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!

♪♪♪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!

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!

Good luck and GOBO!!!

Happy 1st Birthday! (Mickey Mouse)

 When my friend asked me to make cookies for her grandson's first birthday, I was so honored!

I love to help people celebrate!

 It was a really fun theme...one that I'd never done.

My friend's grandson is a cutie-pie!

 She shared pictures of the party with me and it looks like he enjoyed his cookies!

 I sure did have fun making them for him!

 Happy birthday Owen!

Chocolate Chip Cut-Outs (recipe included)

 Sometimes you want "a little more" than your basic sugar cookie.

And as much as I like to change things up and flavor my basic sugar cookies (vanilla, almond, chocolate, citrus, etc.)...sometimes I crave MORE.

I have to say, I am not one to "create" or come up with my own recipes very often.

So when I saw this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cut-Outs, I was all over it.

This recipe is from SugarBaker's Cookie Cutter Cookbook.

These cookies are a little different in texture than your average chocolate chip drop cookie, as these are made for rolling and cutting out...and they do both GREAT.

They are delicious plain or you can decorate them with royal icing just like you would your regular sugar cookie.

The plain "sunshine" cut-outs in the above picture, I made last night.  My boys aren't really into iced cookies...they like them simple and basic.

The Lego cookies in the picture below, I made a couple years ago for a birthday.

They are the Chocolate Chip Cut-Out recipe.  And as you can see, they decorate quite nicely.

It is very important that you use the mini chocolate chips for this recipe, as the regular sized ones are too big/bulky for rolling.

Here's the recipe adapted from SugarBaker's.

• 1 c unsalted butter
• 1/3c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½ c all-purpose flour (the recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups, personally I only use 2 cups)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ c semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips
  
  Cream together butter and sugars. Add the vanilla and egg yolk. Sift together the flour and salt, and add it one cup at a time until completely incorporated. BY HAND fold in the chocolate chips. Doing so with the mixer tends to break up the chocolate chips.
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.  Roll dough on floured work surface and use cookie cutters to cut shapes.  Bake for 10-12 min. at 350.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread...

This is such a simple recipe...but trust me...

Once you try it you're going to want to make it over and over again.

The aroma in your home while it's baking will have you salivating!

When you pull it out of the oven, you'll hardly be able to wait for it to cool!

Goodness, DON'T wait!  It's even better warm!

That crispy, toasty cinnamon sugar coating on top...

The soft, tender bread with a swirl of cinnamon running through it...

Well what are you waiting for?
Go make this!

You can thank me later!

 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

 

1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Topping:
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar

Mix all together, mixing topping in separate bowl. Put 1/2 bread mixture into bread pan. Sprinkle with half of topping. Place rest of bread mixture in pan, and sprinkle with rest of topping. Run a butter knife through and slightly swirl. Bake for approx. 1 hour at 350 or until toothpick comes out clean.

Wedding Belle's!

 WOW!
How did I forget to blog about these beauties?

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a very kind mother of groom on these particular cookies.

 It was such a fun job.

I was given pretty much, free reign over the design.

The only request was "wedding gowns" and "wedding cakes" with hints of pink.

 Some cookiers enjoy KNOWING EXACTLY what they're going to do.

They enjoy being given a design to follow.

Me?  No way.

Some of my best work comes from when I just let loose and those creative juices start flowing.

 Many of my fellow cookie baking friends all sketch their designs before decorating.

I have never been one to do that.

I "do" get somewhat of a design in my head...but I never sketch.

 I just kind of let my hands go...and see what turns out.

That was the case with these dresses and cakes.

 It was so much fun.  Pretty much each dress was unique...with maybe a few being similar.

 The wedding cakes were fun too.

 It was kind of like decorating a cake, yet on a cookie!

 These I did in 5 designs.

I was happy with the outcome of all of these.

They were a lot of fun to do.

I wish the new couple a lifetime of health and happiness!