Everyone Loves a Monogram Cookie

I love a monogram cookie. Really, I love a monogram anything, period.

I especially love a monogram cookie with a fun letter! It's probably the teacher in me but some letters are more exciting than others. Take, for example, "L". Circa - Sex and the City I decided I wanted a Carrie-esque necklace with a pretty L on it... you know, the loopy, curly, handwritten kind of L. The problem with L though is that there are necklaces out there with the boring, right angle, uppercase printing kind of L. Not nearly as fun. So maybe it is actually the font that makes a letter interesting - either way a cookie with a monogram is always a good idea!

Waaayyy back in the Fall my cousin, Heather, and her husband, Ryan, welcomed their second bundle of joy, sweet little Margeaux, to their clan. I finally got the chance to meet baby M over the winter break and, of course, had to take some goodies with me! M is definitely a "fun" letter... couldn't resist a little zebra print either!

Not to be left out of any cookie situation big brother Hudson also got his very own polka-dotted H's!

Both brother and baby are adorable! It was great to see the family and I can't wait for summer so we have an excuse to go for ice cream... ha!

Piping letters is actually a lot easier than you would think. For tips and tricks click {HERE}. Bridget does a really great job of pointing you in the right direction!

A Little Inspiration!

Have you ever wondered about those beautifully decorated sugar cookies that look too good to eat...

Well... I have! How the heck do they make them?!?! Mostly I wondered about the secret icing recipe. How does it cover the cookie in a smooth, shiny layer?!

So, my interest peaked, I began my quest to find the perfect cookie icing, I came across this recipe. While delicious and shiny it just didn't make the cut in the decorating department. Perfect for a quick, simple, one colour kind of job. But not quite there.

Next I tried {insert well-known, widely available baking brand name here} color flow icing. I tried it and I tried it again. Much better for decorating than my first-attempt icing but I found that it didn't always pipe well - it wouldn't "stick" to the cookie, there were bubbles in my lines and it wouldn't always flow nicely from the bag. Who knows, maybe I was over mixing it or under mixing it or adding too much water or not enough water. What I did know for sure though was that it didn't taste great. And if something isn't absolutely delicious then it isn't right for me! So my search continued...

...and then I came across Bake at 350. I have to admit that I resisted royal icing on cookies forever. As far as I was concerned royal icing was used to "glue" gingerbread houses together and tasted really, really bad. But I saw what Bridget at was doing with it {see butterflies above} and I was intrigued. I cautiously decided to give it a whirl!

The very first time I tried her royal icing recipe I fell in love with cookie decorating... became obsessed really! The icing was perfect for piping, forgave me for not thinning it enough for flooding and tasted fantastic! I had to try to make every single cookie I saw on the website. Partially because I wanted to know if I could do it, partially because I wanted to be just as great as Bridget {who, by the way, is amazing!}. I also had Christmas on my side... the perfect excuse to start my cookie decorating supplies collection...hehe! 

My first attempts {Bake at 350 inspired}...

...and Olive inspired too!

The more cookies I decorate the more obsessed I get. I want to turn everything into a cookie! Thank you Bridget for inspiring me to try something new!!

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 christina & chris!!

A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of creating cupcakes for Christina and Chris' wedding. Truly, the best part of my baking adventure is meeting new people... Christina was a delight to get to know!! I love sitting down with brides and discussing all things wedding... brings me back to my own day of {super stressful!} wedded bliss. The set up for this wedding was particularly enjoyable - their reception venue was a quick 5 minute drive from my house and the hubby helped out! It is always way more fun with two {although my slight perfectionism sometimes gets in the way ;)}. I hope I wasn't too annoying!! Ha!

Christina and Chris' cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate with almond icing. Their "cutting" cake was red velvet with almond icing and fondant.

Congratulations Christina and Chris!! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

...and this is what happens when the hubby ventures into the kitchen... :s

Good thing they were extras!!

strike a pose!

This past summer...yes, back in August.... I had the extreme pleasure of being a part (well, my creations atleast!) of a fun little photo shoot put on by the wonderful Aimee of Devoted to Decorating. This was the first time we worked together on a photo shoot and it was a blast! The theme was red and purple so of course red velvet cupcakes were in order! This was the first time I have had my goodies professionally photographed and now I wish I had a better camera... haha! They look so yummy!!

A HUGE thanks to:

Photography... Christa Dawn Photography

Flowers... Norwood Florist

Linens... Bel-Ayre Rentals

'lil cutie!

Back in August I had the pleasure of creating gnome, owl and toadstool cupcakes for the too-adorable-for-words Carson's 1st birthday! His mom Tristan sent me a few pictures from the day and I simply couldn't resist sharing!

Thanks again Tristan! Check out my gnome sweet gnome post to see Carson's cupcakes.

fondant stamping 101

I created these cupcakes for Aimee for an engagement party a couple months back. I can't believe that I am only getting these pictures up now! I suppose there is something to be said for being so busy that the blog gets neglected!! Haha!! Regardless, here they are now...better late than never!

I made the decorations by stamping the couples initials onto fondant hearts with food colouring. It was a bit tricky to find the right amount of food colouring to get the look I was after. But, after a few tries, some failed attempts and a bit of a learning curve I think they turned out really nice. The cupcakes themselves were lemon and strawberry with buttercream icing - delicious!

I hope you enjoyed them Aimee!