Showing posts with label bouquets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bouquets. Show all posts

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!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Summer Time Fun!

 Lately my blog posts haven't really been "topic" related...more along the lines of "Sweet Ivy Tries To Play Catch Up"...haha!
But that's ok!
I'm always excited to share my latest projects!
The cake above was for a co-worker's granddaughter.
She was celebrating her birthday and requested this special design!
I did 40 cupcakes and a small 6 inch cake for the birthday girl.
The cakes were all strawberry in flavor topped with a classic homemade buttercream.
The technique I did on the side of the 6 inch cake made me think of fishy fins...that's why I added that...last minute thought that came to me, ha!
Happy birthday Bella!
 This cookie platter was done for a friend of mine who has been going through a rough time physically lately.  When you're struggling physically, it's very easy to start struggling emotionally.  It's hard to stay positive while everyone around you is going about their usual routine.  I wanted to bring some cheer to my special friend.  I chose these bright cheerful colors and did a buttery vanilla cookie with royal icing décor.
My continued prayers are with you Kim!
 These cake pops were for a coworker of mine.
They were for someone's birthday.
They were done in French vanilla cake and dipped in white chocolate.
I added some pink and green sprinkles for extra cheer!
Happy birthday!
And lastly, I did this baby bouquet for a friend of ours.
We have a sweet friend who, twice this summer, has been our house-sitter, kitty-sitter, plant-waterer, mail-getter, set-out-the-trash-dumperer, and anything else I asked her to do!
She is the SWEETEST ever!
So I not only gifted her with cash, but also a Sweet Ivy Confections gift certificate.
And...being the kind person she is...she didn't even use the gift certificate on herself!
She requested a baby bouqet for her sister-in-law who was expecting a baby!
(I told you she was sweet!)
This bouquet included buttery vanilla cookies decorated in royal icing, and French vanilla cake pops dipped in white chocolate.
Congratulations to the new momma!
And thank-you to our sweet friend Selena!
Well, that wraps up my "Summer Catch-Up"...
I hope you had a wonderful summer!
I'm so looking forward to fall!
Not only the weather, but all of the baking that comes with it!
Beautiful autumn sugar cookies and pumpkin spice EVERYTHING!
If I can ever be of assistance with your birthdays, baby or wedding showers, parties, reunions, or whatever the event...just holla!
TTFN!

Friday, April 29, 2016

A Little This & That...

 So, I have been a VERY (with a capital V) bad blogger lately!
But I'm back and I've got a few goodies to share with you!
Now...like I said, I've been very bad...so this will take us all the way back to Christmas!
I know...REALLY bad.
So starting with the most recent (above)...
These were some cake pops I did recently for a baby shower.
They were white cake dipped in white chocolate with a pretty yellow drizzle and navy blue ribbon for accent.
 Chocolate covered strawberries were a new request for me!
A couple co-workers asked me about this and I thought it would be a fun thing to try.
I think they turned out pretty!
These were for an anniversary.
 This platter and the following bouquet were for a co-worker who was going on maternity leave.
A sweet baby girl to celebrate!
The cookies were my butter-vanilla flavor.
I iced these with glaze instead of royal icing.
The platter of cookies was for a potluck we had for the momma-to-be.
I made up this bouquet as a gift for her to take home.
I included some butter-vanilla cookies and also some cake pops as well.

Valentine's Day wasn't too terribly busy for me this year.
This is actually when I got my first request for those chocolate covered strawberries I mentioned above.  These were requested by another co-worker for his sweetheart.

 And another co-worker requested cake pops for his sweetie!
These were red velvet...a new popular request!

 I celebrated MY birthday in February as well.
I normally don't bake myself a cake...however, this particular year, I was craving cake.
So, what do you do when you're the baker?
Make yourself a cake!
This was a white cake.  I iced it in classic buttercream.  It was accented with fondant roses.
Pink and yellow...my favorite colors!
I won't tell you how old I am...
29...again.
 And lastly...embarrassingly enough...
Some Christmas cookies I never posted, LOL!
These were just some simple sugar cookies that I iced with royal icing and then did some metallic stenciling on.
I really like how the snowflakes turned out.
Well that catches us up for a bit.
Next up...
I have some very pretty spring cookies from a bake sale that I did...
And some pretty girly cookies for an upcoming girl's retreat!
Stay tuned...they're coming!
(I promise.)


Friday, June 5, 2015

Congrats Graduates! Class of 2015!

 I've only been taking limited orders lately since I started going back to school.
So when I do have an order or decide to do a gift for someone, baking/decorating is super fun again because I don't do it as often as I had been!
 I did this bouquet as a gift.
It was a lot of fun.  I'm not a huge fan of "character" cookies, but "mascot" cookies can be a lot of fun.  These Zeeland West Dux were an enjoyable set to do!
 I must say, getting the right shade of gold was tricky (and I still don't think it was perfect)...but all in all I think they turned out pretty cute!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

A Bake Sale & A Birthday...

 This past week, our church had a bake sale to benefit the kids' ministry.
I don't have young children involved in the kids' ministry, but I feel strongly about reaching out to our children and young people if I can.  And with my passion for baking/decorating, I was so excited to jump at this opportunity to help out.
 I did a dozen heart mini-packs.  I always love doing mini-packs.  Minis are fun to make and fun to eat!  Some of my baking friends aren't fond of doing minis as they can be intricate and time-consuming, but I love them!  And people seem to really enjoy them too!
 I thought minis would be ideal for any of the kids who bought sweets, minis are just so much fun to pop into your mouth and eat on the go!
 Then I did some medium and large hearts.  These were all done with piped rosettes that I made ahead of time.  I also added some "lace-work" on a few of them.
 I did a little experimenting with my basic sugar cookie recipe and tried out a new flavor.
And as it turned out...I thought they were quite tasty!
The new flavor combination I did was Raspberry-Vanilla Cookies with Raspberry Glaze.
 This flavor will now be a part of my regular offering when clients order.
Lastly...
I had forgotten to share this cake pop bouquet I made last month for a birthday gift!
It was my pastor's wife's birthday and I decided to share a little sweetness with her because she is so sweet!
Happy birthday Ms. Amy!

Friday, December 16, 2011

School Themed Cookie Pop Bouquet

Ever have one of those baking projects that feels cursed literally from start to finish?

Yeah.
That was this bouquet.

Even though I was pleased with the end result...for the most part...
It was one of those projects, where...
Literally everything that COULD go wrong, DID go wrong.

Right down to not having the right cookie cutters and having to hand cut most of the cookies...
To issues with the icing not drying properly...
To problems with arranging the bouquet...
To packaging issues...
IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!

I am pleased with how it turned out in the end though.
The client said that the person she gave it to "raved" about it and "loved" it.
So in the end...
That is all that matters!
A happy customer...is a happy baker!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Baby Cookie Pop Bouquets!

As promised, this week was all about the babies!

I had two clients who recently had babies and I wanted to not only do a baby gift, but also a little something for the other family members (mom, dad, siblings).

So this was a perfect time to practice some baby cookies!

I had never done baby cookies.

The only "somewhat" baby cookie cutter I had in my collection as of yet, was a little duckie.
So...

I had to attempt to make some templates and do FREE-HAND cutting with a knife!

I did the baby bottles and onesies free-hand.
I traced and cut out a template/pattern from the computer.
Then I just took a paring knife and traced around them.
For a first attempt, I was pretty happy with the results!
No longer limited to the cookie cutters I have in my collection!
Really, the possibilities are endless with cutting free-hand!