Happy Trails To You, Until We Meet Again......

It has been far too long since my last post!  The reason?....a very busy spring!  Yes, we have been busy around here, two of my wonderful nephews were married, one in Colorado and one in Michigan, a family reunion, work, always work, and best of all, my daughter was here in Michigan for 3 weeks...yea!

This spring also included a fun evening with friends.  When my daughter graduated from High School,  myself and four other mothers of graduating daughters started a group call the MADDDDDD (Mothers And Daughters Decorating Dingy, Deplorable, Disgusting Dorms) MOMS.  Our five daughters all went to different colleges.  We, Moms, got together monthly and sent care packages to our daughters.  It was a lot of fun as we had a theme for each package, and each one of us made or purchased something for each box that met the theme.  Then, we sent them off, much to the excitement of our daughters.  Our get togethers always included decorating the boxes to be mailed, snacks, and lots of chit chatting.  We had so much fun that the five of us visited each daughter at college, took them out to diner, and visited their dorm rooms.  The care packages continued until they graduated from college.  Then care packages stopped, but we continued to get together and eventually included the husbands.  Recently, one of our group couples decided to move to be closer to her daughters who all ended up in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, CO.  So we had a going away party, or rather a going away Progressive Dinner.  We had done this once before and it was so much fun that we had to do it again.  For those of you that don't know, a Progressive Dinner is a dinner where each course is served at a different house.  We had three courses, Soup and Salad, Entree, and Dessert.  Since our friends are moving west, we tried to have the food reflect the "Old West."  The dessert was at our house, so I had Blueberry Buckle, a Raspberry Pie, Strawberry Cream Cheese Mousse (not really Old West, but yummy) and of course I HAD to make Western Decorated Cookies!  I thought that I would share the cookies..yee hah!

We tried to dress like the "Old West" with blue jeans, cowboy hats, and a lot of bandanna's!  None of the cowboy hats looked at cute as these!

 Any Western needs a good guy and a bad guy, right?

 Like I said, there were lots of bandannas!

      More Cowboy Boots

 Cacti

 Vultures

 Long Horn skulls

 Guns- 6 shooters I think!

 Sheriff Stars

 Cattle Skins

 Since they're moving to Colorado, I added the state of Colorado.  The capital, Denver, is designated by the star, and the heart will be their new home in Colorado Springs.  I added the Colorado flag, too.

We had a wonderful time, and hope that our friends will enjoy their new home in Colorado, but know they will be thrilled to not only to be closer to their daughters, but also to their Grand baby!

Hope you're all having a great summer!

From Miss to Mrs.

 My nephew is about to be married...in June.  And, I am about to have a new niece!  Actually, I already feel like she is my niece.  They have been dating for a long time, and she is already an important part of our family.  Yes, we all love her; she is sweet, creative, kind, intelligent, sooo pretty, very funny, and an amazing violinist!  Sarah, welcome, officially, to the family!
We  (the mothers, aunts, sisters-in-laws to be, sister-in-law, cousins, friends, etc.) hosted a wedding shower last week.  It was  a lot of fun; delicious food, beautiful decorations, fun games, amazing gifts, and a great chance to "catch up" with family and friends.

Sarah likes the colors pink and purple, and she also likes polka dots.  Hence, the theme of the shower.  I will show the decorations in a later post.   The buffet included Minestrone Soup, Baked Potato Soup, Pistachio Salad, Halle Berry Salad, Farfalle Chicken Pasta Salad, Caprese skewers, Fruit Ka-bobs, Vegetables and Dip, Rolls, and Cake Pops and Cookies for dessert.  (I may have forgotten a few things on the buffet, it was yummy!)  One of my jobs was to make the decorated cookies, and I had a ball!

 Sarah will be a beautiful June bride..only about 7 weeks to go...

 I made about 40 cookies for approximately 35 guests.  This is one of the platters, the polka dots and flowers were fun to make.  I tried to use some of the wording that was on the banners, made by my very creative daughter. 

 I never know how may cookies to show, but I try to get close enough so that others can see the details if they want to decorate cookies, too.

 Wedding cakes, and more wedding cakes!

 Bridal Gowns!

 Here is a second platter of cookies.  I was a little disappointed with the engagement ring decorations, but I have some new ideas for next time.  They need a little more filigree on the bands!

Sarah and Brad, we hope that your wedding day will be even better than your wedding day dreams! 

 And that you both have a life filled with love, happiness, success, excitement, new adventures, and peace!

 Sarah loves Brad, and Brad loves Sarah!

And I love Brad and Sarah!

Have a wonderful week!  Enjoy the sunshine and rain, we need both!

Sweet, Sweet Babies!

A good friend of mine is about to be a Grandma for the first time.  Recently, she was helping to host a baby shower for her daughter-in-law and asked me to make cookies for the occasion.  I was thrilled and had a "sweet time" making and decorating the baby cookies!  

Since the new Mom and Dad love to travel, the "theme" of the baby shower was based on the Dr. Seuss book, "The Places You Go".  I was tempted to make cookies with the characters from the book, but decided that I better stick with babies.  But, I thought that a set of baby foot prints depicted a baby on the go.  These are baby toes that you really can nibble!

 I made a few baby carriages, you know, "baby transportation!"  Of course, I had to make a few rattles, to keep those babies happy while they are on the road.

 Onesies are a necessity for all babies, and since we don't know the new baby's gender, I tried to cover all the bases.

 What's a baby shower without a few baby chicks? ( a bit of a stretch, but I wanted to make the chicks!)

 More Onesies...MTU- Michigan Technological University the baby's  father's Alma Mater, Higgins Lake- a location dear to the baby's mother, and Frick, the baby to be's last name!

 Onward HO!

 Never enough Onesies!

 And of course the babies.....

And more babies...(thanks to www.sweetsugarbelle.com)

 There he/she goes....

 I decorated a cookie shaped like the state of Michigan and put a heart where the baby will want to travel...Grandma's and Grandpa's, Aunt Julie's, Camp Westminster.....

 Talented babies!

 The cookies disappeared quickly and were a fun addition to the delicious buffet!

There he/she goes again!!

Hope you are all have a nice week...it is a beautiful spring day here..brisk but sunny!  Looking for my first crocus sighting!  

Enjoy!

Spring, where are you?

  Tomorrow is the first day of spring...really??  It sure doesn't look like spring here in Michigan!  I am more than ready....

 I am sorry that I have been so behind with my blogging, I am in the midst of craft heaven.  I am still working on fabric flowers for the wedding reception, I am making a wall pocket organizer for a baby shower, I have cookies to make and decorate for the wedding shower and baby shower, I am sewing up a storm and having the time of my life.  Oh yeah, there is work, too.

Yep, as much as I would like to craft all day, every day, I still need to work.  How else can I pay for my craft supplies?   Yesterday, I was driving to a client's home and the expressway was an ice rink, accidents everywhere....I am ready for spring!

 So, while we are deluged with snow, ice, and cold weather, we await spring.  I will be sharing my crafting with you soon, as soon as I get my pictures organized and I meet my deadlines. 

Until then, we can dream of warmer weather, sunny skies, and lush greens...

 cherry blossoms, and....

lilacs!

Ahhhhhh!

Have a wonderful week and stay warm!