There’s something about a good villain. Particularly a villain that still makes a statement decades later. As I’ve tended to gravitate towards costuming villains (and…), Ursula from The Little Mermaid really appealed to me. I’ve seen some spectacular Ursula cosplay at DragonCon and on the internet. This young lady was my inspiration for costuming Ursula, however […]
DIY
The Judgement of Italy: a Homemade Limoncello Tasting
Continued from Homemade Limoncello: Italian Moonshine Of course we needed to taste all the limoncello we just made! We made two limoncellos with different lemon varieties and two limoncellos with herbs. Compare those four with two limoncellos from Italy and you’ve got yourself an impromptu party! Between the four of us, we tasted six limoncellos in […]
Homemade Limoncello: Italian Moonshine
I’ll take limoncello over dessert any day. Limoncello is a lemon liqueur made primarily in Southern Italy, and especially renowned from Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. Italians drink limoncello as a digestivo, or after dinner drink. It’s fantastic and I tend to order it anywhere it’s available. Typically I buy limoncello at a […]
Wine Barrel Bed for a Little Dog in a Big Dog’s Body
On impulse, I bought a quarter wine barrel at Wimberly Winery, a winery in the Texas Hill Country. Sure, most people would plant something in it, but I felt like it was a good size for a dog bed. We already have a wine barrel bistro table that I made from a Becker Vineyards barrel, […]
Wedding Things and Stuff for Other People
After doing my own wedding, a dear friend of mine asked me to help her with some minor wedding reception decor and favors. I was much obliged to help her enhance the wine theme that she had begun working on. Enophilia was already a big part of Monica and Bret’s lives together, as they had […]
Christmas Crackers are the New Stocking Stuffers
Christmas crackers, a popular tradition in the UK, is now a tradition in our home. I had seen them in stores like Marshall’s and Home Goods, but I never fully understood what they were until I became a Doctor Who fan. Rather than buying them though, I make my own. For the past couple […]
A Chic Wedding that Didn’t Cost a Gazillion (Part 2)
Continued from A Chic Wedding that Didn’t Cost a Gazillion Planning chic DIY wedding wasn’t only about the crafts and consumables. I needed to plan logistics, and that included a variety of spreadsheets and checklists. I modified a Martha Stewart wedding checklist to fit my needs and went from there. Knowing we would be sailing […]
A Chic Wedding that Didn’t Cost a Gazillion
I planned a chic Christmas wedding in four months. It wasn’t a shotgun wedding or anything, it’s just that I was in grad school and we wanted to just do it. Neither one of us have wealthy families, nor did we want to spend tens of thousands on a wedding when we would rather spend […]
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Wine Barrel Bistro Table
My favorite impulse buy during a weekend in the Texas Hill Country was a used wine barrel. I bought it from Becker Vineyards in Fredericksburg for $100, hoisted it into the back of my SUV, and drove that mother home. I knew I wanted to convert it into a bistro table for the breakfast area, […]
Pepper Jelly and Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Butter, Oh My!
There are a few recipe variations from my basic jam/jelly/marmalade formula. Apple Pepper Jelly has always been a huge hit at parties. It is blissful on crackers with cream cheese, and I’ve heard of some people spreading it on sandwiches in lieu of mayonnaise or mustard. My Cranberry Sauce is a holiday favorite, and leftovers […]