Daisy Cookie Basket

You might have noticed that I've developed a thing for cookie baskets. I first made THIS one and shortly thereafter THIS other one. Yep, I love'em :)


I made these simple daisy baskets as a little Thank You gift for my son's kindergarten teachers. One had mentioned to me recently how he was always telling them about the things I was baking. I couldn't resist baking a little something for them also, especially since they were all such amazing teachers.


I had purchased the galvanized pails at Michael's back in the Spring but I didn't actually start on the cookies till 9:30 the night before I dropped them off---eeks! It worked out OK though. I made 4 of these cookie bouquets (teacher, assistant teacher, special ed. teacher and OT) and it took me about 2.5 hours total from start to finish.


Sugar Cookie Recipe (I cut down on the vanilla extract and added lemon extract and a tsp. of fresh lemon zest)

Royal Icing Recipe (also flavored with lemon extract)

Cookie Basket Instructions

Printable "Thank You" tags (curtesy of Skiptomylou.org)

Thank You Teacher Cookies

Here we are in May and another school year is quickly coming to a close. My daughter actually finishes preschool this week and my son will be done in three short weeks. They have both had a great year and wonderful teachers. I am so grateful for all the hard work, dedication and patients they have showed my children. We have been very blessed. Both of my kids have learned and grown so much!

For example, here is my daughter singing the "Continents" song. My 3-year old can name the continents....love it!



Every year, I give the teachers an end-of-the- year thank you gift. This year I think I will make them some personalized sugar cookies that they can enjoy and share with their families. These apple cookies are similar to what I will be making. I actually made these a few weeks ago for a teacher appreciation week order.


The cookies were green apples (instead of red) because the school colors are yellow and green.


I also made 6 dozen cupcakes for this order. Aren't the school themed toppers cute?

Flower and Butterfly Cookie Bouquet

I'm excited to share this cookie and butterfly bouquet I just made for a fundraiser at my daughter's preschool. It came out just as I had hoped and now I'm itching to make more cookie bouquets!

Here are the steps to recreate this bright and tasty dessert/display:

Step 1.
Bake a batch of your favorite sugar cookies (here is mine) with long lollipop sticks attached. Decorate with royal icing (here is the recipe and link to instructions) and let dry completely.



Step 2.
Wrap each cookie in a cookie bag and tie with a ribbon. I went with green to imitate leaves on a flower.



Step 3.
Fit Styrofoam rounds into a pot or vase. You will want a snug fit, so you may need additional materials or need to trim Styrofoam to achieve this. Insert a wooden skewer into the center of the Styrofoam and push all the way down to secure each round (my pot had 3 rounds).



Step 4.
Add Easter grass in between the pot and Styrofoam gaps.



Step 5:
Starting from the back, insert flowers pushing down through the Styrofoam. Finally, add more grass to cover the Styrofoam.



Tada...you did it!

I love this polka-dot butterfly :)



Finally, you can wrap the entire bouquet in a clear gift bag and finish off with a pretty bow.

Edible Fruit Arrangement

Yay... I'm finally back and ready with instructions on how to make this adorable fruit arrangement.

Last week, I went to visit a friend who recently bought a beautiful new house. It was my first time seeing her new place but it was also a playdate for our kids and another friend of ours and her kids.

The three of use first met 4 years ago at a new moms group when our kids were just weeks old! We've been friends since and even though we don't see each other as often as we once did, we still get together for a playdate/lunch dates every few months.

I usually bring the fruit salad to these get together but wanted to make it a bit more special this time since we were also celebrating my friend's new home. Well, she loved it and made me happy that I made the effort to try something new.


Ingredients

Pineapple (whole)
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapes ( I used green and red)
Kale (for decoration)

Tools

Ceramic pot (I found this cute one at Michael's)
Florist Styrofoam
Wood Skewers
Melon Baller
Flower shaped cookie cuter (large and medium or small sized)
Kitchen shears or pliers (for trimming skewers)
Glad Press n' seal plastic wrap
Clear gift bag and ribbon


Start by thoroughly washing and drying the pot. Trim the Styrofoam to fit inside the pot. Place Styrofoam in pot making sure you have a snug fit. Then cover top of Styrofoam with Press n' Seal wrap.

Wash and dry Kale. Place a few leaves of Kale on top of Styrofoam to cover it up and for decoration.

Next wash and dry all the fruit. *Be sure to have clean paper towels on hand to wipe fruit while you work with it, as it tends to get a bit wet from the juices.

To make the strawberries, just trim stem and leaves. Then thread skewer through stem side of strawberry and set aside.

To make grapes, jut tread about 4-6 on to skewers and set aside.

Also using your mellonballer, make several cantaloupe balls and set aside.

For the pineapple daisies, start by trimming the top and bottom of the pineapple. Then cut several 1/2 inch slices. Then take your flower cookie cutter and center it on a slice of pineapple. Press down hard to cut out and repeat with all pieces. Then thread the pineapple flowers through the hard center (this keeps them from sliding down)and top each with a melon ball.

For the watermelon flowers, cut several slices about 3/4 inch thick. Trim the the watermelon skin off and reserve. Next use the smaller flower cookie cutter to make the flower. Now, take the reserved watermelon skin and cut several 1 inch square pieces. Thread the skin pieces first on to the skewer. This will keep the watermelon in place and prevent it from sliding down. Top each flower with a melon ball.

Once, all the fruit flowers are made you are ready for assembly. Just arrange the fruit in the pot and trim the the skewers to make some flowers shorter than others.


Close up of the flowers.

Once the arrangement is complete place it in the clear gift bag and tie the top with the ribbon. To store this arrangement you might need to remove a shelf in the refrigerator to accommodate the height. I made this the night before and it held up perfectly.

All wrapped up and ready to go!