My "Punny" Valentine

Large Valentine's Day Gift Box
(1 dozen)

Medium Valentine's Day Gift Box
(6 Cookies)

I have always been a sucker for puns!  I love them!  So, when Valentine's Day rolls around, you can be sure that you'll get some "punny" valentine's out of me.

This year, my daughter's school auction hit the weekend before Valentine's Day, so nothing was more appropriate to donate than Valentine's Day cookies.

I created these "I Love You a Latte" cookies based on my cute Lil' L., who ran around this fall saying "I love you a latte!" It was so adorable!

Then, I also made this set, which I turned into a gift basket (see below) to donate.  I thought that they were so fun!

I got the inspiration for the two signs from my friend Stephanie Seeney at Ice My Biscuit in the U.K.!  Thanks, friend, for letting me use your idea!

I made a few extras for us play with... ;^)


Happy Valentine's Day from the Roses!

Cheers!

Sarah

Valentine, You've Got Class

Reader R's Class Valentines

I am not quite sure when it happened, but somewhere between 1986, when I stopped giving valentines to my classmates, and 2007, when our family reentered the world of Valentines, something drastically changed. When I was little, it was so fun to get a shoe box full of those cute paper valentines that you got 32 in a box for $2.  Now, it is all about the STUFF.  I did not realize this when my oldest daughter entered preschool.  Yes, someone should had mentioned something... but yes, my daughter showed up with just the cheap valentines from the box. Yes, I was mortified when she brought her box home and I realized we were the ONLY ones who had been left in the 1980's Valentine's Day time warp.

"Friend, We Go Together Like Milk & a Cookie!"

 Well, enough said, we would not be caught empty handed again!  Honestly, most years, I have opted for the still cheap, "day-after-purchase, hold-it-all-year pencils or bracelets plan."  But this year, Pinterest and resourcefulness got the best of me and I decided that we would make our own treats.   I decorated the cookies and made the topper, and Reader R wrote each of her classmates names on them with food color marker and helped package them!  Success!

Now, poor Curious K, she got the left over cheap valentine's that I had had in storage for a couple years, and because I was too tired to go to the store... we stuck marshmallows in popsicle sticks and dipped them in chocolate.  She did a great job drizzling them with pink and red candy melts and adding sprinkles.  I loved that she helped and that I had everything on hand. ;^)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cheers

Sarah

SURPRISE! Happy Birthday Reader R! (part II)

So, as you now know, this past week was Reader R's birthday....

Her BIG party, however, was almost didn't happen...  in her mind, anyway!

I had set the scene several weeks ago by telling her that "Since Daddy was celebrating a BIG birthday this year, we just won't be able to have friends party for you, too."  She accepted the information graciously, but then she, unfortunately, spent several weeks being too self-less and over concerned about our finances.  (Opps!)

Anyway, the big day came, and all of her sweet little friends gathered at our house and anxiously awaited her arrival.  

I had decorated with LOTS of balloons, streamers, plastic table cloths, and pieces of fabric leftover from a baby shower several years ago.  Since I was trying to keep within a budget, I was thrilled to figure out that I could make these super fun tissue poofs, using the stash of leftover pink and purple tissue I have meticulously smoothed out and saved for the last 8 years!  I started with this great tutorial that I found on Pinterest.  (My only additions would be that you can use 1/2 a sheet for smaller balls, and for bigger balls, I liked 15-16 sheets better than 10, which looked a little sparse to me.)


The girls made fruit loop necklaces and played a couple of ice-breaker games while they waited for sweet R.  



When she got here, Reader R. was super surprised, and the girls rushed her with a big group hug!





Next, we had a super-girly breakfast with pink and purple pancakes, cherry yogurt, and sausage.  At the suggestion of this great blog post from Cassie at Hi Sugarplum,  I put fun toppings (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, granola, chocolate chips, and whipped cream) on the table for the pancakes and yogurt. (Actually, I got a LOT of "my" ideas from Cassie!!! Thank you!)  The girls also had fun cutting their pancakes into fun shapes with cookie cutters!


After breakfast, I painted the girls toenails.  (I had asked permission from the parents ahead of time, which was a good thing, because one little girl said "My mom doesn't let me paint my toenails without adult supervision."  I guess, I didn't count as an adult. ;^))  I kept the colors simple, pink, purple or blue, and then a second coat of "princess sparkles."  It was so fun.  the girls sat in a semi-circle around half of a dollar store plastic table cloth.  It was a great way to keep the nail polish put.  When we were done, I just wadded up the table cloth and tossed it!

Even her little sisters got in on all of the fun!

I kept the girls hands busy with a fun craft while I was painting their toes!  We made these cute flip-flops! I used this tutorial to do all the prep work ahead of time.  I also made a pair for myself and the two little sisters ahead of time, since I knew we would need a prototype and they wouldn't be able to get theirs done without my help and I would be painting toenails!


We opened gifts and then sang Happy Birthday!

Then, we enjoyed the cute cupcakes at the top of the post.  My good cookie friend, Kim from the Cookie Puzzle, lent me her fingernail polish cookie cutter and her recipe for glaze icing, which made these  nail polish bottles shinny and extra fun!  Thanks Kim!!

(Please ignore the construction zone in the background...
my wonderful husband is painting my dining room!)

The party favor bags included a bottle of water (wrapped in hot pink duct tape, like this idea, and then labeled with a fancy initial sticker; sorry, I forgot to take a picture), a package of pink bubble gum, and a set of party favor cookies with a pair of pjs (just like my daughter's favorites) and a bottle of nail polish.  (I'll post more about the PJ cookies soon.)

I also threw in a kit to make a cute bracelet that I had picked up in a 10 pack at Hobby Lobby, that was my back up craft, but that we ran out of time to do at the party!

A special thanks to Poppie for taking Reader R on a special date night and sleep over, so we could decorate  and really surprise her!  Thanks to Aunt Dana for being my right-hand girl, helping out in every way on party day!  Thanks to my Sweetheart for working so hard to help get the house ready and for capturing the big event for me!  Thank you to Kim and my SweetBook Sisters for all of your encouragement!  Thank you to Hi Sugarplum, Oh Sugar Events, Design Dazzle, and a thousand other hard-working moms on Pinterest for inspiration!

All pandemonium broke loose at pick up time when we momentarily lost control of the party! ;^)

Cheers!!
Sarah

P.S. - Come back tomorrow for all the details on the PJ cookies!

Happy Birthday, Reader R!

This past week, we have celebrated the 8th birthday of a super-sweet little girl! I say, "this past week" because we, in fact, celebrated all week long!  

The "opening ceremonies" of birthday week were a special dinner with  my Mom and Dad.  My mom has an annual beach trip with her friends that usually overlaps with Reader R's birthday.  It just gives us an extra reason to celebrate!  So this year, R. wanted a chocolate chip cookie cake for her "Hammie" party.

Poor "cobbler's kid."  I was in such a rush, I just slapped on some store-bought frosting and even forgot that she hasn't gone by "Becca" since she turned 4.  Opps.

The fun birthday hat is a Schalekamp Family tradition!

Then, we had a BIG SURPRISE friends-party for her, but that is another story...


The next day, we had our big family party.  For that party, she wanted "A rectangle fun-fetti cake with flowers on it."  It honestly threw me off a little.  At my house growing up, rectangle cakes were what you took to a pot-luck at church.  Birthday cakes were CIRCLES or maybe HEARTS.  On cake stands.

Terrified of the "Wilton Rose,"  I made several suggestions of other cake designs.   I really wanted to make her this cake made my friends Tammy and Clarissa, which I had had my eye on for some time...  However, she was really adamant that she wanted "a rectangle cake with roses."  So, I did my best to fulfill her wish.

(Deep down, I think she was REALLY trying to make it "easy" for me.  Since 99% of bakery cakes are rectangles with roses, she probably thought that would be simple to do.  Either that or she REALLY just wanted me to break down and buy a cake from the COSTCO!)

Procrastinating until the last possible moment and not having quite the right supplies... after watching several You-Tube videos, I improvised (using a upside-down bathroom-sized dixie cup instead of a rose nail and a 103 tip instead of a 104 for those who care...), and was pretty pleased with the results.  The only thing couldn't figure out was how to actually transfer the roses to the cake without smooshing them.  I reached out to some of my cookie friends and they saved the day!

Finally, for her party at school she wanted "Gooey butter cake."  That one was a little hard for me to swallow too.  For someone that makes a living baking cookies... I was a little sad that she didn't want cookies for any of her MULTIPLE parties.  In the end it was a pride issue.  How can the "cookie lady" show up to school with Gooey Butter Cake for her OWN daughter's birthday.  However, once I got over that, I was pretty thrilled, because Gooey Butter Cake is like the easiest treat ever!  But that is another story...  I did, however, forget to take a photo, so that will have to wait too.

Happy Birthday Reader R!
Cheers!
Sarah

BTW, Reader R. LOVED the cake, and now, sister K wants "a rectangle cake with roses" for her birthday, too.

London 2012 - GO USA!

We are having a wonderful summer at the Rose home.  Thank you for your patience and encouragement as I took some time off to be with my family, teach Bible at VBS, and celebrated my birthday week! ;^)

We are excited about working on badges for American Heritage Girls (Reader R., my sweet over-achiever, approval-junkie, picked out 19 badges that she wants to try to earn this summer), and we have been having fun participating in Focus on the Family's Olympic Fitness Challenge  trying to squeeze in a little bit of daily fitness despite the heat.  

Reader R. with the first cake she decorated herself,
for her Cake Decorating  badge, of course!

Of course, what we would rather be doing is baking cookies...
 or sitting around watching countless hours of other people exercising!
Less than one month until the OLYMPICS!  Go USA!

Olympic cookie created with extra frosting... ;^)

(Yes. I baked the cookie more than a month ago, and then sat on the photo to share it one month from the Olympics starting, and missed the date.  Man! Oh well!)

Cheers!

Sarah

Mixing Day & It's a Wonderful Life

Good Morning!  Today is Mixing Day!  If you were one of my fortunate customers to be getting cookies between now and Mother's Day... (I am sorry that I had to turn a few orders away.) then the cutest little sous-chef in Southern Johnson County (or maybe the whole world...) and I started your cookies this morning!

Momma and Lil' L.,
My Sweet  Sous-Chef

When I have A LOT of cookies to make, then I can gain a little bit in economies of scale if I only mix once.  It takes a little longer, but I only have to clean up once... which is a BIG help! (I forgot to take the before picture, but this is these are the after. and what you can't see is that my sweet Lil' sous-chef "helped" me spill a nearly full bottle of Pure Almond Extract on my counter... let's just say, it is a good thing that she is so incredibly cute! ;^) This is also redeemed by the fact that she just might be the only two-year old in town that can crack an egg, and the pay is right...)

Yes, that is flour, not just a glare.

Ready for Recycle

Dishes anyone?

 

If you need egg shells to keep slugs from eating your hostas,
you know who to call.

Then I package the dough with your name on it and stick it into the refrigerator or freezer until I am ready to bake your order.  This also helps me to be able to take one day out of the timeline to squeeze orders in closer together.

What this big mixing day made me think about is how I am so thankful for my great customers, my home, and my family (not necessarily in that order. ;^)), and how far my little cookie company has come in the last 9 months.  I have learned so much.  I have grown so much.  I have had so much fun.



Plus, since Christmas, we have been self-sustaining, which means, I am not stealing money from my family's grocery budget to buy the ingredients for your cookies or cookie cutters, etc.  It made me think of one of my favorite movies "It's a Wonderful Life"  where in the bank run scene George Bailey says "Well, your money is in Joe's house, that's right next to yours, and the Kennedy house, and a hundred others..."  Well, your money is in their cookies... And I thank you! ;^)

On top of that, I get to do something that I really enjoy, in my home, with my children, on my own time frame, and make money doing it!  It is truly a Wonderful Life!  Thank you!!

Finally, all this made me remember to share... that I almost always buy my baking eggs at Aldi's.  Why?  Because they carry "Golden" eggs, which always has this verse written inside the carton.


Have a Blessed Day!
Sarah

St. Patrick's Day Musings...

A Trinity Cross

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Actually, we don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a big way at our house.  We will wear green shirts.  We will eat green shamrock pancakes, because it is fun.  On a good year, we might even go to a parade, if it doesn't make mommy tired just thinking about it.  We won't really talk about Leprechauns (except to remind our girls that they are just fun imaginary characters) or chase after their pot of gold...  We don't believe in luck... so there isn't much to say about that.

Before I mixed up my green icing...
I just used white and covered it with green sprinkles.

One thing, that we will definitely do though, is talk about who the real St. Patrick was and why we celebrate his day.  He was a real person.  He did not believe in God.  He was captured by bandits and taken to Ireland.  He was a slave and a sheep herder.  He was alone and afraid, and he prayed to God to save him.  God did!  Then, Patrick studied the Bible and soon he wanted to go back to Ireland to tell the people there about Jesus.  He was the first missionary to Ireland.

We will talk about the symbol of the Trinity on the crosses (above) and how there is no beginning and no end to their design, just like God, who is infinite,  and has been from eternity past and will be for into eternity future.  (Thank you to Anne at the Flour Box Bakery for the inspiration for these crosses.  You really should go see it... Her cross is AMAZING!)

We will talk about the shamrock and how it is also a symbol of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).

We will talk about the daffodil and how flowers are a symbol of death (when you plant the dead looking old bulb in the Fall) and new life (when it blooms as a beautiful new creation in the Spring).




 We will talk about how we are all like sheep and are prone to go our own way, but Jesus, the Good Shepherd, watches over us and takes care of us.  (Thank you to Callye at Sugarbelle and Marian from Sweetopia for sharing the guest post on how to make these cuties!  I guess if I had actually read the whole post, I wouldn't have ended up with the great big pile of icing in the middle... oh well!  They still tasted good and looked cute.)  

We will talk about rainbows and the beautiful symbol of God's covenant love that they represent.

We will have lots of fun things to talk about...
We might even eat a cookie that looks like a funny green hat. ;^)


Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cheers!
Sarah

Reader R's cookies - She is becoming quite the decorator!

P.S. - I did have fun decorating cookies with my oldest daughter,  Reader R.!  She says "I love FLOOD!"  Too cute!  Her cookies turned out great too!

Here are our pancakes too!  Reader R. and Lil' L. were so excited.  Curious K. was not too excited about the green breakfast that looked strangely like broccoli.

Confessions of a Cookie Baker: Food & Photography

My treat for today... A spot of tea and a cookie.

These "Delft" Teapots remind me of my Dutch heritage.

Why, might you ask?  

Well, you know my "big girl" turned two this week.  I thought it would be the perfect time for a photo shoot.  Then I got "brilliant" and thought maybe I should take photos of her eating a "Big Girl" cookie... in her Minnie Mouse costume. Her favorite gift.  Brilliant.  Just brilliant.

Whoa, Nelly, let me tell you, I now understand why photographers give you the evil eye when you walk in with a favorite toy/book/blanket in hand.

After about 15 minutes, two temper tantrums (one from a little-big girl and one from a BIG-big girl), lots of pushing ears back on... and over 200 images later...  this is what I got:

I actually had a really hard time picking just 12 outtake photos to share...

My Sweet Big Girl

I was hoping for the dainty-little-nibble, with the inscription showing, and ears upright.  I got lots of crumbs, falling ears, a wiggly-squirmy little-big girl, black teeth, and "see" food.  I also got, lots of laughs, a big hug (for letting her eat a BIG cookie for a "snack"), some priceless memories, and ONE "good" photo.

So now, I think I might just enjoy my tea cookie and my one good photo, and then go back to taking pictures of cookies.  They sit still. They look good.  They don't chew with their mouth open. ;^)

Cheers,

Sarah