Happy 80th Cookies Times Two!

I count my blessings every day.  I always start with my Mom and Dad. Not only have they been happily married for 60 years, they are both still healthy.  When my friend told me her parents were both turning 80, I was thrilled they wanted some sugar cookies.  So of course I think of my cookie idols and the beautiful china cookies, the antiqued cookies, flowers and all the other things you think of when you think of "older" folks.  Ha, jokes on me.  No doubt my friend gets her spunky spirit from her parents, they wanted color!  Nothing too serious, and not boring.  So how about a platter full of colorful candles?  Why not.  One of my favorite cookies to decorate!  And yes, I spelled the names correctly.  We're from the South you see, if you don't come up with something cute and clever for the grandkids to call you, you could be Granny.  So happy 80th Geez and Grumps!

Happy 50th Cookies

 So back in June, I did some birthday candle cookies for my daughter's bestie.  They were darn cute and I referenced Maryann the Cookie Artisan who has the most impressive Flickr stream ever.  Honest.  She is an artist with royal icing, and her 40th birthday platter was my inspiration.  I had the pleasure of meeting her at Spring Fling for cookie people in Louisville, and she is the kind of person you wished lived on your block, was on your PTA, hung out at your family reunions...high energy and genuinely nice, besides her kick a** cookies!  She did an entire session on creating platters and shared many of her stunning creations with us.  She has an artist's eye, and she helped us find that.  I love making platters for my  family, my co workers, friend' birthdays,  kid's showers, holidays, their graduations, First Communions, and even sports teams.  Truly, that hour with Maryann and her slide show taught me a lot!

Her platter of 40 birthday candles and the fire extinguisher has been copied many times.  I couldn't resist.  The only other thing I could think of making 50 of for my friend Denice, was dresses, as she is a clothes horse.  And I mean that in the nicest way.  She dresses impeccably, and has dressed me well as of late too!  But I thought the birthday candles would be great.  They are a great eating size, fun to decorate, and 50 makes a stunning platter!  So Happy Birthday to Denice and many thanks to MaryAnn.

Happy Birthday Cookies

Today my daughter's bestie turns 20!  Happy Birthday Sara!  And in 2 short weeks, my daughter turns 19.  As these girls get older that age difference makes less and less of a difference.  But way back when we were in kindergarten, it could have been a huge difference.  I often wonder, what if?  What if I had kept her in preschool another year?  Who would her friends have been?  What would be different?

Thankfully, there are no do-overs, so we can wonder, but thankfully never know if ultimately it was the best choice.  She is happy, well adjusted, does fine in school, and yes, she was one of the youngest, but in college, this all makes no difference.  We decided on a platter of candles.

Small cookies to share with all those girls.  I got my inspiration from Maryann of CookieArtisan.  It is relatively easy to be inspired by her, she is a true artist and her platters are stunning.  She even did an appearance on Martha, yes, she is that good.  I love these Americolor Electrics for coloring, and I think these are the perfect birthday platter!