Milestone Birthday...For My Hunny!

I made a birthday cake for my hunny.

It was a milestone birthday.

Shhhhh...

I'm not allowed to say "which" milestone it was though, LOL!

But I will tell you the cake was good.

A moist yellow cake with lucious homemade chocolate buttercream.

Ummm...good!

Happy birthday hubby!

 

Lions and Tigers and...COOKIES...oh my!

Lions and Tigers and...COOKIES...oh my!

What a fun-filled sports themed cookie week it's been!

My hubby should be thrilled with the cookies that have been created this week!

His beloved Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers!

Although...none of them were for him, LOL!

The first order...the Detroit Lions football cookies were for a birthday order placed by a friend of mine for her son.

I have attempted the Lion on cakes before and even now that I have a KopyKake...it still creates challenges for me.

I told my hubby, "I think we in Michigan have THE most difficult mascot in the NFL!"

That dang Lion is a stinker to pipe!

I managed and I am by no means a pro, but I think he turned out ok.

I really hope my friend and her son are happy with them.

I always worry to death each time I make cookies for someone.

"Will they be happy with them?"
"Do they think they're pretty?"

"Are they what they expected?"

"Did I disapoint them?"
"Do they taste ok?"

Well...I suppose all one can do is their best...right?

My motto here at Sweet Ivy Confections is:

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Ecclesiastes 9:10

If one is doing their best...God will do the rest.

That's what Pastor Dalaba always told us!

They were a fun cookie to make!

Go Lions!

And...

HOW 'BOUT THOSE TIGERS?!?!

Can I get a holla???

World Series bound, eh?

Oh yeah!

What say you my fellow Michiganders?

Pretty awesome, huh?

These were even MORE fun to make due to the recent win!

We have friends coming up this weekend and they are Tiger fans as well, so I decided to make a platter for them.

I was pretty pleased with these.

Good luck Tigers!

You can do it!

Make us proud!

MSBOA Marching Band Festival Cookies 2012

Ok...so I'm a little behind on this post.

Bad, bad blogger...I know.

But better late than never!

I did these marching band themed cookies a couple weeks ago for my son's high school marching band festival.

The festival was once again hosted by our school and held at our stadium, so we provided a meal for the judges.

When our band director asked for volunteers to make the meal...I couldn't resist donating band themed cookies!

This was the first time I'd ever used these new cookie cutters!

I picked them up at Marshall's in Chicago during our Girl's Weekend Away with my mom, sister, and cousin back in July.

This baby was quite the challenge for me!

This emblem was DIFFICULT...and by no means perfect...but I thought it turned out decent.

A few trumpets and drums...

The whole collection!

...and with the leftover dough and icing...a few just for fun!

Amazing Autumn...

 Nothing excites me more than when the temperatures begin to drop!

I am an Autumn Girl...ALL THE WAY!

I don't like summer...I don't like hot weather.

My make-up runs, my hair goes flat, and I hate sweating.

Ok...enough griping.

I'm happy!

Fall is upon us!

And to celebrate, I HAD to do some autumn leaf cookies!

 If you read my "Awesome Apples" post...you read that we debuted a new recipe for our cookies and icing.  I made these leaves with that recipe as well.

These cookies (along with the apples) were not about "fancy"...I was going for "taste" when I made these.

It was completely about testing out that new recipe...which was a hit!

I can't wait until you try our cookies with this new recipe and hope you enjoy it as much as our family does!

We are running a fall special.

With each 2 dozen decorated cookies (or cake pops) ordered, receive 1/2 dozen FREE!

Sweet Ivy regrets that we cannot ship at this time.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Awesome Apples...Nothing Fancy, But Ohhh So Good! (New Recipe)

 Are you ready?

Sweet Ivy has found a new recipe for our classic sugar cookies...

And...

IT IS THE BOMB!

Because as my hubby always says, "What good are PRETTY cookies if they don't TASTE GOOD?"

I have to agree.

I've been trying to master the art of "pretty" cookies...but all the while, my hubby has told me I need to find "that special recipe" to make my cookies...

AWESOME.

Well...I think I've found it!

These apple cookies are nothing special to look at...but I debuted my new recipe with these cookies and they are delicious! 

Couple that with my new "glaze" icing...and we have got one AWESOME tasting cookie!

My hubby and sons have never been big sugar cookie eaters, but since I made these with the new recipe and glaze...they can't stop eating them!

We hope you like our new recipes and will try some soon!

I will be using this recipe with ALL of my custom decorated cookies from now on.

I can't wait to hear from you!

Time For Ice Cream Cake...Again!

As you may or may not remember from last year's post on my baby's birthday...he's not a fan of traditional "cake".  Yes...I know what you're thinking.  How can the son of a baker not like cake?  Well...he doesn't...and that is that, LOL! Try as I may to get him to like sculpted cakes, cupcakes, cake truffles, cake pops...he just doesn't like cake.

What he DOES like...is ICE CREAM "cake".

And so that has become the new tradition on his birthday.

I don't do a traditional ice cream "cake" with cake in it...because as I said...he doesn't like cake.

I do an Oreo cookie crust, chocolate ice cream, fudge center, more Oreos, vanilla ice cream, and then a buttercream design.

This is what he likes.

I learned last year...that no matter how solid frozen your ice cream cake is...it is never frozen as solid as Dairy Queen's and you should NOT attempt to remove it from the pan to decorate it.

It spells disaster.

So this year, I just left it in the pan and decorated it in there.

He is on a Disney Cars kick right now...so that is the theme we did.

I am not encouraging my boys to grow up too fast.

Yes, he turned 12...but if the boy likes Disney movies still...I'm all for it!

We celebrated with Geeg and Papa.

We went to Craig's Cruisers to "play" for a while.

Had dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

Then came home for cake and pressies.

It was a nice celebration.

I love you Natee!

Happy birthday!

1000+ Facebook Fans Celebration Giveaway!

 Once upon a time...

I had a longing to learn to decorate cakes and cookies.

So...

I finally did something about it.

Two summers ago, I took a Wilton Cake Decorating Basics class at a local craft store.

I was hooked.

 And although I do enjoy cake decorating...

COOKIES have really become my thing lately.

I do some cakes...but consider myself a real amateur.

They generally turn out good...but cookies have been my passion lately.

Cookies and cake pops are a lot of fun.

When I started my "Sweet Ivy Confections" Facebook page a little over a year ago, I never dreamed that I'd gain over 1000+ fans!

To say thank-you, for all of your love, encouragement, support, advice, and orders...

I did a little giveaway!

 Carla R. was our winner!

She was contacted via Facebook and has picked up her cookies.

I really enjoy doing floral cookies.

I will admit, the weather (humidity) gave me some fits.

Any baker will tell you...humidity is our worst nightmare when it comes to royal icing.

So, these cookies and I had words...we had "bubbles", and some "separating".

But all in all...I think they turned out ok.

Our winner was delighted...and that's enough for me!

Thank-you all so much for continuing to encourage and support me on this journey.

Your kindness means so much as I continue to learn and gain new skills!

God bless!