Morgan's Cookie Decorating Party

 Her birthday was 6 months ago, but I'm finally ready to share Morgan's Cookie Decorating Party. I decided to go with this theme because she had enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies so much. Who says you can only do that during the holidays?

 

The invitations were foam cookies, that I ended up not even passing out. You can see how I made them here.

 Of course the main activity of this party was the decorating, so I baked up a few batches of super soft sugar cookies.

 And lots of colorful frosting. Royal icing may look better, but buttercream tastes so much better.

I did not want to go the cookie cake route, since those are chocolate chip and this is all about decorating cookies. So I made a layer cake, with a big sugar cookie on top. I had been wanting to try out the ruffle frosting that is so popular right now, so I went for it. It was so easy!

Here you can see the big cookies, frosted white with aqua srinkles. The foam M I found at Michael's and the 3 candle came from Target.

I love these polka dot balloons! I think these came from Amazon.

I apologize about this photo. We had pushed the table against the window and used plastic tablecloths for a backdrop. This was what my camera managed. Blah I know. But you can see the tissue poms & tulle poms hanging here.

Now for the goodies. My girl loves sugar donuts, so I made them drizzled with orange and aqua glaze.

Gotta have chocolate covered Oreos. Everyone loves these!

I decided to try my hand at cake pops. They weren't too hard, but I goofed on the orange ones and they were too soft. So I had to use mainly blue. And they definitely aren't smooth. I guess I need more practice on them!

   

 I also had found some off-brand Oreo style cookies at Walmart for $1.00 a box, so I covered them in chocolate as well. Cheetos 'cause they are her fave, and our yummy Chili's style queso dip, salsa & chips.

 I raided the 15 for $1 candy bin at Party City and chose orange & blue Pixy Sticks. I stuck them in a mason jar and used fabric scraps for added decoration.

Sadly, I don't have any photos of me making this, but I made a matching apron for Morgie to decorate her cookies in. 

Aqua & orange plates from Party City, polka dot napkins from Target and matching forks, spoons & paper straws in mason jars.

And of course I had to wrap her presents to match the theme!

Since I knew the cookie decorating would be a huge mess, I set a table up on our screened porch for them to decorate. 

I mentioned before that I ended up not passing out her invitations, but I didn't want them to go to waste. So I hot glued them onto a piece of ribbon and hung them up as a banner. 

Lots of frosting colors and sprinkles to choose from!

I wanted to use my drink dispenser to serve blue lemonade, so I made some ice cubes out of the same Kool-Aid so the drink wouldn't get watered down.

I also sliced some lemons, froze them and added them as well.

The kids decorating their masterpieces.

My sweetie pie with her sweet treat.

Instead of goody bags, I purchased solid orange bags and added a thank you tag, so the kids could take their sweets home.

I always pre-scoop the ice cream ahead of time. It makes it so much faster and easier, and less messy! I even bought the birthday cake flavored ice cream so it would match!

These didn't really get eaten, but I loved how they looked! They are Sixlets from Party City.

I love, love, love colored cakes, so I did it aqua & orange inside.

 

I just had to do another variation of my rainbow slush.

The aftermath.

I love how bright and vibrant this party was. And miss Morie had a blast. I'd call this one a success!

Linked to: Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Friday Favs Party at Nap Time Crafters, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Sundae Scoop at I ♥ Naptime, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime, Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & Dreaming, Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, Talent Tuesday at Vintage Wanna Bee, Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, What We Wore, Read & Made at Rae Gun Ramblings, Look What I Made at Creations by Kara, I'm Crafty Party at SYTYC, Hookin Up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Throwback Thursday at Hubby Made Me, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Happy Hour at Craftberry Bush, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, Celebrations Link Party at Bird's Party Blog

Cookie Invitations

Since most of the cookie party printables I've come across were either pink & brown or blue & brown, I had to make my own. Some sort of printable would have been faster, but I think these turned out cute.

I started with foam sheets from Michaels, a scallop pattern, a circle traced from a cup and some puff paint (not pictured).

I just traced the scallops onto the white foam and cut them out.

And did the same with the brown foam & the circles.

Next I added "sprinkles" with the puff paint. I really wanted to use an actual aqua color, but this teal/turquoise was all I could find.

And then assemble. Now the funny thing about these invitations, is they ended up not being invitations. I ended up inviting everyone via Facebook, using this image. But I had planned on printing out the wording, and gluing it to the back of the cookie. The wording I was going to use was "Cookies are the perfect treat, for a little girl this sweet". And then the where, what time, etc.

I still plan on using these as decorations for the party, so they weren't a total waste. I think I might make some bigger ones, too.

Would you like a cookie?

Linked to: Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime, Link Party at Bird's Party Blog, Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & Dreaming, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Talent Tuesday at Vintage Wanna Bee, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog, What We Made & Wore Wednesday at Rae Gun Ramblings, What's Up Wednesday at Sew Woodsy,Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Planning the Cookie Party

Morgan's 3rd birthday is quickly approaching. Like, really close. Like I really need to get my butt in gear. This year we've decided on a cookie decorating party. I was trying to decide what theme to go with, and Mike suggested food, because she loves her Dora kitchen & play food. But then I remembered how much she loved decorating cookies at Christmas time, and the idea was born. It's not a cookies & milk party, so I did not want to go with the typical pink & brown or blue & brown color combo. I wanted something fun and bright that I had not used before, so I'm going with aqua & orange.

It's so hard to find orange stuff! Aqua hasn't been too hard since Easter is coming. But I could not find any orange wrapping paper. I did grab these orange bows and aqua & orange curling ribbon at Dollar General. The candle came from Target.

These adorable aqua bowls came from Target as well. They also had pink & yellow. I got the striped baskets on clearance awhile back from Dollar General.

I plan on using these for several different treats.

The tulle and two of the fat quarters came from Joanns, the other two fabrics from Walmart. I am hoping to make her an apron to wear (I'd consider making one for all the kids, but honestly, most of the kids will be older boys and I'm pretty sure they don't care). I also need to make a banner or bunting of some sort.

I found this little foam M at Michaels. It may or may not go on the cake. Not totally sure yet. The nut cups came from Hey YoYo on Etsy. The mini muffin cups I found at Walmart and the paper straws are from Pick Your Plum.

Of course I plan on making tissue paper pom poms and I think I'm going to try and make my own fans. I found these tissue packs at Walmart, but have been unable to find any orange yet. Boo. The wrapping paper was on clearance at Target (huge clearance in the party aisle right now!) and I ordered the balloons from Amazon.

I don't really have anything made for the party yet, except the invitations, but I plan on getting a lot done quickly! More to come. :)