Bachelorette Girls' Weekend

Some of my sorority sisters are packing up this morning and heading to the lake for a Bachelorette weekend with the girls celebrating our friend J. While I won't be able to join them, I wanted to send along some cookies in my place! I kept the bride-to-be in mind, with her love of fashion and all things feminine.


And I kept the "girls' weekend" theme in mind too.


So have a wonderful time this weekend girls and CONGRATULATIONS to you Jessica! I'll miss you but I know you will have plenty of fun without me. ;)

Engagement Party!

About two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the engagement party of my good friends K & T. Ever since I met T I knew he was "the one" for my K and it was only fitting that their hostesses threw them a wonderful celebration. When I contacted one of the ladies to say I would like to bring cookies, she made my life easy by suggesting simple, dotted navy and white cookies to match the cupcakes she has ordered. Done and done! :)


I added in two more simple designs to compliment the dots...


Once again a pleasant reminder that sometimes less is more.

Congratulations K & T... much love to you both as you enjoy your planning!

Hawaiian Birthday Luau in New England!

I went to a very special birthday luau over the weekend. Not that pig roast in Hawaii type of luau you may be thinking, but rather a luau in Massachusetts to celebrate both my great uncle's 87th and little cousin's 4th birthdays. And there is nowhere else I would have rather been last weekend.

Thankfully my family has an appreciation for the cookies I have been making and are following along with this blog, so of course I wanted them to try my creations during a far-too-rare visit.

Luau cookies were in order and I had to be rather imaginative with my cutters. My wedding gown became a "hula girl", my starfish became a hibiscus, etc.



So as they say in Hawaii, "Hau`oli Lā Hānau" (Happy Birthday) Uncle A and cousin F. I am so thankful that I was able to celebrate with you both last weekend. Here's to many happy years ahead!

Storybook Character Cookies

I recently made storybook cookies for a book themed baby shower thrown by LML Events and Design. I was working with Lindsay, who had collected a list of the mom and dad-to-be's favorite stories as children. The list included The Berenstain Bears, The Velveteen Rabbit, Clifford and Curious George. We then decided to add in a couple other classics including The Hungry Caterpillar and The Cat in the Hat. Of course I could never compare to their fabulous illustrators, so I stuck with my own take on these famous characters.


(My husband and I ended up favoring this guy...)


These cookies was certainly a labor of love and I hope they went over well with the guests of honor.

Thank you Lindsay for having the faith in me that I could do this! I am thankful for the challenge and proud of the results. ;)

Pink or Blue???

Last weekend I made some baby shower cookies for one of my favorite people. Her sister is having a baby later this summer, but whether she will be having a boy or a girl remains a surprise. That of course lead to the cookies being gender neutral. I made sure to include a few baby shower staples like the onesie and bottle, but added a few other shapes for variation (the bows ended up being my favorite!)


Thank you once again Abby...looking forward to hearing if you have been waiting for a niece or a nephew!

Welcome Home!

I have spent my entire career thus far in the real estate arena (with the exception of my recent cookie gig) and have been there for the ups and downs. I've enjoyed hanging on through the wild ride it has been and attribute my interest in houses to the fact that I lived in five different states prior to high school. Purchasing a home is one of the biggest decisions people make in their lives and it certainly deserves a celebration!

That's why I was up for the challenge when a friend inquired about home cookies for her clients. We decided on houses, welcome mats, mailboxes and keys. My head is already spinning with things I want to do with these cookies next time, but I was happy to hear that her customers loved them just as they are.


Many thanks to you Christine!

Beach Baby!

It was so fun to hear from an old friend from high school asking about "beach" cookies for her ever-so-cute daughter's first birthday party. She asked for colorful cookies and was open to ideas beyond that. I decided on a mix of bathing suits, sunglasses, shells, starfish, beach balls and mermaids. I thought they turned out great and screamed summer!


I hope the birthday party was great last weekend Kara - thank you so much!

TUTORIAL: How to Make "Hamburger" Cupcakes

Well, since the "hamburger" cupcakes were so well received and since you have all been so great to me since I started this journey, I decided to put together my first tutorial for you! I am going to do my best to walk you through how to make my version of these cupcakes from start to finish so you can wow your friends at your next get together. ;) Now before we get started, a couple of disclaimers:

1.) I am not a professional photographer (nothing new to you I am sure.)

2.) It is hard to demonstrate something with one hand while photographing with the other, so my apologies in advance for the shadows!

Okay, now that I have that off my chest, let's get started. You will need:

-One batch vanilla mini cupcakes, prepared (homemade or box is fine)
-One batch brownies, prepared (if using a box, splurge on Ghiradelli please!)
-One batch prepared vanilla buttercream icing (or one large can)
-Coconut
-Red, yellow and green food coloring
-Sesame seeds (optional)

Once your brownies have cooled, take a small circular cookie cutter and cut out your "hamburger patties" just like you would cut shapes into sugar cookie dough.



Allow your cupcakes to cool and then peel off the wrappers. (Do not skip baking them in wrappers or they will become overly brown.)


Cut the center out of the cupcake, leaving you with the top and bottom "bun."


Die one half of your icing red. Fill a piping bag (or sandwich bag with the end snipped) with it and apply your "ketchup" to the bottom of the cupcake.


Add your "patty" and then top with yellow icing as your "mustard" or "cheese."


Add green die and coconut to a plastic bag and shake it up until your "lettuce" is ready.


Add your "lettuce" on top of your icing.


Add the top half of your "bun."


Optional: Mist (or use your finger to add) a small amount of water on top of the bun. Sprinkle sesame sesame seeds on top of water. You won't taste them and they add a lot to the presentation! I found that adding a toothpick on top made them look more like sliders. (Maybe that was only in my imagination, but I liked it!)


This yields quite a few cupcakes. (If I had used every ingredient, I probably could have done 2-3 dozen depending on how generous I was with icing.)

Let me know if I missed anything, but otherwise please enjoy!

Planes, Trains, Automobiles...and Sailboats!

Another morning, another sorority sister showing support for One Preppy Cookie! And I could not be more appreciative. I was so happy to hear from someone I have not heard from in quite some time inquiring about cookies for her adorable son's second birthday. She was planning a "transportation" themed party and was very flexible on what I wanted to do. After giving it some thought, I chose planes, trains, cars and boats. The colors were kept primary and I think the personalization gave it a little something extra.


I have to say I was partial to the sailboats...


I loved hearing that the cookies went over very well and the birthday boy's mom told me they added a personal feel to the party, which I thought was a very nice thing to say.

Thank you very much Carey and the happiest of birthdays to little R! I wish I could have come along with the cookies for a little reunion. ;)

CHEERS!

I was thrilled when the ever-so-sweet Trish of Preppy Pink Lilly Lover contacted me about making cocktail cookies for a special ladies' luncheon she was hosting at Commander's Palace in good 'ole NOLA. While I have never been to New Orleans myself (still regretting opting out of the 1999 Sugar Bowl Road trip) I was happy that at least my cookies were going to make the trip.

Trish was gracious enough to allow me creative authority on the cookies, leaving me with simple suggestions including bellinis and other festive cocktails. I decided on peach bellinis, champagne cocktails, cosmopolitans (after all the venue does offer twenty five cent martinis!) and daiquiris. Each cocktail received a garnish and I was beyond pleased with the result.


These cookies were packaged up tight for their journey and I was ecstatic to receive a photo from Trish of them having arrived safely with complimentary reviews!

Thank you very much Trish! I really enjoyed working with you and hope that we can do it again sooner than later. (Maybe I will deliver in person next time!) :D

Birthday Girl Turns EIGHT!

You can find me at our neighborhood pool any weekend day I am in town throughout the summer. (Really, I try not to miss a day and plan my baking around it.) So it should come as no surprise that I can tell you every one of the pool "regulars" and have become friendly with many of them too. I've enjoyed befriending one family of "pool regulars" in particular this summer. While I've noticed them and waved to them for years, the girls are now old enough and good enough swimmers that sometimes their mom can sneak in a quick chat with me. :) She and I have been talking about my cookies and she asked me if I would make some for her daughter's eighth birthday. Of course I was happy to! M was not picky about what they looked like, only saying that the birthday girl likes sprinkles. So I decided to keep it bright and cheery, drawing that inspiration from the colorful, feminine bathing suits I see the girls wearing at the pool.


I hope you has a very HAPPY birthday Ava... and many thanks to your mom!

See you guys this weekend. :)

The Tale of the Traveling Cookies

So, remember how about a month ago how I went on vacation? Well the cookies came along too and I just realized that I never told you all about that part. While I am sure your life would have gone on without hearing this, I feel the need to share. :)

The purpose of the trip was to be a bridesmaid in my sorority "little sister's" wedding. The wedding took place near Charleston, so we decided to extend our stay and make a vacation out of it. The bride's sister in law had contacted me prior to the wedding and asked if I would be willing to make cookies for the rehearsal dinner relating to the bride and grooms favorite things. Of course I was honored and took great pride in making those cookies. In fact, I worked *so* hard that I could not bear to ship them. Therefore my "one personal item" on the plane was a container full of cookies. (Trust me, it was personal at that point.) The cookies obediently rode through the security scanner (and even received a few comments from the screener who jokingly threatened to confiscate them), proudly rested on the chair next to me while I had my pre-flight Bloody Mary, sat under the seat in front of me during the plane ride from DC to Charleston and were even dropped off at the hotel front desk for safe keeping out of the heat until our room was ready.

The next day as we prepared to head to Edisto, they came along with us for a vacation kick-off lunch with friends at my favorite restaurant in Sullivan's Island...


(And they would have been abandoned under my seat if my trusty friend K hadn't spotted them laying there as we happily left without them!)

They were a huge talking point and we decided they warranted their own photo...

That night they made it safely to their destination after a long journey.

Lilly Pulitzer inspired shift dress and purse cookies for the bride:


Hunting and beverage-of-choice cookies for the groom:


Everyone got a pretty big kick out of them and I could not have been happier to bring them along for two people I really care about.

The wedding was gorgeous and the company was amazing. And even though it has been a month already, I still cannot stop laughing from the week's events (sign of a great time!)


So congratulations once again to the Rs!

PS - Thank you to LML Events and Design for dedicating a post to One Preppy Cookie today. They played a big role in this wedding - go check out their site for more details!

BBQ Season - "Hamburger" Cupcakes and "Watermelon" Cookies

Happy Monday - I hope you all had a fun weekend! I spent the majority of my weekend visiting with friends four and under and their parents. Keeping those plans and also BBQ plans we had in mind, I spent my Friday night preparing a few occasion-appropriate treats to bring along.

I have seen various versions of "hamburger" cupcakes online and decided to create my own version. Knowing that most of my audience was of pre-school age, I decided to make the cupcakes mini (my cousin specifically thanked for me that after her daughter ate 3) and adapted all of the trimmings to that scale as well. (I think my favorite was the "lettuce.")

They were a MAJOR hit with one 4 year old in particular and were the first "hamburgers" I have eaten in many years as they are vegetarian friendly. ;)


Another thing that comes to my mind when thinking of BBQs is watermelon. I could seriously eat a full watermelon every two days so it's surprising I have not channeled that into cookies until now.


I was happy when my one friend who went home with a watermelon cookie goodie bag emailed me to say she liked them so much that she was eating one with her coffee the next morning. ;) Well, at least it's "fruit!"

Have a wonderful week!

Captain Luke is ONE!

My friend from high school has the most adorable son Luke. They don't live in the area but I had the opportunity to meet him once and he could not be more of a sweet, happy guy. So when she contacted me about doing cookies for his first birthday party, I was happy to do it! Whales were a specific request, but beyond that I have full reign to make the call on the designs. (Love that!)

Thankfully I had a very cute invitation to use as inspiration:


I decided to free hand the pirate and pirate ships to match the invite version as best I could. ("Don't they have machines for that?" my husband said. Well, probably, but I am a DIY girl and always have been.)


So here's to Luke, whose birthday was yesterday and will be celebrating at his party tomorrow. Enjoy!

And to his mom and my friend, R, many thanks!

1st Birthday Party Butterflies and Flowers

I love how cookies are connecting me to people I have not seen in a LONG time...friends from high school, sorority sisters, former coworkers, etc. This circle has really been supportive of me pursuing my business and I could not be more appreciative! So I was happy when an order from a sorority sister I had not seen in nearly ten years resulted in a nice visit with she and her husband. We caught up like we were still living in the A-Phi house - I love friends like that. Had it not been for cookies, who knows if we would have let another ten years pass??

Jenny's niece was celebrating her first birthday and she sent me the party decor with a list of colors and I took it from there. I made flowers and butterflies to match the theme and everyone seemed happy with the results!


Thank you Jenny once again Jenny! Hoping to tailgate with you this fall. :)

I Scream, YOU Scream...

I come from a family and circle of friends of ice cream lovers. And while I usually would rather have something salty or an extra glass of wine in favor of a sweet dessert, I too can often be swayed by ice cream. Given the frozen yogurt phenomenon that has been sweeping our area lately, I have had many opportunities to satisfy my sometimes dull sweet tooth. (Although I could always go to my parents' or friend L's freezers and find the same bountiful selections to choose from!) ;)

That must be why I was in the mood to make ice cream cookies over the weekend. I packaged them up to send to friends and also included some in a cute order I will show you in the next few days.


Here's hoping your day is sweet!

Sassy Sixty!

First of all, I hope you all had a very happy 4th of July! Mine was spent creating 9 dozen cookies before heading out to take in this view:


Now on to the cookies...

You know you have fans when your cookies make appearances at the same house three weekends in a row! And you also know you have fans when the mother/daughter duo who has been keeping their home stocked with my cookies for events likes them enough to travel with the to Michigan to a family birthday party. What an honor!

This weekend's event was Mary's sister's 60th birthday party. A fourth of July weekend birthday girl and a "Sassy Sixty" party called for a cross between the two themes. (Oh and per usual, my new biggest fans like dots and monograms!)

I was pleased with how these came out and even more pleased to receive a series of enthusiastic emails in response to my "sneak peak."


Now what are we doing this weekend ladies?? ;)

Thank you (again) Kelly and Mary!

(4th of July) Party Time!

Happy Friday everyone! Thanks goodness for the long weekend ahead. I have had a busy but fun week in the cookie department that started out with the photos below. Recently my friend Mart called me and inquired about cookies for her family's 4th of July family reunion party. She said they would be "eating crabs and drinking beer" while enjoying family and celebrating the 4th. That's more than enough information to get my mind going and here is what I sent their way.




I couldn't have asked for a nicer family to make cookies for. Mart and her mom have been big supporters of me with OPC and I really appreciate it. Thank you ladies!

I hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday weekend!