Christmas Cookie Bouquets 2009

Round one of sugar cookie baking, decorating, packaging and giving was completed this past week. Looking back at last year's cookies proves the old theory true, "everything gets better with practice". Last Christmas was my first attempt with royal icing and sugar cookies and while they turned out pretty cute and were appreciated by all who received one, I am much more pleased with this year's version. Plus, I had WAY more fun planning and decorating these cute little goodies!

 The gingerbread house was the "centerpiece" of each of the bouquets. I loved the simplicity of the gingerbread boy and girl. Cute!!

 

 These three turned out to be my favorites of the bunch. I was so incredibly pleased with Santa and wanted to curl up and snuggle with Frosty!

The holly on the stocking was such a sweet addition. The peppermint candy and candy cane went perfectly with the gingerbread house.

The entire batch of 76 cookies that were completed very "early" in the morning. Some were for gifts and THANKFULLY there were several orders in there too which made the lack of sleep worthwhile. :)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Autumn Cookie Bouquet

Oh my dear blogger friends; are you terribly disappointed in me and my lack of posting over the last month? Goodness, I've been incredibly sporadic with keeping you informed on the happenings in my kitchen! Just when I think that life will calm down a bit and I will have ample time to spend on doing things for me; such as blogging; my kids' activities, homework and obligations grab me by the shoestrings and we're off and running again and again. This first nine weeks of school has been quite an adjustment for our family and just thinking of all that has gone on around here tends to wear me out all over again...whew!! I have so many fun and fantastic recipes to share with you and I'm hoping (crossing my fingers) to catch up over the next few weeks.

This past week our bakery was busy with several bouquet orders and they turned out so incredibly cute that I had to share these with you first. The Fall cookie bouquet was a "Get Well" bouquet and our client was thrilled with the idea of using an Autumn theme. Check out the cookies below to see how each cookie turned out. We baked each shape with our regular sugar cookie dough and also in our chocolate sugar dough. Both were delicious!!

Autumn leaves filled with orange royal icing and sprinkled with a combination of red, orange and yellow sprinkles.

Autumn leaves filled with yellow royal icing and piped with brown and orange. We then pulled a toothpick through the wet piping to blend the colors.

Fall isn't complete without Candy Corn! These were so much fun to create!

Every squirrel's favorite, Acorns!! I think this was my favorite of the bunch.

All of our cookie bouquets are potted in our signature, customizable, clay pots. How can you not love all the colors of Fall? Cute!!

Wouldn't these make a great Thanksgiving gift for your dinner hostess? Or a cute centerpiece for the kids' table? Adorable and edible! Or, maybe, a special "Thank You" gift for your kiddos' teachers. If you're interested in ordering for Thanksgiving, please contact us and we can customize your bouquet. Watch for our Christmas themed pots too; coming soon!

We also completed another adorable baby bouquet last week. This was to be the centerpiece for a baby shower for a precious little girl due to arrive next month. Yes, you are reading the rattle correctly, her name is to be Poet Scout. Very artistic!

This time our little duckie didn't want to darn the standard "duck" yellow, so we dressed her up in light lavender and gave her tiny pink beads at her neckline. Very chic and stylish don't you think?

I just love little baby bottles!!

When a baby gets a bottle, she also needs a cute little bib too. Less mess for Mom. :-)

I hope you've enjoyed my little tutorial of last week's kitchen happenings! I promise to catch you up on all the yummy sweet and savory recipes we've enjoyed lately.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Source: Decadent Dreams Bakery Originals