Peanuts? Popcorn?? COOKIES???

A friend emailed XOXO and requested some cookies for her hubby's birthday celebration.  The twist?  The party was being held at the Giants/Brewers game in beautiful San Francisco at the AT&T Park.

It turned out to be a gorgeous (make that sizzling!) day on the California coast.   Nearly forty of the birthday boy's fans celebrated the day together, occupying two entire rows in the right center outfield bleachers - the Giants beat the Brewers in an exciting extra-innings game - and we heard that the guests loved their themed-cookie surprises!

What's a game without a ball?  

Add a mitt and you have Baseball. . .

 Almost on their way - time for their photo shoot!  We LOVE this part!  :-)

We couldn't forget it was a birthday, so we added a few coordinating cupcake cookies.   We attached a tag to each cookie with wishes for the birthday boy.

All boxed up and packed in a cooler to make the trip North. Thank you Andrea for allowing us to be part of your fun day! Happy Birthday to Brad from XOXO Cookies!

If you want a couple of minutes of giggles, click on this link and listen to the:

Classic Abbott & Costello sketch

xoxo

Hoot Hoot Hurray!

A very special girl turned ONE last week! It feels like just yesterday when we made cake pop rattles for Mommy's baby shower.  Now her little girl has turned one and we were soo happy to be a part of the celebration once again. 

When she told us her little one loved owls and could hoot just like them, we couldn't wait to get started on one of our favorite feathered friends.  

The party was decorated in pinks and teals and these owls were the finishing touch to a perfectly planned birthday party.

Mom reports that her Birthday Girl "has been hooting all day long! 

She absolutely loved her owl cookies!" 

We want to thank you, Blaire, for trusting XOXO Cookies to create a sweet treat that brought smiles from your sweetie on her very special day! 

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!

YoHo, YoHo, A Pirate's Treat For Me!

A very special "Pirate" just turned 5!  His mom wanted to throw him a fun, activity filled, pirate themed birthday for him and his Mateys to enjoy.

She had already planned this party down to the very last detail, from the eye patches and a treasure chest,  to walking the plank and hand decorated loot bags. What more could you want?  Cookies of course!  Pirate Cookies! Argggh....

We were very excited when she asked us to help out with this very special party.  But pirates were another first for us, so we called on every resource we had for inspiration, including a Play Mobile Pirate set we had as kids.  (Not exactly girly-girls I guess.)

When we finally finished, we loved these cookies so much that we had to bring out our own pirates to join in on the fun for the photo shoot.  

Mom shared this picture of the party boy.  I think it is safe to say, this little pirate had a great birthday, got lots of good loot and enjoyed every last bite!

Happy Birthday Dane! 

from

XOXO Cookies

Just A Spoonful of Sugar

Grandma Joycie's birthday is in July, and we knew she would enjoy an evening at the theatre seeing the Musical Production of Mary Poppins.  It was playing in Orange County so we bought tickets, gathered everyone together, and headed through the tumultuous traffic of So Cal.   Arggh.

We spent the weekend on beautiful Balboa Island, across the bay from Newport Beach.  Once you park your car on the Island, you don't get into it again until you go home.   Or in this case, until you leave for the theatre.  

The afternoon's summer sun was not wasted.  We sat on the beach soaking up the healing rays as we enjoyed the passing yachts and the young families walking dogs and pushing strollers along the promenade.

We took the opportunity to enjoy our birthday treats while we were enjoying the sun.  The breeze was a bit strong and we didn't light the candles on these brownie pops, so we wished Grandma Joycie a happy birthday and bit in.

Many of my children's summer days were spent along this gently lapping waterline, and I couldn't resist getting a shot of my brownie pop enjoying the same cool water.   Almost more fun than creating these little treats is photographing them.  

And look at the little person footprint!  So cute.

Chatting away with Grandma, daughter number three demonstrated that these treats are worth repeating in the future.  And the musical later that evening?   As I expected.  "Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way."  

Happy Birthday Wishes to Grandma Joycie!

From your family and XOXO Cookies

Stop to Smell the Roses

... And Eat the Cookies!

July is probably my favorite month.  So many friends and family members celebrate July birthdays!  And I forgot to take pictures of some of the fun treats we tried.  The cheesecake pops were a taste hit, but we're still perfecting them, so future pictures of those are a given.

One of my favorite cookie designs for celebrating a birthday is the cupcake, since you can mix it up with multiple colors every time you make them!  And no matter what colors we choose, they just sing of happiness!

We happened to have some beautiful yellow roses in bloom this particular day, and while I was decorating, the hubster was out cutting a small bouquet.  I love the ruffled edges of these petals.

My friend at work was celebrating her birthday on this warm summer day.  Normally, we urge each other to take a walking break sometime during the course of the day, and lately we've found our way down the hill to a fully blooming rose garden.  We slow our strides to smell the roses (literally!) before heading back to our "office on the hill." 

So this blog is dedicated to a walking buddy of mine who reminds me (by her sterling example) to look on the bright side.  We actually skipped walking on this day in favor of a trip downtown to enjoy a fast, but fun lunch away from the office.

I hope her next trip around the sun brings her nothing but sunshiny smiles! 

Birthday wishes from Sheree

and

XOXO Cookies

Happy Doggone Birthday!

Meet Logan.  Logan's mom, Jenny, is celebrating a birthday this weekend and her friend thought it would be fun to give her a little treat to help celebrate.  

Jenny's beloved dog Logan was the inspiration for this fun order. We were very excited to try out our doggie themed cookie cutters for the first time.  Dogs, doghouses, bones and fire hydrants! What's not to love? 

Packaged in a black dog bowl, these cookies made a fun presentation.  And MY pup, Kiska, was so proud to pose next to these cookies.  (She loves a photo shoot!)

Happy Birthday from one dog lover to another! 

Kimi

and XOXO Cookies!

Yippee Ki Yay Cookies!

One thing you can count on ~ there is always a birthday to be celebrated somewhere!  This extra special birthday party was in honor of my dear friend's cousin.  He turns seventy years young this month, and I'm betting that's no exaggeration.  We've known members of his extended family for many years, and their enthusiasm for life, their devotion to family, and their dedication to their work, is unsurpassed.  I was honored to contribute to this celebration, and it made this project so much fun to work on!

One member of the family owns a ranch with a very cool barn, but the only animals inside this barn are the party-goers.  (I can say that cuz I've been one!)  So the plan for the family is to provide an evening of food, libation, music and celebration in this lovely barn-made-party-place for this birthday boy!  Hence, the western-themed cookies.

Best wishes go out to you, Jerry, for another wonderful year ahead ~ full of fun and happy surprises, and of course, more family parties at the Ranch!  We trust your party was a HUGE success! 

Happy Birthday from XOXO Cookies!

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-Cake . . .

It's Rylee's Birthday!    She lives in the beautifully green State of Oregon (a particularly favorite color of XOXO Cookies), and we don't see her nearly enough.   But according to pictures we see, she's every bit as cute as we would imagine.  Her Grandma and Grandpa were traveling to visit the family and celebrate her birthday this weekend, and these cupcake cookies were ready in time to hitch a ride.  

Happy Birthday, Rylee!  We hope to see you and your big brother sometime soon!!

xoxo

One Fish, Two Fish. . .

Another BABY is expected, and soon-to-be Auntie Meegan ordered some custom decorated cookies for her little sis's baby shower.   The theme was Dr. Seuss!  We immediately knew the colors had to be bright primary colors, and it wasn't long before we settled on our strategy.  We decided to expand on one of the Doc's most popular books - - Who wouldn't get the connection when they saw red and blue fish?!

The faces on these li'l guys cracked me up.  Such silly fish, and such a tall and crazy striped hat!  We were truthfully stumped when it came to finding a cutter for the cat's hat, but where are you if you don't have a Cat's Hat when you are saluting Dr. Seuss!?    

We decided we needed to think outside the box once again, so Kimi took another critical look at our drawers of assorted cookie cutters (that's when it gets fun).   She pulled each one out, turned it over a couple of times and squinted real hard as she tried imagining one of them revealing itself as a cat's hat!  

I was asking my handy hubs if he could design a hat worthy of Dr. Seuss, when Kimi's eyes lit up and she produced a graduation scroll cutter.  Hmmm.... not what I had in mind. . .  but wait!   I see it!  We turn it vertically, cut it off here, tweak it there, and voila' ~  a hat fit for the most distinguished Cat of all.  Brilliant!

We used the cover of One Fish, Two Fish as inspiration for another cookie, and when they were finished, we couldn't resist posing the fishies for their photo shoot.    Congratulations to the soon-to-be Mom and Pop.   Happy thoughts for a speedy delivery and a healthy future reader!   

And of course, Best wishes from the Fishes!

xoxo