My Favorite Season - FALL!

I love fall! I grew up in the midwest, and always adored when fall would come around. It wasn't bitterly cold winter yet, and the dreary hot summer was over - it was fall! The changing of the leaves was my favorite part. My sister and I would rake the leaves in our front and back yard - okay, we would rake them into piles so that we could play in them! Sometimes we would rake a pile so big and then dive into it, and cover each other with more leaves so that we were entirely covered. Good times!

One especially beautiful fall day was October 6, 2000. I remember the exact date because it was the day before my sister got married. The drive to our church was always beautiful during fall - there were numerous trees surrounding that back woods area, and the leaves on the trees were the most vibrant fall colors you can imagine. I remember driving to the church that night for the rehearsal dinner, and everything just seemed more colorful and gorgeous. I had my camera with me of course - so I made a few stops just to snap some photos of those amazing leaves.

I don't live in the midwest anymore, so fall is something that I miss a lot! I just made a trip home last week, and I had almost forgotten how beautiful those leaves get. Although, I'm not used to the cold anymore, so I think I would rather miss out on the changing of the leaves than be freezing! :-)

Here is my rendition of those beautiful fall leaves I remember so well:

Had to add some acorns and cute little squirrels to the mix.

When I traveled home last week, my sweet aunt bought me some new cookie cutters. I was like a little kid in a candy store, all new cutters!! I was finally able to make some Halloween cookies that I have been meaning to make for about a month now!

I got the inspiration for the pumpkin faces from none other than Martha Stewart. You can see the cute clip art project that she did with pumpkins here.



I have another set of Halloween cookies that I am so excited about, because they turned out even better than what I had imagined in my head - I love it when that happens because it's not very often! But that is going to have to wait until Halloween...

Until then, keep it sweet.

Elizabeth



Hello Kitty Birthday

I can't believe my baby girl is 2! It was a bittersweet moment realizing that my baby is not so much a baby anymore. I thought back to the moment I first saw her when the nurse brought her all swaddled up to me.

It was a perfect moment; there we were, the four of us - my husband, me, my son, and my new baby girl.

I went all out for her 1st birthday last year, so this year I made it a little simpler.

First, we opened presents. Big brother was there to help.

She had to show Grandpa what she got.

Then it was time for cake!

I made a three-layer chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate custard and a layer of butterscotch custard.

The outside was covered in vanilla buttercream with a royal icing dots and a royal icing Hello Kitty. I just made a printout of a Hello Kitty, put it under wax paper and filled it in with royal icing. When it was dry, it peeled right off the paper.

I also made some cookies.

Then, it was time to play outside!

Kisses from Daddy are always good, too.

Keep it sweet,

Elizabeth





Whooo Wants Cookies? I do!!!

Most of you have probably already seen these cookie owls that I made a few months ago.

A friend of mine had wrapped up a gift for my son in the most adorable owl wrapping paper, and when I saw it, I knew I had to make those owls into cookies!!

I used a tulip cookie cutter, and just cut the top middle part and the stem off before baking.

I added the brown icing first, doing the wings and ears. When those were dry, I did the head, and when the icing was still wet, applied the white for the eyes. When the brown was completely dry, I added the colored body.

You'll need to wait at least a couple of hours to finish the following steps. To be on the safe side, I usually wait overnight. 

I added the dots with a #1 tip, and finished the eyes with black and yellow edible marker.

Of course, you'll want to add a cute little yellow beak too!

For the minis at first, I used a mini round cutter. I needed guys and girl owls for the event, so I added a little bow to the girls :-)

Then I had a request for mini owls that looked the same as my original owls. That is how these little guys originated!

I love their personalities! I want to be the winking one ;-)

Keep it sweet,

Elizabeth

Dress Up At Grandma's

I am so honored to be a part of the wonderful things going on at Frosting for the Cause. Paula has taken so much of her time to help raise awareness and donations to finding a cure for cancers that affect women. When I found out about Frosting for the Cause, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it, and I knew that I wanted to write my post about my grandma. She has inspired me in so many ways, and it is to her that I lovingly dedicate this post. You can read more about her story here.

These are the cookies I made in her honor.

Keep it sweet,

Elizabeth

1,000 Facebook Fan Giveaway!!!

Here it is... finally! I promised you all a big giveaway, and there are 5 amazing sponsors and 6 wonderful prizes to win!!! All you have to do is make sure you fill out the forms for each prize below (name, email, and the checkbox that you have "liked" the sponsor's page), and you will be submitted into the giveaway. Winners will be notified via email in one week. To see pictures of what the sponsors are offering, go here. Good luck!

PS.... I'm new to the google doc thing, so if you encounter a problem and are unable to enter, just send an email to sweetartsweets@yahoo.com and I'll enter you in that way. Make sure that you click on each document below, scroll down on each document, enter your information and click SUBMIT. The facebook and etsy links are there only to promote the sponsors, not to enter the giveaway.

I Love America... from sea to shining sea...

I love my country! I really, really do. Despite some things that I do not agree with that goes on in our country, I have to say I would not want to live anywhere else. I might be able to live in another country - maybe for a few years (I have an adventurous spirit!), but I would always come back to my beautiful America.

I did some traveling in my early 20's, from Europe to Africa, and I loved it. I loved all the different, rich cultures, and I enjoyed being able to see how other people live. That said, I cannot describe what came over me while entering customs and seeing the signs "Welcome to the United States". I guess it was knowing that I was home.

For the 4th of July this year, I wanted to depict something that would show my love for America. My love for those who have served and who currently serve, and for those who have sacrificed everything.

Using red, white, and blue, I decided to use a heart shaped cookie and put hearts on top of that!



Then I made some medium hearts and tiny hearts.

Happy 4th!

Keep it sweet,

Elizabeth

Who's Got the Control? A Father's Day Cookie Gift

Just for the record, this was not my original idea. I got my inspiration here.

I thought this was a cute idea for a Father's Day gift! I was so excited about all the little details and writing the numbers on the icing. My son, 4, was equally excited. He questioned me as I put the real remote on top of the cookie dough to trace the shape out, "Mommy, you're making a remote cookie?!" with such excitement. He watched me throughout the entire process; the first layer of icing, the icing details, and then writing the details on the icing. I told him that the cookies were for Daddy, and we could not eat them yet. He was okay with that but didn't understand that Father's Day was a few days away! He kept asking me when we were going to surprise Daddy.

We have a TV remote and a DVD remote, so I thought it appropriate to make both kinds since my husband usually likes to be in control of them both. :-)

Can you tell which is which?

My son helped me gift wrap the cookies for Daddy.

Be prepared to have a little bit of a black mouth however, since the icing is black. As soon as my son handed the gift to his daddy, he was ready to eat them. And as I type, he is sporting a little black mouth.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers!!!

Keep it sweet,

Elizabeth