Polka Dot Inspired

I kind of have an obsession with all things baby right now! I can't believe my little boy is about to be 6 months old on the 25th of this month! Where has the time gone?  It has been so fun seeing him grow and learn each month. It seemed like just yesterday he was born, and now he is already able to sit up on his own and talks to us all the time in his sweet little baby language and laughs all the time at the silliest things! It definitely seems like this was the year for a bunch of our friends to have babies, which has been so fun because Sam has so many little friends that he will be able to grow up with.

We recently went to Charleston, SC to visit some of our friends who just had little girls so it was great to get to see Sam and them interact together. Of course I am a sucker for cute baby clothing, and especially little girl stuff. I think it's probably better that we had a little boy because I have seen way too many adorable girl outfits that I have wanted to buy lately adorned with ruffles and flowers and bright colors and patterns. On occasion I do scoop up a few little girl outfits for gifts for our friend's babies. When I saw these pale pink polka dot onesies I just couldn't pass them up. So I grabbed three of them and decided, hey why not make some cookies to match!

I love getting decorating inspiration from clothing...didn't these just turn out adorable?

Not only do I have an obsession with girl baby clothes, but also with cute gift packaging. On a recent trip to TJMaxx I seriously hit the jackpot and stumbled upon box after box of Martha Stewart treat boxes...stripes, polka dots, and these pale pink boxes you see here with the scalloped edges. So I loaded up my cart and now have a closet full of adorable packaging readily available for just the right occasion...as was the case here.

Seriously, does it get any cuter...pink and polka dots! I just love the way these sweet little gifts for our friends turned out.

Ice Cream Cone Cookies

Making Ice Cream Cone Cookies has been on my cookie "to do" list for a few years now! I can't believe summer is almost over and I have just baked up these adorable little cones for the first time! There were so many decorating and ice cream flavor ideas running through my mind on how I could ice these cookies. I decided not to be too ambitious and just stick to a few basic "flavor" ideas for this batch!

So vanilla and strawberry cones seemed to be the best choice and then I added some sprinkles on top for extra cuteness!

I packaged the cookies up and took them to Charleston, SC for our nieces and nephews when we went visit them over Labor Day weekend! The kids tore into these cookies in a matter of seconds, and crumbs started flying as they devoured them one by one!

Tropical Pineapple Cupcakes

Before we officially say goodbye to summer, and head into the fall baking season I wanted to share with you one more tropical recipe that you can enjoy as we savor these last few weeks of beach weather! I had intended to post this sooner so you may have already seen the recipe over on Half Baked. We were out of town over Labor Day weekend visiting family, came home to our air conditioner not working and then little Sam got sick, so it's been a rocky start these first few days of September! So anyways, here are my Pineapple & Coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and dried pineapple flowers on top! Enjoy these last few days of summer!

Check back soon for some fun cookie posts up next!

Unscramble the Cookies...

This past weekend I did a fun baking project...it involved cookies in the shapes of letters, brightly iced in lime green, turquoise and orange (the colors of Sam's nursery). There is a hidden message within these cookies...can you guess what it says?

I then boxed up the cookies in some cute Martha Stewart packaging, wrote a little note from Sam (he's only 5 months now...so I had to help him!) and sent them off with my sister on a flight instructing her to be extra careful with them! The cookies were to be opened and unscrambled by my dad, "aka...Gpaw" as a surprise for his....any guesses before you scroll down to the next picture?

60th Birthday! Since Sam and I couldn't be there to celebrate with him in person, I thought it would be fun to send him an edible birthday wish! I love how the cookies turned out, so fun and vibrant! I came up with the whole color scheme from the colors we used in Sam's nursery.

My dad and step mom actually made all of Sam's crib bedding, curtains, a quilt and pillows so I thought it would be fun to do the cookie photo shoot in the nursery surrounded by all the bright colors and fun patterns! It was quite the task trying to photograph this little guy, he's such a wiggler these days and is just starting to sit up on his own.

I love the way he is looking at the cookies in this picture. He is definitely going to be a little cookie monster if he's anything like his mama!

Sam's exhausted after the shoot! Time to relax!This is probably one of my all time favorite pictures of him to date!

I talked to my dad yesterday and he absolutely loved the cookies! My sister took a video of him trying to unscramble the message and she said it took him about 6 minutes to figure it out! I'm still waiting on her to send me the video to watch! So Emily if you're reading this...hurry up and send please!

Also, if you are wondering about this absolutely adorable outfit Sam has on, it was given to me as gift from Carrie @ Half Baked. If you are a long time follower of my blog you know that I contribute to Half Baked with a monthly cupcake recipe! So how fitting was it for Carrie to send me this cupcake onesie with Sam's name on it and it matches his nursery too! She also sent an adorable bib that has the turquoise chevron pattern on it and say's "Mommy's Little" and then a picture of a cupcake! Thanks again Carrie for such a thoughtful gift!

Happy 1st Birthday Max!

Check out these adorable cookies I made and sent to my friend Laurie for her son's 1st birthday today! Laurie was decorating for the party in bright primary colors so I thought it would be cute to do the cookies in blue, green and yellow for little Max! I added a few polka dots and stripes to provide a fun assortment for the party guests!

Laurie and Max live in Florida and we live in Alabama so I've only seen her little guy once when he was about 3 months old! I was actually about 4 months pregnant with Sam when we met Max. So it has been a long time and he has changed like crazy since then. Hopefully Max and Sam can meet sometime soon, I know they would be the best of buddies! Good thing for iphones these days b/c we are able to send pictures back and forth of our little ones growing and changing so quickly!

We wish you a HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY MAX!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

For all you cookie dough lovers out there, this recipe is for you! Jam packed with lots of cookie dough inside and out these cupcakes won't disappoint. Moist chocolate cupcakes with a ball of chocolate chip cookie dough hidden inside. Definitely a nice surprise once you take a bite through the first layer of cookie dough in the frosting!

The recipe is over at Half Baked so be sure to check it out.

So go grab a bag of chocolate chips and put this on your baking to do list for the weekend!

Enjoy!

Beach Cookies

This past weekend we took a short beach trip to Portofino Island, FL. We were visiting family and so of course I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to make something fun for the nieces and nephews! The kids were each bringing friends so I thought the girls would enjoy some bikini cookies and the boys some swim trunks!I also threw in some beach balls with sugar sprinkles! The cookies were a hit and all devoured immediately after dinner on the first night!

I just had to share this picture of our little beach bum! How cute is he all covered up in his beach attire! We tried so hard to keep him out of the sun, in the shade and under umbrellas, but the poor little guy still managed to get a little sunburn on his cheeks and top of the head. He absolutely loved the beach though and we can't wait for many more family trips!

 

Have you made any beach themed cookies this year? Where is your favorite family vacation spot?