I would like to bless someone with cookies this Christmas! Share your stories!

I have been inspired by the lovely and amazing Flour De Lis.  She is an extremely talented cookie artist.  She has shared in her blog an amazing thing she is doing to spread some Christmas cheer this holiday season. 

I have spoken with her and asked if she minded if I share her idea.  What I would like to do, is "bless" someone in our local southwest Michigan community this season with some holiday cookies.

What I need you to do, is nominate someone you would like to see "blessed" with some holiday cookies!  Maybe you know a family/friend who is struggling?  Possibly an elderly shut-in?  Perhaps a disabled person who cannot bake holiday cookies on their own?  Maybe it's someone who is always doing for others and never makes time for themself?  It does not have to be a single person or family.  It could be a group or organization as well!

If you would like to nominate someone, please e-mail me your story.  The recipients chosen will receive a card with your story of why you think they are so special and why you want to bless them with a platter of cookies!

I will take nominations for the next couple of weeks and then announce the recipients shortly after that.

E-mail your stories to:

mjames72@sbcglobal.net

Because...

We are blessed to be a blessing!

More Ivy Bits!

I had some extra Royal Icing from another project...

And a little buttercream as well...

And a few minis in the freezer...

So I just decided to play...

Er, uh..."practice"...

I love how these turned out.

Someone told me they thought they looked like little tartlets.

I kind of thought they'd be cute for a shower.

Then I moved on to these.

I don't know what look I was going for.

I was just playing and layering.

I thought they were kind of fun.

The next four pictures...the purple and green ones...

I was NOT happy at all with how they turned out.

But I continued to play.

Oh well, at least my kiddos enjoyed them, LOL!

And a few more...

At least they tasted good!

LOL!

Sweet Ivy's FIRST Real Order!

Well, Sweet Ivy had it's first REAL order this past week!

And although it WAS for a family member...they chose me!

The party invitations were in a pink and green polka dot theme, so it was decided the cake would follow that pattern.

I did a devil's food cake with a vanilla filling.

It was frosted with a classic buttercream icing.

All of the polka dots and trim and also the center pink circle were done in fondant.

Cake pops were also requested as favors/thank-yous for the girls at the party to take home the next day.

I did a cherry chip cake.

Dipped it in white chocolate.

I added pink and green sugar sprinkles.

I attached curly ribbons in various shades of green and white.

I also "tagged" them with "Thank-you, Love Raegan" as they were to be given out before each girl left the next day as a favor/thank-you.

The tags followed the same pink/green polka dot theme as the invitations and cake.

I got a nice thank-you card saying everyone loved the cake and cake pops.

I think order number one was a success...and I am exhausted!

Autumn Treats For The Family

I had an order for some cake pops on Friday.

They only needed a dozen, so with so many leftover...I decided to make some cake truffles for the family.

I had used a cherry chip cake and dipped it in white chocolate.

I used some autumn colored sprinkles.

I just love these little "autumn leaf" sprinkles!

I won these from a giveaway along with some cookie cutters and think they're simply adorable.

Along with the cake truffles, I had some leftover melted white chocolate, so I made up some of my husband's new favorite treat.

White chocolate dipped pretzels.

We all love them actually.

The sweet/salty combo just can't be beat!

Ivy Bits

I had baked a bunch of cookies a while back and froze them so that I could pop them out at any time to practice on.

After making all of my son's party cookies I had some extra icing to "play" with as well.

So here I had all these "mini" cookies to practice on.

I think they're so cute, that off the top of my head, I decided from here on out I'll refer to them as "Ivy Bits" rather than minis (b-o-r-i-n-g).

I just played around with some designs.

The one is just random polka dots.

And the other, I was going for a "spiral" look...but my hand was rather unsteady that night and as I told my son, "It looks more like a rose!".

So whatever the case...I just had some fun "playing" with my new "Ivy Bits".

The Last Of Halloween 2011...And A New Beginning For Me!

These ghost cookies turned out to be, probably some of the best cookies I've made since I started cake and cookie decorating.

But they represent much more than that.

I volunteered to make these cookies for my youngest son's Halloween party.

Little did I realize what they would do for me!

I had fun making them, and that was really all it started out to be.

I was pleased with the outcome, as I said, they are some of my favorites and best to date.

However...

As I walked into the school door, all the moms and teachers in the hallway started pointing at them and saying how cute they were!

Yay!

That was a nice feeling.

Then, I got into my son's classroom and his teacher just GUSHED over them!

Another mom said to her son, "Ryan, you didn't get one of those ghost cookies!  Go get one of those adorable ghost cookies!"

Too funny.  That made my day.

Several moms came over and asked if "I" was the one who made the ghost cookies.

I had a neighbor come up to me in the hall and tell me that her son was assigned treats for the Valentine's Day party and she asked if she could pay me to make them for her!

I went home feeling pretty good.

But it didn't stop there.

I got to the bus stop with my son the day after Halloween and another mom of a girl in my son's class said to me, "Did you make the ghost cookies?  My daughter couldn't stop talking about how cute the ghost cookies were!  She wouldn't even eat it until she brought it home to show everyone in the family how cute it was!"

As this mom talked to me, another mom next to us said, "Do you have pamphlets, or business cards?  How about a website?"

Well...at that time, I didn't.

I told them I had a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a blog set up, but I hadn't really taken any orders yet.

They encouraged me to do so!

So...

I did just that!

I came home, I promptly ordered some business cards...

And I'm in the middle of creating my website!

Fun times!

I will mostly be taking orders from friends and family, I assume.

But it's still encouraging for now!

This is what I've dreamed of.

What I've hoped for.

What I've prayed for.

Even if it's just a little side business, to bring me joy and a little extra cash...

Hey...it's MORE than I ever dreamed of!

I'm so excited and encouraged!

Who'd have thought a couple little ghost cookies could bring so much positive attention to my baking?!?