Clare's Sweet Mint Hot Chocolate

As it's getting colder, we can enjoy hot beverages again! Clare is sharing a delicious recipe with you, so you'll be prepared for winter, or to try already.

Sweet Mint Hot Chocolate

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What you need for a warming drink before winter sets in:

50g of dark chocolate ❣ 250ml of milk ❣ a couple of hardboiled mint sweets (like Fox's Glacier mints or similar!) ❣ sugar!

What to do:

Bring the milk to boiling point in a pot and add one or two of the mint sweets, depending on how minty you'd like the drink to be. Stir on a high heat setting until the sweets melt and mix with the milk. ❣ Bring the heat down and grate the dark chocolate in until it melts ❣ Stir in some sugar to taste (you won't need too much as the sweets would help with sweetening!) ❣ Serve in a cute mug while wearing a thick knitted cowl and some mittens ;)

Alternatives : Instead of mint sweets, try clove or cinammon...or any hardboiled sweets! I highly recommend trying caramel and mint together!

You should also pop over to Clare's blog Borderline, as it's always filled with amazing posts! And if you haven't already, you would also want to check out the PhotoShop tutorial she did here earlier this month.

Structured Chaos Giveaway!

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Autumn has come and all the leaves have turned orange, however, here's your change to literally hold on to some green. Because up for grabs is an amazing purse from Structured Chaos.

The lucky winner will walk away with one Citrus Hannah Clutch! It'll make you feel like a movie star! It's so pretty! The design, the print, the fabric, the beautiful fur. It even has gorgeous dark red patterned lining!

Lady Pattie's store Structured Chaos is filled with amazing goodies! From notebooks to all sorts of pretty accessories.

She has even made her own commercial!

And now for the giveaway! It's international, so anyone, anywhere is allowed to join in:)

Mandatory:

Just leave a comment saying what your favorite Structured Chaos item is.

Extra entries (leave a seperate comment for each you do):

-Follow Lady Pattie's Blog.

-Follow Blue Eyed Night Owl.

-Blog about the Autumn Blog Party or put the banner in your sidebar.

The winner will be announced on the 6th of November, so that gives you one week:) Good luck!

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Amber's Zombie Cake Tutorial

Amber has made a great Halloween tutorial. I just can't get over how real and amazing this delicious cake decoration looks!

My friend and I put together a surprise party for our friends 20^th birthday last year and the theme was Halloween Horror. I had cake duty and created an awesome zombie cake that would be great for any Halloween party.

What you’ll need

• Cake Mix of your choosing
• 1 container Chocolate Frosting
• 3 containers of Vanilla Frosting
• Red, green, and black food coloring
• Teddy grahams
• Oreo cookies
• Milano Cookies
• Aluminum Foil
• Zip-lock bags
• Piping bag with decorative tips *optional

For this cake I used two 8” round cake pans but it’s just as easy to make it into a sheet cake. Bake cake according to instructions on the box.

While the cake is baking you can start decorating the teddy grahams and Milano cookies.

• Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil to put the cookies on.
• Mix a small amount of vanilla icing with some red food coloring.
• Put the icing in a zip lock bag and cut a tiny bit of the corner to create a piping bag.
• Pipe on the eyes ears of the teddy grahams and set what left over “guts” icing to the side.

Do the same with the chocolate icing but don’t make the cut too big because you’ll be using it to write on the Milano cookies. Decorate the graves with RIP or names like Edgar Allan Poe or “Bloody Mary”. For the soil just smash Oreo cookies in a zip lock bag.

• If you decided to do the two 8” round cakes put a layer of chocolate between the cakes.
• To create the ghoulish green icing simply take a can of vanilla icing put a few drops of green (about 3-4) and mix well, then do one or two drops of black. Keep adding drops until the color is a greenish gray. The icing on the cake does not have to be perfectly smooth.
• Now place your “graves” on the cake and sprinkle the Oreo crumbs in front of them. Place your teddy grahams as if they are coming out of the graves, walking around and on the side of the cake.
• Take that left over “guts” icing to add to some of the teddy grahams.
• This is optional but if you have any remaining chocolate take the piping bag and a decorative tip and put a nice edge around the cake. Otherwise you can use the rest of the Oreo crumbs to put around the bottom of the cake.

There you have it an eerie but delicious zombie cake!

Also, check out Amber's blog The Owl's Den to keep track of her great ideas, amazing finds and the occasional outfit posts. She also has a really cute jewelry shop on Etsy.

Julia's Freebie Calendar

Julia has been so kind to make you guys a downloadable desktop calendar for November!

I can tell you from personal experience that it looks great on your desktop, especially on iMacs. She has made it elegant, yet simple enough to still keep track of all your folders, isn't that great?!

-Click to have it expand, and then save it to your computer-

Be sure to visit Julia's blog A Girl with Horn-Rimmed Glasses, where she posts lots of amazing finds, great movie tips and just overall lovely updates. She bakes the most amazing macarons! They are tricky to make, so this really is an amazing talent. And she happens to have both a nail polish and tv-show addiction too.

Also, since she's a design student, everything on her blog looks great. Go check it out!

Let the Blog Party Begin!

Hello and welcome! Today will be filled with lots of Autumn themed posts. Expect tutorials, recipes, giveaways, DIY's and even a freebie!

I created a button for the occasion. It leads directly to the place where all the Autumn Party posts will be posted. So copy and paste the code below, or snag and resize the picture and link it here.

<center><a href="http://blueeyednightowl.blogspot.com/search/label/Autumn%20Blog%20Party" target="_blank"><img alt="Manic Mother" src="http://i40.tinypic.com/2zz5klf.jpg"/></a></center>

Have fun!

Picket Line Review

If you're quite unfamiliar with them and you hear the words "comic books" or "graphic novels", you might jump to the conclusion that they are either for kids or are only about "good guys and bad guys". But more often that not, that's not the case.

Picket Line does such a great job at exploring the grey areas in life. Not only is that a lot more realistic, in this case also helps build the suspense because you'll be dying to know what the characters are going to do next.

You won't find any superpowers here, but it is about changing the world in the little ways we can. The story is very original, and it deals with contemporary issues in a very human way.

A little recap:

Beatrice decides to move because she wants to find her place in the world. She gets taken in by Rex and his family, and she starts working at their lawn mowing company. The company gets this big contract for this rich guy who wants to cut down a forest to build houses on. The locals are very much against this plan, and Rex tries to stop it from happening too. But that's not as simple as it might sound...

The drawings are amazing(cute, simple yet with very much detail), but what really blew me away were the very lifelike conversations.

After a few pages you already feel like you know the characters and after you've finished it you kinda wish you could go back there.

To me, graphic novels are the best of both worlds, they're like books and movies combined. If you already like graphic novels too (especially by authors like Craig Thompson, Ariel Schrag or Marjane Satrapi) you will definitely enjoy this one!

And if you haven't read one ever before, you will love Picket Line as well. You can even read a preview on the website to make sure you'll really like it before you buy the book!

Breena Wiederhoeft also has an amazing blog with lots of fun comics, and currently some interviews with the musicians of the Picket Line Soundtrack. Also, she's already working on a second graphic novel!

Lovely Movies: the Cat Returns

Because I am super busy preparing for the Blog Party (Not too late to still join in btw.) I haven't been too active in the Blogosphere these past days. Don't worry I will be back. And for today, a little movie post:)

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I finally saw The Cat Returns! Like I expected, it was super bizarre, but super cute as well! Don't you just love the bodyguards in tuxedo coats in the picture above?

Japanese cats definitely have a pretty and distinct look about them. You often see it in Japanese art. I find it hard to describe, but it always draws me in.

Anyway this is a very lovely movie for crazy cat ladies, like myself. The animations were amazing and the characters nice and quirky. Definitely recommended:)

Blogparty Reminder

There is still time to join the blogparty if you haven't already! I've been getting lots of fun tutorials and posts in my mailbox but there is always room for more.

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For instance you could include a post about the must-sees, must-reads or must-haves for this season; offer up something for a giveaway; share your tips on things to do on a nice Autumn day; you name it!

The deadline is the 28th, so don't wait to long and email me if you still have something to add.

The Charm of Anjolee

Jewelry can really make an outift. Picture a girl in simple black dress, now picture her with a necklace like this:

Didn’t the Audrey Hepburn-factor just go up by at least a 100%?

Well, recently a diamond jewelry company has been brought to my attention. Anjolee is a huge company with decades of experience and one that garanties not only perfect, but conflict-free diamonds! So you don’t have to worry about them being Blood Diamonds when you’re dressing up all fabulous.

Now, what I really like about this website is that everything is customizable. So say you see some diamond stud earrings you really like. Then you can actually pick if you want the diamond stud in white or yellow gold or even platinum, you can then pick the carat weight and the quality of the diamond. I thought it was such a great idea, because it enables you to buy something special that’s still affordable or go for top notch on your favorite design.

Apart from all the diamond jewelry, they also hold a big selection of gem stone jewelry and some pieces even combine the two.

So if you have a super special birthday coming up, are graduating or feel someone might pop the question soon, you might just want to hint at the Anjolee website, because you could possibly end up with a beautiful tennis bracelet, a gorgeous ring or some genuine diamond studs.

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Owl Things Considered

One of my favorite clothing brands is Nümph. It's of great quality (and I believe even ecofriendly), needless to say I only buy it on sale. And though I don't get lucky often, I am the proud owner of two supercute cardigans.

Ok, to the point. To make them even more amazing: they regularly use owl patterns! Take a look at the amazing collection below. (Though the bottom one is for kids, I would so wear it!)

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Marvelous Music: Ben Harper

Another one of those musicians I didn't instantly like, but am now in absolute awe with, is Ben Harper. I recently got hooked and soon after bought 2 of his cds that haven't often left my cd player since.

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He seems to be one of quite few political songwriters left and I'm always happy to see when artists still use there power for a good cause.

I find that sometimes very openly religious artists can be a bit intolerant, don't worry though, this song proves Ben Harper is not like that.

He also tries out(and masters) lots of genres, sometimes reggae, sometimes almost country and sometimes just really perfect singer/songwriter material. Here are some of my absolute favorites:

Sponsor News!

RobbieLee from Chickiedee has an incredible offer for you all and it's valid up through November 5th. 30% off and even a free gift if you spend over $55!

Rachell was so kind to give you free shipping on everything in her shop!

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Also, I have some insiders news that Ryan Myers is working on an amazing new collection!

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More info on Sponsorships here.

Autumn Party Details

Here is some more info on the Autumn Party!

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• Starting: October 30th (and I may spread it out over a few days)
• Deadline: October 28th

Since we're starting on the 30th, you can even add some Halloween themed posts if you want!

So email me your guest posts, tutorials, giveaways, recipes etc and we can get this thing started!

I already have a few plans of my own, but the more the merrier, so join in:)

Lovely Movies: Abduction

This past week I've been exhausted and I can't really think straight, but I don't want to leave you hanging either, so I have a tiny little movie review for today. And hopefully some proper blogging tomorrow!

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Anyway, I saw Abduction. Had I not had the opportunity to go see it for free, I probably wouldn't have. It seemed to be one of those movies that were made only to show some popular guys abs. But I was so wrong!

It actually was a great movie! Very edge of your seat. And quite original too. Granted, it has a bit of a very cliché scene at the very end, but apart from that it was very good.

After being so pleasantly surprised by both this one and Bridesmaids I think I'll start going to movies I don't really feel like seeing, as they prove to very good time and time again...

Anyone up for a party?

Well, since Autumn is so pretty, I think we have a reason to celebrate! Also, it's nearly been 2 years since I first started blogging. So it is high time for a blog party!

By the end of this month I'd like to do an Autumn themed blogparty and I need your help! With guest posts, tutorials, giveaways or recipes. Anything you have to add, I'm sure I'd love to include.

It could be something to celebrate the beauty of Autumn or even something to help survive it, because let's face it: there are some downsides too, like the cold. Either way if you have a fun idea, just shoot me an email!

I'll be back with more details soon.

P.S. Speaking of blogparties, you should check out Andrea's Hitchcock Party!

Lovely latest additions

Lately I've been loving brooches and a little while back I bought some really pretty ones from tevagallery. There was a 2 for 1 deal, so I picked the cat you might remember from this post, and this amazing owl.

Apart from it being stunning it matches really my new autumn wardrobe so well!

A few weeks ago I got 25% discount on everything at H&M and I really did take advantage of that. You will probably see this cardigan again as I adore it. The brown/gray color is so beautiful and it also matches mustard really well, which I always thought was a lovely color but one that's very hard to match and wear in general.

And I recently bought me some high-heeled boots too! I hardly ever walk on heels(except for dance classes), but these seemed nice and sturdy, and completely won me over. I still prefer to walk on sneakers, but as far as heels go these are very walkable. And I love that they're both kick-ass and elegant. I was looking for something like this, so when I not only found them, but found them on sale, I was over the moon.

Have you done any Autumn shopping?

Owl Things Considered

Well here's something I didn't expect to exist. An owl security camera!

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Don't they look cute? They come in silver too by the way.

Marvelous Music: Lisa Papineau

We have Lisa Papineau to thank for one of the magical songs from the film Pina, you can hear it in this post. But she's done more of course!

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Both her voice and her music are very peculiar, but in a (at least I think so) good way! She doesn't seem to feel any pressure as to how her music should sound. She pretty much created her own genre, because I wouldn't have a clue where else she'd fit. Even her videos are unlike anything I had ever seen before.

She's also part of a group called Big Sir, which seems to be a tad bit louder and more electronical than the things she does by herself, but it's still very Papineau-y.

Hope you liked it!

Photo Tutorial by Clare from Borderline

The amazing Clare from Borderline is here today with a wonderful tutorial! And before I let her do the talking I just wanted to thank her for putting this together and tell the rest of you to go and check out her blog(well...after you read the tutorial of course)!

Hello there! I'm not sure how everyone else feels, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who can get bored easily when they settle into routines. Recently while going through my normal photo-editing routine (crop, levels, contrast...etc!) I looked at the photos and decided that I wanted a change from the super-bright colours and harsh blacks without using desaturate, which can often make things look a little dead and highlight unwanted noise!

It's great to change your normal style every now and then and give your photos a fresh look and atmosphere, so here's a quick tutorial to try and achieve that! You'll need any version of Photoshop for this :)

1. Take your image and edit it as normal. In the photo on the left, I haven't altered the colours of Mr Happy Cat at all, he's naturally this luminous orange colour which, although some people may love it, I think is a little harsh.

2. Duplicate the image onto a new layer and set the blending mode of the new layer to "Hard Light". Bring the opacity down to around 40-50%.

3. Create a new blank layer and fill it with a light pastel colour. Pastel lilac is great for warm colours like this (I used #f0c0fa here) but a baby blue works great for photos filled with dark, cool colours.

4. Set the blending mode of the new layer to either "Pin light" or "Hard light". I used "Pin light" here, but "Hard light" looked great too, in a different way. Bring the opacity down to around 50%.

And that's it! This method gives any image a softer look, toning down harsh colours and noise without loosing detail. The atmosphere goes from loud and obvious to dreamy in just a couple of steps. As a bonus, I've found that using this method to edit my photos can actually save a photo that otherwise would be too dark and grainy!

Hope you have fun with this! And thanks for having me here Laura ^.^!

the Order of Odd-Fish

I'll admit I bought "the order of Odd-Fish" because the cover was pretty. I often judge a book by its cover and I'm often right, so I took the plunge and ended up in the most bizarre world I'd ever been in. Now I read a lot of Murakami so you can't say I'm not used to the bizarre, but this really was truly bizarre. Think talking cockroaches, crazy villains, silver kittens of deceit and knights that devote themselves to useless tasks.

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The first 50 pages intrigued me, the next 50 pages had put me off a bit, but after that I was hooked! I was suddenly completely emerged in the world James Kennedy had created and was really anxious to find out what would happen to Jo and the story in general.

I don't really want to get into the entire story here, but the bottomline is: Jo lives with her aunt Lily in California. Lily is a bit of an eccentric, but all is fine until in comes Sefino the talking cockroach and a few other characters. Before you know it they're chased by villains such as the Belgian Prankster, all the way to Eldritch city where all the Odd-Fish reside.

The problem is that Jo has the ability to destroy the entire world. She has to keep this knowledge to herself as everyone in the city would probably want to kill her for it. Everything is, of course, very new and strange to her too and she'll have to work hard to understand as well as survive this adventure.

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It's a very fun read once you get to the point where you can surrender to the bizarre and just take it as it comes. Despite everything being very strange it's somehow very human too. The characters are lovely and you feel like you really get to know them.

If you are into realistic novels this book probably isn't for you. But if you like weird stuff you are in for a real treat!

Also, there will be a sequel! But this book is great by itself too. There are definitely characters that can be followed further than we have now, but there aren't any cliffhangers either. So you don't have to read the sequel if you read this one, but I think I will.