What a holiday! What a year!
I have really enjoyed the last week and a half of our Christmas and New Year's celebrations. The highlights are many, and the memories will be with us forever. Having a 3-year-old on Christmas morning is like sprinkling pixie dust all over the day. She was delighted with the smallest of things and truly appreciated the only gift she asked for...a stuffed bunny. It's a white floppy eared bunny named Pinkalicious. We call her Pinkie for short. She doesn't eat cupcakes...that we know of.
We enjoyed our gift giving this year. We found some creative ways to give and our family seemed thankful. We also of course made a few homemade goodies for everyone...sugar cookies, homemade vanilla marshmallows, snickerdoodles dipped in white chocolate (a total crowd pleaser), and walnut and brown sugar rugelach (my favorite!).
Our New Year's Eve was spent with our little girl, my mom, and our niece and nephew. We took a family trip to the First Night activities in State College. We tucked Grace and her cousins in for bed and watched 'Some Like it Hot' with lots of yummy snacks.
Looking back, I have to say 2010 was a year full of cookies! I thoroughly enjoyed so many of the custom projects. I also feel like I have made so many friends in the process. To all those that I have come into contact with through this blog or an order - thank you so much for making my year so special!
Over the year, Flour Box cookies have played a supporting role in major life events like weddings, parties, baby showers and other special occasions. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than knowing that my cookies are making people smile every day!
So here is a look back at the year in cookies. These are my Top 10 from 2010.
Here are the honorable mentions that almost made the list:
The Treasure Chests The Birkin Bag Cookie
Wedding Dress with Lace Overlay Braille Painter Pallettes
Portrait Cookies West Point Graduation Cookies
HERE IS THE TOP 10 LIST ...
10. The Great Halloween Cookie Project. This past fall I took on my greatest cookie challenge and partnered with a Penn State Entrepreneurial class. Together we created and marketed 4 different cookie collections for Halloween. It was fast-paced and quite intense...but in the end we all learned so much!
9. My sweet little girl's PINK birthday party. I spend so much time making cookies for others, that often I don't get to make special projects for my own family. This was a fun project because my little girl decided she wanted a pink party. I made a special set of pink birthday cakes to go with her dessert table. She helped with the cupcakes and they had sprinkles galore!
8. The 'Thanks a Million' cookie project started as a custom order, but I liked the cookies so much that I added them as a regular collection on the website. I think it's the cute little president guy that makes me smile the most!
7. The Bon Voyage Bridal Shower. I love when customers give me complete freedom on cookie designs. This client told me I could do anything using their color scheme of pink and black. I went with a pink and black heart, a suitcase inspired by a Burberry bag, and a super cute luggage tag. I loved making these cookies!
6. I donated a collection of cookies to the Penn State Iron Chef competition that benefited our local food bank. The secret ingredient was apples - all varieties. I was honored to make Macintosh, golden delicious, and bushels of apples. I also made chef hats for the contestants. Each of the hats and bushel baskets were hand-cut.
5. The Luau Bridal Shower. I had so much fun working with this client. She was an excellent party planner and could not have gotten me more excited to make cookies. I made a Hawaiian shirt cookie, a flip flop cookie, hibiscus cookie, a starfish cookie, and my favorite - the lei cookie.
4. I had the distinct pleasure of attending an amazing program with my 10-year-old niece called Secret Keeper Girl LIVE, the Pajama Party. I was invited to make some sweet treats for their reception held before the show. Everything was cute and girly. I even made cupcakes with handmade flags. Did I mention the show was great! Lexie and I both loved it!
3. The Steampunk Birthday cookies. I was pretty unfamiliar with the Steampunk genre when I took on this project. After a little research, I understood Steampunkers to be similar to civil war reenactors or renaissance enthusiasts - but Steampunkers merge the past with the future (most typically the Victorian era). After much thought, I made a corseted Victorian gown with gears. I also made a traditional cake with pesky little robots deconstructing it.
2. The high-top sneaker. I don't know why I like this cookie so much. It just makes me happy. I made it for a little girl's fashion themed birthday party. Each girl got a pink party dress with a pair of high heel shoes. The boys got the high-top sneaker and an all-star t-shirt.
1. The Wine Tasting Fundraiser cookies. I was invited to make cookies for a local cancer fundraiser event. I attempted to make the wine bottle resemble the actual label of Seven Mountains Wine Cellars. I paired the bottles with wine glasses with condensation, grapes, and pink and teal ribbons.
Well, if a baker's dozen has 13 instead of 12, then my top 10 list is going to have 11 instead of 10. I couldn't forget to post my tribute to Dear Old State - the blue and white cookies I made for my friends at the football game. I loved each cookie on the platter, especially my attempt at making the Nittany Lion!
So here's thanking EVERYONE (customers, readers, family and friends) for the support, love, and help in 2010. I had a truly blessed year and cannot wait to see what 2011 has in store. I already have some exciting collections to release in the coming weeks.
Have a very sweet and happy New Year,
Anne