So many cookies, so little time

Has it only been one week or two since I've been on here??  I don't even know, honest...it feels like a looong time friends!!!  Three weeks ago I played around with the idea of offering sugar cookies for sale.  We make them for our family at the holidays and have offered them for fundraising needs.  They are usually a big hit!!  I was asked to make them for an engagement party in December and so I guess I'm making a name for myself and my cookies!!! 

I no sooner got the thought out of my mind and off of my lips and there was a message requesting 3 dozen valentine's day cookies for the following week!!  So, I figured what the heck??!!  Well 24 dozen cookies later, I think I am comatose!!!  I've been sitting on a stool in the corner of my kitchen, nestled againts the counter and cabinets making delicate little heart shaped cookies for the past five days!!!  It pretty much took over my life!!!  It was crazy!  It was exhausting!  It was time consuming and it was so. much. FUN!!!!

I am glad that I decided to keep the ugly 1970's credenza in my kitchen!!  It has served me well in this monster baking endeavor!!!!  Thanks Jessica for the idea of clearing it off and lining them up!!  It was perfect!!

 

I was able to bring over a dozen at a time to the counter to decorate them.  I only had one decorator bag, so this took more time than it should have!  I had made 4 different colors to decorate with and had to either empty and clean the bag multiple times or have the forsight to know what I wanted to do on dozens of cookies so that I could use it up before starting over!

 

 

I am so thankful for Pinterest for all of the great ideas!!  Some I copied exactly and some I came up with on my own!  I definitely had a blast being creative, it felt like I was doodling, which I love to do!!

 

I could drown this post with pictures of cookies!!!  Different styles, stages, locations, packaging, etc.  I really want to, but I'll spare you!!! I need to look into packaging ideas that are cost effective.  I have typically used aluminum pans that can be thrown away.  The dollar store had these great tupperware-ish containers that I decided to use for the bulk of the orders.  They worked really well, but looked impractical!!

 

Here is the first batch of cookies, packaged and ready to go!!  This was my staging area for completed orders!!  See the containers on the left?  Those are the dollar store ones, they're great!!

Just when I thought I was finished and had cleaned up, I got a few more orders!!!  LOL, I joke about not wanting to go back into the kitchen, but I am truly am thankful for each and every order! 

 

I decided to use these cute paper punches to keep track of my orders!!  Hey, if it can be done in a cute way, I'm alllll about it!!!!!

 

After completing all of the orders (I have one dozen that needs to be delivered today), I had to go back to the kitchen and make a birthday cake for my lil Valentine!!!!  My Joe turned 13 yesterday!!!  It truly feels like yesterday that he came into this world!!  He's such a great kid, thoughtful, quiet, creative.....its been amazing watching him grow over the years and we're excited to see what the next few years bring for him!!!

 

 

 

I also threw together a little Valentine's Day fun for my love bugs!!!  I seriously mean "threw"!!!  I don't typically pull off Valentine's Day anything because of the birthday, but I've been feeling really inspired to take that day back and do "something" fun and special!! With the fact that I've literally been in the kitchen from morning til night for five days straight, I knew I couldn't do a whole lot and I didn't have any money to spend towards it, so I had to work with what I had.....not a whole lot!!

 

 

Luckily, you don't need a whole lot to be inspired and move forward!!!  So I gathered what ideas I came up with and just asked God to help me make it happen.  Typically when I get something in my head, I don't give up until I make it happen....I was sure that this was going to kick in for my surprise!!  A friend from church had given me a bag of wooden painted hearts, they've been in the garage for a few months.  I decided to have the kids paint them for me (heh heh heh) in chalkboard paint...they'd be the perfect little charger!!! 

 

Next, I knew I had some old Starbucks bottles on hand and thought it'd be cute to fill them with chocolate and strawberry milk.  I had just picked up some new red mugs from the dollar store and decided to make cake in a cup for them!!  I also had some small heart cookies left over, picked up the traditional "SweetHearts" for them and threw a few strawberry wafer cookies in the mix!!

 

I could have done so much more, and I'm not lying when I say that I am still fighting the urge to be discontent!  Some things die slowly.  The funny thing is, no one likes strawberry wafer cookies!!  The buttercream icing on the cakes was too sweet and gave them tummy aches, so they barely touched them.....they did drink their milk though!!!  That was a score.  I was highly disappointed in the response to this little shin dig.....the enemy knows my weak spots.  It's not pin worthy, it's barely blog worthy, but ya know what?  I don't care!!  I don't.  I could have done nothing at all, I could have used the excuse that I didn't have the time (I barely had the time) or that it wasn't important in the first place. 

But God gave me the desire, He gave me the means and He helped me make it happen.  I know that they enjoyed the treat, even if it didn't look like it.  I have to remember that what I do, I do for the Lord and not for man (or children) anyway.  I want to be obedient and pleasing to my Heavenly Father, and so I'm content.

I know that He delights in me, that I make Him smile when I am serving Him.  He is my sunshine and I am His <3  And that's all I need!!  I love the chalkboard hearts, I don't know where I'll use them after this, but I can't wait to see what we come up with!!! 

We moved on with our day, had french toast and bacon for dinner as per the birthday boys request!  He loved his little Creeper cake!!  He loved his gifts and he was surrounded with the people who love him the most!!  Isn't that what it's all about?  Knowing that you're loved, being surrounded with people who love you and falling into bed at the end of the day knowing you did a job well done!!

So I actually have to get back to the kitchen :/  I need to make some brownies.  Joe is have a friend or two over to hang out tonight and he's requested baked goods!!!  So back I go....to the one place that I typically spend very little time!!!!  If you need me you know where to find me!!!! 

Happy Friday friends!!  I pray you have a blessed weekend!!  Ours is packed with activity, as usual, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!!!

God Bless <3 Lorraine