Peekaboo Beans... and a **GIVEAWAY!!**

I don't have any mini beans of my own but if I did I would definitely shop {HERE}!

Introducing... Peekaboo Beans - playwear for kids on the grow! These clothes are unbelievably adorable :) Too cute for words really! And... Canadian to boot {gotta LOVE supporting our fellow Canucks}!

Here's how it works...

1. Contact my friend Cory {she's a super cool chick!}

2. Host a Beans Soiree at your house

3. Invite your friends to come to your Soiree and order ridiculously cute, well made, affordable clothes for your beans

4. Have the best-dressed gang on the block!

Seriously, if these clothes were available in adult sizes I would wear them too!

And, because these moms have thought of everything, you can even sell your vintage Bean-wear on the PB website once your kiddos have outgrown your favourite pieces. Says something about the quality, doesn't it?!

Now onto the cookies!! Cory, being the amazing host she is, asked me if I would be interested in making some sweet treats for her Soiree guests. Of course I excitedly agreed and got to work!

The Peekaboo Beans logo is very fun but after a few attempts to recreate it in cookie form I decided to get out my {new and very exciting} edible image printer {more info coming about this soon!!}. It is the perfect solution to logo cookies.

 Did I mention that the clothes are amazing?!?!! Well, they are! For the next set of cookies I was inspired by them. The lollipops are way to much fun and who doesn't love a polka-dot print?! I couldn't resist :)

You can also contact Cory through Facebook to find out more information on Peekaboo Beans.

I cannot say it enough - the clothes are great... you will not be disappointed! And you may even get a cookie or two ;)

** Sweet GIVEAWAY** .....aka fun! fun! fun!

If you're interested in trying out Peekaboo Beans clothes for yourself {and I know you are!} this is the perfect opportunity! Check out the Peekaboo Beans website, take a look around and then come back here to leave a comment below this post telling me what your favourite Beans clothing piece is. One lucky person will win $50 towards their next PB purchase through Cory!

{Giveaway runs until midnight, May 12th}

Good luck

Draw closed - THANKS to everyone who entered :)

...and the winner is... JASMINE TARA!!

Congratulations! Please contact me to find out how to get your $50 in Beans Bucks!

Fit for a Princess... or 2!

Ever since this post a couple of weeks ago my inbox has been flooded with requests for princess crown cookies. The princess phenomenon is nothing new to me {Kindergarten teacher and all :)} but I never thought there would be so many in my house so soon! It's great!!

These princess crown cookies were made for Stella and Grace's 7th birthday party. I have known the girls and their parents since they were born and it's hard to believe that they are 7 already!! The girls' mom, Corinne, requested crown cookies to double as party favours and I {of course} suggested to personalize them with each of the party-goers names. Oh how I LOVE that!!!! Guess she couldn't get away with no princesses 2 years in a row ;)

{If you look closely you can see a little sparkle!}

Cute right??!! I can't completely take credit though... check out my inspiration here!

I also made cupcakes for the girls' party...

I had to laugh when Corinne passed on their request for this years' treats... butterflies and flowers...just like last year!!! I laughed even harder when they exclaimed that they were "WAY better than last years!". That's a compliment right?!?! Haha! I didn't think last year's cupcakes were that bad!

Guess I have my work cut out for me next year ;)

Happy 7th birthday Stella and Gracie!!

I {Heart} You!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a quick post tonight of some of my favourite Valentine's Day goodies this year...

In keeping with my new cookie obsession I made a lot of hearts this year. I also learned a **very important** lesson... if your royal icing doesn't seem to be stiffening up in your mixer {and yes, I let it mix for a LONG time!} do not, and I repeat do not, add more meringue powder after the fact!! I have made royal icing many times and have never had this problem. However, on the particular night I decided to ice my cookies I also decided to try a new recipe. Sometimes this works in my favour, other times, not so much. This time, not so much!

Once upon a time I read that if you need to add meringue powder to royal icing after the icing is already mixed, dissolve it in water first then add. I tried, no luck. As you will see below you get tiny little dots in your icing. Not the flawless finish I was hoping for. If {or when} this happens again I will just toss and start fresh, as much as it pains me to waste perfectly good-ish icing!

These cookies were donated to the my-dad-wants-cookies-to-take-to-work cause so all was not lost. And, don't worry, I had a few taste testers make sure they were edible first :)

I used Duff's Cake Graffiti spray in silver for the first time on these cookies and I was really impressed with the results. It took a few tries to get a feel for it but now I am addicted! I can't wait to "spray paint" my next set of cookies!!

pretty in pink...

... and some sparkly minis...

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day filled with love, chocolate {and maybe a glass of wine!}!

New Year... New Blog... and a Ballerina!

Happy 2012!! 

Ya, ya, I know it is almost February and I have been a bit absent on the blogging scene these past few months.

But I have been hard at work!! Somewhere over the winter break I found myself rested and ambitious. So, what better way to pass the time than with a crash course in blog design and HTML? I found a couple of really helpful DIY blogs, purchased a digital scrapbooking kit {thank you, thank you, thank you Shawna Clingerman and Melissa Bennett of Sweet Shoppe Designs for all images used on this blog!} and was on my way! The original plan was to have my newly redesigned, fancy blog up and running before January. However...who knew {ahem} that designing your own blog would be quite the undertaking??! Well, it definitely took me awhile {and a lot of research} to get things just the way I like them! Still not everything is finished - pages really will be coming soon! It's a work in progress, much like my creations, always planning, creating, changing and planning again. So please bear with me as I tie up the loose ends on my blog. I am so excited to have a new, fun place to share my baking stories and couldn't possibly wait any longer to unveil the fruits of my {hours and hours of} labour!

Two months of being a delinquent blogger has left me with plenty to share! The perfect way to start off 2012 is with a party, a dance party! My sweetheart Hannah turned 7 {yikes!} this month and she had a big request for her dance studio birthday party.... a ballet slipper cake, of course! Hannah and I made ballet slipper cupcakes a few months back so I knew it was coming! I decided on a pink cake with white polka dots and sparkly pink ballet slippers on top. It was a success with the birthday girl and I had to laugh as she immediately dragged all of her friends over to "see her cake" the second they arrived at her party!

Hannah's cake was three layers of cake {red velvet and vanilla mixed together} with buttercream icing and covered in yummy marshmallow fondant. The perfect amount of sugary goodness for a bunch of giggly girls!

I loved making each layer a different shade of pink - a surprise for Hannah! 

Thank you pinterest for this idea!

The beautiful birthday girl with her cake and matching headband!

Happy birthday Hannah Banana... I can't wait to hear the request for #8!

congrats rachel and miles!!

Last weekend was Rachel and Miles' big day! The weather was great and it was a perfect day for a wedding :) I set up at their venue later in the afternoon and it was great to see so many of their friends and family pitching in to get things just right!

Rachel and Miles' wedding colours were light pink and white so they decided on vanilla cupcakes, half with white vanilla whipped icing and half with pink vanilla buttercream icing. They were topped off with tiny pink and white candy pearls. The tower was the same one I used at my wedding (available for rent!) with pink ribbon. My favourite part of setting up at weddings is when I hear people around me talking about how good the cupcakes smell! They definitely fill the venue with a sweet and delicious smell!!

Congrats Rachel and Miles! I hope you enjoyed your day and the cupcakes!!

something old, something new...

Sooooo...this much I know is true...I am a HORRIBLE blogger :S Ugghhhhh!!!! Seems like the cupcake life gets away from me sometimes and before I know it I am 3 or 4 (or more) blog entries behind. I suppose that it a sign of booming business so I shouldn't complain! Haha! I am weeks away from the last year of my twenty-somethings so I figured I should make a birthday resolution this year...to keep up with the blogging!!! As for right now I will get caught up :)

First out of the gates are some absolutely adorable bridal shower cupcakes for my friend Jennifer Webber over at Wink Wedding and Event Planning. Jen ordered these cupcakes for her friend Vanessa's celebration. I LOVE monogrammed cupcakes for a personalized touch. The hearts were pretty cute too!

Hope you enjoyed the cupcakes! Congrats Vanessa!!

hannah banana

These very special cupcakes were made with my (not so little anymore!) Hannah for her ballet recital. She wanted to help make the cupcakes for her instructors and ballet class so we had a blast putting them together after school last week. She was a HUGE help!! The cupcakes were vanilla with vanilla buttercream icing. The fondant decorations included pink ballet shoes, tutus, music notes and flowers.

THANK YOU HANNAH!!! You can help Auntie Lori anytime!!

hello... kitty

These super cute creations were made for my friend, Misty, for her daughter, Emily's, third birthday. Misty and I spent our last year of university together when Emily was just a tot...hard to believe how quickly they grow up! Emily loves Hello Kitty so what better way to celebrate than with Hello Kitty cupcakes!! Half of the cupcakes had Hello Kitty faces on them while the other had big red bows and the number "3".

Happy 3rd Birthday Emily!!!!!

sugar & spice and everything nice

These beauties were created for Stella and Grace's 6th birthday party. Their mom, Corinne, contacted me about making cupcakes for their Golf Dome birthday party with only one stipulation - NO princesses!! Haha! Made me laugh...guess princesses are getting old on the parent front! She did, however, say that pink and purple were most definitely in (of course!!)! So, we decided on butterflies, ladybugs, and flowers. I can imagine it might get annoying to have to share everything with your twin sister so I personalized some of the cupcakes with "S" for Stella and "G" for Grace. I think that these cupcakes turned out to be a pretty great alternative to princesses!

Stella and Grace`s cupcakes were marble and chocolate flavoured with chocolate buttercream and vanilla (pink and purple) icing.

Happy 6th Birthday to Stella and Grace!!! Thank you Mizak`s for including me in your special day!