Maddy's Graduation

My great-niece, Maddie, is graduating from 8th grade this week.  Since Maddie LOVES to read, her Mom suggested a "book" theme for her cookies.











This is a book cookie that I have made for each of the nieces and nephews as they have entered high school.

 I also added Sugarbelle's, bookworm and Lilaloa's, stack of books to the set.  In addition to the traditional subjects, I added a few titles that I thought Maddie would enjoy, including:

High School Handbook

Student Success

Future Careers

Family Photos (because her Grandma Carol, takes lots of pictures)

 . . . and "How to Raise Chickens" because Maddie's family has a new hobby

I didn't want the cookies to be too "cutesy" so I added the school mascot to the set.  My royal icing version is a bit creepier than the school art work, but he adds an interesting twist to the collection.

For my cookie friends, the pirate is a Frankenstein cutter, batteries removed and a small paisley cutter added for the bandana.  A football or Easter egg cutter would probably have been a better shape for the head, but I wanted to have the ears and the earrings on the design.

Big sister Maddie, with Kyle and Meg

 

Enjoy a summer filled with 

family, friends, books and adventures
as you get ready to 

zip into high school in the fall.

  

Sending love, hugs and cookies your way.  Happy Graduation to a very, special girl!

Kaley's Graduation

 In life we need to "embrace the journey"
. . .be a five year old, enjoy being 13, don't spend the teen years wishing you were older.  We only get to live each year once, so enjoy the experience of being 6, 16, or 60.

Kaley, the first of my great-nieces/nephews graduated from high school yesterday and she seems to have a similar life philosophy.  As a retired school teacher/administrator, I am so proud of the fact that she took advantage of all that her high school offered to her, enjoyed the journey and is now ready to move on to her college experience.

Pre-prom with Dad, Mom and younger sister, Kendall.  Love how all the gals pose the same way!

Kaley's  Mom prepared numerous displays that provided guests at the party with a walk down memory lane.

The cookies that I made included the heart shaped bows filled with love that I have used on all the diploma cookies that I have made for family members.  Stars were used to represent Kaley's activities and achievements:

                                          National Honor Society

                                          7 Semester Honor Roll

Advanced Placement Courses

Fox Valley Conference All Star Academic Team

Cheerleader

Softball

Peer mediator 

Tidal Waves travel softball

Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County-- volunteer, then an employee

 11 season athlete- during the one season she could not compete due to surgery, Kaley worked with the Special Olympics Softball team

 

To my dear, sweet niece--as you leave high school behind . . .

cherish the memories,  

enjoy your summer work as a camp counselor and 

look forward to your college experience in the fall!

Special thanks to my cookie friend, Donna , for design inspiration on the centerpiece cookies.

Mary Grace's First Communion

Great-niece, Mary Grace, has spent many months planning for her First Communion.  She has studied hard, selected her dress, pierced her ears so she could wear "grown up" jewelry on the big day, and helped her Mom plan the party (we know how much MG enjoys her parties).

My beautiful niece, Jody and her daughter

Mary Grace chose a dress with a floral bodice and wore a veil that has been worn by both her Mom and big sister, Megan.

Throughout all the preparation, this sweet, little girl managed to keep a secret from everyone except her Dad! Mary Grace was asked to bring one of the gifts to the altar during the Mass and didn't tell anyone because she wanted it to be "a special surprise for Mother's Day."








 We packaged some cookies for Mary Grace's teacher with a tag that said, "Thank you for helping me grow in God's love."



After church, Mary Grace was ready to party with family and friends.  Mary Grace has a large extended family on her Dad's side of the family, 19 first cousins and counting. . .  so Jody and Mike hosted a family party for the 3 cousins who celebrated their First Communion this month.

Sisters--MaryGrace, Megan and Leann--just want to have fun!

Mary Grace with her Dad

It doesn't matter if she's all dressed up or wearing her casual clothes, Mary Grace is one special girl! Uncle Matt and I are so proud of you.

Love and Hugs!

Mary Grace, Uncle Matt and me

Think Spring

 Cookies for a luncheon with friends this week.

I saw edible butterflies on  Haniela's blog and thought they would be a pretty edition to the simple floral cookies on the left.  For the cookies below, I made drop flowers from royal icing and home made fondant.







 Special Thanks to:

Carroll's Cookies n Crumbs for the color inspiration.

Sugarbelle for instructions on how to make swirl roses.

Logan's 16th Birthday

  "A few of my favorite things" was the theme I chose for the cookies I made for my great-nephew's sixteenth birthday.  Musical notes, a piano, basketballs, baseballs. . .

A big thank you to Harry Potter for providing Logan with the joy of reading at a young age
and a nod to Game of Thrones, a current favorite book series.

A few math problems for the math team member.  Of course I needed a little help from my friend, Joan , a former math teacher, to create the math problems for me.

 

Logan is a big fan of video games and I know nothing about them!  I created a template for the designs and used my imagination for the placement of the buttons.

Since AP European History is Logan's current favorite class, I had to include something "really old."  I opted for the Roman Colosseum because he will be visiting Rome in a few weeks on a trip provided by the Make a Wish Foundation.  This cookie is proof to all of my friends that cookie decorating does not mean that I have any hidden artistic talent.  Hopefully, it will help Logan truly appreciate all the magnificent works of art that he will see during his trip.




Finally, some very special cookies that were wrapped separately for Logan to open privately.  His party invitation asked guests to write a recollection of a special memory of Logan.  I opted to write about heroes because the strength, courage and humor that Logan displayed during his battle with cancer has made him one of my special heroes.

 


Happy Birthday to a very special guy!

May your future be filled with good health, happiness, love, success and adventures as exciting as the ones in your books.

Happy Birthday Adam!

Cookies for a DePaul University grad who is a life long Blue Demons fan! 
 I opted to use a vintage image of the mascot in this collection.