Be Mine...

Valentine's Day is coming up and I am reminded every time I step in a store. Does not matter if it is a grocery store, clothing store or a drug store. The hearts, candy and shades of red and pink hit you as soon as you step foot in. I am not one to get all crazy for Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong I may indulge in a box of yummy conversation hearts....I ♥ NECCO or buy a cute heart decoration for the cuteness of hearts. Other than that it is just another day. Funny because Valentine's Day was a lot of fun as a kid. I can remember making cute Valentine's Day holders to tape to the side of my desk in school and then we would all go around and drop our cute little Valentine's in every ones holder. Always looking forward to seeing which one I got from the few boy crushes I had. Then we would have cupcakes, cookies and punch before school was let out. What a FUN day for a kid. So saying that...
I made some fun fuzzy wuzzy 'be mine' bears. XOXO

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Butterfly L♥VE

A group of cookie friends decided to send some butterfly love to a very special friend whose Mother had recently passed. Butterflies  represent many things, to ME a butterfly represents not only beauty but a Celebration of Life. A butterfly emerges from it's cocoon and flutters away in it's new life.

Beautiful isn't it? I think so. 

Okay now on to the cookies... I was excited to make butterfly cookies since I have yet to make some. I cut about four to decorate figuring I will mail my favorite. Well I got sick and was unable to finish in time. They sat out and got stale LOL. A week later I baked a couple more so I could send her a fresh one. Because we all know that fresh cookies are the best unless your my husband that really doesn't care because he will dip the cookie in milk to get it soft again haha! Sometimes the second go around your cookie ideas are even better because I also baked some hearts to add to them. The "Love" heart was not in my original idea. 

With that being said here is my cookie for a very special friend ♥ Beautiful...just like her! XOXO

     Butterfly Wings

Like a butterfly emerges
And unfolds its graceful wings,
A child grows and develops
With the love a mother brings.
I'm thankful for the times
When you encouraged me to try,
For God gave me my wings,
But, Mom, you taught me how to fly.

~ Robin Fogle

A Groovy Cookie Project

Another fun cookie project I joined in on. This one was using this fun cupcake cutter designed my Pam at CookieCrazie. Idea was to take this cutter and design a cookie...."No theme involved......just use your imagination with this cutter."

So of course I was not going to make a cupcake. We have all seen so many cupcake cookies out there. Don't get me wrong...a cupcake cookie can be so very cute & I have seen some wonderful ones. I looked and looked at this cutter and the ideas started popping up in my head. For some reason I saw BIG hair. I traced the cutter design on paper and from there I got some ideas online and then my design came about.

 

The star glasses and the hair pik are royal icing transfers. Added some black sanding sugar to the hair to give it some texture and there we go...GROOVY isn't it? 

I must of made 20 royal icing hair piks. They all were breaking. So fragile but then I was being very impatient by not letting them dry for a full day. Finally....FINALLY I was able to get one in ONE piece.

Very fun project. Or should I say GROOVY project.

I love my big afro hair groovy chick and I think its so fun!

 

Here is the collage and links to all the others that participated. I just love how creative everyone is. The ideas that were put onto a cookie from a cupcake cutter are brilliant. Don't you think??

 

1 Jacinda - Ali's Sweet Tooth

2 Shannon - Artfully Delicious

3 Laurie – Cookie Bliss

4 Andrea – Cupookie

5 Nicole - Life's A Batch

6 Lorraine – Lorraine’s Cookies

7 Melissa – The Baked Equation

8 Nancy – Seasons of Joy 

9 Michelle

10 Penny – Grammie’s Cookies N Goodies

11 Tricia – The Cookie Loft Girls

12 Heather – Sugar Nosh Treats

13 Tracy - Whisked Away Cookies

14 Pam - CookieCrazie

2013

I'm a little late but hey I still hear people wishing me a Happy New Year. So here I go...
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Cheers to an amazing 2013.
Be inspired, INSPIRE, find your passion and have FUN!

 

 Just some fun wintery New Year cookies I made. 

Love Polar Bears. They are the cutest!!!

 

*Kissy Kissy *

Traditional?? Bah Humbug!

A few weeks ago I was out looking around at Cost Plus World Market. I saw this really cool jumbo gingerbread man. I figured it would be fun to decorate for Christmas. Well Christmas came and went and there sat my naked little gingerbread man waiting to get spruced up.

 So I thought & thought and the ideas flooded my crazy lil brain with many ideas. I traced him out and then started doodling a cool idea with a Day of the Dead design. I personally have a love for skulls and bright colors. Day of the Dead designs pretty much resemble both that. Google Day of the Dead and you will see what I mean. It's so festive and pretty.

 

After getting what I wanted down on paper...I went to piping & flooding!

 

Having the colors already picked out and on paper made it SO much easier and faster! Oh...and I cannot forget to mention his cool pimpin gold tooth. That was a royal icing transfer. I made extra and attempted to wear one but it quickly disintegrated in my mouth HAHA!

 

The funny thing about this....this gingerbread man does NOT smell like the yummy spicy gingerbread cookie we are most associated with. It smells like a store bought cookie that you don't want to eat that resembles the texture of a thick sponge LOL. So what I have decided to do it let it dry out on a cooling rack then I am going to attempt to put a lacquer varnish on it with hopes to keep him around til next Christmas for a festive decoration. Wish me luck! :)

HO HO HOme for the Holidays

A group of cookiers got together and decided to do a 'Home For The Holidays' with this HUGE 5"x 9" cookie cutter....Christmas Village Collaboration: With everyone using the same cookie cutter create your take on a Christmas homefront (front facade only) In whatever dough floats your boat.

 My mind was going in a million directions with ideas. I surely did not ant to do the typical fancy Victorian house or the whimsical gingerbread house. Both ideas which I love but I had to be a little different. Going off the path somewhat lol. Summer and Tiki Hut popped into mind and the ideas went from there. Bamboo and straw with strands of Christmas lights, a small totem pole with a Santa Hat and Christmas isn't Christmas without Santa right? The totem pole and Santa are royal icing transfers. Just seemed the easiest way to do those. The straw was done with a Wilton tip #233. The bamboo technique was inspired by SweetSugarBelle. I also painted some brown food coloring on the bamboo to give it some depth. I must say Santa looks to be having a much better time in his Tiki Hut rather than freezing his big bum off at the North Pole! HAHA! 

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

And for some more fun. Here are the rest of the entries...

from top left and going clockwise:

Jill: Jill FCS

Laura: Laura's Cookies

Nadia: My Little Bakery

Anne: Flour Box Bakery

Andrea (me): Cupookie

Anita: Sweet Hope

Lorraine: Lorraine's Cookies

Georganne: Lilaloa

  

 

Deeeeeelicious Christmas Cookies!

This year I decided to not go the route and make all the time consuming tedious Christmas cookies that I wanted to send out to my family. I found some amazing recipes I have been wanting to try for some time and I thought now would be the time to try them. They all are so yummy and all have a unique taste. The Chocolate Mint Cookies are my absolute favorite and the Key Lime Shortbread cookies are my second favorite. So light and tart. Here are the recipes if you ever are in need of a delicious cookie!

Cinnamon Roll Cookies:
http://www.crunchyrock.com/2010/12/cinnamon-roll-cookies.html
 
Toasted Sesame Seed Honey Cookies:
http://www.sweethopecookies.com/toasted-sesame-seed-honey-roll-and-cut-cookies/

Chocolate Mint Cookies: I substituted the candy cane pieces for 1 1/2 cup of ground Andes chocolate mint baking chips.
http://www.sweethopecookies.com/christmas-peppermint-candy-roll-and-cut-cookies/

Key Lime Shortbread Cookies:
http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/1141/key-lime-shortbread-cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Cookie Cravings Cookbook