Kookie Krums

Star Cookies 1, Me 0

Remember when I told you last week I was piping "2010" on one hundred sugar cookies?! Here's the finished product.

Aren't they fantastic?! I really like how they turned out with the white frosting and the red numbers, very eye-catching. This was a project and a half. While I would love to only tell you about my successes and have you think that we are oh-so-perfect in the cookie department, well, a lot of you just know me too well. In this case, I fought these cookies valiantly, but in the end, the cookies won.

We rarely advise putting the cut-out cookies on sticks, because of how fragile they can be once you start cutting the dough and decorating them. While we have been known to put a few cookies in the pots as accent pieces, that's about as far as we usually go. I know some of you are wondering why this is such a big deal, when "other" cookie places do this on a daily basis. The thing is, all of our cookies are baked fresh, same day, and as you've experienced, are wonderfully decadent cookies. They just don't have the thick volume of some of the mass produced cookies out there.

These stars were created for one of my favorite clients. She always has amazing ideas, and pulls every detail of a party together in a way that just makes me giddy. So when she showed me this bucket she had found for her graduation party, that she wanted the star cookies to fill, I just couldn't pass up the vision I had caught with her.

Unfortunately, back up a few sentences and read again, "the cookies won." These stars turned out fantastic, and I would still recommend them in a half a second for a party like this. But they did not like being on the sticks, and by the time I got them to my client's home, several of the cookies in the back were cracking.

The reality is, I was cracking too. I am a perfectionist at heart, and this was just unthinkable for me. But it was what it was, and my very practical husband reassured me a time or twenty that sometimes things just don't go the way we planned, and we have to make the best of it.

Thus the other reason this client is one of my favorite. Such a gracious, sweet woman, with a heart of pure gold. She still loved the cookies, cracks on some of them and all, and pointed me back to solid ground with a reminder that they're just cookies, and people are just going to eat them; so in the grand scheme of things with everything going on in the world right now, it really wasn't worth cracking over. You love her too now, don't you?

As much as I didn't want to share this story, and these cookies, with you all, it's a good bite of humble pie for me to do so. I do have to say, my family has been in sugar heaven with all of the broken pieces they've gotten to indulge in this week!!

thinking outside the pot

Here's something you may not know about Kookie Krums . . . we also do invitations! Yes Maam, we are a one stop party shop!! Ha ha, feel like I need a good twang to pull off that sentence! Anyway, I'm a little obsessed with paper. Love, love, love all the specialty papers, the textures, the patterns, you name it.

Invitations are done by us mostly through word of mouth, and they all are one of a kind. I've never offered anyone the same invite I've done for someone else. I think the invites are as individual as the occasion itself. It's the first thing people see about your event, so it should have the WOW effect!

I did these invitations recently for a lingerie shower. A lingerie shower at a winery - now that's a party!! What a fabulous idea! The wedding colors are light blue, silver, and white, so I kept to those colors with the shower invitations as well. We also did address labels in the same fonts. I think that just adds an extra thoughtful touch, and it's all in the details!!

And to my wonderful friend and client - I hope this shower is only the start of a new and beautiful beginning. I love your heart, and love that you gave me the privilege of creating these invitations for you!

Alternative to Flower Pots?? Of Course There Is . . .

Although we're known for our hand painted flower pots, did you know we have a lower cost option available for our cookie bouquets?? That's right, our paperboard boxes are about ten dollars less than the flower pots, and still look great. The boxes are also ideal for those people you know that prefer disposable containers. People in assisted living facilities, or who have already downsized their home, may not have a need for a flower pot that you can use anywhere to store anything. But you can still give a fabulous gift in a box that comes in so many different designs. We can also do the cookies loose in the boxes . . . I'll talk about that in a future post, because right now, I have fresh hot cookies to take out of the oven!!

Customizing Your Gift

There are so many different ways to make your gifts unique and special.  Let's talk about our hand painted flower pots. Our artist, Margie, does an amazing job and has about eighty different designs for you to choose from. She will, on request, paint a custom design for you. We do this for corporate logos (such as the BankAtlantic flower pot in a recent post), parties, etc.  However . . . if you want to avoid the extra charge of a custom design - why not just get creative with a design we already have?? Now I know many of you already take advantage of the free customizing when adding a baby's name and birthdate to the baby pots. But let me show you another way that one customer got creative. She had a sweet 16 to celebrate with someone, and took our already designed Happy Birthday Cupcake pot to start. Then, instead of having Happy Birthday painted on the pot, as is the standard, she had the artist paint "Happy Sweet 16" instead. Voila - a custom design, no extra cost. As long as you're using a design we already have, there is no extra charge for this. So get creative - and customize your gifts in your own special way! Just remember we'll need a few extra days for these kinds of things, so you can't be a last minute shopper!!

Cookies for Sympathy Gifts?

 

I get this question a lot . . . "Is it appropriate for me to send cookies for a sympathy gift?" Absolutely it is!! In fact, I think it's a much better choice than flowers. If you think about it, when someone loses a loved one, they get inundated with flowers from well-meaning friends and family members that want to send a thoughtful gesture. But sometimes those flowers are just a constant reminder of your loss. When you send cookies, though, you're sending a beautiful gift, as well as a useful gift. With so many people coming in and out to visit, these cookies-on-a-stick are perfect to have available to offer guests.

Above is a picture of our "grapevine basket," which has various gourmet snack items along with the cookies. Adorned with a gorgeous bow and some silk flowers, this is a beautiful way to send your condolences.