Hello...

...is anyone still comin' around?!  I wouldn't blame you a bit if you had given up on me!  If you are on Instagram, you can ALWAYS find me HERE!

So, let's do some catch up...cuz' I have been busy!

How about some Bunco cookies:

These are among some of my favorite cookies, ever (just sayin').  Kelli's friend, Meredith came to town for a "cowgirl birthday weekend"...so of course, cookies were in order.

And it wouldn't be complete without the perfect packaging!

Some Cookie Monster for a birthday:

Football cookies...also for a birthday (how about them Cardinals, 6 and 1?!)

These were cookies that I did for a benefit called "Go-Bo Foundation".  It is a huge bake sale held in Wisconsin.  It was two weekends ago and can you believe they raised $25,000...dats a lotta cookies!

You  could pick most any "theme" of cookies to do, but they asked that every donation include one butterfly!

Next, it was time to do start some Halloween cookies...and if you know me at all, you know that I love all things Halloween.  I made these "hanging" cookies:

I did some "rocket theme" baby shower cookies:

About this time it was off to Denver!  I made "Wolfpack" cookies for Thomas' football team!

While we were there, Melissa and I were going to a "witchy" Halloween party...so I decided something girly was in order!

Kinda cute, huh?!  Had a ton of fun with my airbrush, as you can see!

And because I am sure you are on cookie overload right about now, I am going to stop there.  I PROMISE to be back by Friday to share the rest of this year's Halloween cookies!

Thanks for stopping by!

Silent Auction Donation

I was recently asked to do a gift basket for a Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser.  I originally offered one dozen cookies (assorted designs) and a Gift Certificate to go with for one dozen cookies, winners choice of design.

I sort of got a little sidetracked because before I knew it, I had a dozen and a half cookies...which ended up causing me to make a trip back to Michaels to buy the bigger basket that I probably should have purchased in the first place!  No big deal...all for a good cause, right?!

Here are the cookies that I came up with:

A big thanks to SweetSugarBelle for her inspiration on the Angelina Ballerina cookie!  And let's not forget my goal of using a new cutter each week...first time using my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cutter made by Plastics in Print!

A basket would not be complete without a bride and groom...and of course one of my favorites...the beach scene on a heart!

In honor of my beloved Cardinals...and for those that are Arizona baseball fans, a D-back cookie!

One of my personal faves, and a couple more cutters that had never been used, a paint pallet and brush!

And last, but certainly not least...the ball jar, a gumball machine (also my first time use of this cutter) and what basket would be complete without some sort of Disney themed cookie?!

Put them all together...

...tie them up with a bow and this is what you get! 

Whatcha' think...worth bidding on?

Till next time!

A family divided!

It's no secret that I am a huge Cardinals fan!  I actually grew up in a state that did not have a professional football team...Oregon, to be exact.  We moved to a suburb of Seattle in 1992 and lived there 9 years...funny, that for whatever reason, I never became a Seahawks fan!  Since spending their adolescent years there, you would have thought that both my daughters would be Seahawks fans...not so much!  

On any given Sunday during football season, you will find Melissa's family dressed in their team gear!  And while Kelli is a huge Cardinals fan...she is, without a doubt, a bigger New England Patriots fan!  Go figure, right?  Never lived in Massachusetts...never even lived close to the east coast, so if you are wondering why, I will tell you that it has a lot to do with the fact that Tom Brady is their quarterback!

So where am I going with all this?  It's time for me to show you cookies that I made with a new cutter...well, make that TWO new cutters!

For the diehard Seahawks fan:

And for the Patriots fan:

 
I would definitely do a few things differently on these the next time around...but all in all, not bad for a first try, huh?

Could this be a "prequel" to Superbowl Sunday...we will know the answer to that in about 2 days!

Till then...go Cardinals!

Well..next year anyway!

The making of a "Cardinal"...

...cookie, that is!  It is opening day of the regular NFL season and it makes me happy, happy, happy!

Ron doesn't ask me to make cookies very often, but when he asked me to make some football cookies to take to bowling (yeah, he is sort of a geek) for opening day, I was only too happy to oblige.  Loves me some football!

This is how my cardinal cookie evolved:

Are YOU ready for game day?

Till next time...happy baking!

Are you ready...

...for some football?

I never get tired of asking that question, although I am sure you probably get tired of me asking it every year!  I am not a big sports fan...EXCEPT for when it comes to football!  Oh, and that's, it just the NFL, I am not a huge follower of college (I heard that collective GASP).

I have not lived in Arizona my whole life, so I cannot even claim to be a lifelong Cardinal fan. In my defense, I came from Portland, OR where the only sports team in town happens to be a basketball team...BOO!

I have loved football for as long as I can remember, and as weird as it seems, I never became a Seahawks fan when we lived in Washington.  When we came to AZ, the Cardinals soon became my team of choice.  I am one of those crazy people that looks forward to fall, simply because it means the start of a new football season (ok, and the cooler temps don't hurt either!).

Where am I going with all this?  Cookies, of course.  In the past I have had to "hand cut" my Cardinals cookies...something that I detest doing.  It involves an image, sharp tool of choice and a little patience.  My problem with this is, I never get a good clean cut and my cookies don't come out as nice as I like them to be.  But this year, that problem is solved.  I asked Patrick, from Plastics In Print, to make me a custom Cardinal head...and he delivered!  No more hand cutting for me.

So in honor of preseason, which is right around the corner...I give you Cardinal cookies...

Okay, I am not giving them to you...I am just showing you!  But they are kind of fun, right?  A huge "shout out" to Patrick for making my life a whole lot simpler!

So, I ask you again...are YOU ready?!

Before I go, I did promise a little peek at my latest thrift find.

Let me tell you...to say these babies are a little "rough", would be an understatement...but they are solid wood, sturdy (after I took one of them apart and sort of rebuilt it) and they were CHEAP.  So cheap that I had to cram two at a time in my C-70 (top closed, mind you) AND make two trips, to get them home.  Yes, it was somewhat of a "redneck" move, but hey, anything for a bargain, right?  Apparently Savers doesn't let you come back for pick up anymore.  I had to promise to be back within 15 minutes as it was.

Here are my little treasures:

See?  Nastiness...but you can see their potential, right?!  Wait...maybe you can see it a little better when I show you the price:

But even that is incorrect because it was Customer Appreciation day and I got 30% off of that...total price, less that $12 for four chairs!  Not bad!

One more peek:

Have you gotten any good deals lately?

Till next time!