Lego Love....

At my son's school, if you have a birthday in the summer months, you get to celebrate your "half birthday"...which is six months to the day from your actual birthday.

And so, February 25 is his "half birthday" (August 25 is his actual birthday).

As (un)luck would have it...even his "half birthday" fell on a SATURDAY...of all days!

Still no school!  LOL!

So, he celebrated his half birthday on the Monday following.

He saw the amazing SugarBelle's Lego cookies and immediately knew what he wanted dear old mom to make for his class.

And so you have it...

Lego cookies!

As I've probably mentioned before, my youngest son is not a fan of sugar cookies, so I used the wonderful SugarBaker's Chocolate Chip Cut-Out Cookie recipe.

I had a "triple" rectangle Wilton cookie cutter (it cuts three rectangles at once) so it was perfect for Lego bricks! 
I also used it to make the square ones too, simply by cutting some of the rectangles in half.

The heads, however...I was not so lucky.

Those were all hand cut.

Not my favorite chore...especially with chocolate chips in the mix...but as all we moms know...we do anything for our babies!

Am I right?

Teehee!

So I printed out the template from SugarBelle.

In order to make it sturdier, I traced it onto a margarine tub lid and then cut it out from there.

The plastic made it much more sturdy to cut around when working with the dough.

Alas...

Lego Love.

Black Icing Woes...Hockey Pucks...And A Few Cake Pops For Good Measure...

Oh the woes of making black icing...

Any newbie baker will tell you the hardships of making black icing.

I did learn the best kept secret is to start with a chocolate base.

Lots of good cocoa powder makes for a nice deep rich chocolatey base to start your black off right!

And...lots...

And I mean...lots...

LOTS...

Of black food coloring.

I also learned from the "seasoned" bakers...

That AmeriColor is the color gel of choice.

Unfortunately, all I had was Wilton.

So I worked with what I had.

Thankfully...we achieved black!

No one wants an "off-black" hockey puck, LOL!

Oh, by the way...

That IS what these are...

Hockey pucks.

Can you tell?

I've never done hockey pucks.

So when this order came in...I was a little worried.

No formal cookie cutter.

These came from an "oval" and then I cut the ends off.

This was one order that had me really worried.

As I'm so used to making things in "bright", "cheery" colors.

I mostly make "cutesy" things.

But hockey pucks?

I'd never done them.

They're round...and black.

There wasn't a lot I could do to make them "cute".

Except...package them nicely.

And so I did the best I could.

I added ribbons in team colors and attached little tags with the team emblem on them.

I really hope they liked them!

I think this was one of my most worrisome orders.

I was very fearful, as I'd never done hockey pucks!

Along with the hockey puck cookies, there was an order for cake pops in the team colors as well.

Can't screw that up!  LOL!

With the yellow coating...

And black sugar sprinkles...

They almost reminded me of lemon poppy-seed flavor!

But they weren't!

I did a simple white cake.

The yellow coating is just vanilla flavored.

And then did black sugar sprinkles.

I sure hope they liked them!

This was only my second sports themed order!

Good luck Chiefs!

The End Of Valentine's Day 2012

These are the last of the Valentine's Day cookies for 2012.

I have to say, I'm a little glad, LOL!

Maybe that's even why I did these in non-traditional colors...being a little burnt out on pink and red?

Nah, LOL!

I just happened to have some leftover purple and green icing!

Hehehe!

I had fun with these.

It was interesting to do a different color scheme for Valentine's Day.

I thought the green and purple ended up going well together.

I used a little sanding sugar on some, some coarse sugar on others, and then just did a variety of designs on them.

I did these in my classic sugar cookie recipe.

Next up...

Who's ready for St. Patty's Day?

Cookies + Children = Smiles

Of course I love getting paid orders for my baked goods.

But I think I have to say, that donating baked goods brings me even more joy.

Especially when it involves children!

Giving a child a special cookie, cupcake, or cake pop that is specially decorated...or even CUSTOMIZED for them...

And watching the smile spread across their face...

Priceless.

I did these cookies for my youngest son's class for Valentine's Day.

We weren't assigned treat duty (we did Halloween)...

But at our kids' school, most kids attach a treat to their Valentine cards.

Many attach candy, some attach pencils or erasers, some attach stickers or tatoos, some a small toy, and this year, my son even got a CD with one Valentine!

But my son decided he wanted mom to attach cookies to his Valentine cards.

Fine by me!

That just means I get in more practice...

And let's face it...I can't say no to my boys!

I love doing things like this for them and their friends.

So I happily abliged.

I think they turnd out ok.

I just did a very simple design since he has THIRTY kids his class, LOL!

Didn't have time for a lot of intricate detail this time.

But he said they all liked them.

And that's why I do what I do.

Sometimes payment in compliments, smiles, and hapiness is better than the almighty dollar (for me).

PROJECT: Dominican Republic Or Bust!

My sister and niece are going on a missions trip this summer to the Dominican Republic.

My niece went last year with my brother-in-law, but this year, my sister will be making the trip with them.

I have gone on two missions trip...when I was 18 and then again at age 21...and they are life changing experiences.

They not only change the lives of those you touch when ministering, but these trips change YOU as well.

You really see how fortunate we are living in the USA, and it really makes you reevaluate your priorities.

You see how fortunate we are living in such a blessed country where we have so much and so many freedoms.

To go on this trip, they need to raise many funds.

One of the many fundraisers they had at their church was a bake sale.

They asked if I would be willing to donate some cake pops and cookies, to which I gladly said YES!

I have a heart for missions...especially since I have been on two missions trips.

I love supporting missionaries.

I don't even remember how many bags of cookies and cake pops I ended up doing.

But I had a wonderful time doing it!

I did a variety of cookies.

I did some classic sugar cookies.

And some brown sugar spice cookies.

It gave me a chance to try out a lot of different designs.

I did some of the lace cookies that all of us bakers have fallen in love with and are trying to master.

I did some with little rosettes/rosebuds.

I did some xoxox's.

I did quite a few mini hearts.

I packaged some as "I <3 U".

Even did a few florals for springtime...even though we're not quite there yet.

I think the cookies turned out fairly well over all.

My sister said they sold very well.

I packaged everything in little bags with silver ties and ribbons.

I also printed out little "tags" and tied those onto them.

I "titled" each cookie and put the flavor on it.

I also did loads of cake pops.

I did a simple yellow cake on these.

I did two different types of coating.

Half were dipped in white chocolate and covered in sprinkles.

The other half I dipped in milk chocolate.

I did a white chocolate drizzle on the milk chocolate ones.

The finished product.

Off to The Gateway Church they go!

Dominican Republic or bust!

God bless!