Manly Birthday Bouquets

What do you get for that guy in your life, be it a dad, husband, brother, uncle, or boyfriend, when he already has enough hunting, fishing, and tool stuff?  How 'bout one of these.................  A Hunting/Fishing themed birthday bouquet!

Or, one of these........A Tool themed birthday bouquet.

                                                 

                                                       

Doesn't it seem a little more 'manly' to give him a 'Manly Themed' cookie bouquet instead of a real flower bouquet?  The skies the limit here too, ladies, any manly theme can be transformed into cookie form and arranged into a bouquet.

My Cookies are Featured on The TOMKAT Studio blog!!

Remember those white and gold fluer de lis cookies on a stick I made a few weeks ago??
Check out where they ended up..............

 A gorgeous French country dessert buffet designed by Sandra Downie.  Her table, and MY COOKIES!!!, got featured on The TomKat Studio site.    Go check it out http://tomkatstudio.blogspot.com/2010/11/inspiration-french-country-fall-dessert.html

Those are my cookies right there.  Don't they look beautiful??

Bridal Shower Cookie Tray

Cookies for a bridal shower.....tray and close ups using a variety of techniques.

This was my first time trying a brush embroidery technique.  I was very pleased with the end result.

Just piping on this one.
                                     

I used a combination of stencilling, piping, and sanding sugar on these.

This one had a dusting of sanding sugar too.

After the basecoat dried on this one, I outlined and flooded the diamond shape in the middle, and added piping details.  It gives a bit more dimension to the cookie.

 This one was simple, basecoat, piping, and sanding sugar, (well not really simple, multi-stepped is more like it).  The sparkle doesn't show up too well in this photo, but it was a lovely touch to the whole tray of cookies. They kind of look like pieces of fudge!

And lastly......

A Saints Football Cookie Bouquet

This one was a donation for a holiday auction that raises funds for scholarships for local high school students.



Thanksgiving Cookie Giveaway

This is the time of year that we reflect upon all of the things that make us thankful.  I am thankful for having a loving God who has so blessed me with a wonderful family; a loving husband and father to our 3 beautiful, healthy, boisterous kids; true and sincere friends; wonderful friends for my kids; an awesome loving, closeknit school for my kids with caring, compassionate, outstanding teachers and a spirit-filled, energetic principal to lead them; thankful that the oilspill has not had the detrimental effects on our coast like everyone had feared; thankful for the Saints FINALLY making it to the Superbowl, and still can't believe it, but winning it!!;  and finally thankful that He has given me gifts and talents that allow me to express my creativity while bringing a little bit of happiness to the world, one cookie at a time. 

As a way of giving back for all that I am blessed with, I am giving a lucky follower their choice of 1 Dozen Turkey Cookies or 1 Dozen Fall Leaf Cookies.  To enter, go to my facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Galliano-LA/Rollin-in-Dough/115317691840424,  and  1. you MUST leave a comment telling what is the thing, or things,  that you are most thankful for this past year, and 2. 'Suggest to Friends' Rollin' in Dough's fb page to 5 friends. If you suggest to 10, you double your entry!!!  Just let me know in your comment that you suggested to 10 or more. Winner  will be announced on Nov. 19 so you can have your cookies for the big day!! Good Luck!!

Good Luck!!

Patriots, Fleur de lis, and More Halloween

It's been waaay tooo long since I last posted some pictures, so here's a bunch!

No, I haven't changed loyalties to the home team!  These were obviously for a New England Patriots fan.  I still have memories of that game last season, Monday night, November 30, Saints 38 Patriots 17!!!  That was a GAME - if you were a Saints fan, that is!!

 These were done for an event designer,  Sandra Downie of Sandra Downie Event Designs. She  specializes in Couture Dessert Tables. www.sandradownie.com ; www.thewhitelibrary.com.  She was designing her Rustic French Country Thanksgiving table and needed some fleur de lis cookie pops.  This is the design she requested.   You need to check out her site and her blog!!  The pictures of weddings she's done are UNBELIEVABLE!   She did a feature post about me on her blog.  Here is the link to the post about my cookies:  http://www.blushandvine.com/desserts-and-sweets/fridays-fab-find-rollin-in-dough-cookie-gifts/:

 Looking forward to seeing the complete table set up with MY COOKIES!!!

This was a birthday bouquet ordered for a dear friend by her daughter.  Her mom likes shopping and girly things.  Hope your birthday was a great one, Karen!

My daughter was invited to a Halloween birthday party for one of her friends.  As the hostess told me, "The party took on a life of it's own!"  What was intended to be a Halloween themed bday party, evolved into a Halloween EVENT!  Complete with haunted elevator, haunted hay ride, haunted skits, etc.  She said people were calling her to volunteer themselves for the haunting.  She had 16 ADULTS helping her out.  They even told her what they plan to do next year!  Now, who was the party for again........????
Anyway, she asked me to make some 'thank you' cookies for the adult partygoers, ahem...volunteers. 

 She also had some contests for the kids, and as a prize, they received a big pumpkin cookie!
                                     
 An assortment of Halloween themed cookies that got made over and over several times this Halloween.  That week had me making close to 300 cookies!!  Not all Halloween, but the majority was.

Cookie Swap Cookie

Several cookie artists got together and started a group of like minded decorators on flickr.  The name of the group is "Cookie Queens".  An invitation to the group is given by the administrators.  I'm humbled and honored to be among those invited to join in the group.  We recently had a cookie swap among some of the members.  I participated in it,  my first swap, and it was a blast!  Can't wait to do it again!  It was kinda like waiting to open Christmas presents!!  It was a "secret swap"  with only the swap organzier having knowledge of which "queen" had who.  The rules were simple:  2-3 cookies of your ultimate best, decorated in any theme, shipped to your "cookie queen" using 2-3 mail service.  We had 23 participants, some as far as Canada and Australia!  My cookies went to the fabulous Aileen of 'A Master Creation', all the way to California.  She is a fantastic cookie decorator with super creative ideas!  Here are the cookies I made for her.

 And these are the beautiful cookies I received from my "secret cookie queen".

Gorgeous, huh? Only it's not a secret anymore. These were made by the talented Alison of Ali Bee's Bake Shop http://snargblog.blogspot.com/. Not only are they pleasing to the eye, but also the palette! Check out her blog, she does fabulous work!

LSU Cookies

Finally got the chance to make some LSU cookies.  Been wanting to do these for a while, and got the chance for an engagement party.  The couple are big LSU fans, as are the majority of people breathing in south LA.  Funny thing though, ever heard of so much "po-tan" (Cajun word for commotion or trouble) about an undefeated team?  They just keep on winning, I don't know how, but everybody wants Coach Les to go "miles" away from Baton Rouge.  Go figure!
     Anyhow, here's my version of LSU football cookies.

Halloween Mini Cookies

These cute little boogers were so much fun to make!!  And quick too!  I think I want to start making more of the mini cookies.  They are the perfect "one little bite".

 These are the same cookies as the previous ones only on a different background.  I couldn't decide which one I preferred, so I used both.

This little spider web and spider where ooooh, soooo much fun to make.  I just had to take a closeup!!

Fall Cookies and Bouquet

Each September, my children's school holds a Grandparents Celebration in which they honor all of the contributions that grandparents make in the lives of their grandchildren.  This celebration takes place on two days.  On day one, grandparents are invited to spend an hour visiting in the classrooms with their grandchildren.  This is a wonderful experience for both them and the kids.  As a former teacher, I looked forward to this visit as much as the students did!  Grandparents are filled with so much knowledge and a genuine love for their grandkids, and fill the classroom with an air of excitement that is unrivaled.  Following their visit, they are treated to a reception in their honor that is held in the school cafeteria.  It has been my pleasure to coordinate this event for the past three years.  I, and all of my mom helpers, look forward to this event every year.  We added a new twist this year, and gave away door prizes.  A couple of moms made beautiful fall arrangements to give away.  I made a cookie arrangement!  All of the prizes were well received by the recipients. 

     On the second day of the Grandparents Celebration, all grandparents are invited to the weekly school mass to a celebration of the liturgy in their honor. 

      Here is a close up of the cookies in the bouquet.

 I really like the way this one came out.  This is a wet on wet marbling technique with a super high-tech instrument.......a TOOTHPICK!!!!  Cool, huh!

These are some more fall themed cookies I made for the reception. These were part of the dessert buffet.



Bowling, Birthdays, 4-H, Fraternus

I've been busily making cookies as of late, and hadn't realized that it's been since
August since I last posted anything. Sorry, to my followers! 
Some of what I've done are repeats of previous posts.  So instead of posting something you've already seen, I'll just post those cookies that are new to my blog.

So here's new stuff since the last post:

Cookies with a girly theme for Cassie's birthday.

A birthday bouquet for my daughter's best friend, Carly.  Carly likes playing soccer and swims on a local team during the summer.  I did the little figures with edible markers on top of basecoat of white icing.

A birthday platter for Emily, with a theme of pink and black zebra print.  I got inspiration for these from an icredibly talented and  sweet cookie decorator friend from Texas....SweetSugarBelle.  Check out her totally awesome creations.  She is as prolific a cookie decorator as you will ever find.  There is no end to her creativity and she makes tray after tray of incredible cookies every week.  And she's a one woman show!! 

http://sweetsugarbelle.blogspot.com/

My neighbor's daughter was in a run-off for president of her school 4-H club.  She asked me to help her write a speech to convince her fellow members to elect her as president.  Having made several cookies for her before, she also asked me to make some small clovers to give to the  voters on election day.  I decided to print the 4-H logo onto edible image sheets, and make the cookies that way.  They were a hit!  One kid asked her for a dozen more!  Nothing like buying a vote by way of the stomach.  And they worked!!  She was elected president.  My son was also selected as 4-H president at his school.  No campaign/election process there, so no cookies were needed. He was appointed by an officer selection committee after writing a couple of paragraphs as to why he should be chosen.  He originally applied for the position of club reporter, but was appointed head of the whole thing!!  I was very proud of his accomplishment!  Congratulations Damian and Cassie!!  Two 4-H presidents in the same neighborhood!!  Here are the cookies that "sweetened" the vote in Cassie's favor.

I was on a roll with the edible image thing and used it for a repeat performance when asked to prepare a little sweet something for my son's challenge ceremony reception for Fraternus.  If you've never heard of Fraternus, you're not alone.  There are only 5 chapters of Fraternus in the whole country, and our chapter here in Louisiana, is in it's infancy.  What is Fraternus:

FRATERNUS mentors boys into virtuous Catholic men. Weekly meetings, outdoor excursions, discipleship groups and summer camp are designed to engage the masculine heart and build virtue.

Pretty simple mission statement, but so profound a challenge in a world in which we live today.

It's pretty incredible to have one of these chapters in our small community here in SE LA.  My son is totally enjoying it and looks forward to frat night every Sunday evening.  Check out their site for more info:   

http://www.fraternus.net/index.php

These are the cookies I made for the reception.

These were a request for a college student who is on the bowling team at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, IA.  These were pretty fun to make.  I especially like the way the marbling technique came out on the bowling balls.