Sunday, August 20, 2017

February-August 2017...(yes, playing six months of catch-up!)

 Here we go again...playing catch-up for many months of holidays and events!
But as you all know, with being back in school full time and working full time outside of the home, my baking has taken a bit of a back seat.  But I always count it a joy when I can sneak in an order or two to let my creative juices flow again during the busyness of life.  So let's play catch-up again, shall we?
 The mini hearts above and the larger hearts and circles here were done for a bake sale at our church for our kids ministry. I always love donating for a great cause and these were a lot of fun to do.  These were done back in February.
 Moving along to Easter!
These cookies were for another church bake sale.
These carrots were a lot of fun too.  I did a wet-on-wet technique with the polka dots and outlined the leaves with sanding sugar.  The bunnies were outlined in pastel jimmies.
 These bunny silhouettes were super fun...peaking over the edges and corners!
I dipped the edges of these cookies in Easter sprinkles (little pastel eggs).  Made for a unique look and yummy texture. 
 I made these crosses fairly simple but added little pink flower candy embellishments and piped green leaves on them. 
 I had seen something similar to these on the internet somewhere but can't remember where or I'd give credit where credit is due. But I tried to change them up and make them my own.  I used the wet-on-wet technique to create clouds and then piped grass and laid little candy Easter eggs in the grass to resemble an Easter egg hunt!
 More wet-on-wet carrots with sanding sugar...
The bunnies were outlined in nonpareils. I love the crunch they add to cookies.
 I finished up this order with some mini eggs.  I always like packaging minis in these long pretzel bags.  I like the presentation.
 And here's the whole batch of them.
They were a super fun bunch to create!
 Next up was the "She Is Brave" women's conference at our church.
I had the awesome opportunity to donate a gift basket for a drawing/giveaway they did at the conference.
 With the exception of giving me the name of the conference and colors, I was pretty much given free-reign on these (which I love). I used the flyer/registration forms to get an idea of the theme.
 I loved creating these!
 And one of the neatest things about creating these...
The gal that won them was from another church in another town.
I got to meet her and she asked if we could take a picture together.
She is super sweet and recently moved to the town I grew up in (small world)!
We are now Facebook friends.
 This spring, my niece graduated high school.
She and my sister asked if I would make 200 cake pops for her open house.
Well...duh!
Of course I would!
I love how they displayed them!
 My niece has a passion for travel and missions.
She had the coolest travel theme to her open house.
 I tagged the pops, "Thanks for coming! It meant the "WORLD" to me! Love Raegan"
I put little globes on the bottom and did the cake pops in globe colors.
Cah-ute!
 Such a fun project and so proud of my niece.
 Last project in this catch-up post...
A cookie and cake pop bouquet for our new youth pastor and family at church!
 We had a meet-and-greet at church and I brought this for them.
I never realized how much I liked red and turquoise together!
Well, that catches us up for the last six months!
Hopefully I'll do better next time...
But don't hold your breath, LOL!

Monday, January 2, 2017

Fall & Winter Delicacies!

 We've got some major catching up to do on the blog!
I've managed to post pictures to Facebook and Instagram, but our poor blog has taken a back seat!
So, we're back!
This fall I donated some cake pops to our church youth group's Speed the Light auction.
Speed the Light provides equipment for missionaries around the world.
The above photo was French vanilla cake dipped in white chocolate with some autumn leaf sprinkles.
 
These were also for the STL auction.  These were a red velvet cake...half were dipped in white chocolate and the other half in red candy melts (vanilla).  Sprinkles were added for fun, of course. ;)
I also did 2 platters of decorated cookies.  These were a pumpkin spice flavor cookie.
I hunted down a "base" recipe, but put my own spin on it.  They were quite tasty if I do say so myself!

I also did some red velvet cake pops for a birthday girl this fall.  Kiddos always get a kick out of cake pops.  They've become a popular request for many birthday parties I've done.
I did these autumn cookies for my aunt who lives in Illinois.  My parents were going back to visit family in the area and I know my aunt has a sweet tooth, so I wanted to send her something special.
 In December, we had our ladies Christmas tea at church.  This was my first year hosting a table.  As a little take-home "favor" for each guest at their place setting, I made little bags of cookies tied up with ribbons.  Our theme was "Night of Hope" so I wanted to do a custom cookie to match.
I did a "candy cane" theme at my table, so I also did some candy cane cookies for each guest.
This was my table.  Simple, but fun.  I look forward to hosting again next year!
 Our ladies Bible study group had a Christmas party in December and we had a White Elephant gift exchange.  I had no idea what to bring...and then it hit me.  WHITE ELEPHANT COOKIES!  Hilarious. Yet adorable. I wanted to make them a little Christmas-y...so I added mistletoe/holly-berries to their booties, hehe!  I think they turned out cute!
We also had to bring a snack or treat to the party...so I brought some cake truffles.  French vanilla cake dipped in white chocolate with Christmas sprinkles.  Yum.
 My last project for the year was some snowflake cookies.
We had a going-away potluck for someone at work and I always love to bring a dessert.
 Snowflake cookies are one of my favorite Christmas/holiday/winter cookies to make.
I love them because you really can't mess them up.
Each one is unique and different.
 There's no rhyme or reason to the design...and that's what's so fun about making them.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.
May your 2017 be filled with blessings.
God bless!
Melody