Magic Mike Cookies

Now, I really wish.. to the bottom of my little cookie heart... that I could take credit for this cookie idea. Unfortunately, I cannot. The idea AND wonderful tutorial for these cookies came from http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2013/01/chippendale-cookies/. This lady is the one who taught me everything I know about cookies. I couldn't resist making these when I saw them. Tonight I'm looking forward to a "ladies" night with some of the wives/girlfriends (well I guess I'm the only Air Force girlfriend) where we are going to watch some Magic Mike and have a few cocktails. These cookies fit in with our theme perfectly.

My cookies aren't quite as bronzed as Sugarbelle's but I ran out of brown, what's a girl to do? I think the 6 pack abs distract from the lack of tan ;)

Keira's Birthday Cookies

The ONE little girl I didn't get to see when I came home was little Miss Keira. Boy... I miss her. She is spunky, smart, and so kind. She was having a blast at Disney when I made my surprise visit to Iowa, so I think she was in the right place having a better time! Even though I didn't get to see Keira when I came home, I got to think about her plenty because I had the pleasure of creating her birthday cookies! Now, when it came to her cookies I had to think of what would personalize these for her the best. When I think of Keira I think of ruffles, beautiful and wild hair, smiles, animal prints, pink, and glitter. Oh yeah.... she's a girly girl. It didn't take long for me to decide how to create the perfect design for her cupcake cookie.

UPS Cookies

I was lucky enough to be able to come back to Iowa last week for my dad's retirement party. He has retired from UPS after 41 years. My brother flew me back on his frequent flyer miles for only $35 and no baggage fees. I also go to visit my students (now 2nd graders) at recess and lunch. I got so many hugs and I was scolded several times for wearing moccasins outside with no socks (and I loved every minute of it.) Of course, while I was home I planned on making special cookies for my dad's retirement party... how could a girl resist? This time I had the help of my mom to finish the cookies from start to finish the Friday before his party. Here's how they turned out.

My dad now refuses to wear brown shirts since he spent most of his life covered from head to toe in brown at work.

On top of getting to celebrate with my dad and visit my old stomping grounds at school, I jam packed a lot of quality time in with my lovely friend, Lauren, and my family. Although my stay at home was only for 4 days, it was all filled with quality time.

Olivia the Pig

Sometimes I forget that I am privy to information on any cartoon character and or book character because, after all, I was a teacher. (I say was but still feel like I am). When I was asked to make Olivia the Pig cookies I jumped at it because, well, Olivia the Pig is so friggn' cute! That and I used to read the book "Olivia" to my first graders. They loved her, so in turn, I loved her. I was also super excited to put my copykake projector to good use on making a perfect number 5. Letters and numbers are super hard to center and keep proportionate.

Thomas the Train

On these Thomas and Friends cookies I got to try out SEVERAL new techniques and new technology all at the same time! Recently I purchased a printer and I got a KopyKake projector for Christmas. A KopyKake projector is basically a projector that bakers use to display images to copy on their cakes. Obviously, I use it for my cookies! It is HUGE and it has to clip on to my kitchen table so it is kind of an eye sore. For these Thomas cookies I can still say the design was all mine because I drew the faces and simply projected them onto the cookies so they would be symmetrical. I ALSO stacked two cookies on top of each other to create a 3-D effect.

See?! The faces stick out from the rest of the train. All you do is stick the cookie on top while the frosting is fresh and wet.

Umizoomi Cookies

I had the pleasure of making some Umizoomi cookies for the cutest 4 year old in Albuquerque. A co-worker of Joe's asked me to make these cookies for his daughters birthday and if your Nick Jr. days are long gone like mine (or if you don't have children) you are probably thinking the same thing I was.... "What is an Umizoomi?" After a quick google search I found these...

Cute, eh?! After I saw the picture I looked forward to making these for WEEKS! I didn't even mind that they took 10 colors to make. I loved every minute of them and I think they turned out pretty good!

Here are the results! I just love them.  :)

Sports Cars

It has been almost a month since I posted, and that's mostly due to my lack of picture taking AND the fact that I haven't created any new cookies lately. I was scolded by my friend, Marin, about it so I guess it's time I finally updated you all on what's happening in New Mexico! Cookies are going great still, however, I haven't had much of an opportunity to make new cookies because I'm getting orders on ones I have already created. Coming up I get to make new cookies, though, so expect some pictures! I started my new job at Farmers after Thanksgiving and it's still going well. I have a lot to learn but I look back on how much I already have learned and feel pretty good about it. As for Joe, he has had a few exciting developments within the last month. He will be leaving to the South Pacific for a mission for 2 weeks... and trust me, he is SO disappointed. Bah! He's basically going to an island that is straight out of a desktop background that most of us can only dream of going to and he's getting paid to go. Maybe I need to join the Air Force. On top of that, his VERY old Toyota Corolla, or as he likes to call it, Yota, broke down. By broke down I mean the repairs would have cost more than his car was worth... and that's not a lot. Trust me, in no way is he offended by the way anyone talks about his car and from the picture I'm about to show you, you'll see why.

 The "Yota" very broken and sad looking.

 His new ride... quite the improvement.

As I write this he is sitting in bed next to me reading the manual. He's in love. Tomorrow I'll be posting ANOTHER entry because I just finished some Umizoomi themed cookies and I am waiting for natural light to take pictures of them. Just another thing Joe taught me... pictures look 10000x better in natural light. If you don't know what Umizoomi is (like me when I got this request) then check back tomorrow for an excess of cuteness!