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!

Splash of COLOR!

I have no excuse as to why I haven't posted these happy little cookies until now... They were actually for two sweet sisters who celebrated their birthdays about a month ago.  I will just blame my lack of posting on Summer getting in the way.  Summer can do that you know...

At our house Summer means sleeping in a bit later....lots of playing outside, swimming in our backyard inflatable pool, lemonade-making, crazy eight card game tournaments over lunch, lots of paper plates, paper napkins, and paper cups, a few band-aids here and there,  backyard grilling, and bike rides.

For being a laid back season...Summer can sure keep us busy:) But I wouldn't trade it...Nope...not even when the temperatures soared above the 100 degree mark for well over a week.

I think I could take a hundred pictures of these rainbows and still not be bored.  The colors just scream HaPpY!

I found the original idea for these on this AMAZING woman's blog.  Can't even put her talent into words because it wouldn't do her justice.

But... when I originally saw these... my soon to be 8-year old at the time was dwelling on the thought of a rainbow themed birthday party.  I was tickled to say the least... I had found the perfect cookie to go along with her chosen theme.

But then....as most kids do....she changed her mind....and a sweet fairy party it became.

But I didn't forget these cookies.  I tucked the thought of them away....and they were the first that came to mind for these two sweet little birthday girls last month!

The ruffle technique was pretty painless ( I used a Wilton 101 tip)....and actually kind of a dreamy break from the usual piping and flooding:)

See...

I told you I wouldn't be able to stop taking pictures....

Hope your summer days have been filled with color too!

Happy Birthday America

It definitely feels like Fourth of July weather here in the Midwest.  June was quite the scorcher....and we have seen temperatures in the 100s all week already!  My 8-year old has been excited about this holiday since her birthday in April when she got a red, white, and blue dress that she deemed perfect for the Fourth!

I really wanted to make some cookies that the KIDS, especially, would enjoy on this holiday.  A few months ago I saw these from The Last Course Bakery...and absolutely adored how they dreamed up an Uncle Sam out of a teddy bear cookie cutter...just brilliant!

I made just a few changes to the original version....

and had so much fun adding all the details to these little Uncle Sam's.

I guess I am partial to "Sams"....aren't I?

Have a SAFE and fun Fourth!

Spa Day!

Since my daughter's Brownie Troop had money left over at the end of the year from their cookie sales, the girls got to choose a fun way to spend their extra earnings.....After some brainstorming...the troop quickly agreed on having a SPA day....a short afternoon of manicures,...foot soaks, and pedicures.  

When I heard about the SPA day... I knew immediately which cookies I wanted to bring for the occasion.  I had seen these very similar cookies here....and was instantaneously head over heels in LOVE.  Loved the sparkles...loved the jewels, what girl wouldn't?  Kathryn Collins, of, Hey Cookie was the master mind behind these cookies, and graciously shared with me where she found these lovely edible gems...after I had no luck finding them locally.  I took her advice and ordered these amazing little edible decorations here....

Halfway through my cookie making .... I realized I had run out of the Rainbow Disco Dust.....tsk, tsk, tsk..... (And of course these cookies would have not been the same with out that fancy schmancy.... bling!) So I headed to one of our local baking stores to pick up some.....and to my great surprise I noticed...they too carried these beautiful edible gems.   So I bought more....larger ones than I had originally ordered!   Guess I'll be well stocked in that department now!

I had fun with the sparkle on these cookies....and I think I am still finding remnants of Disco Dust in my kitchen....but boy did I have a time with those craters forming on the nail polished part.  I wanted to make the nails a little more raised...and either my 20 sec  frosting was too thick or there is just plain too much HUMIDITY in Kansas because after about 15 minutes of dry time under the fan... I those sneaky craters would start to sneak up on me...and only on some fingers...ARGGG!

Luckily I was able to catch it early and get rid of the majority of them.

I took pictures in different light because the shimmer from the Disco Dust seemed to show up a little better under certain lights.

My only regret about these cookies was that I wasn't more creative in my use of color on the nails....because when our troop left the Nail Salon today... I don't think one girl left with nails that were all one color.  Alternating color schemes seemed to be most popular!

Most chose at least two alternating colors on their nails AND toes.  It sure was fun watching them kick back and soak those cute little toes of theirs.  I hope they enjoyed their day of relaxation and their sweet little treats!

DADDY Day!

I was REALLY late preparing for Father's Day this year....I had planned on making some Super Hero cookies for the Super Daddies and Grand-Daddies in our lives....but time got away from me...

So when I saw the tutorial for these on Lizy B's blog.....I knew they were the perfect solution!  Perfect for my own Daddy who wears a tie to work everyday and perfect for our Mr. B who would rather eat a tie than wear one!!!

Lizy was featured on SheKnows.com, where you can find the full, very detailed tutorial for this... along with a ready to print template for cutting out the tie!  So sweet of her to offer such detailed instruction, and what a fun idea to be able to give a life-size cookie tie as a gift!! It fit PERFECTLY in a tie box!

Of course you could always customize the tie with whatever colors suit the Daddies in your life....but I happen to love blue and orange...so we went with it!!

Hope all of you were able to spoil your Daddies with something sweet and fun this Father's Day!

30th Birthday SURPRISE

I have gotten really far behind on my cookie posts....

It might have something to do with the fact that ALL of the littles are home for the summer....

Or perhaps it might be because of the amount of time I'm spending in physical therapy from the hamstring/hip injury I've acquired possibly caused by lifting too much of my 31- pound 16 month-old.  Not gonna complain though...because it is 31 pounds of pure SWEETNESS (except when he is pulling all nighters while battling those new teeth he is cutting:)....and I know before long...he won't want me to hold him like he does now... So for now... no complaining:)

Just a few good excuses as to why blogging has become low on the list of priorities:)

Anywho....this fun set of cookies was for a sweet friend who was throwing a SuRpRiSe birthday party for her sister-in-law.  The only request was for "pink" and "black" "30" cookies:)

As you can see... I am still working on mastering those little "fluffy-parts" on the party hat.  I used a #233 Wilton tip....but some of the icing just kept blending together when I pulled away.  I have read that plastic #233 tips sometimes work better than the stainless ones to help with this issue...but I have yet to find any.....Would love to hear y'all's suggestions for making this easier...maybe it is more of a RI consistency issue...

Sugarbelle was the real deal behind the design of these cookies...she made some very similar cookies for Cookie Crazie's 4th Birthday Celebration.  You can see her pretty set here....

Lots more to share this coming week....from Father's Day to birthdays and even a little Spa Party! Happy Weekend!