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.

Girls' Day Out! (April 2014)

I know I've said it before, but I love my sister-in-laws.  Currently, I am the only one of my siblings with kids, and while that might lead to feelings of distance between some siblings, it is quite the opposite in my family.  My brothers and sister-in-laws are the most doting of aunts/uncles, and when the ladies suggested a day for "just the girls" in downtown Chicago, it was not only my daughter who was excited.  The idea was to do things that the boys might not fully appreciate, all while taking in the adventures of the city.

I was fully on-board.  Literally.  We started our day with a most-exciting first train ride, which led to a first-time taxi ride.  Then, onto manicures, brunch at Hub 51, a playdate in the park by the Chicago River (with some hot cocoa to boot), window-shopping, and dinner at Ed Debevic's.  After all the excitement, we finished the day with a "pajama party" at my sister-in-law's, filled with, yes, a chick-flick-type "dance party," popcorn, and my daughter's first-viewing of "Sound of Music."

We woke in the morning to have breakfast at their apartment and a quieter train ride home.  What an amazing 24 hours!  With all they had done to plan the "vacation," I had to bring cookies along that would capture the essence of our girl-time together.

Dolce Desserts had some great spa-themes cookies, for which I drew some inspiration, especially for the nail polish jars (which were made from the bottom of a menorah-shaped cookie cutter).

 The craziest cookies were the hands with polished nails.  That cookie cutter came with my first set of Wilton cutters, and I never thought I'd end up using it...I mean, who makes hand-shaped cookies anyway, right?  Well, as the flesh-colored hands were drying on racks in my kitchen, I felt a little like I was looking at a cute version of a zombie movie.  Weird.

  I used a funky glasses-shaped cookie cutter for the sleeping masks, but trimmed them a bit.  Then I sprinkled some sanding sugar along the border for some texture. 

Overall, they ended up being a pretty cute set, and they made it there safely via train carry-on.

Thanks for the great weekend, girls!

Spring has Sprung! (April 2014)

Finally the snow is melting and the flowers are starting to bloom!  

My daughter had her Spring Program from preschool, and I didn't want to show up empty-handed.  This time I had my daughter give me suggestions for which cookies to create for the occasion.  Both kids have been singing a new favorite spring song from preschool: 

"Spring has sprung.  The birds are here.  Listen to them singing..."  

So, it was unanimous...spring birds and especially robins.
 

 

I had purchased a momma and baby bird cookie cutter set a few months ago, which I knew would be perfect for these cookies (and I loved that they came with their own "mini" option).  Lizy B had some very cute bird designs I had spotted on Pinterest awhile back, so I just adapted the colors and added red bellies for the robins. 

Lizy B also had a cute spring tree design that I wanted to try.  But instead of piping on all the blossoms individually, I added little quins from a recent purchase I had made on Etsy.  (So, I guess that impulse-buy came in handy.)  In addition, I adapted a design from East Coast Cookies for the birdhouses, also adding the quins for continuity.  To add them, I just sprinkled them onto the somewhat hardened 20-second icing, and then shook off the excess.  (Much easier than piping on flowers I might add!)

 I placed one birdhouse, one tree, and several birds, mini birds, and flowers into cellophane bags for each of my daughter's teachers.

And I made several plates of cookies for all the teachers to share, since they all deserve a treat.

The program was an absolute delight to watch as a parent.  My daughter was very into it.  The kids entered the room waving American flags and singing a song that they had learned back on President's Day.  Not only was my girl singing the loudest, but she was full-on marching.  I love how there is such little inhibition at her age.  I almost died when the teachers asked the kids to sing louder at one point in the program...the veins in my daughter's neck were popping out!  

Love her. :)

Thank goodness spring is finally here!