Art in the Park

Hi! Thanks again to everyone who participated in National Sugar Cookie Day! I've got a few new links to share!

Damaris from Within the Corners of My Kitchen shared her favorite sugar cookie recipe. They look delicious! And, Jennifer Conway celebrated by showing us her vintage cookie cutters and buying some cookies from a local bakery.

Caitlin of Carmel Turtle asked if I made any cookies for Sugar Cookie Day…

Yes! I did! Actually, I made about 9 dozen cookies for "Art in the Park". Here's some photos of my cookies…





"Art in the Park" was my big community debut. Honestly, I'm not yet sure what to think about how it went. First of all, without really thinking, I bought the cheapest canopy that they had at Wal-mart and (of course) it was a piece of junk. My booth looked and felt like one of those forts you rig up with blankets and stuff when you're a kid. Tall people had to duck to get in. Then, having set up much earlier than the boothes around me, I guess I got the schematics wrong because the Indian Taco stand set up in front of me at the last minute so I ended up being kind of blocked off and hidden. Also, keeping the food out of the sun and keeping the wind from blowing everything over was an issue (which I expected).

Enough whining…it wasn't all bad.

I offered a variety of cupcake flavors and frosting flavors. Customers ordered their choice of flavors and I swirled the frosting on with a pastry bag right there in my booth (I kept the bags of frosting on ice). Then I let them choose what color of sprinkles they wanted and let them pick out a sugarpaste shape for the top. I had a big chalk board with all the flavors and instructions on it but I'm not sure everyone understood what I was doing. Those who did "get it" seemed to really enjoy having a cupcake custom made for them while they watched, especially kids. I heard one super sweet little girl tell her mom she loved me! That totally made my day.

The cookies I brought did not sell well at all. Lots of people looked at them but very few bought them. I had them individually priced at $3 - $3.25 ea. and the boxes (shown above) had 5 cookies in them for $7.00 with one "fancy" cookie on top and 4 more simple cookies underneath. I overheard one person say they were too expensive. My guess is that that person has never made decorated cookies before. Given the price of ingredients and the time involved in making my really fancy cookies I've got them priced as low as I possibly can.

I guess, when it was all said and done, I covered my costs and handed out lots of business cards so we'll see what happens next.

Michelle of Faerie Dust Dreams must have somehow known I needed a little confidence boost. She gave my blog some awards!



Thank you!
In accepting this award,
I agree to:
1. Display logo and link to who gave it.
2. Nominate at least 7 blogs.
3. Add links to those 7 blogs.
4. Leave the nominees a message that they received the award.

So, I'll link to my nominees in my next post. Right now it's time to get my boy to bed.

The big day is here! Happy Sugar Cookie Day!!! Thanks everyone for participating! You are all so talented!

These are some of the submissions (clockwise, starting with the top left corner):

The elegant Paisley Cookies are from distopiandreamgirl whose website is Mirabelle.

Lilley shared the yummy looking polymer clay cookie charms.

The pretty pink dress is from Obsessed with Cupcakes. I highly recommend checking out their website. They have some great content!

Since my husband is a Raiders fan, these Raider's jersey cookies from Glorious Treats caught my eye.

Janice, one of the nicest people I've met on flickr, posted the yummy looking sugar cookies with the red sugar. Her blog is called "Pug Yoga". How can you resist checking out a blog with a name like that?

Mollie of Wild Olive made the star cookies for the Fourth of July and Be Cheery shared the Scotty and heart cookies.

Those ADORABLE cupcake cookies (with the blue bottoms) are from my extremely talented friend Heather of Merry Moon Sweets and Treats. I love reading Heather's blog. She is attending culinary arts school and shares all of the things she's learning, plus she makes totally wonderful needle felted desserts (available in her etsy shop). She posted her favorite sugar cookie recipe on her blog. I can't wait to try it!

The leaf cookie is from Bree. Here's her etsy store.

Kim and I have decided we must be long lost sisters as we have so many things in common. She made the other super adorable cupcake cookies (with the pink bottom). Crumbs is the name of her delicious blog.

Mercedes shared her collection of cookie jars from her cookie jar shop in Chicago, Jazze Junque, Inc. Looks like a fun place to visit!

I want to thank Allison of "The Lark" for writing a very nice post about this "event". I'm so flattered. Her blog is very fun and her shop "Lark" is so sweet!

Finally, the Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls are from my friend Teena of Kitschen Pink, a talented baker and also a very talented textile artist! Looking at her work just makes me smile. It's so "happy".

Thanks again for taking part in this. If you still want to share your sugar cookie photos or recipes, please do! I'll keep posting photos and links until the end of this month.

national sugar cookie day – badge, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Updates:

1. I've decided to start posting your links and photos beginning on July 9, and continuing through the rest of the month. That will give you a little more time if you wish to be a part of this.

2. Cookies don't have to be fancy decorated sugar cookies. Any sugar cookies will do. In fact, you don't even have to post photos of sugar cookies. Share your favorite sugar cookie recipe or memory or your cookie jar collection. Whatever… just have fun and don't stress!

3. Let me know with a comment or an e-mail if you have a blog post you'd like me to link to. If you don't have a blog but just post photos to the flickr group, I might share those too.

Thanks!

You're invited!

national sugar cookie day!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

National Sugar Cookie Day is July 9th and I thought it would be fun to have a little blog party/cookie exchange.

•Bake up some sugar cookies (plain or decorated)

•photograph your cookies

•blog about them

•post your photos to the National Sugar Cookie Day Flickr group

•e-mail me with your info/blog link. I'll post the links and some photos here on July 9th (late evening)!
Have fun!

P.S. I've never hosted one of these blog events before. I'm not sure what to expect. If you think I should structure this differently somehow please let me know!

Have fun!

Thanks!

While the weeds grow…

Thank you so much for all the nice, encouraging comments on my last post! Sometimes I think I must be a little crazy to even think that I might be able to make a living making cupcakes and cookies. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the transition from employed graphic artist to self-employed baker. A few of you have told me you want to bake for a living too and I wish you the best of luck! I've had a couple of bakers agree to let me interview them so we can find out how they've done it. One works from home and the other rents a kitchen space. Hopefully, I'll finally get these interviews done and posted sometime in July. If you have any specific questions you'd like me to ask them let me know!

This was a really crazy week and I didn't have much time for any business planning. I did get some great new business supplies though. I went to an antique show in Walnut, Iowa and found some Sugar and Meringue uniforms(the vintage aprons shown above). Meanwhile, my mom went to the local junk store and found some great glass plates and domes for me to use as display pieces. The "Disco Dust" that I ordered came in the mail this week too. I finally got to play with it today. It's so much fun! Here's where I got it.




…and while I'm baking, planning and blogging…the weeds in my flower beds just keep growing and growing and growing… huhhhhhh