Monday, July 18, 2011

You Rock!

Hello!!! I forgot that I had more pictures to post! I've been busy this summer keeping up with a very active 2-year-old, putting our daughter's nursery together, and just trying to survive this heat!

Here are some guitar and "You Rock" cookies I did a while ago. They were so much fun!


I've got more to post later. Hope you're all having a great summer!






Thursday, May 26, 2011

Little Peanut

My friend Amy asked me to make some elephant and little peanut cookies for a baby shower. She always throws the cutest showers!





These were really fun to make!

Royal Wedding Birthday Party

These were fun to make for a little princess who had a Royal Wedding birthday party on the day of the Royal Wedding, which was also her birthday!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cookie Catastrophe

This post could also appropriately be called "The night I decided it was time to take a cookie break."


I am a very clumsy person.


But add in being 5 months pregnant and I am super clumsy.


One night last week my worst cookie nightmare happened.


I had spent about 2.5 hours working on cookies and I was done for the night. It was about 10:15 and my sweet husband was helping me clean up a little. As I was getting up from the table, I managed to knock a whole tray of cookies (the cookies I just spent 2.5 hours working on) completely off the table. I covered my face and said "please tell me that did not just happen." My husband knew what was coming and just started cleaning it up. They were all ruined. Cue the tears. Oh it was an awful night.


I went to bed that night and could not sleep. I had planned on waiting until July to take a break from cookies and to rest and spend lots of time with my family before our worlds are turned upside down by our second baby's arrival in October. But that night I just knew it was time. This emotional pregnant momma can't handle another night like that! And as clumsy as I am, it would be bound to happen. I have just been doing way too much lately and I think I needed this to remind me to slow down. I know I'll regret it later if I don't.


I still have a lot of pictures to post of cookies I've done recently and if you have questions about decorating, please email me and I'll try my best to get back to you as soon as I can!

Thanks so much for reading my blog and for all the sweet comments!!!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Engagement cookies

I made these for my brother-in-law, our family got together to celebrate his engagement to my future sister-in-law. Congratulations Luke and Elizabeth!!!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Elmo birthday party!

I know I've been MIA for a while. It's not for the lack of cookies though! I have a lot to post and catch up.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Somebunny is TWO!

I did these for my friend Amy's daughter's birthday! She did a bunny theme and I really love how these turned out. On the invitation, the inside of the bunny's ear is plaid so that's where I got the idea to use plaid in the cookies. I think you'll see more of this in the future because I just really like the plaid technique :)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Happy Hunting!

My friend asked me to do some hunting cookies and she found these amazing cookies to give me an example. I tried to do something similar but I don't know if I did those cookies justice. I had a lot of fun making them though!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

Welcome Baby Hollis!

I made these for my sweet friend Kelly to take to the hospital when Hollis was born! She asked for some with the little dress on them and I love doing those.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Baby shower cookies


Monday, February 28, 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Gymnastics cookies

I forgot to post these from last month.


pommel horse

Rings



Wednesday, February 9, 2011

100th post....and some Valentine cookies!

I can't believe I've made 100 posts! Thank you for following my simple little cookie blog. I've enjoyed your feedback and so thankful for all of the sweet comments.

Here are some Valentine cookies I did this week.




I LOVE Valentine cookies! You only need 3 colors and you can do pretty much anything you want and they'll look cute :) Last year after Valentine's day, I found pictures of these cookies and thought they were so cute and fun. So I bookmarked it and used them for inspiration for this year!



Happy Valentine's Day!



Packers Cookies


Sorry Steelers fans, I didn't make any Steelers cookies. I can't say I'm a huge NFL fan, but I LOVE College football! But I was asked to make Packers cookies so here they are! I know a family that is really happy about their winning team!

Olivia the Pig party

Happy Birthday!



These were designed based on an invitation for the party. They were so fun to make!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Monday, February 7, 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Rapunzel cookies



My friend Ginger asked me to make some cookies for her daughter's Rapunzel themed party. She had made invitations with a braid of hair coming out of a window so I told her I would try to do that on a cookie!

I couldn't think of a way to do it with Royal Icing so I made some fondant (recipe here) and it was so much fun! I love making fondant, well.....ever since I found out you can make it in a mixer. I tried making some by hand last year for my son's birthday cake and it was so hard and I said I would never make it again! But I found this recipe and technique and I have a whole new love for fondant. And it tastes yummy! The mixer does the work for you and all you do is knead it a little bit and you're done!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Cookie dough prep

Ok so I know I've said I'll work on a tutorial for decorating cookies and I hope to soon, but I thought I'd share how I prepare my cookie dough to cut out shapes and bake.

I can't remember where I found this idea but if I did I would give them credit!!! It's probably my most time-saving tip/advice and it just makes rolling out the dough a lot easier

So I make the cookie dough and right after I mix it, I roll it out. I tear off some wax paper, put half of the dough in the middle...

...then put another piece on top of it and roll it out.


And yes, I use a PVC pipe to roll my dough! I found these spacers (the green things on the end) at William's Sonoma and they wouldn't fit on my rolling pin. So my husband got a piece of PVC pipe cut at Lowe's and that works for me!

The spacers are really great. Your dough is completely even and it comes in 3 different sizes. I use the thickest one, probably 1/4 of an inch or so. It makes the cookies really thick and soft.

I put them on cookies sheets and put them in the freezer to harden. If I have a batch to do, I make the dough in the morning and then that afternoon when my son is napping, I bake the cookies.




To cut them out is a little tricky. I pull one piece of dough out of the freezer at a time. Then I turn it upside down and pull off the top piece of wax paper. I put a little bit of flour on the dough and spread it evenly. Then put the wax paper back on and flip it over again. Since the dough has been in the freezer, it shouldn't break or anything but just be really careful. Then take the wax paper off and you're ready to cut out! Since the dough won't warm much since you're not rolling it out, it will usually stick inside the cookie cutter and you can transfer them to your cookie sheet.




If they've been out of the freezer for very long at all, I like to stick the cut out cookie dough shapes in the freezer for just a few minutes before I bake them. That helps them to keep their shape in the oven.



As far as the scraps, I just roll them into a ball and start all over again. But this time I put flour on the wax paper and then put the dough in the middle. Then put another piece of wax paper on top and roll again. I usually just cut out the shapes and then pull up the remaining dough and put them in the freezer until they harden enough to bake.




I hope this made sense. I like doing it this way as opposed to wrapping the dough and putting it in the fridge and then rolling it out when you're ready to bake. When I did it like that, it would be really hard to roll the dough out and the more you roll it and mess with the dough, the tougher the cookie will be when you eat them, as with any kind of dough.

Happy Birthday Ella!

Sock Monkey birthday party

Happy Birthday Harper!


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Winter ONEderland!

Batman

Princess Crowns