Animal Baby Shower Cookies

Recently a friend sent me a Noah's Ark baby shower invitation as inspiration for the event's cookie favors. The invitation included elephants, monkeys and giraffes and was trimmed in zebra print so it was easy to come up with a fun collection:





Thank you Jen!

Baby (Boy) Shower Cookies

It would not be a week at One Preppy Cookie without adding some baby cookies into the mix! Last week included baby carriages, diapers and of course monograms. One set traveled to a baby shower out of state and the other I was able to bring along on my girls' weekend trip a few hours away.

Even though you have seen many variations of these, it doesn't mean that I am able to cut down on the actual creation time at all. Each cookies is lovingly cut, baked, piped, flooded and detailed before packaging.

For example, baby carriage cookies before:

And after:

Thank you Stefanie and Kara!

This & That

I have a crazy-busy week ahead and won't be able to share much until I get through with it so I thought I'd check in and show you a few things that I have been working on.

Cookies for wedding welcome bags including monograms and wedding cakes:

Ballet birthday party cookies (some day I will share more about my long-time love of ballet but for now I just wanted to document these while I was thinking of it.)

And primary color/circle themed baby shower cookies:

Thank you Lindsey, Lisa, Char and Sarah!

This week will bring everything from Twilight to college football to legos to super heroes to 30th birthday to 2nd birthday cookies. Whew! Looking forward to sharing all of those as I go.

Have a great week everyone!

Gender Reveal Party Cookies

Last week I had the honor of making cookies for a friend's Gender Reveal Party. The mom-to-be requested baby carriages to match her invitation in addition to classic stork cookies. For the storks, I referred to this book for inspiration and free-handed from there. They ended up being among my favorite cookies I've made.

The big reveal took place at the party so we went with both pink and blue for the cookies...

Thank you fpr having me be a part of your special day JoLaine!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Last week was the week of celebrating baby girls over here. Of course I am always all for a few days full of pink so that suits me just fine.

First up was am order that was sent to a friend in Colorado for her baby shower by her mom (also a friend.) They are loyal OPC readers and picked a few of their past favorites to add into the mix while letting me add a few new designs to change thing up a bit.

Next was an order for a pink and green baby shower (of course I was loving that as well.)

Finally it was time to work on a pink and green baptism celebration (seriously, it really was a good week for my taste!)

A friend sent me the invitation in advance featuring a monogrammed christening gown which of course came into play for the mix of cookies. So cute!

There were also football teams, farm animals and characters thrown into the week but I was loving the pink theme for a day or two...

Thank you Sandy, Kristen and Lauren!

Feminine Baptism Cookies...and Monograms!

I recently had the absolute pleasure of making cookies again for the ever-sweet Trish of Preppy Pink Lilly Lover in honor of her daughter's baptism. Trish was kind enough to trust me in making the design decisions and I did my best to honor her love for femininity and of course pink. I took inspiration from her beautiful invitation and also added a few personal touches of bows, roses for her precious baby's name and of course a few monogrammed cookies.

In fact I tried two new styles of monogramming with this collection and have decided that both will be sticking around for good.

Thank you as always Trish! I always love chatting with you and of course having you appreciate these cookies so much made my day. :)

Ahoy BABY!

When a friend sent me the invitation for a nautical baby shower she was hosting, I was very happy to make the cookie favors to compliment the theme. Sailboats, sailor onesies and anchors were the main players - love it! I was very happy with how these turned out and look forward to seeing photos from the big day. If the nautical diaper cake was an indication of how the rest of the shower would be then I know it was perfect.

Thank you MK!

Baby Baby Baby Oh!

Funny story: The other morning as I am getting ready for my work day to start, I scrolled through Facebook on my phone only to find the following status update from my husband. "Ahhhh! Just turned up the volume to a catchy new song on the radio... to find out it was Beiber!" I about died laughing. You see he very rarely posts anything on Facebook unless it has to do with sports or politics. To think that he would post an admission like that was somewhat shocking...and generated quite the reaction from his friends. I haven't heard the song yet, but when I was thinking of a title for this post the Beibs immediately popped into my head thanks in part to that Facebook status crack-up.

If you have been reading this blog for a while you know that I make a LOT of cookies for baby showers. (If I had been writing this blog five years ago, you would see me making a LOT of bridal shower cookies, so this evolution only makes sense.) I have mentioned before that onesies are by far my number one request but sometimes people switch it up a bit. When a friend asked me if I could make a silhouette of a mom-to-be I said yes and hoped I could make it happen. She asked for a pink and blue heart on the stomach to represent her twins and I love how the cookies turned out in the end.


Of course no baby shower would be complete without onesie cookies. We added both pink and blue with a few yellow and gray striped cookies to represent the babies' bedding.


Thank you Beth and congratulations on the arrival of your little ones!

The Final Rose

Oh, The Bachelor. I have been an incredibly loyal fan to a show that often frustrates me. I can get past the silliness of the overall premise of twenty five women competing for one man, but ABC sure knows how to tug at my nerves with some of the antics they pull (think the Jason/Melissa/Molly saga.) And don't even get me started on why the heck they gave Bachelor Brad two chances. Ben is among my least favorite Bachelors to date but of course I still watch. I suppose I will continue holding out hope for another Andrew Firestone to enter into the "quest for love."

So in honor of tonight's season finale, I wanted to share the rose cookies I made recently for a baby shower. They are topped with buttercream icing instead of royal and if they were red instead of pink, would probably make Chris Harrison proud. :)

(These photos are brought to you by another obsession of mine - Instagram. You can follow me along at onepreppycookie.)



Thank you as always Mary!

Happy Monday everyone.

Stripes, Dots & Chevron...Oh My!

My friend Kelly is one of the most receptive friends I have to receiving photos of my cookies and writing back notes of encouragement. We developed a "Top Five" system and put the cookies we like the most into that category. These cookies were most definitely "Top Five" for me. They were for a baby shower whose invitations donned stripes, dots and chevron focusing on the colors pink and green. Could that be any more up my alley?! Going along with my thought that sometimes the simplest cookies are the prettiest, I loved the look of these.





Thank you as always Anna! I hope you ladies had a wonderful time at the shower.

Oh BOY!

Lately I have been making a LOT of baby shower cookies, particularly for little boys. A baby girl seems to be a rarity in our circle of friends which can only be affirmed as I look back through cookie photos that I haven't written about yet.

I make an effort not to repeat cookies and am overwhelmed with ideas running through my head, but many times people like what they have already seen. Onesies are my number one request so I try to sneak in a tweak here and there. In this first batch, baby boy's dad loves to play rugby prompting the request of a few rugby balls. I added those, ducks, John Johns and bibs to my traditional bottles and onesies for a unique touch.


For this baby boy's "Sip and See" I added in some monogram cookies to make the batch feel more customized.


And finally for the baptism of one of the sweetest little boys I know, his mom and I decided on personalized favors for guests to leave with.


Thank you Gray, Mary & Katy!

Baby Sprinkle & Doughnut Muffins

I just got home from a weekend away with some of my favorite sorority sisters. It's amazing to think that we all pledged together exactly thirteen years ago and have remained friends ever since. There was much to celebrate aside from a reunion this weekend. The main reason for our trip was to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of a very deserving friend. We have been on some wild (for us) Bachelorette parties in the past complete with trips to Vegas and the Bahamas, but this time around we found ourselves happiest in our pajamas chatting and sipping on a glass of wine. Perfection really!

One morning we surprised another friend with a little baby "sprinkle" to celebrate her second daughter's arrival later this spring. For my contributions, I stuck to a doughnut theme...heavy on the sprinkles.



I will do a tutorial on the personalized mini bunting soon and in the meantime would love to share the muffin recipe with you. Enjoy!

Doughnut Muffins

Ingredients:
Batter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 to 1 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg, to taste
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Topping
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons Cinnamon-Sugar Plus or cinnamon sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.
2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth.
3) Add the eggs, beating to combine.
4) Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.
5) Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
6) Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.
7) Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
8) Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. While they're cooling, melt the butter for the topping (this is easily done in the microwave).
9) Use a pastry brush to paint the top of each muffin with the butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Or simply dip the tops of muffins into the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar.
10) Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Store for a day or so at room temperature.

Source: King Arthur Flour

And of course I had to bring along a few "doughnut" cookies for us as well.


Nothing like a doughnut muffin and cookie with your coffee to start your day right!

Congratulations E - I cannot wait to meet your newest addition.

Storybook Cookies Take Two

As mentioned in my 2011 recap, my first round of storybook characters proved to be a favorite. So when a friend asked me to make some for another storybook-themed baby shower I was happy to give it another go! The requests had two new characters on the list - Paddington Bear and Winnie the Pooh (the original version) while "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" remained consistent favorites.


I received a note from the hostess saying that these were a "major hit" and couldn't have been more excited about that.

Thank you Missy!

Making it Personal

Do you know what I love most about attending parties and showers? No, it's not seeing who had the nicest venue and it's not whose food was the fanciest either. It's not who has the most activities nor who went all out on decor. For me my favorite part of parties is seeing the personal touches. The little things that the host(ess) did to make the event personal and show that they care. Not everyone is creative and not everyone is the best cook. But everyone throws a party or shower because they care about the recipient and/or guests. We may express that thought in different ways and I always love to see it.

I do happen to be creative and I do love to bake. So I decided to combine those two things over the weekend while I participated in celebrating a friends' baby. I took a simple white box, trimmed it in ribbon using spray glue and attached a flower sticker over the seam (the mom-to-be LOVES fresh flowers.) I then baked and frosted cupcakes (another love of hers) that served as both our dessert and favor. It was my way of making it personal.

Don't love the baking part? Then you could fill the box with store-bought cupcakes. It's the thought that counts. :)


Congratulations Nicole! I cannot wait to meet baby L very soon.

Little Pumpkin Baby Shower

I think I am among the last people to leave my pumpkins out and fall decor up until Thanksgiving passes. Believe me, come Friday I will be whisking it back into the closet and heading out to buy our Christmas tree (which will have about one needle left on it before I feel obligated to take it down) but for the next couple of days I am enjoying a harvest motif, with Christmas carols blaring in the background of course! And while I am only a few days away from baking Christmas cookies, I am going to try and showcase a fall/Thanksgiving theme while I still can.

My dad's nickname for me to this day is "punkin." That must be why I thought it was such a cute idea to have a "little pumpkin" themed baby shower. When I was sent this invitation to channel cookies from, I knew right away I would do my best to replicate the pumpkin baby.


And in the end, I thought they came out cute...


Thank you very much once again Bridget - I hope the shower went great!

PINK Baby Showers

One Preppy Cookie sees a LOT of baby showers. Some are themed and some stick with the classics (bottle, onesie-esque classics that is.) I have a few photos to share from two classic baby girl showers I made cookie favors for recently.

Pink bottle and onesie cookies for one...


And pink baby carriage, rattle, bottle and onesie cookies for the other.


Many thanks to Becky and Carmen! And here's to my favorite color...PINK.

Nesting

I have said this before but one of my favorite things that has happened since starting One Preppy Cookie has been reconnecting with old friends. A few weeks ago I was happy to hear from a friend and fellow Hokie who I spent nearly all of my college breaks working retail with. She was planning a baby shower for her friend and wanted to bring cookies as favors.

She sent me the invitation as inspiration and I thought it was so cute that I decided to draw it onto each cookie favor.


The shower was a "nest" theme, so why deviate?


Thank you very much Lindsay - I hope it doesn't take us so many years to see each other again. :)

The Preppy Baby (Shower)

A Lilly Pulitzer themed baby shower?? Yes please. :)

You know by now that I have a love for all things Lilly. Apparently that word has spread and I am loving all of the preppy, Lilly P. requests I have been receiving!

Last month I was contacted about making Lilly shift dresses and pink & green polka dot onesies for a preppy baby shower in Florida. Of course I was excited to participate in that and enjoyed getting to work on these.

The hostess ordered shift dresses to be served at the party:


And personalized onesies to give to guests as favors:


Here's hoping the party was as successful as the theme was cute. Thank you Tiffany!

Noah's Ark

It seems as thought we have spent the majority of the last month in the rain. First it was Irene who rolled through and last week Lee absolutely pelted our area. It was so flooded here on Friday, schools in our area were closed. So it was only fitting that I made Noah's Ark cookies last week considering I was about a day away from needing an ark myself.

These cookies were made as favors for a baby shower. The hostess sent me this invitation:


And told me I could do whatever I wanted with them. So I decided to do my icing version of the ark and added in five different animal faces to mimic the animals on the invitation, keeping the backgrounds colorful and fun.


The sun is finally out and I'm hoping the party was a success.

Thank you Anna! Have a great week everyone.

Pink or Blue?! Bows for Baby

Lately it seems like more and more people I know are not finding out if they will be bringing home a baby boy or baby girl from the hospital. While I know that I would never be able to keep that a surprise, I think it's exciting for them. I also think it lends itself to a classic baby shower with pink AND blue decor.

Recently I made these ribbon topiaries for a gender neutral baby shower (tutorial coming soon.) I thought they made for unique centerpieces in a room with high ceilings that could use a little pizazz.


They inspired matching pink and blue bow cookies.


Paired with the ribbon-trimmed diaper cakes the hostess made and a ribbon-themed baby shower was born!

So congratulations E&A and thank you to Jaylyn - diaper cake maker extraordinaire! ;)