Shake, Rattle and Roll Baby Shower Cookies!

Last year I made these cookies for  Jenny of Bloom Designs Online for her sister's baby shower.

I've made quite a few sets of these since then.

She created invitations, printables and all kinds of decor to go with the theme.
All available in her Etsy shop.

I just realized the other day that I never posted them here!
Whoops!

The whole party is so super cute it makes me want to throw a baby shower.

Not for me!   We're all done here in our house.
All the bedrooms are full.

So....anyone preggers?

4th of July Cookies!

Last year Miss Callye of Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle  asked me to be a part of her star cookie project.
This has been one of my very favorite projects so I thought I'd repost it today.
Enjoy! There's lots of links on the bottom to all kinds of fabulous cookies!

One of the first pretty food pictures I can remember seeing

was Martha Stewart's berry tart.  

It was a long rectangular tart with red and blue berries and white filling, 

arranged to look just like the American Flag.

I distinctly remember seeing it on the cover of her magazine, thinking....someday.

Not someday as in....'Oh I really want to eat that!!!'

(I have strong feelings about fruit showing up in my dessert...)

But someday as in...'hmmm, I wonder....'

I wonder...'could I make something that gorgeous?'

I wonder...'could I take a picture like that?'

I wonder....

Almost two years ago I found a blog that would inspire me the same way.

It's The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle,

 full of the most amazing cookies with perfect instructions and tutorials, AND

written by such a lovely lady, Miss Callye.

I started having those moments again...

I wonder....

About ten days ago I got an email...

from Miss Callye, Sugarbelle, herself.

(While I had emailed back and forth with her before, 

I still do a little happy dance when I see her name in my inbox.)

It was an invitation to sit with the cool girls at lunch.

(AAAAHHHHHHH!)

Callye was working on a post involving her favorite bloggers 

(again....AAAHHHH) 

showing all the different ways we could use a simple star cookie cutter,

for the 4th of July.....

I wonder.....

I could say that I took days to decide what to make, but I didn't.

I knew immediately.

It had to be an arrangement of cookies that looked like the American Flag.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag...

of the United States of America...

and to the Republic for which it stands...

one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thanks Miss Callye, for the invitation to sit at the cool kids table,

and thanks as well to all the other bakers invited to the party.

You've all inspired me to be a better decorator and writer.

So....would you like to see everyone's work???

Thought you would!!!!

Here's a list of links to visit these lovely ladies!!!!!

1. Strawberry Shortcake on a Stick, The Decorated Cookie
2. Patriotic Lace Cookies , My Little Bakery
3. Independence Day Parade Cookies, Jill FCS
4. Old Fashioned 4^th of July, Vicki’s Sweet Treats
5. Light up the Fourth Cookies, The Partiologist
6. Declaration of Independence Cookie, Vanilla Bean Baker
7. Badge of Liberty Cookies, Lila Loa
8. Red, White & Blue Star Cookie Towers, Bake at 350
9. 4th of July Firecracker Cookies, Klickitat Street
10. Star Cut-out Cookies, Glorious Treats
11. Cookie "Pledge", Lizy B Bakes
12. Star-Shaped Krispie Treats, Cookies and Cups
13. Easy Star Cupcake Toppers, Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
14. Rustic 4th of July Galletes, Haniela's
15. Patriotic Cookie Wreath, Sweetopia
16. Patriotic River Rafter, Ali-Bee's Bake Shop
17. Funny Fox Cookies, The Bearfoot Baker
18. Quilted Cookie Stars, Cookie Crazie
19. Gimme Your John Hancock Stars, Life's a Batch
20. Patriotic Cookie Stir Sticks, The Cookie Artisan
21. Patriotic Floral Stars, SweetSugarBelle

I hope you'll go pay everyone a visit!

Happy 4th of July!

Woodland Fairy Cookies

One day, when I was little,  my grandmother asked me if I could have any sort of pet, what would it be.
I wanted a fairy.
"A fairy?!"

"Yes!"




"She would be little, and smell like roses, and live outside in a little mushroom house."

"...and her house would change colors!"






"She would have all different magic wands too."

"They're sparkly, and always match her dress."





"Oh my!  Does this little fairy have wings?  Does she fly?"

"Of course!  But if she's tired, she has a dragonfly to help her fly around. He's really nice too."




"What would you feed your little fairy??"

"Hmmm. 
I know! She eats sugar cubes!!!!"




"Well, why don't we put some sugar cubes in the flowers and see if we can catch one?"

"Okay!!!"

All summer long we put sugar cubes underneath the marigolds and geraniums.
We never did see a fairy, but I'm absolutely sure they were there...
every morning, the sugar cubes were gone.




(These Woodland Fairy Cookies match Charlotte's Mushroom Party by Parties by Bloom You can see it HERE on Bloom Designs Online!)

Balance

I'm an 'all-or-nothing' type of gal. Always have been....most likely always will be. In some cases, it serves me well. I can be seriously productive when I need to.

But mostly, it just leads to burn-out. So my biggest personal challenge is balance (and focus, but that's a whole other post). Trying to fit everything into my life in a meaningful way,  while not spreading myself so thin that I'm completely frazzled, is a constant struggle.


Has anyone written a tutorial for this?  That would be handy!


A few months ago I truly found myself with one too many things on my plate.
Nothing urgent. All perfectly normal and things I was happy to do.
Nothing 'over-the-top' stressful. Nothing I could actually point to and say,  "that's it!  That's the thing that has to go"

Just.....stuff.
Baseball, football, umpires, holidays, classrooms, homework, cookies, parties..... stuff.


And then.....this happened.

Not a tornado, not an entire house full of water, but enough.

I'm also a big believer in 'Everything Happens For A Reason'.
And I love that analogy of God first throwing a pebble, 
then a rock, 
then a brick.


In the interest of not having a brick wall fall down around my family's lives  in order for me to get the point that I needed to take a step back,  I took a break.

Okay, fine.
The contractors who fixed my house forced me to take a break  by wrapping my entire kitchen in saran wrap.

But still....point taken.

So in true 'all-or-nothing' Lizy B style, I switched to 'nothing'.
No Facebook. No blogging. No Google+. No baking. (well, a little)
Nothing.

And then.....
 I stripped the wallpaper out of the bathroom. Ripped out the bathroom cabinet and all the fixtures. Painted a moroccan tile stencil on the walls. Had the floors in the house replaced. Purged the house of a whole bunch of c***. Went to a fabulous wedding. Went to Vegas with Sisters-in-law and BFF's. Planned team parties for the kids. Made portrait collages for coaches gifts. Watched my oldest become a middle-schooler. Dunked my umpire husband in a dunk tank. Planned a summer vacation.

Yeah, I know. I stink at relaxing.

Although I did the couch potato thing too!
I became a master at Candy Crush, Bubble Mania AND Dragon Story! I'm all caught up on the Housewives and their nastiness! I got all teary when Candace won American Idol.
But now, I'm back, and I'm going to try to maintain a little balance.
I'll try to blog twice a week. I'll keep up with the social media...but also try not to get too entangled.
If I disappear for a bit over the summer, I haven't gone anywhere. I'm at the pool with the munchkins, or watching the sunset with my honey.
I'll always be back!
Big Kiss! Thanks for still being here!!!
(bring on the cookies!)