Popcorn & More Popcorn Cookies and a Great New Book

I have the most fun when asked to make cookies for a special birthday. Especially when the birthday is for little ones. 

A co-worker of mine asked me to make a set of cookies for her son's 'Carnival'-Themed Birthday. I showed her some different designs and she said that the party was actually turning into a "Popcorn" Party. LOL!!!! 

I turned to my trusty set of Cookie Bloggers and found a great idea on http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/

I think I've mentioned before how GREAT Bridget is. Her blog is informative, yet she is funny and witty and so cookie smart. 

When she announced that she was releasing a book, I jumped onto Amazon and pre-ordered it. I read it from cover to cover within a few hours. It is such a great book, not only for the novice cookie maker (like me), but also for the more seasoned cookie maker.  

Anyway.... Her book would make a GREAT gift, for Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary or just a simple Thank you!!!!

Here are the popcorn cookies I made inspired by Bridget's popcorn cookie idea....

 
Happy Birthday to my friend L's son!!! I hope his party was a blast and that he liked his 'Popcorn' Carnival Cookies....

Oh, and don't forget to get Bridget's Book: 
She has written a great post about her wonderful, wonderful book:  http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2012/10/decorating-cookies.html

Have a said how wonderful it is????

  

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Prince First Birthday Cookies

I have a co-worker who had a great idea. She has a friend who's son was turning '1' year old. In addition to the standard gifts, she also wanted to present her friend with a set of cookies that would be either offered to the guests or placed on a dessert table. 

After offering some designs, she decided she liked the crown design, as the theme for the birthday was 'Birthday Prince'. 

This is the cookie design we came up with together: 

She told me that everyone loved them and that they matched the decor and the theme perfectly. 

I'm so happy that I was able to make his day just a little more special. What a nice surprise for the family!!!! 

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Non-Food Related Teacher Gifts...

I was a Pre-K teacher for 5 years and, as a former teacher, and crafter, I can appreciate a thoughtful, and personalized gift.

In Honor of the Teachers who work so hard to educate our children, I went to Michael's Craft Store and looked for inspiration there in order to make them a special gift. 

In addition to loving paints and all the wonderful things you can do with them, I also LOVE photography. I have been recently obsessed with the photographs of architecture and nature that look like letters. So I combined a Monogrammed picture with a hand-painted frame for each teacher. 

Thanks to Michael Gibbons from Alfabetfotos: http://alfabetfotos.etsy.com/, the kids and I were able to create great gifts for their teachers. I chose the letter that corresponded to their last name and the prints were here in a few days.

We also made another one for the school nurse, because Wednesday is National School Nurse Day and, trust me, she needs all the appreciation we can give her. She sees my children quite often. lol!

Here are the finished frames for the teachers:

We first started with wooden frames ($1.00) at Michael's

Then we used acrylic paint to make the works of art...

'D' for Nurse Diane

And then you have the Beautiful final product.

Mrs. M (Kindergarten teacher)

Mrs. C (4th grade teacher)

All this for under $5.00 each and a wonderful keepsake!!!!

Teacher Appreciation lasts the whole week, so you still have time to make something special for that special teacher!!! 

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It's Been Such a Long Time. Spring Cleaning Time!

Hello All.....

In addition to work being INSANE these past few months, I have also been working on 'organizing' my 'other life' here at 'Just Add Milk' and doing some Spring Cleaning, of sorts.

I've been fiddling with Pinterest and My Pictures and looking for new and exciting recipes, thanks to my fellow blogging queens. 

I have organized my Pinterest and it looks so cool. You can follow me at http://pinterest.com/justaddmilk

I came across this idea today and I thought I'd share it with you all. You know that I always give credit where it's due and I saw this FREE, yes free printable this morning and I got so excited. 

This was created by Kristen for the readers of "The Sweetest Occasion". This is an amazing site of ideas for all occasions! You can see her ideas at http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/   

She is generous enough to have a page of links for free printables for everyday and party uses and I found the cutest milk carton EVER today!!!!

I will print one out today and take pics for you all to see. I was just so excited that I couldn't contain myself and needed to blog about it to you all ASAP!. 

Here is the link to the template and her idea for how to use it. 

Click Here

Isn't it just PERFECT! I can't wait to use it!!!! 


Here is the pic: 

Now, I need to print it in red and it will be perfect!!!

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Teacher's Gifts

Thanks to a great idea and a few printable templates from 
www.beeinourbonnet.blogspot.com, I made some GREAT 
'Back to School' Teacher's Gifts. 


Here is the original post and template from the site: 
Post and Template


With some of the apple cookies I made and few additions from Staples, this is what I gave the teachers: 
Pencil Box
Paper clasps
Starburst Candy
Sticky Tack
Notepad


They really loved them! It made quite the impression. Would you consider this bribery or just a kind gesture????


This idea can also be modified for other events or occasions.


Thanks for checking it out!

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Gift Idea

As a former teacher, baker and crafter, I thought that a baked good, of course, and some sort of reusable jar would be nice as a gift. 

This is what I came up with: 
A large mason jar from Michael's 
Our delicious oatmeal cookies
Plastic bag
Twine
Sticker

I think these are great 'start/end of schoolyear' teacher gifts...

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TinkerBell Wand Cookies

The idea was this...

My niece planned her 4th birthday herself. What she would wear, who would come and that she wanted a visit from Tinkerbell herself...

How could I incorporate a beautiful fairy into a cookie without having to draw her face on each cookie??????

After doing some research on the topic, I realized that Tinkerbell carries a wand and that a 'star wand cookie' would be perfect. 

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I used a variation of a sugar cookie recipe that I found at:

'Bake @ 350' 

She does amazing cookies, so I kinda figured, why not use what the professionals use. 

Here is the link to the recipe she uses: Click Here 

I tweaked it a bit to fit my taste...

2 3/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup sugar 

2 sticks (salted) butter, cold

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

I love this recipe and use it for all my decorative cookies. I personally like less sugar and more vanilla in my dough. 

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The girls had wings and they also had a delicious wand, so the idea began to evolve from there. This is the end result....

Icing Detail

With Ribbons

On display

  

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