Homemade Gift: Bloody Mary Kit with Spicy Bloody Mary Mix with Herb Infused Vodka

Christmas is two days aways - ahhhhh! I bet you're still looking for that perfect gift for that person that has everything . Well search no more, you've found the answer right here.  (Note: This gift is geared towards adults so if you're looking for a child's gift I'm sorry our search will continue.)  If you love to brunch & imbibe this one is for you or your friends or both! Just a few words - bloody mary kit.

You'll need to find some cool bottles or recycle old ones you have. I bought mine at fishs eddy (these & these). Some cute labels (like these) &  a marker. Oh & a cute box or gift bag to wrap it.

Then you'll need the most easy & delicious recipes for the best customized bloody mary, EVER, which I found while reading one of my favorite vegetarian blogs, Oh My Veggies, (totally worth checking out even if you eat meat!) the other day.  I stumbled across the brilliant kit ideas in the potluck section.

Sherrie from With Food and Love posted how-to make her insanely beautiful & easy rosemary infused vodka & linked to her bloody mary recipe. She had me at bloody mary & next thing I know I'm whipping up my own bloody mary kits with herb infused vodka thanks to her inspiration for gifts(!).  Be sure to check out Sherrie's post on making rosemary infused vodka here, & get her original bloody mary recipe here.

Read on to see how I put my own twist on Sherrie's great gift idea!

Personalized Gift Idea: Keepsake Photo Box

The holidays are upon us so I thought I'd share this idea with you guys in case you were looking for a way to gift someone that has everything. You can never have too many memories.

This past summer I wanted to create a thank you gift for my sistter-in-law Marie & her family with the photos I took of our trip to the beach but I didn't want to make a photo album.  I came across MpixPro's custom image boxes & I knew instantly that is what I would make. 

You can customize the box & it holds hundreds of photos. Sometimes you just want to pick through photos & hold them in your hand, you know?

MpixPro has fabulous photo papers & offers templates to create your own custom image box - albeit you need to have a MpixPro account & some Photoshop skills but don't worry I found some other non-graphic designy ones for you that look just as great, here & here.

Click through for some more photos.

PS: Happy birthday to my brother, Paul!

Photo GIft Ideas

Cameras are everywhere in all shapes & sizes. Mine (the best Christmas gift ever! from the hubs) is never too far away to capture goofy moments or yummy dishes.  If I don't have it with me I rely on my phone camera.

I have tons of photos on my hard drive that, well, sit on my hard drive. I did a quick search for giftable items to make with my photos & was thrilled at the results.

Aside from the classic photo album, these are my new top three faves!

1. Smartphone Case: gelskins.com has virtually every kind of case you can customize & put fun photos on of your loved ones... like this one of Chris! (suprise, you're on the blog today!)
2. Memory Game: (most possibly my favorite of the bunch) pinholepress.com allows you to make a classic card game your own with photos of loved ones or whatever you choose! This would make a great birthday gift of housewarming gift for homes with children or adults wanting to sharpen their memory skills.
3. Christmas Ornament: decorate your tree with your favorite photos with these great ornaments from shutterfly.com. Also, a great housewarming gift for new homeowners.

What other customizable gifts are you giving this holiday season? Please share!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower Gift

Yesterday we celebrated my adorable & very pregnant sister-in-law, Marie.  Above is the gift that I crafted up for my new niece or nephew.  Clearly, it was inspired by the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was also the base of the stack of gifts.  Click through to see more photos of how I made this baby shower gift, plus my favorite part of this gift.

A Housewarming Gift in a Jar

This past week I had the pleasure of dining at chateau Alice, my very cool & fancy culinary friend. She & her beau just moved into this perfectly sun-drenched apartment in NYC.  (More on the yummy eats & recipes from Alice to come) In hopes to bring a gift that Alice (the girl who has everything) didn't seem to have I went the practical route & crafted up this gift of useful household stuff in a glass jar that she could use right away & not worry about storing.  I was definitely pinspired by something I'd seen on pinterest. It was really easy & fun to make! Best of all (I think) Alice loved it!

Ingredients:

• 1 large glass jar
• 1 bottle of yummy hand soap
• 1 magnetic grocery list
• 2 sponges
• 2 dish towels
• 1 sheet of alphabet stickers
• 1 gift bag

Make it!

1. Choose a message & spell it out with the alphabet stickers on the side of the glass jar. I found these in the scrapbook aisle at Target.
2. Roll up one dish towel & nestle it in the jar.
3. Arrange all of the other products neatly inside the jar.
4. Use the second towel in place of tissue paper, wrap it & gift it in a cute gift bag.

Check out some more how-to photos after the jump!