Angry Birds

It's time to play catch-up....I'm a bit behind on posting.... My oldest started THIRD grade last week....and we have all been adjusting to the "Back to School" schedule.  Thankfully...both littles have still been home with me to keep me company:)  J heads back to preschool in a few weeks and then we will have to get adjusted all over again...oh...I'm already missing our lazy days of summer!

Back to the birds....these little guys are all the rage right now.

 I'm not too familiar with the games and all the characters...but I will admit to downloading Angry Birds on my iphone for J to play if I needed to keep him busy in some sort of emergency situation....(like trying to have a conversation with the pediatrician without him chiming in with his own thoughts on all of my questions;)   When I looked at the game I wasn't too thrilled with the nature of it....(using a slingshot to get the birds to hit the green pigs) and I'm not sure J even understood it necessarily.  But...nonetheless...whenever the opportunity... he asked to play it.  And so, in a desperate attempt to keep all of our campers happy on our return trip home from Omaha this summer... I allowed him to play the game....

It worked like a charm....he was quiet, happy, and not arguing with his sister or teasing his brother....Until after about 30 minutes of play...when we heard the dreaded " I don't feel so good"....I won't go into any details after that...but it wasn't pretty.  A day or so later... when I checked out the game myself so I could get a good look at the birds before designing these cookies.... I kind of got dizzy myself watching those birds go  back and forth.  No wonder little J got carsick!!! So sadly....at our house...Angry Birds is now off limits during lengthy road trips...especially for our little J who gets motion sickness sooo easily!  Poor little guy!

BUT...on a happier note... I made these cookies for a friend's nephew who was celebrating his EIGHTH birthday.  They were sure fun to create.... but definitely challenging to get all the little details just right.  A HUGE thank you goes out to Callye for her tutorial on angry bird cookies. I found it really helpful in creating some of these guys!  Here's how I made mine:   I used my balloon cutter for the red bird and the blue bird, hand cut the green pig using a bunny cutter, bent a candy corn cutter to achieve the yellow bird, and used an ornament cutter for the black bird.

I sure hope the birthday boy had as much fun eating these crazy birds as I had making them:)

Polka Dots and Paisley

I think baby cookies have to be my most favorite to make...I always love the colors and the sweet designs....but this order was extra special to me.  The wife of one of my DEAREST friends from grad school was throwing a baby shower for a friend.  I have never met Miss L in person....but let's just say... through our brief emails and letters....I feel like we are already fast friends.  

I think her husband is a bit on edge about our impending friendship because as he says we are kinda like "two peas in a pod" and someday when we meet in person....I can't imagine the hours we will spend talking crafts, photography, baking, scrapbooking, etc.

The sad thing about all this... is that these dear friends live all the way in Texas now.  BUT a trip to see them and meet the rest of their sweet family is already in the works.  I am positive that Miss L threw an "out of this world" baby shower for her friend...and did I mention she is also pregnant with their FOURTH...She is definitely nothing short of amazing!

We can't wait to meet the newest member of their family... and I have no doubts that her adorable brother and sisters will take good care of her!!

For this particular shower...Miss L asked for aqua, lime and brown colored cookies to match her friend's nursery decor.  She suggested a paisley print and baby rattles.   Of course I turned to Callye for some inspiration behind the design I chose on the paisley.

I was happy with the way the colors turned out....

and thrilled to be able to use this cutter again (I used this same one here...)

I went a little crazy taking pictures of these because I loved all the colors together.  I took these last pictures right after I finished icing...I always love to see the fresh shine before they dry completely.

And once dried.... I CAREFULLY packaged them so they would SAFELY arrive in Texas.  I was sure to make a few extras...and thank goodness because a few did break during the shipping:(

The best part of this order (besides all the fun I had designing and decorating) came in the mail last week...

The sweetest HAND-MADE thank-you card.  I had to take a picture of it so you all could see it for yourselves.  I wasn't kidding when I said Miss L was amazing!  Wow...all the time it took to make that sweet card....simply made my day!  I can.not.wait. to schedule our trip to Texas.... we may just want to move in next door!