DIY: Never-ending vanilla goodness

I stumbled upon a page describing how I can make my own vanilla extract, and that with minimal effort, it can pretty much last me forever. So here goes:
Starting materials: 
Vodka*
Vanilla beans**
16 oz Jar (thank you Laura Scudder All-Natural Peanut Butter)
Measuring cup (or eyeball)

*Vodka or rum or some other 80 proof alcohol you'd like to try. I decided to go with vodka since it has a more neutral flavor. Perhaps in the future, I will try rum since it's supposed to give it a more fruity, sweet flavor.

**I used bourbon vanilla which has a more creamy classic vanilla flavor. There are others available. Will explore in the future. Maybe.

Note: you do not need a little dog. Or a big one. A cat perhaps.
Preparation:
Slice the vanilla beans in half, length-wise, leaving an inch at the tip.
Pour 2 cups of vodka.



Notes: The beans were pretty oily. As soon as I opened the bottle, there was a very strong smell of vanilla. Inside the beans were greasy little seeds. You can see a bit of the oil on the plate.

Putting it all together:
Put beans in jar.
Pour vodka in jar, making sure the beans are fully submerged. (In a 16 oz, they will be, with the amount of vodka I added.)
Close lid of jar.
Shake.

Note the little specks that are seeds swirling around. =) Vanilla apocalypse in a jar! It's raining black flecks!

Store in a cool dark place and shake once a week or whenever I feel like sneaking a peak. Extract will be ready in 6-8 weeks. Or go by color.

Here's to forever vanilla extract!

Tomorrow: attempt #2 at a sourdough starter, because I'm too cheap to keep buying yeast and store bread.