Saint Patrick's Day

As you probably know tomorrow (The 17th March) is St Patrick's Day. 

St Patrick's Day is a time to let the imagination free to enjoy legendary Irish superstitions. (It doesn't really matter whether you are really Irish or not). Like most Australians,  I do have some Irish blood so this gives me a better excuse to celebrate. I have been thinking of some fun decorating that I could do to celebrate and remembered these cute green vintage jars. For the sake of the photo, they have green hydrangea stems, but I am planning to pick bunches of fresh clover to place in them. I think that will look cute!

The image above is from Martha Stewart and shows various types of shamrocks simply planted and growing in pots. This is perfect for a St Patrick's Day decor accent, but I am thinking about introducing this to my front porch all year round. (I think even I could manage to keep these pot plants alive!)

 

These cute green cupcakes pictured above can be found at 'bakerella.com' (there are some fantastic ideas here) last year I found some of these cute candy shamrocks at the supermarket. They make a very easy and fun cake decoration!

This image below is also from Martha Stewart. A four leaf clover is tucked into a grooms chest pocket for luck.

 

Of course, we all would like a little extra good luck to come our way......wearing green on St Patrick's Day is a good way to encourage it. I have this gorgeous green feather collar that I bought on a whim once and have not yet worn......I think it will be perfect for 'St Pats' !

Of course, It would not be much of a 'St Patrick's Day if there weren't drinks. You could have a green guinness, but I think these cocktails are much more elegant!

St Patrick's Day

cocktail glass

22ml Green Creme de Menthe

15ml IrishWhiskey

Dash Angostura bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Irish Rose

cocktail glass

45ml Irish Whiskey

22ml lemon juice

2 tsp grenadine

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The Green Fairy

Wow, it has been so busy lately that I totally missed Champagne Friday...not like me at all!
With Spring almost upon us , that means Fashion Week in Melbourne the social calender has been activated.. (after months of hibernating at home).
One of the events I have coming up is a party with a 'Paris Bohemia' theme and I am still wondering "what to wear!?!"  Of course there are many different ways that this theme could be explored. The first and most obvious thing that springs to mind are images from Baz Lurhman's Moulin Rouge and artists that were around at the time such as Toules Letrec and later Tamra De Limpicka, and even later one of my favourites, Frida Kahlo mixed with the Bohemian set in Paris.  Of course the Beatnik poetic is another type of bohemian character too and I could always get away with throwing on a beret and stripey top. I have plenty of outfits and props I could use after going to a few 1920's events too, if I add a feather boa and a long cigarette holder.....but me being me I though of cocktails and drinking..of course. I had the idea as going as 'The green fairy" AKA absinthe.
Absinthe is of course the drink of choice for the Bohemian set and notorious for it's hallucinogenic effects....even rumored to have caused an "epidemic of psychosis" in France around the late 1800's.
I loved Kylie as the green fairy in Moulin Rouge

So, I begin my hunt for a green fairy costume. A simple search on google and you fast learn that nearly every woman's costume you find has the word 'sexy' in front of it...'Sexy Green Fairy'....'Sexy Woodland Elf"...'Sexy Tinkerbell' or 'Sexy woodland Nymph'.....these outfits should really be called the "'Slutty Stripper  with Green Wings " costume....not really what I had in mind!

A little more persistance and my searching pays off. I found a lovely image to use for a point of inspiration...this is the kind of green fairy I had in mind. (of course putting this outfit together will take some time sewing and hot glue gunning so don't be surprized to see me post photos of myself in that stripey top)

This beautiful image is from deviantart.com by matusciac