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

An Apple for the Teacher???

No, way!  You're talking to the Cookie Lady after all!

At our school, we do it up BIG for Teacher Appreciation Week (in May. Yes, I am a little behind.)  This year, we sent our teachers on an imaginary cruise, with activities planned for each day.  We had "Bon Voyage" posters, a special lunch with the captain (the principal), a spa day, a day on shore, and a Mexican fiesta.  It was a big hit.

For teacher appreciation week, I made my favorite cookie EVER!!!

This is the Reader R. cookie!  

(It was totally inspired by Tara at the Shaky Baker and some wonderful cookies she made for her daughter's school auction!)

Reader R. LOVED her 1st Grade teacher Mrs. Cox.  I had heard other parents say that Mrs. Cox has an amazing gift at making your child feel like the most important student in the school... but that she does that for every current and past student at the same time.  Well, it is true!  ;^)

So, when Reader R. heard that we were sending Mrs. Cox on a cruise, the first thing she wanted to know was if she could go with her!  So that is what we cookie-d...a mini Reader R. and everything else you need for a cruise, a sun hat, sun glasses, a pair of flip-flops, etc. and put them in a big pink sun hat. 

We also made cookie packages for the principal and the specials teachers with just hearts and shades and a note about how they are "So cool they have to wear shades!"

These were some of my first glaze cookies!  Thanks to Shari Felich for the recipe, and thanks to some encouragement from Cristin at Cristin's Cookies and this WONDERFUL tutorial on glaze with Cristin and Arty MaGoo, I gave it a whirl!  I am so glad that I did!  Now I don't have to be afraid of dark colors any more!  (Which is especially important since our school colors are maroon, black, and grey! Go Chargers!)

For my preschooler, Curious K, we personalized her teacher appreciation cookies too, but we'll include those in another post...

Cheers!
Sarah

Wedding Bells are Ringing...

I now pronounce you, "Mr. and Mrs. Cookie!"

I recently had the privilege to make cookies for a Bridal Shower celebrating the upcoming marriage of Bethany and Jim.  My customer, one of the party hostesses, requested engagement rings, using the wedding colors Coral and Grey.  We also decided that it would be good idea to add some fun sparkle and shine!





I also had fun making these special extra Bride and Groom heart-shaped cookies for the guests of honor!

I based the groom cookie off of this picture that turned up when I googled "grey tuxedo."  It turns out that grey is a very popular tuxedo color for this wedding season!

I love the more intricate dress on my second Bride cookie, but wanted to get the coral in on the ones that I gave the customer, so I included it in the bouquet.

 I used disco dust on the diamond and  luster dust on the ring and  to make them sparkle and shine.  I learned this technique this great tutorial by Bridget at Bake at 350!  Thank you!

I boxed them up pretty for delivery, but ultimately,
they would be wrapped individually as party favors. 

Best wishes to Bethany & Jim!
Thanks, Jodi, for your order!

Cheers!
Sarah

Cool Cookies for a HOT Day!

It is HOT in Kansas City.  Today we are going to hit a COOL 107 degrees! But, earlier this week, it was only 99 degrees, so Reader R. had a fun playdate at a friend's house to play in the sprinkler with many of the "going into 2nd grade" girls from school.  I made these fun cookies as a thank you for the hostess.  (I realized afterward, it would have been better to say "Thanks for COOL play on a HOT day!" but I wasn't that clever at the time that I was icing them. ;^))

I also made these sunshine cookies for my little sous-chef... She is my sweet sunshine!

Cheers and keep COOL!

Sarah

Oh Baby! How Sweet It is to Love You!

Earlier this Spring, one of my dear church friends had a beautiful baby girl.  The Women's Ministry at our church had a baby shower for sweet Lila Margaret, which happened to be the day before her baptism.  At the time, I also happened to be short on cash in the gift-giving budget, but long on ideas for beautiful cookies to celebrate the birth and baptism of this special baby girl, so Momma and Daddy got a gift basket from Sarah's Sweet Shoppe, filled with yummy cookies! ;^)

These "sign" cookies were my first attempt at using a "#1" tip for icing decorations.  Even with that small of a tip, it took several tries to squeeze all of those words on the big cookie! ;^)

 My wishes for their sweet family!

The "Daughter of the King" onesie is my favorite!

 I baked some of the cookies on sticks, so that they would "stick" up at the back of the basket. ;^) That backfired on me when one of the sticks broke out of the cookie while I was putting it in the bag.  No problem.  I just took another cross cookie and used Royal Icing to "glue" the stick back in place and covered it with the extra cookie. ;^) Extra cookies save the day (again)!

Top Right Cross reads: "Lila Margaret ~ Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

In the final gift basket, I ended up hiding the small hearts down inside the basket to hold the other cookies in their places better.  After this photo was taken, I put the whole thing in a gift bag and tied it with a bow.  It was a beautiful gift (if I do say so myself...;^)) and Rachel appreciated the time and effort that went into creating such a personalized gift of love.  Besides, who really needs more baby clothes anyway, right?

The finished Gift Basket with the Hearts tucked inside!

I also made these baby hands and feet, but they didn't make the cut for the basket.  It was fun to try my new cutters, but I wasn't completely happy with how they turned out, this time. ;^)

Congratulations Rachel and Johnny!
Happy Baptism Lila!

Love,
Mrs. Rose

  

Rainbows, Rainbows Everywhere!

One of my dear friends, Kara,  invited me to be a part of the 1st Birthday celebration for her sweet baby girl! 


My Rainbow Cookie - For more information on the Rainbow Cookie,
check out my "Rainbow Party - A Behind the Scenes Look" post.



It was a rainbow themed party!  I baked the cookies (Thanks Callye  at The Adventures of Sweet Sugarbelle for the tutorial)  and made the rainbow-colored mints that she sent home as party favors. 

Rainbow-colored Mints for Party Favors.



Kara baked cool colorful cakes in jars and made this wooden rainbow puzzle with her girls!



They had a whole rainbow of healthy snacks, too!



Kara did EVERYTHING else to create a wonderful and memorable event... including providing me with these great photos of the party!  She is a great friend and a totally awesome mom to four adorable girls!  She thought of everything!  Here are a few of her great ideas!



I love how she decorated baby K's tray with ribbons!



She did fun rainbow face-painting!



She even rainbow-colored the soap in the bathroom! ;^)



Thanks Kara for letting me be a part of baby K's special day!



Check out this cutie!  A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand! 
Happy Birthday, sweet baby K!



Like anything worthwhile, a lot of love (and work) goes into making it extra-special, check out my next post for a fun, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the rainbow treats. 

Thanks!
Sarah







Happy "Belated" Valentine's Day!

Hello friends! 

These are half of the cookies I wanted to make for Valentine's Day, but didn't get done until today.  (The other half, I have put in the freezer, with the languishing cake pop cakes and the Christmas cookies I still haven't had time to decorate, for the the time when I have more  time to do what I really wanted to do... by then, nobody will want to eat them, but they will be BEAUTIFUL! ;^)

They would have turned out better with Royal Icing, but I just didn't have the energy for that this morning and had a ton of fluffy frosting left (because I didn't make the cupcakes for Reader R's class.  Yes, I am still feeling guilty about that...).

"My Fuzzy Valentine" Monster Sweets! 
Thank you, Georgeann, at LilaLoa for the inspiration.

"Forever LOVE Stamp"
My first attempt at a sprinkle stencil. 
Would have been better with RI.  Oh well. 

And a few Hugs and Kisses!

Simple "Conversation Hearts" can say so much.

I also just wanted to share this word of truth:

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."   1 John 4:9-11



That is the reason we celebrate this fun holiday!  Thanks, Tracy for the reminder.

Happy "A Few Days Late" Valentine's Day!

Sarah

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Valentine's Day baking is a little off track this year, since my family has been hit by the plagues (since Halloween between the five of us, we have had bronchitis, pneumonia, sinus infections x4, an ear infection, influenza, strep, the stomach flu, and the mysterious five-day fever,  (and Curious K, who is usually the "sick" one has avoided them all...) and that doesn't count the conversation heart I had to remove from Lil' L's nose the other day.  Stick a fork in me, I am DONE with this winter.

SO, that said.  I have only been baking when we are HEALTHY, which is hardly ever.  But, last week in a fit of baking flurry, I decided to try making "Cake Pops."  Whoa, Nelly! 



For the girls' teachers.



I admire anyone who can make a zillion beautiful cake pops.  I now understand why in her book, Bakerella, says to start with 12.  I couldn't decide which to make, so I made cherry chip with vanilla frosting, red velvet with chocolate frosting, and red velvet with chocolate frosting.  (For you non-cake-pop-bakers, that is enough cake to make 12 DOZEN cake pops, not 12.  WWIT -- What was I thinking?)  Not really a wise choice.  (I now have three half cakes in my freezer, just in case anyone else wants to try to make cake pops... ;^)

My first cake pops. 
Funny thing, the very first one, the wrapped one, turned out the best. They went downhill from there.

What I decided is... cake pops are for kids, but are not made by kids, and I will only make cake pops for someone I really LOVE!   (My 4 year-old, Curious K, has requested "bake pops" for her birthday until she is 10! ) Oey!

For my "sweet" family! 
(Note: Lil' L. will not be allowed anywhere near the regular-sized conversation hearts!!)

And I did squeeze in one cookie order, for a friend who is working to raise money for orphans in Haiti through the Global Orphan Project.  Her daughter, Anna, has a heart for Haiti.  She has also created a CD to raise money and awareness.  Check out Anna's Heart for Haiti website.  Be sure to listen to her CD too!  These treats were a special "Thank you" for her to give some of her recent encouragers and supporters!  Thank you, Kari!

Needless to say, the cupcakes for Reader R's class didn't get done... but at least no one threw up today. ;^) Ah, it is the little things in life...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sarah