Better late...

than never!  Yes...I am a few days late in posting Valentine's Day cookies but I do have a legitimate excuse. 

We took a quick little 5 day trip to Denver to see all my babies and I was literally making cookies right up till the day before!  I also had a steady stream of clients picking up their orders!  Here is what my dining room table looked like at one point:

 
Here are what a few of the orders that I did looked like:

Thanks, Sarah...hope your family enjoyed them!

These were shipped to MO...thank you, Martha!

No pics (my bad!), but a HUGE shout out and thank you to Corie who also ordered a dozen cookies!  Hands down one of my best clients!

Taylor wanted to give cookies to her classmates, so of course Nana had to oblige!  Melissa made these super cute Valentine's Day cards using her Cameo:

So what is a girl to do, but make cookies to match:

Whatcha' think...cute, huh?!  Gotta say, I love how they turned out!

And of course I can't forget my other two!  For Thomas, who loves sports...and Tatum, who loves her "Mimmie" Mouse:

And last but not least...the easiest Valentine's Day cookies ever...but still among my favorites:

That's it...it's all I got for you.

Now...who wants St. Patrick's Day cookies?!

Another week...

...of using a new cutter that has been sitting in my stash. 

I would have posted this yesterday but they were a birthday gift for my sweet friend, Karolyn and her birthday wasn't until yesterday.

Believe it or not, I actually used SSB's Pencil cookie cutter in this set of cookies.  It looks like this:

Now, you are probably asking yourself how using a "fat" pencil cookie cutter could be used for an adult cookie, so I will explain.

In my last post, I explained about my obsession with the images drawn by Krista of Cookies with Character...found here in her ETSY shop.  Not only does she draw the images with the cookier in mind, many times she will create them to be used with a specific cookie cutter...thankfully, I happen to have this one!  Check out these cute little birdcages:

How cute are they?!  I actually "killed to birds with one stone" (no pun intended) this week because I also used a small paisley cutter (also never used) to create the two little birds below.  Whatcha' think?!  I even made my own stencil using my Cameo and airbrushed the houndstooth background on the plaque cookie...I am trying to get more comfortable with airbrushing and while it was not perfect, it was pretty darn close.

I had one Valentine's Day order for this week.  I got to make more of those cute "Hanging Heart" cookies.  I think these are my personal faves for this year:

I've got a BUSY week coming up...should have lots to share! 

Till next time!

I'm sad to see it go!

I know most of you girls (and guys, if there happens to be one or two) probably think I'm crazy, but I am always sad to see the football season end for the year.  Even someone who is not a big fan of football, is well aware of how this year's Superbowl turned out...yikes, such a fiasco! 

You should know by now that I am a huge Cardinals fan...if you know me well, you will know that I am most definitely NOT a Seahawks fan, (even though we lived just outside of Seattle for 9 years) so I was rooting for Denver in this year's big game.  That did not work out so well but, whatever!

I did however, have fun making these cookies for Maureen to take to her Superbowl party:

 
I did not have a Broncos cookie cutter so I decided to hand cut these...not my favorite thing to do, but sometimes it must be done!  I have to say...I was very pleased at how these little guys turned out...it's just too bad they didn't bring Denver better luck!

I also had a little cookie "down time" this past weekend so I decided to play with an image that was hand drawn by Krista of Cookies with Character...an amazing cookie artist!  The best part?  She was giving it away as her Friday "Freebie".  She has just started selling similar drawings on ETSY, so you should definitely check them out...so freakin' cute!

Anyhoo...this is the adorable little image:

I love how she made it to fit on a butterfly cookie cutter...so cute!

Here is what I came up with:

The cute little "mustache" birds were inspired by both Callye, aka Sweet Sugar Belle and Sarah of Klickitat Street.  I wish I had the vision of turning one cookie cutter into something completely different like these girls (and many others) do!

Another peek:

Love these little characters!  Thanks for the freebie, Krista!

Till next time...happy baking!

A quick Update!

Why quick?  Because I have cookies waiting to be decorated and since the cookie fairies aren’t getting the job done…that just leaves me to do it!  I have lots to do this week…probably a piece of cake for most cookiers, but since I usually do not take enough orders to stress myself out…I’m not so sure this week!

Anyhoo, here’s what I was up to last week!
It was week #3 for using a new cookie cutter (should have been posted last week, but I did actually use it last week).  This is the cute cutter designed by Sweet Sugar Belle…I decided that instead of a cookie jar, mine would be filled with candy!



I had a cousin come to visit and since he loves golf, I decided to make him some golf cookies!



These were for a couples baby shower that did not know the gender of the baby…apparently they are Dodger fans and met at a baseball game…so Dodger blue and pink bats and balls seemed like the perfect theme:



And last, but certainly not least…Corie sent me this invite for her son Liam’s birthday.
 


I decided to “man up” and use my airbrush to give the airplanes a little “vintage look”…if this didn’t work, I could have been redoing nine airplane cookies, but I have to say…I really liked how they turned out!  Did I mention I have a “love/hate” relationship with my airbrush?!



So, whatcha’ you think?  About the cookies, that is.  In case you didn’t notice, and I am sure you did…I am back to taking pictures with my Iphone again.  Sometimes is hard impossible to teach an old dog new tricks and my camera is back to kicking my butt!

Till next time!

Just more Valentine's Day!

These are just a few more ideas for Valentine's Day...orders are coming in, but why do I get the feeling that everyone is going to wait till the last minute...then it's going to be too late!

Till next time...

It's all about the packaging!

There are times when just a few cookies will do...and in that case, it is all about how you present them!

I am a "dollar" anything fanatic...whether it be the Dollar Store, The Dollar Spot (Target), or if I am really feeling cheap thrifty, I go to the .99 Store...I kid, but you get my point!

I picked up some cute little heart shape tins from the Dollar Spot.  As soon as I saw them, I knew what I was going to do with them:

 Cookies disguised as candy, anyone?  Two dozen little mini cookies fit perfectly in this tin.

Whatcha' think?  Kinda cute, huh?

Another thing I love is "Pick Your Plum"...if you are not familiar, they send you via email, daily deals.  I absolutely could not resist these cute little window boxes!  They were a bit deeper than I thought, so I put enough "shred" in the box so that the cookies would not flop around.  It would hold two, possibly three cookies really well!

 
So cute...who doesn't love everything chevron?  There were four different pattens in all!  Love these!

I have a bunch more Valentine's Day cookies to share, but if I am being honest...this whole picture taking thing is taking me a lot more time, with not a lot of great results!  I have to practically tie my own hands to resist the urge to just pick up my Iphone and shoot!

As if that is not bad enough...I have put myself out there with my "plan" to learn to take better pics, so I am sure you are coming to expect...well, better pics!  It's gonna take time, I am sort of a slow learner!

Till next time!

New Cookie Cutter...

...week one!  Yes, if you are getting technical, I should be on week two, but stuff happens and I am just now getting around to using a cutter that until now, has gone unused!

I purchased this cutter about a year ago at World Market...I wish they carried more cutters because the ones that they do have, are usually a little unique.  Anyhoo, here is the cutter:

Now...I know what you are thinking..."what the what?".  Well, if you are a fellow cookier, this concept is not new...in fact, when you think about it, and after you see the finished cookie, you will probably realize that this could be done with just about any regular cutter.  But I'm lazy...so the less extra effort I have to put out, the better!  If you are not a fellow cookier, you may have figured it out...or maybe not.  Let's see...


 

Whatcha' think?!  Does it make you want to have a Valentine's Day party...WITH kids, so that you can serve milk, in bottles, with cute straws and cookies hanging off the side?!  Okay well, maybe not that last part, but a bunch of adults drinking milk, through straws, might look a little silly!

Seriously, I am in love with the look of these little milk bottles...aka, Starbucks bottles!  I knew I kept them for a reason!

Notice anything else?  I actually took these pictures with my camera and NOT my Iphone!  If you remember, that was another of my New Year's "plans"...to use my camera more, and my phone less.  Don't get me wrong...I won't be hanging up my apron and setting up a tripod any time soon...but not bad for a first try with my new lens!

One more peek:

Till next time!

Moving right along...

...from one holiday to the next!  I LOVE doing cookies for each holiday, but once it gets closer to said holiday...I am usually over it!  So, while I thoroughly enjoyed doing Christmas, I was ready to move on.  Yes, I did one little batch of New Year's cookies...but now it is time to think about Valentine's Day!

Here are a few things I have come up with so far:

I mean seriously...Valentine's Day does not have to be all hearts...it can be other fun sweets too!

What do you think of the new kraft color gift box?  I am changing over and I am about to place my first order with the infamous BRP...well, infamous to other cookiers, that is!  These boxes are so sturdy and I love the presentation they make!

That box was a little on the girly side...how about something for the sports enthusiast in your life?

Cute, huh?

Have to say...I was super pleased at how these turned out!

And if you don't follow me on Instagram...you will have to check back to see what it is hidden in this cute little tin!

I have a lot more to share...as well as that new cutter that I promised to use, remember?

Till then...happy baking~

Persistence pays off!

Wow...I am actually back on Friday as promised!  I will start out by showing you the last of the Valentine's Day cookies.

The first set was ordered by Gail from My Repurposed Life, for her daughter and son-in-law.  From what I understand, Jamie LOVES owls, so that was cookie we created this gift box around.

Thanks Gail!

The next three boxes were made for one of my blog followers, Debbie.  I could not believe it when she notified me (through Two Peas in a Bucket) and told me she was in the same town as me...literally up the street about a mile.  Small world, huh?!

The first two were for her neighbors:

And sadly, as I am writing this I realize I forgot to take an individual picture of the box I made for her husband and son.  Here are all three tied with ribbons:

Thank you Debbie!!

I LOVE making Valentine's Day cookies...too bad I have to wait a whole year to make more!

Sometime between doing cookies and getting ready for a garage sale (yes, you read that correctly...ANOTHER garage sale) my hubby and I had time to work on the headboard situation.

I am happy to report that it actually worked.  As always, I forgot to take pictures of exactly how I did it but I can tell you it was pretty easy.

I had to bring it out a ways from the wall to accommodate the posts on the sides of the headboard, so I first screwed on a couple of boards to the back to accomplish that.  Then I attached what they call a "Hangman", which is actually for hanging pictures.  This puppy holds up to 200 lbs. and although my headboard weighs a ton, Ron assured me it was nowhere near that much!  Now ALL  of my headboards in the house (3 total) are hung with this system!

You may remember my master bedroom headboard and Guestroom #1 shutter headboard.

Let me just say...I am horrible at math (thankfully my daughter's do not take after me) so when we were trying to decide how high we could go with the wall bracket, I just explained to Ron where I wanted it to hit as far as the mattress.  I wanted to just push the bed up to the wall and "visually" figure it out just where it should go, but NOPE we had to mathematically figure it out...cuz' that's what guys are good at...right?!

You know the old adage "Measure twice, cut once"?  Well, in this case it should have been "Measure twice, hang once", because I now have five extra holes in the wall behind the headboard.  If we had just done it MY way, this never would have happened.  So long story, not so short...here is how it was originally:

And this is how it looks now:

Better?  I think so!  In a perfect world, it could have probably been a little higher, but I could not live with the big gaping hole between the bottom of the headboard and the top of the mattress when someone was to crawl in that bed! 

One more peek:

Anyhoo...I LOVE it and that is what is most important, right?!  Next week, I will show you the full bedroom reveal!

Till then...I gotta a garage sale to get ready for!

This post linked to:

My Repurposed Life
Miss Mustard Seed