Goodies for Mothers Day and Boys Day

A little late with this post, but these are the treat bags and cookie boxes I barely finished in time for our Mothers Day dinner. I think I waited too long to start baking the cookies, mostly because I felt uncertain about how long they would keep, and then it was a mad rush to get everything put together in time. The cookies were Oatmeal Lacies...thin, crisp and buttery...not hard to make, but a little different than the usual cookie dough. They're quite delicious while crispy, but unfortunately they tend to wilt quickly in humid weather conditions like we have here in the islands. Waited till the last minute to bake them in hopes they'd be fresh and still crisp when I passed them out. Got the recipe for them here, if you'd like to give them a try.

Inspired by some pretty stencil cut boxes I saw over at the online Silhouette store, I decided to try designing something similar to put the cookies in, using the stencil cut rose file from the Cricut Wrap It Up cartridge. Had to keep it clean and simple so assembling would be quick once I got the pieces cut on the Silhouette.

Also created a  simple topper for the gift bag the boxes went in using the same rose and leaves stencil and a scalloped edge. Very fast and easy, though maybe a little too plain? Ah well, at least they got done in time!

Now, here's a look at two Mothers Day treats that aren't simple or plain at all that I was lucky enough to receive this year from sweet friends!

This super cute kokeshi chopsticks holder was made by none other than my dear friend Lorna, using a cutfile she designed. Aww...isn't that little baby kokeshi just too adorable? And the luscious pink macarons you see were a gift from our friend the master patissier, sweet Heather. Almost too pretty to eat but totally light as a cloud and melt in your mouth delicious!

Lorna also surprised us a week prior to Mothers Day with these fabulous Boys Day treats. You can just imagine all the excitement that went on at our workplace when she brought these amazing koi nobori candy holders in to share!

Lorna designed her koi from one of those paper party popper boxes, using an envelope punch board to create the pattern and trimming it at one end to look like a fish. She created the very cool scales on the fish by running her cardstock thru an embossing folder inked up with a shimmery ink pad...love it! Circle and heart punches for the eyes and fin, and a Chupa Chups lollipop placed inside a straw for the holder...amazing, right?