It's time!!!

Super-Duper Giveaway Day!!!

(Week actually!)

Well, here it is sportsfans!  The HUGE GIVEAWAY you’ve all been waiting for! 

You may remember that this was planned in honor of hitting 500 fans on our facebook page for The Sweetest Thing…well, we blew that away and are now over 600!!

WAHOOOOOOOOO!!!

I am totally geeked! 

I don’t think I even know that many people!

YAAAAYYYYYY!!! 

SERIOUSLY DOING THE HAPPY DANCE! 

(And if you know me, you know how silly that looks!)

Alright, so here are the details you need to know.  The winner will get an

insane prize package

worth almost $200 (!) that will include:

1 dozen hand decorated valentine cookies by The Sweetest Thing

1 hand knit earflap hat with hearts (size 2-5T) by Buggy's Beanies

1 dozen mini heart cake pops by Dreamin’ N Details Design

6 handmade favor tags by The Purple Pug

1 signature Silver Pendant by Ann-Margaret’s SpecialTea Shoppe

1 set of embellished burp cloths by (the brand new!) My Little Snugbug

1 Infant Hair Accessories Starter Kit & Mother Necklace by Icing tops the CAKE

Starter Kit Includes:

1 - Hot Pink Infant Kufi Hat w/ 4" White Daisy.

1 - 4" Purple, White & Black Zebra Daisy on thin 
     black headband.

1 - White crochet headband

1 - "LOVE" Valentine’s Day Clippie

1 - Pair of pink flower clippies

1 - "Mothers" Scrabble Tile Necklace w/ 18" shiny 
      silver ball chain.

Entry is EASY!! 

All you have to do is “like” all 7 of us on Facebook!

(Each fb page is linked in the list above!)

Then, leave a comment here on the blog telling me you did so. 

That comment on this blog is your entry!

If you would like to double your chances of winning,

Also follow the corresponding blogs that are available

The Sweetest Thing – Right here, silly!

The Purple Pug

Don’t forget to come back here and leave a comment letting me know you follow!

The contest will close at midnight on Sunday, January 30^th.  The winner will be drawn using Random.org on Monday, January 31.  Be sure to leave an e-mail address in your comments so I can contact the winner.
**Winner MUST have a US mailing address to which we can send the prizes (due to shipping).**

Media Mayhem & Royal Ridiculousness

Happy Sunday! 

I have two things I’d like to share today for my weekly bloggy blithering.

First….I have something I need to get off my chest, and could really use some advice.

Then…a {little bit} of shameless bragging!  That’s okay, right?  After all, I have to share my successes too!

So…advice.  Yes, I need help!  I have a hard time admitting that I need help, but here, I am just at a loss.  For all my fellow “mompreneurs” out there, how in the world are you keeping up with all the social media networking??

I am actively promoting myself and networking via:

1 – Facebook

2 – This blog

3 – Martha Stewarts Dreamers into Doers  

4 – The Children’s Party Network

5 – Twitter @tstCookies (but haven’t been on it in like 2 weeks!)

6 – I also am constantly visiting others’ pages on all of the above and   leaving comments, “liking” them, entering contests, etc….

I can easily spend my entire day on my laptop or iphone, and I still don’t feel like I am catching it all!  All this networking has been outstanding for The Sweetest Thing!  I have almost 600 fb fans {HOLY COW!} as of this writing, have met many fabulous women, and even discovered I can use cookies as currency! I have traded cookies for {cake pops} from Dreamin’ N Details Design, an amazing {custom picture frame} from Creative Flair Art, an adorable {hand knit hat} for my daughter from Buggies Beanies…and have more in the works!

So…the problem is this:

How do I feel like I can stay on top of all these different media outlets so as not to miss opportunities, yet still maintain a balance so that I have enough time in my kitchen and with my family?

               

PLEASE, I AM BEGGING YOU TO LEAVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS!

Now that I’ve said all that, it’s time for some bragging! (Do I seem modest here? I am, really!)

Huge thanks to Natalie of Southern Belle’s Charm for the referral on this job.  I was contacted by a woman to do custom cookies for a Sweet 16 party.  The party, styled by Natalie, sounds like it will be gorgeous!  Custom decorations and invitations in purple, silver, black and white….damask…rhinestones…chandeliers…so beautiful!  Anyway, the woman who called me asked if I can make a cookie to match the chandelier on the invite that Natalie designed, as well as some with the birthday girl’s monogram, E.  Of course, as usual, I said, “YES! Of course I can do that!” 

…Then I looked at the invite!

This is the chandelier and the E is a beautiful, looping font called precious.

 E

Well, of course, I had to do this, and I knew I could, I just wasn’t sure of the best technique to use yet.  For the E, I knew I had to do a pre-piped letter.  It was a challenge to keep the letter in one piece as I placed it on the cookie, but it worked!

The chandelier was more of a challenge yet!  First I tried piping in the black into the wet flood icing and manipulating it with a toothpick.  It just didn’t come out how I wanted it though.  Then I tried just using black gel icing color and hand painting the design.  Turns out, I am not that great of a painter! Lastly, I decided to try applying the black icing on top of the completely set white background.  I piped as much as I could, and used my {toothpick} to move the icing around to get the points and the extremely narrow curls the way I wanted them.  I am pretty pleased with the results and hope the birthday girl likes them too!

Oh, and since the invites have a damask print layer, I thought I’d try that as well. 

Here is the resulting set, and I sure hope Katie and Elana like them as much as I do!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

R A W R!!!!

Dinosaur Cookies!

T-Rex and Stegosaurus!



T-Rex & Stegosaurus...ready for the party!

YES, I know Stegosaurus is not a meat eater.  Being the herbivore that he is, the teeth would be flat for grinding leaves, not sharp for ripping meat, but....they were too cute, so I had to include the teeth! 

Happy Birthday Andrew! Thanks, Lisa.  Good Luck with your new business venture, SagePrints. 

Love ROCKS!!

Oh yes it does!

Valentine's Day is less than 1 month away, are you ready!?  I've been working on some new ideas for V-day this month and I think {if I do say so myself ;) } that I've come up with some pretty cool ideas. 

We all know that love comes in many forms, and Valentine's Day is a great time to celebrate all the loves in your life! Do you honor your friends and the children in your life? If not, now's a great time to start. 

When my brother and I were young, our parents always did something for us at V-day, and we both loved it! 

How about surprising them with these adorable

Love Bugs!!

Love Bugs!! 

Are you wanting to send a special message to the special person in your life?  These conversation heart cookies taste a million times better than the candy ones, and you can customize the phrases (and the colors) on them so they say whatever you want!

  

Conversation Hearts {a proposal perhaps?}



Conversation Hearts

Maybe you would like to keep it simple and just send some heart shaped cookies. You can have the cookie flavor your love likes best decorated in the colors of your choice, with any design or phrase on them that you'd like!



Handcuffs & Hearts

If you're looking something a bit different than the standard hearts, how about some kink with all that pink! Handcuffs and hearts could be fun!



These cookies were designed for a project that Natalie at Southern Belle's Charm was working on.  She did a Valentine's Rocks theme with the collaboration of multiple vendors and the final results were Uh-May-Zing!!!  Courtney over at Pizzazzerie even did a feature on it! {To me, this is the big time!!} I am so honored to have been involved in it.  I have already recieved multiple orders for these cookies!



My calendar is getting filled in fast, so don't wait to place your order for Valentine's day!  E-mail at tstCookies@gmail.com and let me know what I can do for you!

"Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do!"

Camden is having his 3rd birthday party today.  His daddy is a police officer, so he wanted a police themed party.

"police" cookie favors

I love how these turned out!  Make me wanna go "WOOOO, WOOOOO, WOOOO, WOOOO!!"

Camden's badges!



These handcuffs don't hurt!

Happy Birthday Camden!  Thanks Carrie, it was nice meeting you. ...and thanks Angela, for the referral.  {LOVE referrals!}

Bad, Bad Blogger!!

Well, clearly I am a bad blogger!  Not only is my last post from December 7 (!!) but I also got a message in my inbox from Blogger telling me I need to regularly update my blog!  Wow!  I must apologize for neglecting my blog for the past 3 weeks, it was certainly not my plan.  I kept wanting to post, but was so overwhelmed with orders for Christmas that I had to put it off in order to bake and decorate.  It's still crazy around here, but I am up early with the baby, who is falling asleep in her Jumperoo, finally!

**On a sidenote, if you are a new parent, or will be soon, you NEED a Jumperoo!!  My brother gave us this one and I swear it is a parents' sanity saver!! 

We don't travel without it!**

Since it's been a while, let's have a little recap of what's been going on.  Yes, Christmas cookies, Chrismas cookies, and more Christmas cookies. 


For Candy in Virginia. 
Thanks!

For Lindsey from Portland, OR. 

Thanks Lindsey! It was great talking to you again.

All sorts of cookies were made and packaged up into 25 different baskets, along with different flavors of vodka, a free 10 person bowling party, and a free pizza, all of which were raffled off at Airway Lanes in Waterford, MI during the 25 days of Christmas promotion.  They were a BIG hit!!

 For Bonnie from Brighton, MI. 

Thanks. I hope your secretaries loved them! 

For the Goldmans and their annual goofy turtleneck Christmas party. 

Thanks Leslie & Scott! 

Amy in Clarkson, MI got the snowmen, Christmas trees, and the snowflakes. 

Thanks, Amy!!

Of course, other things have happened too.  My daughter has gone from taking one or two steps to walking and almost even running all over my house! 

My birthday was the 29th!  How old did I turn?? Good question!  I had to ask my husband how old he was (34) so that I could subtract and determine that I am now 32!  What is with that?!?  Forgetting my own age? Geez, I don't feel old, but that sort says otherwise, doesn't it!

No hand crafted cake decorated with cookies for me!  That is a delicious, frozen, store bought, Dairy Queen cake! 

YUUUMMMM!! 

I know, I know, but they are SOOOOO good!!

My husband even invited my family and some friends over to have dinner and celebrate with us! 

 The four of us....aren't we cute!?

My niece, Ireland, and my grandma, Ida.    They both have milestone birthdays coming up in March this year. 

Ireland will turn 13,

and the next day grandma will turn 90!!

Oh....in case you were wondering, that is the Italian grandma that gave me the recipe for my biscotti!!

This is my dad! He's been challenged to a game of "Big Buck Hunter" by my 5 year old. Clearly, he takes this VERY seriously!

 

This is Ryann! Isn't she gorgeous?!  Her eyelashes are ridiculous!  She is riding my daughter's new rocking horse and singing a little tune at the same time..."Giddyup, giddyup, giddyup it's grand, just holding your hand!" Soooo cute!

BTW - her mom is my friend Sara Dandy over at Dandy Delights!

I ended 2010 on a pretty good note.  The Sweetest Thing now has 257 facebook fans!!! (Way more than I have friends on my personal page!!)  That alone is REALLY exciting to me!!  I am also finishing up 2 packages of cookies for 2 different *pregnant* celebrities (imagine the possibilities!) and another for a Valentines feature on Nickelodeon Parents Connect!  HOLY CRAP, I can't believe these opportunities presented themselves to me!!  Eeeeeeee!! This could be HUGE for me!!!

Also, I want to give a shout out to some new friends that I have connected with on Twitter on Facebook.  Check out Cineca at Dreamin N Details Design and also Melissa at Truly Chic Inspirations!  Both a fabulous women who do fabulous work!  I would also like to thank Sallisha Armour at LaunchHer for the great opportunities!

Of course, there has been so much more in the details....but I'm trying not to bore you!

Happy New Year!!