Home Sweet Home

Greetings from SNOWLAND!  It's been a fun 24 hours of snow, shoveling, and screaming (that's in protest from the kids when we come in with frozen limbs from being outside).  Here are a couple winter wonderland pictures I took from my porch yesterday.

Luckily, we were inside most of the day feeling blessed to have a warm home.  

On to cookies...so I received a really fun order from Margaret a little over a week ago.  Her husband is a real estate agent and wanted to give his client a gift for closing.  The situation was unique because the client bought a house in their neighborhood.  Margaret originally wanted 2 dozen house cookies.  After some thought (and some web surfing for inspiration), I asked her if I could create a housewarming cookie bouquet since it was a gift.  I have been wanting to try my tweaked-out-cookie-recipe on cookie pops for awhile, but I haven't had a reason.  She agreed, but she really wanted the presentation to be sophisticated and professional - not too cutesy.  Here are few things that scared me:

• Would my recipe stand up to cookie pops?  Would they stay on the stick?  
• Cellophane for basket wrapping!!!!  It's not my thing.  I've tried in the past, but I've always abandoned it because I can't get it to look...perfect.  
• Is it possible to make it more sophisticated that cutesy?  I like to think my style is not ultra cutesy, but they are cookies!  Hmmmmm...

I found some wonderful inspiration pictures from this talented mommy and was on my way!  Here are a few snapshots of my process...

I wanted to put the cookies in a nice basket, but not too "wickery."  Does that make sense to anyone else but me?  Anyway, a deep brown was my goal.  Thank you, Michaels!  :)

I thought neutral houses would be nice because the neighborhood is very classy.  The brown guy in the middle was my first attempt at color blending, but it was too brown.  

This was my color palette.  Again, I was trying SOOO hard not to be bright and "cutesy."

So I kept losing track of picture taking...that tends to happen when I'm really into the project!  So we go from the naked houses above to...

...somewhat naked flowers.  

What I should have done is take pictures of all the un-frosted cookies I was planning to use, but I was soooo excited about this order!  I just wanted to start!  :)  I did some cookie pops and some regular cookies.  So you'll see both. 

Flowers.

So I wanted the flowers to have a bit more texture.  I decided to pipe a thicker frosting on the petals for a different look.  There are so many techniques out there.  I'm still trying to find my favorite, but I really think there is a place for all of them.  I like how they came out!  

Flowers and Houses.  :)

So proud of this house.  Not completely perfect, but it just makes me smile.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

A little bit cutesy, but necessary!!!

I'm in love with this one.

So they are were all ready to be arranged in the basket.  Until...

I only had one house cookie pop left.  The others fell off during the icing process.  I felt lucky to have even one left!!!  When this happened, I set into panic-mode for about a second.  

Have you ever watched those CHALLENGE shows on Food Network?  These people make HUGE cakes that require tons of work and detail.  They compete against other bakers to win the title of the best cake. Judges and all.  There is usually a theme of some sort (like Disney cakes).  At the end of their eight hours, they have to "move the cakes" to a table about 1-2 feet away.  Most make it and some don't.  Well, I felt like I was one of the "DON'Ts" on a much smaller scale.  Luckily, I had several other house cookies (not on sticks) to put in this guy's place.

I wanted the house to stand out anyway...

Enter Robin.

She has been there for me through this SugarChic thing since day 1.  She designed my logo and has listened to countless stories, cries, and happy moments.  Robin is a friend, and lucky for me, a neighbor (who has EVERYTHING you could ever want in her basement).

I'll save that story for another time.

We figured out a way to secure the house and make it the center of the bouquet.  :)

Voila!!!

Cellophane.

I had 1 inch left on my roll and there was a snow storm outside (not to mention it was naptime for my kids).  I'll just be honest...I needed Robin. 

I needed her basket wrapping expertise and her lovely problem-solving way. 

I needed that NJ accent to tell me it would all be okay!

Whew!!!

I also had 6 more cookies to package.  

I'm much better with cellophane on a smaller scale!  :)

Ready to go!!!

Thanks, Margaret!  I hope your new neighbor adored them! AND I hope she is as wonderful as the neighbor I have!  Thanks, Robin.  :)