cant get enough of theses printables either! Elixir of Luck labels were provided by the fantastic team at Design Sponge!
Of course, what would a party be without my newest obsession, the Rosette Cake. Beautiful even in kelly green. How lucky is that?!
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I also decided to try these Leprechaun hat pops! They are chocolate dipped marshmallows! These were so easy to make, I'm so proud of them!
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I also took inspiration from the cookie master Sugarbelle. Two of her recent posts inspired my lucky collection. See them both here and here.
We enjoyed a pork and cabbage dinner, Irish soda bread, and of course goodies from this table. On the left side of the table is an assortment of printable photo props and some other fun St Patrick's Day gear to take goofy photos together.
We had a great time sharing our early SPD together. A special thank you to all of these wonderful bloggers who share with the world their brilliant ideas!

Shamrockin!

St Patty's Day is just around the corner, and it wouldn't be complete without a few shamrock cookies!
I made these cookies to go in the goodie bags for kids participating in the Minneapolis St Patrick's Day Association's Wee Leprechaun Contest! Kids dress up in their best Irish gear and compete to win a Wii.
Luckily, all the Wee Leprechauns got to have their sugary shamrock!
Stay tuned for more St Patty's Day fun! Hopefully you'll find some last minute inspiration!

You Capture: Body Parts

I'm a little late on my You Capture post this week. The theme was "Body Parts".
This is David's nose. We both joke about how our kids are going to have giant noses because we both have large schnozes!

My freckles! They are very light right now, but in the summer they become super dark.

This is sort of a dual photo. Caesar's note and his weird creepy feet.
This is Sookie, and the focus should be on her hair. This is the longest we have ever let her hair grow and its about time for a shave. She can hardly see!

Happy Birday!

My Mom's birthday was this week and I sent her some birthday cookies!



I was inspired by this scrapbook paper from Three Bugs in a Rug.
I especially loved how the clouds turned out on this one!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mardi Gras Masks

OK, as per usual, I am a little behind on posting fun stuff related to holidays, celebrations, and stuff that's you know, pre-determined and I should know to plan in advance. Right.
Recently I saw this post on Sweetopia which reminded me that I had a mardi gras mask cookie cutter! I bought this cutter ages ago, when I too was inspired by Peggy Porschen's book, Beautiful Cakes. I just never got around to using it. Well, here is what I did, last minute of course!
I could die how brilliant that blue glitter is! And it tastes good too! I was surprised. I had not used it before, and I expected it to make my cookies taste grainy. Nope, not at all. Delicious!

The green was a bit of a let down. I didn't realize it at the time, but I ordered it online and it was a different brand than the blue glitter. That may have something to do with its lack luster sparkle.
I'm hooked on this blue now though! All kinds of ideas swirling around in my already over-loaded brain! Oh and I should mention, I also tried a new chocolate rolled cookie recipe, and I'm loving it!!