The Latest Platter of Decorated Sugar Cookies

Every time I make sugar cookies and decorate them with royal icing I ask myself why I put myself through it. Ha! Really though, it is quite an undertaking. Lots of steps and lots {and lots} of hours go into making them. It's a 2-3 day process depending on the intricacy of the design{s}. I initially got into making them after wondering {and envying those who mastered the craft} if I could pull these little pretties off myself. I am by no means a pro. Not eeeven close. In fact, I still consider myself a beginner. My first attempt was only this past May {if you want to take a stab at making sugar cookies decorated with royal icing go to my post here for some tips and links to some sites I love, in case you missed it. That's where you'll also find the link to the sugar cookie recipe and the royal icing recipe I use}.

This week I got the bug to make some cookies - probably because I was dying to try out my new KitchenAid mixer that my mom got me for my birthday earlier this month! Here is a platter of my latest creation....

There were cupcakes....Cherries.... Lollipops....
Monogrammed Cookies.... And heart shaped pretties.....

Put them all together, and you get a platter that looks like this....

Someone left a comment on one of my sugar cookie posts asking when I find the time to make these labor intensive cookies. Well, I don't make these cookies often as they do require many hours of my time. Maybe once a month. When the itch hits, I bake and decorate them when Ilah naps during the day and in the evening hours after she's in bed. Even when my husband is home I am still hands on, and I prefer to work on them when there's peace and quiet so I can concentrate ; ) I have been known to stay up until the weeee hours of the morning {one time until 4 am!} finishing up cookies.
For those of who who have left me sweet comments encouraging me to sell my cookies, thank you! But I just couldn't see myself taking on the task of filling multiple orders for customers and then stressing over the possibility of them breaking in postal transit. For now, I am enjoying making the cookies just for fun - for family, friends, and our church events. {Sidenote: I cannot wait for the holidays to roll around...I am going to be a cookie making/decorating machine!! I have so many ideas!!}. But thank you so much for thinking that my cookies could easily sell!! You guys are so sweet!!

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

I Am

Last night our church had a one night women’s event called “Every Woman”. I had been looking forward to going for weeks but in all honesty, as the day progressed, so did my janky mood. With multiple errands to run and lots to do, and only having sat down for literally one hour yesterday, I found myself trying to talk myself out of going. I was feeling depleted. Which made realize that was all the more reason why I should go. If I wanted to simply be off my feet and exhale, hey, why not be off my feet in church doing that right? I invited my mom to come along with me; talking and laughing throughout the forty-five minute drive there was a wonderful start to a great evening. We had a great guest speaker, Vicki Simpson {all the way from Australia}, who ministered a message that ‘every woman’ truly needed to hear. She opened up her message sharing a story about when she was a worship leader in her church. She would fast and pray the day before she would sing, desiring for God’s anointing to flow through her. One day after service, a gentleman {who wasn’t so gentle} told her that she had an extremely shrieky voice. His insult caused her to become very self conscious and she thought that surely everyone else thought the same thing about her. From that day forward, she started to sing in a lower pitch. It was an unnatural range for her – and her newly adapted voice ended up causing her immense throat pain and frequent voice loss. She saw a specialist who ran tests but nothing came back abnormal; he then referred her to a speech therapist who immediately diagnosed the problem: “Dear, do you know that you are speaking lower than your normal pitch?” Obviously she knew that. Her personal story segwayed into asking the question: How many of us are living a life lower than how we are called to live it?

She spoke about identity and how many of us may have been mislabeled by others…perhaps we have started to believe those negative things that have been stamped on us. And in doing so, we aren’t living out the full plan for our life. We have been apprehended by other people’s thoughts and opinions of us and have become bound to them. Perhaps something was spoken over us in our adolescent years, or perhaps by someone in the church, and we have taken those words as truth. She gave a wonderful mental visual of our Father God walking around the room and peeling those “labels” off of us. Because…

THERE IS NOTHING MORE POWERFUL THAN A WOMAN WHO KNOWS WHO SHE IS.

She posed the question: How do you identify yourself? Normally a woman’s first response may be…I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, etc. But…IF ALL THOSE THINGS WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU…WHO WOULD YOU BE?

That question hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I could answer that question in an entirely different way before I got married and had a child. I have defined my role in life now as a wife and a mother…but what about who I was before that transition came? What about my role in the kingdom of God? What about who I simply am?

We, as women, can sometimes have a tendency to sink back when it comes to stepping into all of who we are. So today, I am choosing to remind myself of who I am.

I am a woman who has a purpose.

I am a woman who hopes to have a positive influence.

I am a woman who is persistent.

I am a woman who desires to strive to please the Lord.

I am a woman who knows that there are seasons in life – and that I meant to take away something from each of them.

I am a woman who is an overcomer.

I am a woman who has favor with God.

I am a woman who is strong.

I am a woman who challenges myself to be the best I can be.

I am a woman who is passionate about life.

I am a woman who hurts when others do.

I am a woman who has been covered by grace and has been forgiven.

I am a woman who is wise.

I am a woman who is gifted.
I am a woman who has a discerning spirit.

I am a woman who desires to fulfill the plans and purposes for my life - even though admittingly, I’m nervous about what some of those things are and what they will require.

I am a woman who wants to come into the full knowing of who I am in God and confidently walk in all of those ways.

Today, reflect on who YOU are…don’t wait for someone else to tell you, because you might be waiting a long time. Aim to PURPOSELY, and PURPOSEFULLY dwell on the woman that you were created to be…not just today, but every day. Let’s begin to identify with our positive traits that we may have put on the shelf; and see them first, not last, in ourselves. Let’s expand our identity. Let’s validate ourselves and bring to light all the wonderful things that make us who we are.

No Bake Cheesecake {w/Recipe!}

The cheesecake shots that I made for our 4th of July party were a HUGE hit! After seeing them here on Hostess with the Mostess, I had to give them a go! I'm bringing them up again because....
I don't think our party had even wrapped yet when my husband asked me when I could make them again - but he wanted the mac-daddy version...and entire cheesecake. Sidenote: I had a difficult time finding those shot glasses and after going to multiple stores, ended up scoring them at Walmart - the day before our party. The first Walmart I went to only had 2 sets, and I needed 3...so after two trips, to two different Walmarts, I got what I needed. Clearly I was determined to make this dessert! And I'm glad I did!

So last week I granted the husband's request for a full cheesecake and whipped one up. I used the same recipe that I did when making the cheesecake shots. It's a no-bake recipe. I do want to find a 5 star cheesecake recipe that requires the cheesecake to be baked in the oven, for comparison purposes to see which I like better. If I find one I'll be back with a post in the future letting you know how the two match up.

If you'd like to give this no-bake {and very easy} cheesecake recipe a try, here's what you'll need:

By Carrie of Half Baked

Ingredients:
– 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
– 1/3 cup + 1T sugar
– 1/2 tsp. vanilla
– 1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
– 8 – 10 graham crackers
– Fresh Berries {optional}
– Finely crush graham crackers.

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until smooth....

Gently stir in cool whip until well blended... Fill a pie crust with the cheesecake mixture. I cheated and bought a pre-made graham cracker 9" pie crust...Refrigerate cheesecake for 4 hours, or until firm. Serve chilled. Top with berries, if desired. I topped mine with strawberries....
All of my cheesecake mixture didn't fit into the pie so I had a little bit left over, but not enough to fill another pie crust with. So what did I do with the excess? I made individual cheesecakes in champagne glasses..... Whether you want to make cheesecake mini's in shot glasses, or give yourself a larger version of the mini, here's what you do: Fill individual glasses half way with cream cheese mixture, either using a spoon or a piping bag fitted with a large round tip for a more polished presentation. Top with 1 tsp graham cracker crumbs. Shake glass to level crumbs. Fill to the top with more of the cream cheese mixture. Lightly sprinkle with additional graham cracker crumbs and top with berries {optional}. Again, even with these, refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Serve chilled. Makes roughly 16 mini servings, depending on the size of your shot glass. My left over cheesecake filling allowed me to fill 3 champagne glasses.

Tips:
– Use a Ziploc bag to fill glasses if you don’t have a piping bag. Just fill it partially, seal and snip off one corner. Squeeze out!
– Set out cream cheese ahead of time so that it is room temperature. This will help everything blend together and create a smooth consistency.

Prepping for a Small Living Room Transformation!

Our new couches are arriving this Saturday! I'll be wondering if every big truck I hear is our delivery guy, as I'll be anticipating the sound of the doorbell! Ha! In case you missed the post, we purchased two of these couches....
I've strolled through several stores the past two weeks eyeing pillows up and down. I have certain fabric patterns in mind to go with our new couches and I haven't seen anything that was quite right. I started to contemplate making my own [no-sew] pillows but then decided to forgo that idea. When the idea was swirling around in my head though, I headed to the fabric aisle of Hobby Lobby and this pattern drew me in ...
I've been looking online for pillows as well and Pottery Barn had several that I liked. I just didn't like the price that went with them!

I also still love the fabric pattern on the pillow below. Thank you to Malissa, a reader who left me the name of the fabric in her comment on my initial post.
I want to use striped pillows to compliment pretty fabric pillows. This color hue is perfect!
To tie both looks in - in a chic way - are these two beauties that I bought last week. I LOVE THEM!! One will go on each couch.

I received a gift card for my birthday that could be used at TJ Maxx, Marshalls or Homegoods so these pillows cost me NOTHING.
I've seen these style pillows before on home decorating shows, and I think also in a few model homes that we've toured. I was always drawn to them but never came across them in any of the stores that I shop at. I scored BIG TIME when I spotted them at Marshalls last week!
I say I scored big time because look at how inexpensive they were!....

If you like these pillows and want some of your own, but can't find them in a Marshalls store near you, here is the name of the company that made these....

If you aren't frugal like me, the "Queen Bee" pillow can also be found at Dillards {you can also purchase it online here, for $24}. Both of the pillow designs can be found on Ebay here and here {for $47.50 ea + $12.50 shipping}.

I've also been on the look out for a new picture [or pictures] to go above our new couch. I still have some money left on that gift card ; )