It's a WRAP!

At least for this year!  I finished the last of my cookies yesterday.  Well, except for the lonely, extra cookies that are still in my freezer.  They may or may not get baked...but they will surely be served "naked" because I am determined to make my kitchen counters free of icing containers!  It has been weeks since that occurred!

Now it's time to share the last of the Christmas cookies for 2013:

These were a light bulb moment for me...they actually came out exactly as I had them pictured in my head. 

Just in case Santa still wasn't 100% sure what to leave you for Christmas, you can leave him one last hint:

Complete with edible markers, my babies will be able to tell Santa exactly what was on their list!  Happy to say, they made it to Colorado without breakage!

A little gift box for my manicurist, Kelly!

A hostess gift that was inspired by this cute little basket:

Thank you to SweetSugarBelle, Simply Sweets by Honeybee, Make Me Cake Me, and The Baking Sheet for all the inspiration!

These are probably my favorite "Santa Claus" cookies for the year...not that I probably have to tell you that:

I knew that when I saw this little guy on "The Baking Sheet" blog, I had to give him a go!  I couldn't resist adding a little holly!  These are be donating these to a local children's home.


And last but certainly not least...Christmas Disney cookies!  I don't want to toot my own horn, but these were so fun to do and probably rank on my, "Top Five" list,  of favorites that I have done to date.

Angela and her husband are surprising their four children with a trip to Disneyland for Christmas...what better way to do that than with cookies?!

One more peek:

And THAT, my friends, is it for this year!!

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am a little sad about that!  There were a few NEW cutters that I never even found the time to use...breaks my heart, but I guess there is always next year!

Even MORE craziness!

Yep, it's true...I have definitely dropped the ball when it comes to blogging, lately!  It's the time of the year, what more can I say?!

I have taken on more orders this year, than in the past.  It's pretty much a routine...measure, mix, roll, cut, chill (literally) bake, cool, decorate...REPEAT!  My kitchen has been a disaster for two weeks, and I have long since given up on trying to change that, for now!

On top of the usual cookie chaos...we also had our 4th annual cookie decorating party!  The only proof that I have that it even took place...is the fact that these two little elves (and one cute little baby) showed up to help me make it happen!

Yep, if you attend my cookie party, you better be in some kind of Christmas garb, or you just don't fit in!  This is they only picture I took, and it was before the party even started!

Take my word for it...I THINK all had a good time!

To prove I haven't been just sitting around doing nothing, here are a few of the cookies that have come and gone from my house:

A Grinch gift box that was done for Corie...one of my best clients!  Thanks, Corie!

Three dozen mixed cookies ordered by Bernetta, one of Kelli's co-workers...fast becoming one of my best clients!  Thanks, Bernetta!

Also, many thanks to the uber talented, Callye, aka, SweetSugarBelle, for her inspiration...she has some amazing ideas and I couldn't wait to borrow a few (the little elf in this pic)!

Another dozen "mix" for Crystal who is attaching them to some Christmas gifts.  Thanks, Crystal!  More creative genius from SugarBelle...the Mrs. Claus, holly and the reindeer, which she featured on her blog, but were originally done by Krista of  Cookies with Character .

And last, but not least, two mug bouquets ordered by Brittany for teacher gifts...thanks, Brittany!

I know most cookiers could do these orders in their sleep...but I typically like to keep it a little less stressful...this year, not so much!

Gotta go now...I am working on a "hostess" basket, that I will actually be giving out myself, some cookies for my manicurist and some super cute little cookies that will be left out for Santa!

Be sure to stop back by!

Till then...happy baking!

Just checking in!

You probably thought that I had abandoned ship, but the last week has been quite hectic!

A week ago today we left the balmy Arizona temps to face an arctic blast...also known as Denver, Colorado!  We surprised my grandson, Thomas for his 8th birthday!  The day we landed it was -11...by far, the coldest temps I have ever experienced!  It was colder there than the North Pole...NUTS!  Glad to report that I am back home and running around in my flip flops!

Lots of cookies to share!

Wedding cookies for one of Kelli's co-workers:

Thanks Bernetta...I hope your niece enjoyed her cookies!


A special order for some Cardinals fans...I could not resist giving them a little touch of Christmas!

Some cookies for Thomas' birthday:

I am now busy preparing for our annual Christmas Cookie Decorating party that will be held this Saturday!  Lots of cookies to bake and icing to make!

Till next time...when I share this year's Christmas decorations.  Remember those cute little elves feet that I made?  LOVE how they look on my tree!  I can't wait for you to see!

Someone has to say it...

...so I am just going to throw it out there!  This little guy creeps me out...so much so, that I have renamed him "Creepy E"!

 

Don't get me wrong...I love what he stands for, I know that kids LOVE him, but I am NOT sorry that he was not around when my kids were growing up!  I mean, the way that he looks at you...that leer from the corner of his eyes!  Nope....NOT.A.FAN!

Now, having said that...he is in high demand, which was probably the reason that I bucked up for the cutter.  Don't judge!  I had orders for three different platters for apparent "Elf on the Shelf" breakfast functions.  Seriously, this guy comes with a lot of baggage!  Thirty days of trying to figure out what you are going to do with him next...oyyyyy! 

Here are two of the three sets...I forgot to take a pic of the last set...it even had a little "girl" elf!

Oh, and remember this pic I posted:

You can probably spot it on the plates, right?  My little North Pole sign...I think it worked perfectly!  It's amazing what goes on underneath all that icing, right?

And to answer your question, Brannigan...you better make sure you come to the cookie party to see if that cutter is what you guessed!

Till next time!

So many cookies...

...so little time!  It makes me wonder how I am going to get everything done!  I typically say that every year, but this year I have taken on a few more orders than I have in the past.  Me thinks I may be decorating my house for Christmas, on Thanksgiving...something just not quite right about that!  I will most likely be baking some cookies too, for orders that need to be done on Saturday!

I just completed two sets of these:

These were my first Christmas cookies of the year.  A co-worker of Kelli's wanted the cookies to photograph for a flyer she was making.

Beautiful photography work, don't you think?

Sometimes us "cookiers" have to think outside the box!  Others are much better at this than I am.  Occasionally, I can visualize one cookie cutter as something else completely...but that is a rare occurrence! 

I did have a "light bulb" moment to get this one to work for me:

Which way do you think it goes?  Check back in a couple days to see the completed cookie!

Till then...Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a winner!

First of all...thanks to all who popped over from Gail's (My Repurposed Life) Facebook page and to Gail herself for actually posting it there!  Apparently it was causing quite a stir because MANY people decided to take a guess at my cookie cutter.  Let's go back in case you don't remember which cutter I am talking about:

As I said, we do have a winner, and in fact, more than one guessed it correctly, but it is only fair that the person who gets the 1/2 dozen cookies is the person that guessed right first.  That person is:

Amy!  As I stated in the post, everyone needed to check back for today's reveal to claim their cookies...if I do not hear from Amy, I will go the next person that guessed it right!

Here is the cookie all dressed up:

None other than Mr. Grinch, himself!  How stinkin' cute is he?!  What's not to love about this evil little face?!

Love him!  And even though I don't think he actually says this...I think he should:

Email me Amy to collect your cookies...hope to hear from you within 24 hours otherwise I will be going to the next correct person on the list!

Thanks again to everyone that stopped by to play...hope all you "newbies" will come back again to see what's baking!

Til then...


This post linked to:

Under the Table and Dreaming

Merry Christmas to all...

...especially the nice people that stop by my blog and say "hi", occasionally!!

Today is Otis and Lucy's first birthday so I thought a little picture was in order!

A last minute Christmas project that I literally decided to make about 2 days ago!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!








There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

A few Christmas cookies and a little reveal!

But before I get to those, I must share my little piece of news!  Last week I was notified by Beckie from "Roadkill Rescue", saying that she wanted to feature my little Stocking Holder on her website.

Now, I join "linky" parties quite often as you can see at the bottom of my posts, and I have been featured in the past, but what makes this one a little more special, is that she found ME...I did not submit it to her specifically!  If you have not been to her site, be sure to check it out...it features fun projects that people have created out of trash (or something very close to it).  I find ALL website "features" the highest form of flattery...thanks Beckie, for making my day!

After another successful Christmas Cookie Decorating party last week (third annual), I was left with a few un-iced cookies at the end of the night. Although my hubby likes to eat them without the icing, I just could not let these Christmas cookies go that way...especially since I was also left with a counter full of icing as well. So just a quick cookie share:

Please pardon the bows on the little elf boots...I was too lazy to mix a thicker piping icing to do them and they are a little sloppy, to say the least!

Since Christmas is almost here, I will share one other little project I took on about a week ago.  I first saw this cute idea on Pinterest (duh!) and knew that I had to make one!  This is the original:

Image from Pinterest

I mean seriously, how stinkin' cute is this?

Now mind you, I discovered this image at about 5:00 in the morning while scanning through Pinterest, so my first thought was that I could not do anything until I found a board to put it on.  Ho,Ho,Ho...not so fast!  The light bulb went off in my head and I instantly ran out to my stash in the garage and found this:

Perfect!  Within in minutes, it had it was cleaned and had it's first coat of ASCP in Pure White!  It was the weirdest thing though, for the first time EVER since using my beloved ASCP, it did this:

Never in all the times has the paint done this!  I figured that another coat, might cover it up...but sadly, not the case.  It just seemed to get worse with each coat.  I was not to be discouraged...after all, I love this paint more than my luggage, so I would make it work!

After deciding that there must have been something very stubborn on that cupboard door, I sanded it down and got back to this:

A couple more coats of ASCP, and we were back in business!  I created a stencil using my Silhouette and painted on the "HO! HO! HO!.  The first chance I had, I purchased inexpensive stockings and Santa Hat.  Everything else, I already had on hand!

This is my version:

Whatcha' think?  A MUCH simpler version of the original, but I was very pleased at how it turned out!  This is hanging outside on my front door...and yes, it is quite large but I happen to have a huge front door so I could pull it off!  I know, I should take a picture of the whole porch since it is all decorated...I actually just snapped this with my phone!  I will try to remember to do that tonight!

That's it for me!  Trying to finish up Christmas shopping and wrapping!  Till next time!

This post linked to:

My Repurposed Life

There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!