Conversation Hearts on Valentine's Day (February 2015)

I must have made a million of these tiny hearts this Valentine's Day.  These cookies were very simple.  Still time-consuming (you know, with a million to make), but a nice addition to several Valentine's Day celebrations.

These simple hearts were baked and then frosted with 20-second icing.  Once dried, I used a red food-safe marker to add the sayings.  The only trick was finding sayings short enough to fit on such a small mini-heart cookie.

I put 5 mini cookies per snack-size ziploc bag and stuck on a little label.  These were then passed out at preschool and ballet class to our little friendly Valentines.

The mini cookies were used as an accent to a plate of Blondies I brought to a family get-together, complete with Valentine's Day m&m's.

And, I also used them to accent a dessert platter I was responsible for at work.  I like how the mini cookies really add a splash of color/excitement to an otherwise, boring and yes, storebought (gasp!), platter of cookies.

Hey, I'm allowed to take shortcuts sometimes, too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mommy's Night Out (February 2015)

When my friend Dawn decided to host a Mommy's Night Out at her house, I realized just how long it had been since us girls had an opportunity to get together (without kids), have a few drinks, and enjoy a few laughs.  When she mentioned she wanted it to be a "game night," I was completely on-board.  I didn't know exactly what she had in mind, so I made a variety of cookies that I hoped would be somewhat applicable.

  For these cookies, I really was pretty scattered.  

There's a bit of everything here...a mixture between poker chips, pictionary, and charades.

The hourglass timers  were made with a simple rectangle cutter and some negative (undecorated) space.  I added some white sanding sugar on top to help give it some dimension.

These pictionary-inspired cookies were so simple.  I flooded each square cookie with white icing and added a yellow/golden border.  Then, using my favorite food-safe markers, I added some simple stick-figure drawings.  Can you find the "rainbow," "car wash," "cupcake," "love birds," and, my favorite, "beer goggles?"

I also made some plaque cookies as game cards for charades.  Since all these ladies are moms to 5-year-old girls, I thought some familiar children's movies would be fun...everyone was such a good sport.

Brad gets a special mention, though, as when we were all tired out from our fun, he drove each one of us home safely.  

Extra bonus points for such a great husband!

 

Thanks to this awesome family for giving this Mommy just what she needed...a good night out with friends! 

Sweet Treats for a Sweet Girl (January 2015)

Our little friend, Ashlyn, turned 3 in January, and her mom, who has a flair for creativity (and Pinterest searching), was throwing a Candyland-themed party.  This was complete with a full-scale Candyland board game in their basement.  This was such a fun and different idea for a party, that I welcomed the chance to make some less ordinary cookies in her honor.

These cookies were 100% inspired by Sweet Sugarbelle and her amazing imagination.  I'll be honest...these were tricky!  Between creating the right cookie shapes and having at least 6 frosting colors on-hand at all times, they were definitely a challenge.

Sweet Sugarbelle has designed a few cookie cutters specifically for Karen's Cookies' on-line store, one of which is this cookie jar cutter.   I thought that might make a nice jelly bean jar.  But, I had to piece together several different cookie cutters to make the gumball machine.  Seriously, it's been so long since I've made them and am only now posting about them, that I'm not sure I even remember what I used!  I think it was the bottom of a tiered wedding cake + large circle + small circles.  Either way, they took a lot of experimenting and patience, and when they were done, they were, well, huge!

To decorate them, I used wet-on-wet icing to create the gumballs/jelly beans inside the machine, and then once they had dried, I added more candies on top to create the dimension I so admired from Sweet Sugarbelle's original design.  My mini jelly beans might have looked a bit off, but they were also made by hand-cutting, so I think I deserve some slack. :)

I actually had cookie cutters for the wrapped candies, which made things a lot easier.  Those were probably my favorite with the swirl, embellished with more sanding sugar.  The striped peppermints were made with my number 1 cookie cutter (trimmed), and the Necco wafers were made with a diploma cookie cutter (trimmed) for some interest.  My husband wasn't sure what they were, but Necco wafers are a thing...and they are colorful, even if they aren't the yummiest.

Every birthday girl needs her own special cookie, and I will definitely keep this personalized cupcake cookie in mind for the future.  With a few sprinkles/quins, these were quick, easy, and colorful!

Happy Birthday, Ashyln!

We were happy to share in the (very sweet) celebration!