Easter 2016

My Easter cookies this year were a bit of a departure from my usual "cute" designs, not a chubby bunny or carrot in sight!

Last year, when I hand cut some Stargazer Lily cookies, I really liked them but the shapes were a bit strange.  I opted to purchase a lily cutter and design "pretty" cookies for the family this year.

A few pastel bunnies and water color eggs with pearls and gold lustre dust completed the platter for our family dinner.

Of course, I couldn't completely abandon my preference for "cute" cookies, so I made some chick puzzles for the younger children.

The cookies were bagged and tagged with a verse to inspire their creativity.

Finally, I couldn't resist making a few of these adorable little lambs inspired by Mike at Semi-Sweet Designs.  Mike has a template available, however, since I do not have a Kopykake, I did them free hand.

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring! 

Meg's in the Spotlight

Let's shine the spotlight on my Great-niece, Meg--not to be confused with her cousin, Megan.

Meg is a musician, lover of books, Harry Potter fan and  . . .

Student of the Month!

Congratulations Meg,

You are a Star!

 

Willy Wonka

This weekend the "Friends of Thorp Scholastic Academy" will host their annual dinner and silent auction to benefit the school.  My niece, Jody, is an active volunteer and asked for my help to create a display to highlight the prize that was donated by a very generous teacher--dinner and laser tag for 4.  I just love the generosity of our teachers and parents!!!!!!

It has been a long time since I have seen the Willy Wonka movie, so I had to do some research to remember the characters.  Jody created the clever golden ticket which lists the prize and we eventually decided  a tower of cookies and candy would be a nice back drop for the special ticket.

Jody always creates amazing birthday parties for her children, and now  her skills are being used to create great celebrations for the school.  I keep telling her she could start a new career as a party planner.

  

Ready to Party!

No Buyer's Remorse For This One

Since so many cookie cutters in my collection have NEVER been used,  I always hesitate to buy new ones.  However, I am so happy I didn't pass up this bargain in the sale bin!  A cutter that I thought I might never use, has turned out to be one of my favorites.  With just a few simple cuts of the knife, it can be quite versatile.

I purchased it in 2013 and used it for Mary Grace's ice-cream themed birthday party. . . a vampire just for fun. . . a gal at the spa as part of a retirement collection. . .and now a mermaid.

 This one is definitely a keeper.



References:
Mermaid:   Flour Box Bakery
Vampire:    AliBee's Bake Shop

Let's Make A Splash for Leann's 8th Birthday

Great-niece, Leann, celebrated her eighth birthday with an indoor pool party and requested mermaid cookies for her friends.

Maybe I am sentimental, but I thought it was sweet that I was able to use the same cookie cutter that I used for big sister Mary Grace's eighth birthday party in 2013.

Love, hugs, and cookies 

to

the birthday girl, Leann,

and

her family!

Christmas 2015

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

I've been feeling like the Grinch this season, so I made him into a cookie just for me.

This year the shopping, planning, decorating, and chasing, just seemed to take away from the true meaning of Christmas rather than helping me celebrate the season.  Fortunately, taking the time to decorate cookies for family and friends allowed me to think about the special people who I have in my life, they are the true gifts of this magical season.

The 2015 holiday collection included:

Pink for Payton's first Christmas, with Angel Grandma Kathy, peeking in.

More pastels for various friends .  .  .  I like the new Snowman family and deer ornaments that joined my ever growing cutter collection this year!

Same designs, different colors for the family.

Peace Doves for the Women's Club party.  I always love the elegance of white cookies.

The truck with trees was inspired by my brother-in law, Bill, who has always chopped down the tree for his family and is now growing his own trees in Wisconsin. 

Tree designs dominated the cookie platter for Christmas Day.

With a few snow people and some minis to complete the collection.

Personalized letters to Santa for the younger generation (ages 5-20). . .

 

 

.  .  . and a grown up Christmas wish inspired by the song.

Finally, in memory of my Dad, dear friend Kathy, sweet, young Grace and Jim D.  .  .  forever in our hearts and in the stars.

Welcome Christmas. Bring your cheer,
Cheer to all Whos, far and near.

Christmas Day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to grasp.

Christmas Day will always be
Just as long as we have we. 

                                                          Dr. Seuss

 

Santa Man

Let's talk about the man. . . Santa Man.

Christmas would not be Christmas 
without a new Santa cookie design.

  

Over the years, I have made traditional designs, whimsical designs, Santa faces, standing Santas, heart shaped Santas, pastel Santas, faceless Santas .  .  .

  .  .  . , upside down Santa, triangle Santas, Santa trees, Santa bellies, vintage Santas, and even a vacationing Santa.    

The 2015 version of Santa was made by re-purposing a penguin cookie cutter,  thanks to Flour Box Bakery's tutorial.

Same design different look.

For a cookie decorator, one of the greatest gifts of the season are all the talented bloggers who are willing to share their creativity. A couple of my Santa designs were shared in a Christmas collage of cookie designs on The BearfootBaker's blog.