Catching Up

This time of year is really busy! 

Just wanted to catch up!

For Alexa who is now 18!

Wow!

(Loving the "pop" that the airbrush technique adds!)

These were for some youth girls who are incarcerated.

They are in juvenile detention for various reasons,

but mostly the lack of guidance and LOVE.

The simple rosettes are my favorite right now.

Simple. 

Feminine.

 And you can use just about any color combination. 

Oh my PIGS!

These were for a group of gals who raise pigs for the county fair. 

One of the pigs won GRAND PRIZE!

I really LOVED creating these!

I almost felt like the pigs were chattin' with me!

These. Were. FUN!

She loves Disney, Mickey Mouse, and she's graduating!

The Right Streets

 As my girls get ready to return to another school year in a few weeks,

the "pep-talk" remains the same year after year.

Of course the usual academic stuff,

but we always have deeper conversations about character.

It's what you do when NO ONE is watching!

While I do think academics are very important ( I am a former teacher ya know!),

CHARACTER is more important to me.

Good character comes from their heart

not a place of obligation.

I encourage them daily to travel the 

"good streets" while at school. 

Character traits will carry on with them their entire lives.

Their character will shine through on a college application and may make 

the difference between a YAY or NAY.

A bad character may stop them from getting their dream job.

My only wish for them each year is that they travel the streets that enhance their character.

Will they "slip up"?

Of course!

But having a great character will help them to learn form their "slip up".

"Strangers"

 

I often meet brand new ladies 

through cookie orders.

A new customer and I will correspond several times 

until we narrow down the details of an order.

I make the cookies.

We arrange a delivery spot.

And we meet.

It is the "warmest" feeling when a complete 

"stranger" (remember we've never met in person before)

 gives me a hug because I was able to make her idea 

come to life through a cookie. 

I always smile as I walk away from meeting the "stranger"

because it felt like we've been friends forever!

I wanna ask her if she'd like to go for some tea!

Maybe we weren't "strangers" after all?

My Friend Stella and a Tablespoon of LOVE

 I have a dear friend named Stella.

She LOVES Oprah just like I do.

She's one tough cookie.

She's BRAVE.

She's pretty.

She knows just what to say 

and 

she knows when to just listen.
She'll give me her most expensive purse if I ask for it 
without blinking an eye!
(she knows my love for purses)

I cherish our friendship!

I think I cherish it more now than I did way back in high school.

When I got the order for these cookies, 

I was missing my friend Stella a lot because I had

just returned from visiting her Arkansas a few days before.

These cookies were for a little girl turning 5.

Guess what the little girls name is?

STELLA!

Such a God thing!

I poured some extra LOVE in these cookies--

in fact an extra tablespoon!

  

Beau or Bow?

 How about one of each!

She's having twins!

The invite

These would be great for a gender reveal party too!

Doing Some Research

 Sometimes when doing cookies, you have to do a little bit of research.

These particular cookies were a 'Thank You' for a dental office.  

I knew for sure I'd be using some toothbrushes and teeth cookies but I wanted a little more "boom".

Since I knew the name of the dental office, I just went to their website. 

I wanted to see if they had a theme or logo or some sort of other "inspiration".

This office happens to follow a RAIN FOREST theme.  
I saw a picture of their office on their website.
Hilgers Pediatric Dentistry

LEAVES! 
That's it! 
 I need some leaves! 

Go check out the website!  
The dental office I went to growing up 
surely didn't look like this!

The Happiest Place on Earth

UPDATE: Sugar Fairy you are the winner of these cute little cutters. 
I'll email you shortly to get the details.


I just spent a family vacation at the happiest place on Earth--Disneyland!

We go there often and each time we love it

 just as much as before.

This time, I had a new appreciation for all the things around me--

It was cookie inspiration ALL AROUND!

Texture, color, shapes--so many ideas!

This was a jar display in one of the stores--LOVE it!

I want this for my craft room!

I can see a cookie of that seaweed!

Speaking of cookies, they sell cookies.

$4.95 each

Take a look.

They were as hard as a rock hard.

My daughter wanted to buy one to taste it---ummmm NO.

I did find a cute cookie cutter set.

I like this set because these cutters are not too large and would look great on a platter.

Since I couldn't NOT share with you,

I bought an extra set.

If you want them,

leave a comment about ANYTHING Disney related

 and I'll pick a winner (the old fashion way--out of a hat)

on Friday, October 19th.

And since I'm still HAPPY about being at Disneyland,

This is open to anyone--anywhere!

Be sure to include your email address so I can notify you if you win!

Good luck!

I LOVE Disneyland. 

 

HAPPY Monday

This set was a blast to create!

Maybe because I had a Pickle Doodle Invite which served as a GREAT inspiration piece-

Having something to serve as a starting place is always FUN!

First came the invite.

Then came the cookies. 

All the stars must've been aligned--

the message cookie cutter from Plastics in Print is very close to the invite

and

the cute little birdie is a paisley cutter turned birdie just like the invite.

I only had to download the font for the message cookie!  

I already had both!

Thanks Amy!

Home Sweet Home

Moving into a new home is exciting!

Congrats Candy!

PS- I love that on the "house" cookies, there were no HOA rules to follow!
I was able to make stripes on a roof, and a blue front door!
In the community of cookies,
HOA's do not exist!

Fighter

As a mom, I know when my kids have a simple cold or headache,

I just want it to go away. 

I have been known to let my girls sleep with me

if they have a headache

just so I can make sure it's just a headache

and

they're breathing all night!

Crazy but.... I'm a mom!

These cookies are for a mom who is fighting a fight for her child.

She will never give up!

She also has a higher power who holds her hand.

He is a fighter too!

PS-For this order, I had the freedom to create from MY heart.

No rules, no boundries. (my favorite kind of order!)

I prayed and I kept envisioning WORDS that remind me of a mom.

It all came together.

When I took the box outside at 6:30 this morning to get a quick picture,

there must have been at least 5 birds sitting in my tree just singing their hearts out!

They haven't done that ever! 

Sometimes I hear one just "making noises" but not singing!

I know I heard them carrying a tune!

I froze because I felt like they were singing for these cookies.

I had their approval!

It was just one of those Godly moments that I'll never forget.

 

Cute Little Worm

  I got an order for some "school" cookies.

I was feeling a bit "blah" about school cookies

since I just did a bazillion of them not too long ago.

Soooo... I went to the fabrics and craft store.

I needed a bit of inspiration.

I found this "school" fabric with a cute little worm

and since I was only thinking of the packaging,

I bought it.

I wasn't sure what I'd do for cookies but that will come--

A few days later,

Callye AKA Sugar Belle was reading my mind (I like to think she was!)

and she created this tutorial .

She helped my cute worm idea right along!

Here's the final product.

I think it's cute.

 Happy Birthday Headmaster Beskar!

Did you know?

A headmaster is in charge of a school just like a principal is.

Cookie Cake

I'm always in "cookie mode"! 

While others think about where they want to vacation,

or what car they'd like to drive...

I'm thinking about HOW I can create something from or with cookies.

Another cookie gal calls it COOKIE THINK.

So we needed a birthday cake--kinda last minute.

Since I am only a cookie decorator,

 I could see what I wanted in my head using a cake and cookies.

I found these party paper goods at TARGET in the clearance section sometime last summer. 

 I decided to use them as my "guide".

I thought and thought about making the cake myself,

 then I remembered that I'm not a "cake gal"

(someday maybe)

So I bought a cake from a local grocery store who has the BEST cakes (Basha's)

then came home to make the accessories for the cake.

Accessories

Put it all together and this is what you get...

Happy Birthday Mom!

PS- Did you know that Sandra Lee (no connection) has an entire 30 minute show on the Food Network

dedicated to creating great parties and such using

85% store bought goods and the rest from home.

Semi-homemade!

My kind of gal!