Last month, my mom (Donna, from Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases) posted that she was looking to recruit a team of people that would bake cookies for soldiers serving in the Middle East. I love to bake so it was a given that I would sign up for her Operation Baking Gals team.
And because I love to bake AND papercraft, I knew this would be a perfect opportunity for a Bake it, Make it & Take it post. Rather than "taking it," though, I SENT it! My package just went out in yesterday's mail (a little later than the rest of them when out because we were in PA last weekend for my Soulology Project retreat) and it's on its way to a bunch of hungry soldiers looking for some "lovin' from the oven" back home.
I used my mom's Peanut Butter Cookie recipe for one of my batches of cookies. I used super-chunk peanut butter because I LOVE those big chunks of peanuts in my cookies (I made a double batch so we had extra for here at home, too). These cookies turn out SO moist and with a couple of apple peels between the layers of cookies (to keep them fresh) in these plastic containers, they're going to be just as moist when they find their way into the hands of those soldiers.
You know me.....I can't just bake something to give away without it being packaged somehow. My love of baking follows closely behind my love of papercrafts. Because I needed to make sure that these cookies and goodies were packaged so that they wouldn't break or be all over the box by the time they got to Iraq, I couldn't really put them in cello bags with a belly band around them or something similarly as cute. But.....I thought of a way to decorate the sturdy plastic containers we were encouraged to send them in.
I cut a piece of Riding Hood Red cardstock as the base and then cut a piece of patterned paper from the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper pack (Stampin' UP). I chose the paper with the Baja Breeze color theme.
I used the Quirky Alphabet set (from Molly Stamps) to stamp out my letters using Versamark ink. I sprinkled them with black embossing powder and heated them to melt the powder. For the word, "you," I stamped and embossed on a scrap of Kiwi Kiss patterned paper from the Urban Garden pack. I love how these stamps show the patterned paper through the main part of the letter.
I cut the Kiwi Kiss letters out and popped them up on the lid using some pop-dots. Just a little extra dimension for fun. I added some red, green and blue star stickers that I've had sitting in my sticker album for YEARS and this was the perfect reason to use them. They went really well with the colors of the cardstock and patterned papers.
Cookies weren't the only things I put in my care package. I also tucked in a ziploc bag of 10 stamped cards (because I have SO many of them!) so that the soldiers would have something to use to send home to their own families.
Of course, I can't possibly post about making cookies and now show you a pictures of the cookie-goodness that was inside the package. Here's a picture of the Peanut Butter Cookies I sent off. I love rolling the balls of dough in sugar before baking them.
In the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting about a team that I'm hoping to put together for my own Operation Baking Gals Team for sending "cookies and cards" to a group of soldiers. This is a great time for doing it since we're all getting into holiday mode and baking up a storm over the next few months.
Happy Creating!
-Stampin' Mama
Wow, what a great idea! I'm sure they will be happily received!
Jane
Posted by: Jane | October 13, 2008 at 09:56 AM
That is so nice, Erika. I might be interested in joining a group if you start one.
So, you put apple peels in with your cookies to keep them fresh, huh? I learned to throw a slice of bread in with them, but I am finding out if the cookies are still fresh, the bread makes them fall right apart. Have you or your mom ever used bread? Have any tips? If not, what tips do you have for the peels?
Many warm hugs,
Jodi
Posted by: Jodi Galland | October 13, 2008 at 02:46 PM