Here's a Clue: He's Blue!

This order was for a little girl's third birthday celebration.  Mom wanted some Blue's Clues cookies. 

Being somewhat out of the preschool loop, we had to familiarize ourselves with the famous pup and his friends. Being the sleuth detectives that we are, we called upon Hulu to fulfill our curiosity about this popular celebrity. 

I have to admit, once I started watching, I was hooked!  In fact, in order to be absolutely SURE of the designs we were planning to replicate, I felt it necessary to watch a few episodes.  ;-) I came away from my computer wanting to order my own bright red "Thinking Chair." What a fun show!

I feel a little more prepared for that future day when our home does have a preschooler passing through its rooms!   In the meantime, we will wish our new three year old friend a happy year ahead, with many exciting adventures of Blue's Clues.  XOXO Cookies may just be over the grade, enjoying Blue's friends, too!  You never know ~ 

We've Been Workin' on the Railroad

All the livelong day.   :-)   

These Thomas the Train tributes for two-year old William were no doubt a special treat for his birthday celebration.  We made 18 front view and 18 side views of Thomas, along with 3 dozen multi-colored cake pops.   The boxed treats were exploding with primary colors!

The cake pops were served from the box cars of a hand-made Thomas replica.  SO cute!  

We hope li'l William's future adventures include an exciting train ride to some fun destination.  In the meantime, his family has made sure that every last detail was complete for his birthday, complete with a Thomas the Train bounce house!  

Happy Birthday, William, from XOXO Cookies!

Busy Months Call for Busy Bakers

It HAS been a busy month for the XOXO kitchen and we've had some fun experimenting with new recipes, new designs, and new techniques.   Here are some shots from the last few weeks!

We put together a combination of favorite recipes to come up this cupcake, affectionately named "The Six Dollar Cupcake" by Kimi's hub.  This dark chocolate cake with its chocolate filling and whipped cream with Kahlua frosting has become a favorite for many of us!  

It was Big/Little Sister week at the University, and one sorority member bought gift boxes of these cookies for her little sisses.  

 

She wanted the Kappa Alpha Theta letters and we made templates for the sorority logo, this cute kite.  

We couldn't wait for Halloween to work on some pumpkins, so we started early in the month and came up with these variegated styles.  The reds, oranges and yellows melded together to make some beautiful highlights on these treats for local lighthouse docents.  

The pumpkin pops were a nice compliment to the pumpkin cookies and were also guests at Kimi's monthly book club meeting!  What a festive table setting at Jaimie's house!

And then there were more owls!  Lots more owls!  They just look cute wherever they perch!

XOXO Cookies wishes everyone a healthy November as we head into the busy holiday season.   

October is here

and witches are near! 

Our Halloween witch, Matilda, seems to have left her garb behind. 

These pumpkins are modeled after the pumpkins in Kimi's garden.  

The only difference is, there is no gopher munching on them!

These spice and cream cheese flavored pumpkin pops were fun to make.  I always thought of myself as a  'summer type of gal' but lately, I've been getting more excited about all the colors and aromas of fall.  I just HAD to have a pumpkin, and I wasn't about to wait for it!

I am officially in the October mood!  (More of these to come soon!)

Hmmm.... How did Matilda get anywhere without her broom and hat?!

Her potion does look mysteriously enticing though.   

Happy haunting to all our friendly ghouls and goblins, witches and wizards.

XOXO Cookies!

O'wl Always Love You, Baby.

Another bundle of joy is on his way.

Quinn will be arriving to loving open arms within the month.

We have been watching the growing owl trend over the past year and have been hoping that we could design a few for someone special.  We had been brainstorming and getting inspiration here and there just waiting to put our ideas to use.

When the call came in that a friend wanted little owls for her baby shower, we were beyond excited.

I knew they were going to be adorable, but it wasn't until I put their eyes on them that they melted my heart. Looking down at them, looking up at me, I knew these little guys were going to be a hit.

Thank you Colby, and congratulations on your next adventure
(I hope Quinn isn't a Night Owl!)

love, from XOXO Cookies!  

Family Weekend at Arizona State University

Victoria, our silent auction winner from a previous post, is heading toward the desert for the annual ASU Family Weekend.  It is advertised to be a fun-filled weekend dedicated to Sun Devil families.

Sparky the Sun Devil has been the ASU Mascot for years, but ASU announced in April that it changed the mascot to the pitchfork.

Victoria requested a dozen cookies for the weekend - the pitchfork and the A-S-U, in the University's colors.

We packaged them up for her and they will soon be on their way to sun country.

Safe travels from XOXO Cookies.  Enjoy the family time!

A Wedding Shower Toast

We received an email from one of our favorite eastern states, Massachusetts!  We were asked to decorate wedding dresses and wine glasses for a bride to be's wedding shower.

Even though we always say certain cookie designs are our favorite, these wine glasses really are one of my favorites! 

 We are lucky to live in wine country ourselves, and happy to ship some wine-love their way.

Wine to me is passion.  It's family and friends.  It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilization and the art of living.

-Robert Mondavi

"Harvest of Joy"

Congratulations and we hope you enjoy a lifetime of happiness!

XOXO Cookies

Fun Fund Raising

Nipomo High School had a boosters dinner to raise money for the school.  They had asked us to donate a gift basket for the silent auction.  

We really enjoyed making a little bit of everything for this basket; cake pops, oreo cookie pops, carmel chocolate dipped pretzels, and the NHS cookies. 

We also added a gift certificate for a dozen treats of their choice!

The basket turned out just how we wanted, full of flavor and school spirit.  Everyone enjoyed bidding for these fun treats, but in the end there could only be one winner.  We were happy to donate our tasty treats and help raise some money for the school. 

Congratulations to the winner, Victoria from XOXO Cookies!  And thank you for supporting the school with your generous donation!

Gotta Have a Pumpkin. . .

Gotta have it now!

The weather has turned.  The warm, blue days of summer that we waited for sooo long to finally arrive have given way to more humid, cloudy days. When I left work the other evening, I noticed a distinct change in the air, and the sun was already lower in the sky. Where have I been?  It is almost October!

I absolutely LOVE summer.  

But I must admit, Fall owns a special place in my heart, and I am (shhhhh), a little excited! 

I had some extra cake pops last weekend, and decided to create my own pumpkins! Mini punkins are just so cute, aren't they?

The yummy spice cake and cream cheese centers were just perfect to satisfy my pumpkin craving. (For now anyway.)  

We have some Halloween cookie ideas brewin' . . . XOXO Cookies is ready for Fall!

Speedy Recovery

With a little TLC, anyone is bound to feel better.    Think back to a time when you were feeling a little down in the dumps.  How nice it may have been when someone who loved you walked down the hallway delivering a tray filled with good wishes after your nap.  

        

    Maybe a fresh flower, a cookie and some hot tea?

Maybe someone had taken the time to write you a get well note ~

Or maybe it was time for your meds ~

Perhaps they just wanted to share some time with you, make you smile, and let you know that they felt bad because you felt bad.   Whatever it was, I bet you DID feel a little better.    As we enter the season when all the school kids start sharing their running noses again, be prepared to do a little something special for your loved one to wish them a Speedy Recovery!

To your good health from XOXO Cookies!

A New Recruit?

Arghhhh, Matey.  Who would guess that we'd be doing a second round of pirates so soon?  It seems my daughter (and Kimi's sis) had a class reunion coming up, and offered up some XOXO Cookies for the party. The high school mascot is a Pirate.

Unfortunately, my partner was off backpacking with her hubs and the grandpup, and I knew I couldn't single-handedly pull off an order that big, that quickly, alone.   So I accepted the offer of her sis to help out with the order. Little did she know. . . 

Two cups of instant hazelnut coffee and a whole lotta hours later, sis realized what she had gotten herself into.  But she is an ex-Lady Pirate herself, and she knows how to burn the midnight oil when necessary. She stayed with it until the bitter end, and worked until the very last pirate was bagged.

She did a great job, and managed to do it with good humor, a worthy attribute for this any future employer. . .      ;-)

I did ask if she would like to help us out in the future.  Her eyes smiled and her lips murmured something (I believe it may have been "You Betcha, Mom").

From what I hear, the party that celebrated ten years of life beyond high school was a huge success. I'm very glad that I was able to share several sometimes delirious, but fun long hours with another daughter and possible future recruit!    Love ya' Linds.

Mom