Lots of catching up to do on this blog… going back to Father’s Day in June!!! For greeting cards and cookiers alike, ‘power’ tools are a big point of conversation during this yearly celebration. Of course, I had to create a “word play” take on that theme:
For the last 3 years I have made garden themed cookies for my green thumbed friend (best gardener ever) Kathy’s birthday. Here is the 2016 version. Hope she found them to be ‘cool as a cucumber!’
So here is a secret that is not such a secret: I love hosting parties! Love, love, love having kids/folks to the house and all the ruckus and preparation that comes with it. So when Tori (our eldest) picked a date for her bridal shower, I was jumping for planning joy. Unfortunately, Denver is a bit too far of a commute from Philly so I flew in for an awesome weekend of food tasting, er, I mean, checking out venues for her bridal shower. Kensington Quarters totally had that rustic industrial feel she was looking for and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the upstairs room, their service, the food, and great atmosphere!
It was a definite given that the favors would be cookies. Thought Tori would like a little bling like the ring…
Since I had to ship things across the country, the prep for the shower could not be too complicated. Tori’s colors are blush, gold and white so I made a bunch of full sized tassels using instructions through Oh Happy Day! (The tissue paper pack was a set found at Target). I spaced the tassels on simple twine and ran them along the stair railings and the gift table. Thanks Kendra for getting all this set up!
I dipped various sizes of mason jars in gold paint (jars and paint from Target) and sent them to Pure Design Florist (Pure Design saved my backside because I had quite the time finding a Philly florist that was close enough to the venue to deliver and also open on Memorial day weekend!).
One of the bridesmaids, Jill, is a graphic designer. She worked her magic to create the templates for the games we played. I asked her to 1) use the rustic look of wood and lights at Kensington and 2) put a &%$)! load of information on small sheets! The cards were absolutely perfect! Game playing was apparently informative, seasoned with splash of competitiveness; thanks to future Mom-in-law, Johanna, and sister-in-law, Melina, for providing the gift baskets for the lucky winners!
Another bridesmaid, Joan, brought bunches of balloons, decorated with witty words. I’m a sucker for clever words appropriately placed.
We brought Byron upstairs for the latter part of the shower. The almost.bride.and.groom got mini white boards (thank you once again Target) to play our version of “the newlywed game”! POSITIVELY HYSTERICAL! SO MUCH FUN! (Google ‘newlywed game questions’ or ‘newlywed game questions bridal shower’ and you will get more ideas than you would ever need). I typed out many questions and the bridesmaids took turns picking a question to ask.
Tori likes clean lined, structured designs with just a kiss of bling. So we got this cake from the wonderful Whipped Bakeshop in Fishtown. Not only was the cake delicious and beautiful, Whipped Bakeshop was super wonderful to work with. The topper came from Communicakeit. I fell in love with it as soon I saw it on Instagram; it had just the right words and shine for the occasion!
Our (not such a) baby girl!
Tori and her sister/maid of honor (so lucky to have these two daughters)!
Thank you to all of the bridemaids and Johanna for such a successful bridal shower! Your help and collaboration made things run smooth as silk! …. sorry Melina isn’t in this picture 😦
Can’t believe that our baby girl is graduating from University. Not such a baby anymore. We are unbelievably proud of her. As a nod to her achievement, I made these quick three cookies: jumbo-sized for her jumbo-sized accomplishments! Way to go!
Bellah turned One in style. Her party was a Minnie Mouse theme in the colors of pink, white and black. I added some gold because who doesn’t like gold with pink, black, and white? Last fall I listened to a legal discussion about trademarked characters and so (hopefully) I tap danced my way around any infringement. Yep, it really is something you have to be careful about. The things you never think about. Those unintended consequences.
Cookies occupy a lot of my time. True, I do put a lot of effort and attention to detail into crafting these creations- but I do understand that they are, after all, just cookies. This is why, when I get a chance to (perhaps) help others with my quirky abilities, I contribute. Our local chapter of Project Healing Waters was having a auction fund raiser to which I donated a basket. Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc.™ is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings. Those lovely Rocky Mountains fit this purpose beautifully. Tried my best to make this basket so fly (fishing).
My friend and neighbor, Judy, who is on the Denver chapter board.
Operation Cookie Takeover was started in early 2013 by a group of cookiers who wanted to show support for a friend deployed overseas. The initial concept was to have a small group of cookie decorators send a dozen cookies each, to be passed out among some of the soldiers on base. Thanks to SammieBSweets initiative, many, many cookie decorators have joined in; here is my small but heartfelt thanks to our service men and women. In particular, this 2016 cookie set went out to a wonderful Marine in the 2/7. ~Thank you for your service!! I hope the cookies found you safe and sound.~
I may or may not be a bit obsessive about hummus. I mean, the chick pea IS quite delicious when reinvented in all those hummus forms and flavors. And so I give you my cookie homage to crudite and dip. Hummus is where the heart is, or stomach…
Baby showers are such happy occasions. Happy events make for happy cookies! I kept with their blue, grey, and elephant theme and tried not to put any junk in that trunk. 
There is no way to candy-coat this; I’ll just have to say it out loud. MY MOM IS THE SWEETEST! Happy Mother’s Day 2016!
Mama Mayer Bakery 