My Tiny Dancer

My daughter just turned three and started ballet class. I can't believe how fast the time goes. Just two years ago she was my tiny dancer and we were celebrating her first birthday...now she's a little girl who is sweet, sassy, funny, generous and incredibly wise beyond her years. She tells me I'm her best friend every day. I'm the luckiest mom in the world. I love you baby girl!

Then...

And now...



Farm Birthday Party

My adorable nephew celebrated his second birthday this weekend. The party was held at Zoomar's Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano. For those of you in the SoCal area, this is such a wonderful resource for hosting a kid's party or just taking the little ones for a visit to see the animals. The train even stops right across the street! My sister-in-law did an awesome job with all the details, and the kids had a blast. There were pony rides, train rides, they fed the bunnies and goats carrots, and played on the playground. By the time we got in the car everyone was fast asleep. Happy birthday precious Aaron!

The craft table and gift bags. The kids created their own farm scene.

Everyone got a cowboy hat and scarf, along with tokens for pony rides and the petting zoo!

Vintage Coca Cola cooler.

Roasting marshmallows by the fire.


How cute are these Toy Story pumpkins?

I baked a few chocolate cupcakes in red and blue gingham wrappers with fondant farm animal toppers.

My favorite was the piggy.


My sister-in-law requested some sugar cookies so I came up with this assorted farm animal cookie plate with a barn, pigs, chicks, ducks, cows, farm dogs and sheep.






Happy birthday big boy. We love you!

Edible Ink Printer

Can't wait until my birthday present arrives next week. It's an edible icing printer from Icing Images. I have so many exciting ideas for cookies and cakes that I think will help take my business to the next level -- plus it's loads of fun to play with. I can create wedding monograms, corporate logos, characters, photos, graphics, text and more. The possibilities are endless. The photos above are just a few examples of what you can do with one of these babies.

Photos (from top): Fairy cookies, monogram cookies, and Love cookies.

Tea Cookies

I made these teapot and teacup cookies for my mother in law after being inspired by this fun tutorial from Mischief Mari Cookies. Instead of making a stencil for the cameo image, I put a piece of wax paper over my image and traced over it with royal icing. When the cameo dried, I just peeled it off and applied it on the cookie. Then I painted it with gold luster dust.

World Cup Fever

World Cup fever began at 7 a.m. today in my household. All told, this will be the third World Cup I've endured since meeting my husband. But since it's only every four years, I've learned to roll with the punches -- and by punches I mean very loud dudes in my living room at ungodly hours (4 a.m.), early morning beer drinking, mid-afternoon beer drinking and oh yes, late-night beer drinking. It's a raucous happening, but one I've come to enjoy. I get to see my husband's eyes light up like a kid, and that's the best part. So, to commemorate the 2010 games, I baked a batch of soccer ball cookies to go with all that beer drinking and soccer watching.

Here's a quick and dirty tutorial on how to make these bad boys, though really it's pretty easy. They'll add a touch of class to any World Cup gathering, and you'll score a "gooooooooooal" with anyone who tastes them.

First, bake up a batch of round sugar cookies. I used my favorite recipe for No Fail Sugar Cookies and a round cutter from Michael's. Then, whip up a batch of royal icing using this recipe and flavor it with vanilla or whatever you prefer. Cover the cookies with white icing and let dry for a few hours, preferably overnight.


Cut out a pentagon template. I found a pentagon to fit this particular cookie cutter here.


Place the template in the center of the cookie and trace around it with an edible ink pen -- I used AmeriColor Gourmet Writer in black.


Outline the pentagon with stiff black icing and fill it in with thin black icing.


With stiff black icing, draw a thin line from each point outward to the edge of the cookie.


Add triangles about two-thirds of the way down and fill them in. You'll get the hang of it after one or two attempts.


Here's the finished cookie. It's that easy. Enjoy!