I Pinned It and Did It Fridays!

I have been working on this one for awhile!

I have been wondering what I can do to spruce up my cookie space's white walls...I really hate painting apartments, it is just generally a pain and then they charge you to paint them back at the end of your lease.  So if you dont get that paint up before you move in, it really isn't worth it...and I just generally don't have time and hate the smell.  And our walls are actually a nice bisquey cream, so they aren't that bad in person, but need something fun :)

SO I have been pinning picture walls for a long time on pinterest and have been curating some frames for a month or so now!

Here is the finished wall!  I am pretty happy with it!

There is my logo and my cookies and posters, I bought the keep calm and eat a cookie on Etsy and the other one which you can't read from the picture says "you are what you craft," I made that one!  I made the clock as well!


What do you think of my Peapods picture wall?!

Martha Stewart Show! And I Pinned It and Did It Friday!

I have been trying to update regularly but these past two weeks have been quite hard because I had to do over 300 cookies each week!  I am a one woman show over here and it gets a bit tough.

Any way, I want to first say Happy Birthday to my puppy Peapod!  He turned 7 on Wednesday.  I couldn't imagine my life without him...he is the namesake for my cookie business....has kept me company when I am lonely or stressed out... and he even lead me to my husband (who I met in a dog park...)!

Happy Birthday, Peapod!

Some big things are happening here at Peapods!  After last Friday's Purseblog feature, I have been approached by several organizations to do some pretty exciting things, so more to come on that in the next few months!  

I also was selected to be a part of the special Martha Stewart Show featuring all Etsy sellers!  I was selected to sit in the very front row with my cookies, and unfortunately I had no speaking part, but you do see me and Peapods Cookies several times throughout the show!

There I am, with my cookies :)

Here is a closer look at the cookies I brought, Kitchenaid mixers, whisks, piping bags, and dandelion rounds all in Martha's signature color!  I ended up handing them out to the producers, camera crew, and even the director (who brought them home to his daughters!).  So that was quite exciting.

 

The tags I designed for the show!

We also got some great freebies!  Some paint, clay, stencils, and a clay "cookbook".  I have already put my paint and stencils into use!  I got the cutest little owl lamp from West Elm last weekend and spruced up his shade with aqua, pink and grey Martha paints.  Do you like?

One last thing, since it is Friday!!  Here is todays I Pinned It and Did It!

Neutral nails with rainbow tips!   The base is Essie Sand Tropez...my fave nude for my skin tone :)

Thats all...I have been eating at some pretty fabulous places lately so I will try to get soem reviews up at some point this month :)  I need to clear my mind on those places before my big El Bulli extravaganza in two weeks at Next in Chicago!

If you want to keep up with my cookies, please friend me on facebook!  I update on there with cookie pictures almost everyday!

www.facebook.com/peapodscookies

Purseblog Feature and I Pinned it and Did it Fridays....for procrastinators

First off I just want to share this every exciting news, my Celine Mini luggage bag cookies were featured on the Purseblog!  Check it out here!

Words can't even describe what this means to me!  I have been a HUGE fan of the Purseblog and a member of the forum since 2006, I am kind of obsessed actually.  When I had a corporate job in fashion I was the one who would always update everyone if our brand was on the blog, or if our competitors were up there, and just the fact that PEAPODS COOKIES is on there right now....seriously I just have no words  :)

Anyway!

This week was so crazy, with 17 orders and over 360 cookies going all over the country, all over New York City, and will be seen at birthday parties, bridal showers, and baby showers all over this weekend!  I will be posting some fun pics late tonight but a lot of posted on my facebook page: Peapods Cookies Facebook

I however still found time to do a pinned it and did it....no idea how I pulled that off but the 4 hours of sleep per night probably helped.  I have been posting ribbon, wrapping, and craft paper storage for a while now and I have been trying to figure out an idea for tissue paper storage that is not 45 inches wide!

I bought an unfinished frame from Michaels on 96th street and painted it with Martha Stewart's pearl paint in light aqua, cut some 1/4" dowels to fit the back perfectly, covered then with some washi tape (yellow chevrons!), covered the washi tape with clear packing tape so they do not get dirty, then used some model glue to glue them to the back!   There you go, super easy!

Close up of the washi tape covered in plastic clear tape.

Once its dry, hang away!  I love how it is so colorful and cheery and lets me see what paper I have and keeps it off the floor.  Just need to hang it up on the wall today!  I might add some bump outs to the back so it hangs away from the wall a bit more than it is already.


I will have more to post later but trying to get outside today!

Pinned it and Did it Fridays!

I needed a cork board.  I wanted to buy a pretty one in a vintage white frame from Etsy, but they were not that big and over $100!  And then I saw this pin floating around on Pinterest:

Oh yeah, I can do that!  Cork board bought from Pearl Paint on Canal ($8 for 4 tiles).  Washi Tape bought from Paper Presentations on 18th St ($3.50 for solid roll, $4.50 for printed).  I bought two different colorways of tape...

You DO NOT need this much tape....I got nervous.  One roll is enough

I ended up going with the mint/silver combo thanks to a friend's reassurance :)  But I am really itching to make something with that other combo, even the guy at the store who was helping me said it was gorgeous :)

Anyway...
Here she is!

I am planning on hanging my customer orders and such on it so I can see them right there as I work!  You can see some cookies waiting to be decorated peeking in the corner of that last picture, haha.  I added some little cookie-centric stickers just to make it more "me".  

By the way those pictures are waiting for their friends to be done so they can grace my picture wall.  I made the one in front and bought the one in back :)

So, YAY for organization and getting my cookie room one step closer to completion!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

I have been slacking on my blog posts, been so busy over here.  I have literally been making cookies from 9am to 9pm everyday, and them answering all emails, convos, messages, etc at night.  But Peapods is almost at its 100th sale, in only 3 months, so while busy, I am sure am happily cookieing away!

Since it is officially baseball season...I am offering a giveaway of 10 Yankees themed cookies!  Don't worry if you don't root for the Yankees, I can just leave those ones out and you will still get 7 cookies!  Baseballs, bats, jerseys, gloves, logos, and best of all...cracker jacks!

All you have to do is leave a comment on my facebook page under this posting!  If you want to leave me a note here on my blog, I would love that too, just make sure you also enter on Facebook!!

These cookies could be yours!

Just a better view of the cookies, these aren't the giveaway!

So please enter, and stay tuned for some more blog posts!

I Pinned it and Did it Fridays!...Plus some Tips on Tips!

Happy Friday!!!

This week has been sooo busy, I will be posting my cookie creations tomorrow, as well as a GIVEAWAY!!!  So please check back here tomorrow :)

It's Friday...which means....Another Pinned it and did it!  I am having a lot of fun doing these small ones while I am working on a BIG overhaul of my "cookie craft room."  I hope to be finished with it in the next couple weeks and of course I will post pictures here!

I have been seeing many pictures of how cookiers are storing their piping tips and decided I *need* to get my tips out of the black Laduree box where they have been sitting in a jumbled mess...and into something more secure, time saving, and organized.  So here they are!

The containers are called "Snap and Go" and I found them in the jewelry section of Michaels for about $6 for all 6!  They are the perfect height to actually stand your tips up, which I like because you can see the tip openings....because a "1" tip from Wilton is very different than a "1" tip from Ateco. 

I wanted them to look a little prettier so instead of the normal label maker labels, I bought some rub transfers for $4 from Paper Presentation (my fave store!). 

So there they are, organized, clean, and pretty!  

On the subject of tips...I have a tip for cleaning your tips!  I know a lot of people use this $2 Wilton tip cleaner:

However, I have always found the bristles to be slightly too large and the wire handle bends way to easily.  Lots of frustration.  

Then one day in Sephora, I had a idea....their free spoolies!  They are literally the PERFECT width for fitting through the tip of a squeeze bottle and the little metal end is the perfect size to poke through the tip of a #1 tip and remove any dried pieces.  The plastic handle is nice and sturdy and you can even throw them out after a couple uses...very sanitary and FREE!

Love these!  Thanks Sephora :)

Thats all for now.  I have a few other things on my mind, so I may be posting later tonight.  It is so crazy this new life I have created for myself.  It is definitely a change from the normal 9-6 I was used to, but I am really settling into my groove and loving this new life!  

I Pinned It and Did It Friday!

Yay, it's Friday!!!  Here is my pinned it and did it!  Cascading polka dot nails!  I used Essie's mint candy apple and french affair (literally my two favorite colors ever).  The dots were done with a toothpick dipped in seche vite white (from the french manicure set).

Perfect for the Easter egg hunt I am going to this weekend :)

And here are some cookies that I have been waiting to post and finally can!  They actually match my nails...coincidence.  These are very easy wet on wet polka dot cookies, and turn out super precious.

Thats all for today, I have to run to a lunch date and then I am going to IKEA...wish me luck on the perfect workstation!!

Also, some really cute cookies set for next week, all new and different things I haven't done before!

Painting the town RED!

I have had this really strong attraction to red lately...I have always loved red (I have honey blonde hair, red is our best friend!) but lately it has been a very serious subject!  In the past two months I have even bought TWO red bags...

Red Celine Mini Luggage....

Me and my Celine out to brunch and out for drinks...

Then on Monday I got this bad boy...Balenciaga red city....

Just a truly stunning bag and shade of red if I do say so myself!

THEN IT HIT ME!  I know why I am loving red so much....

I have been staring at it for weeks straight because of all these guys!

Elmos everywhere!

We had FOUR Elmos party orders this week.  I had to do them in batches but it was fun because two of the orders were girly themed!  

Customized to match the birthday girl's party shirt!

Customized to match the party invitation  

And two regular Elmo assortments.

But don't worry, while I love RED, Peapods has been keeping busy with cookies other than Elmo!

Like cookie monster...haha!

My Classic Cookie Monster assortment

AND some non-Sesame Street character cookies for my good friend's birthday!  She is the BIGGEST Hello Kitty fan!

Some pretty Tiffany blue tea party themed cookies going all the way to California! (I had some others going to California, but can't post those yet and they are a surprise and haven't been received yet!)

One of my favorite assortments...

Then a beautiful Thank You gift!  I did these last week in sophisticated colors and this week's palette was all SPRING!  So fresh and pretty looking!

This is Peapods box for delivery!  (name removed for privacy) Look at those beautifully nestled cookies inside!  It's a great little surprise for your recipient!

That is it for now, but I have four more orders for the rest of the week, so stay tuned for more COOKIES!

And don't forget, Friday is I Pinned It and Did It Day!  And I have a great easy one for this week, that turned out great!

Quick Trick for avoiding Tacky Flood Icing :)

Have you ever spent all night decorating you cookies...go to bed really late...and wake up in the morning to beautiful, wonderful....NOT DRY COOKIES?!

It has happened to me 3 times since I started decorating cookies and each time is more devastating than the next...once it was a batch of 80 cookies that were going to a wedding!  I had to start all over from square one AND send them via very expensive overnight shipping.

So my husband had a GREAT idea, and where would be without our significant others chiming in with the "duh"-est ideas that we just didn't think of because we cookiers are so emotionally involved!

Enter the test plate!

All you do is take each of your flooding icings and pipe a little test stripe.
Then you can periodically poke your stripe, and if that stripe is not getting crusty on top within 10 minutes, and is not pretty solidly dry in 20/25 minutes...Then DO NOT use your frosting!  Make new.  Yes, it delays decorating with your newly minted frosting about 20 minutes....but TRUST ME, its worth it to be 100% certain your frosting will be perfect.  Now I always rest easy knowing my cookies will be dry and perfect in the morning.

If this helps just one person avoid the dreaded tacky icing problem, this post was worth it!