Let Them Be Little (May 2014)

My daughter has been taking a Ballet/Tap Intro class through our park district for the past year.  Every Wednesday since September, this girl has awoken from her nap with a big smile, ready to get dressed in her leotard, tights, and leg warmers for dance class.  She has made a great core group of girl friends, and I cannot speak highly enough about her dance teacher, Ms. Barb.

Well, about 2 weekends ago she had her dance recital (I know, I'm a little late on the blogging, but you'll see in the posts that are to come soon what I've been up to).  As far as dance recitals go, this was the real deal.  Think: full high-school sized auditorium, on a stage with lights, full costume, and yes, even a little blush and hairspray.  She was SO excited.  I made these cookies to serve at the light brunch we had at our place after the show, and we also bagged some of them to give to the girls on dress rehearsal night.

First of all, let me give full design credit to Sweet Sugarbelle.  When I saw these originally posted on her blog last summer, I have been secretly dying for an opportunity to try and re-create them.

These little ballerinas are made in several steps.  First, I used a mini cookie cutter to make different faces.  Believe it or not, it was a mini skull from my Halloween set.  See?  Those mini cutters come in handy for lots of reasons!  I trimmed it a bit, added hair (in 2 stages to create a bun-type hair-do), and then filled in the face and hair bow.

Once dry, I outlined and flooded flower cookies with purple (yep, the color of the girls' actual costumes).  While they were still wet, I placed one head on each flower.  When those were dry, I added arms and more ruffles to add to the aerial perspective, and used a food marker pen to add eyes.

They were then bagged individually with a little label on the back, thanking all the girls for a fun first year of dance.

Ms. Barb also received a plaque cookie cutter with the name of the performance song, "Let Them Be Little," by Billy Dean.  I hadn't heard it before, but let me tell you, you need a whole box-full of tissues to get through this country song.  Seriously, then imagine parents watching their 3-4-year-olds dance along...ah, the water-works were going!

But, despite all the rehearsals, preparation, and excitement, nothing could prepare us for our daughter's actual performance.  In a flurry of 13 hand-holding chasse-ing girls, there was one that fell mid-step, our own.  She sweetly stopped crying long enough to finish the song in the final pose, and she just might have gotten the loudest applause.  I think she was as embarrassed as a 4-year-old could be, but I know one day, she'll find the story to be as endearing as we do.

Here's celebrating a great first year of dance, and to our little ballerina!

We love you.