Sock Monkey FIRST Birthday

My littlest man turned the big ONE a few weeks ago.....I think I am still in denial that his first year has already come and gone....He was a bit under the weather with another ear infection the day of the big soiree... but that didn't put a damper on our day of fun....

Here are a few pictures of my special little guy and of course the SWEET treats!

My first attempt at sock cookies was here....back in December after seeing Callye's Christmas version of these cute little guys.  But when I saw her sanded sock monkeys... I just couldn't resist.  I ordered the cutter and got to work.....They were the perfect accompaniment to my vintage sock monkey theme!!!   Thanks for the tutorial, Callye!

And more cookies...

And because it was a children's party....we HAD to have cupcakes.  This time I made vanilla pound cake cupcakes with my favorite almond flavored cream cheese frosting.

A few snaps of the table....as you can see the color scheme was red and brown....so I had red and brown straws, and tootsie rolls and hot tamales to fill my favorite old fashioned candy jars!

And the most important part of the party (besides the Birthday Boy, of course) is always the cake.  I searched high and low for a sock monkey cake pan but to no avail.  This Wilton monkey mold was as close as I got.  I simply baked my favorite "from scratch" chocolate layer cake recipe, and looking at a sock monkey picture... adjusted the decorations to look like a sock monkey.  

Guests took home sock monkeys and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies wrapped in a cd envelopes.

It was a sweet little party for our sweet little S.  He is definitely my sweet treat every day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a few simple designs to make this day extra SWEET!

I went for some simple pastel hearts and envelopes....

I kinda wish I would have outlined the envelopes with black....but thought the light blue gave it a fun touch...

And this is NOT at all a good picture of these little guys....but these were the Valentine's treats I brought for my second grader's school party today.  A HUGE thank you to Renee and Tara from Dazzle Expressions....who made the darling printable labels for me... I made a bunch of sock monkey cookies for my littlest's FIRST birthday (promise to share that post SOON), and decided I could use that cookie design for Valentine's Day if I tied in a Valentine's saying.... Renee and Tara designed my sock monkey birthday invites and did such a fabulous job.... I knew they could make the cookie labels a hit too!  

Hope Valentine's Day was SWEET for all of you!

A little bit of heart

To tell you the truth.... I have been a little "cookied" out lately after planning not one...but two birthday parties for the two most important little men in my life.  Right after the firetruck party for J... I went right into the sock monkey party plans for little S.    In all the cookie chaos and party planning I realized that I had forgotten to take decent pictures of a few "in between orders" and I realized that Valentine's Day cookies have not even made an appearance on my blog this year....

So before we get back to that very important FIRST birthday party for Mr. S.... I am going to share just a little bit of Valentine's love....

These were inspired by the amazing Glory.....her blog is always full of amazing recipes and beautiful photography.

And because it always feels good to go back and play a bit of "catch-up," here are a few more "random" cookies that I came across in my picture upload tonight...

Panda bear cookies for a sweet friend turning 8 years old...

And "Thank You BEARY Much" cookies for all of my littles' teachers to celebrate Catholic School's Week.....

Sock Monkey Party Pics to come soon!!!!