Amazon Mail Call

Adding to the list of things I love, I love Amazon.com. They have almost anything you could ever need or want and it ends up being where I buy most of my baking accouterments. Today was no exception.

Mustache cookie cutters - who wouldn't want a facial hair cookie? Like, no one.

Bake at 350's newly released book! Decorating Cookies, which I pre-ordered back in June. I've already looked at every page, tomorrow will be reading every word.
Bridget has an amazing blog which inspired me to test the waters of cookie decorating so if you're thinking it looks cool, visit her blog and learn from a master.  

Best Day Ever!  

This is Halloween (a little early)

Who has two thumbs and is ready for Halloween?!?!

This girl! aka Me aka Adele from Halloween 2011, pretty convincing right?

This is the only time of year where spiders are allowed in my apt.

Yes, candy corn and cauldrons! What will they think of next?

Welcoming Fall

I love summer. Going to the beach, key lime pie, long days - what's not to love. But, I also love fall. Pumpkin bread, going apple picking, and cool nights. So, once labor day weekend was over, it was time to jump into fall feet first... with mini cookies! 

I brought these with me to give to my Grandmother. She moved into an apartment so our family went to visit and clean out her house so it could be sold. She has so many friends and neighbors who stopped by to help, these ended up being a perfect thank you gift. I gave her the remainder of the cookies to share with her new apartment building friends. 

Bring on the pumpkin bread!

Wilton Course 1 Class

A few months ago, I realized that I should learn how to use the fun stuff that you find in the baking aisle at the craft store, so I signed up for Wilton's cake decorating course at my local store. The course is 4 classes and teaches basic cookie, cake, and cupcake decorating. I'm enjoying learning how to use all of the cool decorating tips, transferring images onto a cake, and using the air mist colors.

Here's a sampling of the cool stuff I've made! Which ones are your favorite?

Class 1: Cookie Decorating

Class 2: Transfer Image Outline to a Cake

Class 3: Fill and Decorate Cupcakes

   

Cute Pic Time

P.S. Thank you for ignoring the candy cane

OBX Cookies

This summer, Greg and I went on a family vacation with his dad's side of the family to the Outer Banks, NC.

17 people = lots of cookies

Enjoy the pics!

Neon Fruits (Sweetopia's tutorial here)

Sail Boats

Seashells

Starfish/flowers

Butterfly

 Pretty, right?

Side Note: allow plenty of time for drying 

Side Note 2: No more brown butterfly bodies, no one needs that :P

Summer Birthday Cake #2

A tip about birthdays: they come around once a year per person, so you're always going to need birthday candles.

As I was at Christmas Tree Shops, a friend and I ran across some pretty cool looking candles. They were tall, elegant, and came in gold and silver, so I bought one of each after a few minutes of being teased as to what I'd use them for. 

They were only $1 per pack (nbd) but you will always need birthday candles at least once a year so you might as well pick up the good ones when they're in front of you. 

For Greg's birthday, I had picked up special colored candles so the flames actually turn colors (green, blue, purple, red) rather than standard flame colored.

So...when in doubt, buy more candles..unless you're a hoarder or pyro. 

Told you...cool candles...nbd 

Plus when you have awesome candles, people are even more blown away (ha ha) when they see what's inside.