Spring Time Cookies and Cake Pops!

 I seem to be combining more and more treats together into one post more often than not.

But that's ok.

At least I'm getting them posted!

 I made these for a bake sale at church.

They were inspired by "Bake at 350."

I knew when I volunteered to do them, I wanted something springy.

But...I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

I began looking for ideas.

When I came across some similar to these, I knew I had to expound on them!

 From the shapes, to the colors, to the designs, to the quotes...

I love everything about them!

And the bake sale was a success!

 These cookies, I made for our Youth Girls Conference at church last month.

Their theme was "Beautifully Beloved."

 The colors were pink and gold.

Ms. Kate gave me free reign on the design...(I love it when people do that!)

I had a lot of fun adding the metallic gold touches at the end! 

 Honestly, the pictures don't do them justice.

They turned out so cute!

 I hope the girls enjoyed receiving and eating them as much as I enjoyed making them!

 And I hope they all know how "Beautifully Beloved" and special they are!

 Up next...cake pops!

 These were done for a bridal shower.

They were white cake, dipped in white chocolate, and  drizzled with a variety of colors.

These, I made for my momma for Mother's Day.

They were white cake with chocolate chip and dipped in milk chocolate and sprinkles.

I told her the only stipulation was, she had to share with dad, ha!

Well, that's all for now!

Stay tuned for more upcoming treats!

And as always, if I can ever assist you with desserts and treats for your upcoming event, don't hesitate to contact me!

Mother's Day 2013

 I have never been...and probably never will be one of those bloggers who gets my holiday cookies blogged about "before" or "during" the season.

Between working 55+ hours a week, AND baking on the side...I'm lucky to get the blogging done at all.  Soooo...I'm going to use the excuse that I don't post "on time" because I don't want the recipients to see their creations online before they get them in person...yeah, that works!  Hehe!  These are some Mother's Day cookies that I did and gave to my mom for Mother's Day.

I used sanding sugar on the edges of most of them.  I absolutely LOVE the crunch and sweetness that sanding sugar adds to sugar cookies!  It also gives it that extra little "sparkle", I think.

 I have finally found the method/medium/means that I am sticking with.

I now flood all of my cookies with "glaze".  I like the taste of glaze MUCH better than royal icing.  I've had royal icing from many different bakers, I've tried a variety of recipes on my own...and I just don't care for the taste of it.  By flooding the cookies with glaze, I get the yummy taste that it brings, PLUS I like the smoothness of glaze.  I never end up with air bubbles, cracking, separating, or any of the other issues that royal icing can bring on any given day.  Glaze also brings a nice sheen to it when dry.  Royal icing always dries so matte and dull.  Weather doesn't seem to play into glaze as much as it does with royal icing either.  We all know how humidity just KILLS royal icing!

I just LOVE these "petals" above.  They are actually paisley fondant cutters, but I thought with the floral theme I was working on, I'd call them petals!

I mentioned that I'm now flooding with glaze...HOWEVER...I'm not giving up royal icing all together.  Glaze is VERY difficult to work with for the intricate piping details on many cookies.  It just doesn't hold shape like a stiff royal does.  So I'm still using royal for all of my intricate details.  This way we get the yummy taste of glaze and the great details with royal.

These squares I did with some fondant cutters I purchased a while back as well.

Fondant cutters make excellent cookie cutters as well!

 The whole collection.

I added some springtime flowers to the Mother's Day mix as well.

I LOVE doing flowers.

 I have to say, flowers are one of my favorite cookies to decorate.

The whole collection!

I hope all you moms had a very Happy Mother's Day and those who aren't mothers, I hope you were able to spend time with the special ladies in your life!

Mother's Day Love...

I did this set of cookies for Mother's Day for my momsie.

Again, I decided to work with glaze.

This was only my second attempt at glaze icing.

I really love the taste of glaze, but I'm still getting used to actually "working" with it.

Flooding is not too difficult.

But piping intricate details does take a lot of practice.

I had a lot of fun with these cookies because I love this color combo.

Hot pink and orange!

I think gift baskets and bouquets are such a fun gift.

You can use such a wide variety of things to hold your goodies.

I have seen so many things I want to pick up to store for future gifts.

You can use sand pails, wire baskets, wicker baskets, plastic baskets, giant bowls, vases, mugs...

Virtually anything for your goodies!

The possibilities are endless.

Some of my favorite places to shop for "containers" for my gift baskets and bouquets are:
Dollar General, Party City, Target, and many others.

Happy Mother's Day all you mommies out there!

I hope you enjoyed your special day!

My First Cookie Pops...And "Bouquet"...

This was my first attempt at cookie pops...

And a bouquet.

First and foremost, I was happy I had a good experience with the Royal Icing on this particular occasion.

Because, afterall...it was for my momma for Mother's Day!

I start out trying to insert the sticks into the dough...

Without much success.

And then...

I saw a tutorial online on how to just attach the sticks to the wrappers!

I'll have to find the link to that tutorial.

Because it has really helped me.

I think this was the first time...in my baking/decorating journey...

That I was actually PLEASED with the final outcome of my project.

You see...

I am a perfectionist by nature.

And not only a perfectionist...

I struggle with seeing any good in my work.

I always think everyone's is better and mine will never be as good as the professionals.

So you see...

For me to be happy with this project...

Was a HUGE step in my journey!