Sweet Ivy Confections

Friday, November 7, 2014

Well, I'm a little behind with my Halloween post this year...

But that's ok...wanted to share my creations with you anyway!

I always like to make a few treats for my daycare kiddos when we celebrate the holidays.

This year, instead of filling a treat bag with candy (since they get so much during trick-or-treat)...I filled their bags with cake pops, cookies, Halloween pencils & rings.

I did a white confetti cake pop dipped in white chocolate w/ orange and black sprinkles!

For snack, we did brownie bites with white chocolate. I piped some borders and added some fun Halloween sprinkles w/ spiders.

These were some of the cookies that went into the treat bags with the cake pops.

They are minis...perfect for little fingers!

I also had one last Halloween cookie order last minute.

She chose the Cheery Candy Corn design. These were a popular style this year. Everyone seemed to really like them.

I hope you all had a fun Halloween with friends and family!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and if you need any help with desserts for your Thanksgiving spread, just let me know!

I can provide cookies, cake pops, cupcakes, or small scale cakes to add to your Thanksgiving feast!

Happy November!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Baby Shower! (Whale Theme)...

As much as I love the baking and decorating aspect of this job...

Another thing I adore about this job is...

Getting to be a part of people's celebration.

Even if I'm not physically there...I enjoy that I get to contribute to their celebration.

Be it birthdays, reunions, holidays, wedding, or babies!

It's a wonderful feeling knowing that I can help people celebrate!

Sometimes I know the customer...sometimes they are a referral from a friend or family member and I only know "of" them...regardless...helping them celebrate is a blessing to me!

With this order, we are celebrating a new life!

A precious baby boy will be joining a family soon!

As I've mentioned before, I love when I'm pretty much given free reign to create what I want. I asked for a napkin or invitation so that I'd have something to go by...

And...

IS THIS EVER CUTE OR WHAT?!?

What a fun theme for a baby shower!

Whales!

Sometimes we see the "same 'ol, same 'ol" on Pinterest party ideas.

But I had never seen a whale theme.

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

I had so much fun designing/planning these cookies!

They are actually a "cookies on a cookie".

I had a whale cookie cutter, but I didn't like the shape...plus it didn't match the one on the napkin well. So I got a little creative. I grabbed one of my tools...did a little bending and crimping...and...VOILA! He turned out just like the little whale on the napkin!

I decided just a plain whale would be a little...meh...

So I wanted to really tackle the design on the napkin.

I used an oblong plaque cutter, added the whale shape on top, then piped a border and mini whale silhouettes around the edge.

How fun is that!

Cake pops are on the menu too!

I don't do the traditional "cake/frosting" mixture...I find it overly sweet/rich.

I simply offer a cake "truffle".

A bite-sized morsel of moist cake dipped in either white or milk chocolate.

This cake pop is a "confetti cake" dipped in white chocolate and I added some blue and green sanding sugar to match the color scheme.

Sometimes...

When I have a smaller order, I like to do a little something extra special.

I add extra ribbon and fun little tags to the cake pops.

I don't normally do this with larger orders...as you can imagine...it's quite time consuming.

But this was a smaller order, so I had a little fun with it.

Sweet Ivy would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to the mommy-to-be!

Good luck and God bless your sweet new bundle of joy!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

♪♪♪It's The Most...Wonderful Time...Of The Year (Autumn!) ♪♪♪

♪♪♪It's the most...wonderful time...of the year...♪♪♪

Nope! It's not Christmas...yet!

Although that is my favorite holiday...

But my favorite "season" is AUTUMN!

Recently, my mom asked me if I would bake up an autumn variety for our extended family down in the St. Louis area. She and my dad were headed that way to visit all of our family and she thought some cookies would be a nice treat to share.

I decided on these happy little candy corns for all of the cousins/kids.

Next I made up platters for all of the "grown-ups".

I incorporated some sunflowers...

Some pumpkins...

I experimented with my airbrush on the pumpkins...adding hints of green on the bottom.

It's a learning process for sure...

Pumpkin pie anyone?

Just kidding!

They're really mini cookies!

I know...I totally had you, didn't I?

Haha.

More pumpkins...

And some pretty fall leaves...

I experimented with my airbrush some more on these...

I thought they turned out pretty good...

...and the finished product!

The little kids platter...

One of the "grown-ups" platters...

I hope everyone enjoyed them!

I sure did enjoy making them!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Sunday, September 28, 2014

3rd Annual GoBo Bake Sale!

Once again, it is that time of year. Time for the annual GoBo Bake Sale. This is the third year that it has been held. The GoBo Foundation is a wonderful foundation that helps raise money for childhood cancers and such. You can learn more about it here.

It takes place every year in Wisconsin.

Here is a little about Bo's story from their website:

Bo Johnson was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia, EM/AML, at the age of 12. He has battled this disease for a year, and lost on Sept. 28, 2012.

Prior to his illness, Bo was a normal active boy, enjoying life with family and friends. The illness that took his life could NOT stifle his spirit or courage. Facing the most serious medical condition, Bo chose to show all of us what it means to "live life to the fullest & enjoy every day.”

Bo reminded us what true courage means, and why one boy can inspire a multitude with nothing more than a smile and a dream to help others.

The GO BO Foundation brings hope to children with life-threatening medical conditions by funding research, supporting treatment, and helping their families during times of financial need.

Paying it Forward...this is Bo's dream.

The GO BO Foundation fulfills its mission by:

Funding the cutting-edge research on cancer and related blood disorders at the MACC Fund

Supporting state-of-the-art treatment in a child friendly environment provided by doctors like David Margolis at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

Assisting the families of Door County children through the GO BO Family Assistance Program

Bo's message was:

You Only Live Once.

It's a lesson that Bo taught all of us.

Cherish every moment.

Live. Laugh. Love.

"You only live once so make it count. Just think about what you do. Think about what matters. Live your life like it's your last." - Bo

So each year...hundreds of cookiers all over the United States and WORLD unite by sending THOUSANDS of cookies to Wisconsin for the annual GoBo Bake Sale to raise money for childhood cancer.

This year there are 418 cookie artists from 50 states and 20 countries!

It's phenomenal!

You can view some of the amazing cookies headed to Wisconsin on the GoBo Bake Sale Facebook page. All of us cookiers have been sending in photos before mailing them off.
Click here to view photos.

We are all sending in Autumn and/or Halloween themed cookies.

I would like to say Good Luck, Best Wishes, and God Bless to Jill of Jill FCS for organizing this wonderful event!

You are amazing Jill!

I am so thrilled to be able to send some of my cookie creations to this event!

Jill posted a photo the other day of some of the cookies coming in already, along with some numbers...and if my addition is correct with the numbers she posted, it looks like 8445 cookies will be there! WOW! That's A LOT of cookies!