Going Ape Over Decorated Banana Cookies!

I had so much fun coming up with a creative idea for the presentation of family memberships for our local zoo for a give-away. The business who sponsored the give-away asked me to come up with something that would coordinate with such a nifty gift.My project began with this…
…membership certificates in a paper scroll.

banana cookies santa ana zoo
The presentation possibilities were endless but you know me…… ‘cookies must be involved!’

The zoo is known for their monkey exhibit and what is more fun than monkeys?

I found this Curious George-esque fella at Toys R Us.

banana cookies santa ana zoo
So friendly, don’t you think?

And what goes with monkeys? Bananas!

banana cookies santa ana zoo
And what’s better than a few bananas? A bunch of them!

banana cookies santa ana zoo
I wanted the cookies to be more than just yellow crescents so I rubbed on petal powders in orange, brown and green to add some shading giving them more depth.

I drew the stems and tips on the bananas with an Ameri-Color brown edible ink pen.

banana cookies santa ana zoo
‘Ripeness’ was added by dipping a toothbrush into a cocoa mixture and flicking it over the cookie for those little brown specks.

banana cookies santa ana zoo
splatter decorating with icing
I did this only on a few cookies because I didn’t want the bunch to look like they were all destined to become banana bread.

banana cookies santa ana zoo
I couldn’t believe the ribbon I found at Michael’s with adorable monkey faces.
I couldn’t wait to get home a make a bow with accent color ribbon.
Is anyone else like that?

banana cookies santa ana zoo
George is enjoying the late afternoon sun of a day that reached 72 today.
I promise spring will be here, and it’s coming to the mid-west, northeast and south too.
But we’re going to keep it over here for awhile longer. 🙂

banana cookies santa ana zoo
George was finished with a wrap of poofy cellophane, a big beautiful bow and a custom made tag of the sponsoring company’s logo. He also found a new friend and family today.

Next week another lucky winner will be chosen.

I hope the winners’ visits to the zoo are more fun than a barrel full of monkeys!

Valentine’s Day Downloads

Happy February! I found some great links to all things Valentines; cupcake toppers and wrappers, cello bag toppers, and printable brownie bags. How do these gals do this?? I am completely smitten with their talents! I knew you would be too. Kim, at The Celebration Shoppe offers these adorable cello bag toppers to download. The retired room mom in me is crying out! Any kindergartners or first graders out there who will adopt me for the month of February? Here’s… [Read More]

Monogrammed Baking Boxes For Less

With holiday baking soon to begin and inspired by Hopsy and her darling monogrammed green toile boxes, I began to search for boxes to use this season. I found what looks like to be the same supplier for Williams-Sonoma’s French Pastry Boxesbut for a lot less. 20 sheets of 20″ x 30″ patterned waxed paper. William Sonoma $12 BakingBoxes.com $9 with more patterns to choose from. Monogrammed Cookie Boxes 7″ x 5″ x 3″ Williams-Sonoma 6 for $29 BakingBoxes.com 10… [Read More]

The PINK Plate Special…

“How many for the Pink Martini party, this evening, Miss?” I’ve rented the entire room just for us! I had a friend who once said our neighborhood was so obscenely decorated during Christmas it looked like Santa had thrown up. I guess you could say Cupid had the same digestive problem but I LOVED IT! How fabulous is this? This was taken during the morning but can you imagine how magic it is at night?? The Rose Parade meets The… [Read More]

Spiced Tea & Autumn. “Mmmm.”

With the windmills of my mind on Autumn this week how cute are these mugs from Crate & Barrel, one of my Happiest Places On Earth? Paired with Halloween Hot Cocoa… … or make your own spiced tea ~ 2 cups orange flavored drink mix (e.g. Tang) 2 cups white sugar 1/4 cup instant tea powder 3/4 cup lemon-flavored instant tea powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cloves DIRECTIONS In a large bowl, combine orange drink mix, sugar,… [Read More]

Valentine Cookies in Glassine Bags

decorated valentines cookies

  It’s been a busy baking week. Today I finished my hearts and gave them to my son’s high school jazz band. I also made extras for my dinner party this weekend. The middle of the white cookies is crushed cherry lollipops that melt as the cookie bakes producing a hard candy. It’s so pretty held up to the light. They just glow. The red hearts have red sanding sugar sprinkled on and the pinks hearts have pearlized dragees. All… [Read More]

Seashell and Dolphin Cookies – Part Deux

dolphin cookies shell cookies dana hills high school

  A pod of dolphins Once in awhile I will bake and decorate special cookies upon request. This week I was happy to make them for the Dana Hills High School girls’ varsity soccer team in celebration of the end of their season. This is the third year I have made them special cookies. This year I was wracking my brain of what I could create that would be different than a standard soccer ball cookie so I decided to… [Read More]