In my family, we make a big deal about any holiday – birthdays, father’s day, anniversaries – they’re all accompanied by some sort of family gathering and plenty of presents. Ryan has noted that we might go a little overboard, but I love taking the time to think of something my parents or brother would love, and surprising them a few times a year. I’m a self-proclaimed master gift-giver, and so I gladly accept the challenge each holiday. Last week was a biggie – my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. For their 20th (I was 14), I somehow managed to organized a surprise party with all of their friends and family – a pretty awesome feat for a high school freshman if you ask me. I kind of knew I’d never beat out my 14-year-old self this year, but I did my best. I sent a bottle of champagne and flowers to their room on a cruise they went on in Europe, and made these special anniversary cookies for when they got back.
Since I don’t have a printer that is compatible with edible frosting paper, I opted to order the photo transfers from a supplier (I used gogocakes.com) and was super excited with the result. I ordered a sheet of their wedding picture and a sheet of a picture of the two of them from their cruise this summer. Looking good 30 years later, wouldn’t you agree?? I wanted to create a fun collage of cookies, so also added some monogrammed cookies (with piped flowers similar to these cupcakes) and little “30” cookies. I really loved the end result, as did my parents – I’m pretty sure I saw a tear in my mom’s eye. Any ideas for their 40th? I’ve certainly set myself up!
My parents mean the world to me, and the fact that they’re still pretty into each other too makes me gush with happiness. Raising a child with special needs increases the chance of divorce by some crazy amount, but they’ve outshone the statistics and haven’t let any stress related to Scott come between them. (Not that I was the easiest teenager either, but we’ll just ignore that for now.) I went to college 600 miles away, but now that I’m back in dental school within 20 miles, I never want to leave. They’re pretty ecstatic about that too, but that might just be because I make really good cookies…
Photo Transfer Anniversary Cookies
Ingredients:
1 batch sugar cookie dough (I substituted 1 tsp of vanilla extract for almond and loved it)
1 batch royal icing
Photo transfers (I got mine here)
Directions:
- Prepare cookie dough and chill over night.
- Roll out and cut dough into desired shapes. Bake and let cool completely.
- Prepare royal icing.
- Pop the photo transfers into the freezer for a few minutes in order to separate them from the non-edible paper.
- Spread a small smear of icing on the cookie and press photo transfer gently onto the cookie.
- Decorate as you wish! I used a medium-sized round tip and medium-sized open star tip for the borders around the photos and an Ateco 81 for the little flowers.
No, this is not a sunglasses ad…
such a cute idea!
This is so sweet and perfect! Definitely some good ideas for my parent’s 30th, which is right around the corner!
You’ll have a hard time outdoing yourself for their 40th though…you might actually have to pay for the cruise! lol!
Beautiful tribute to your parents – nice job! Congratulations to them!
So colorfully inclined with the rainbow cake. I would love to prepare my own version of this.
Aw, these are so cute :) I bet your parents loved them! Sounds like you have a great little family unit there!
Erica.. I had to post. These are so beautiful. You are such an amazing baker, and even more so – daughter & sister! Job well done — as usual.
Awww. So sweet!
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Hello there! I just discovered your blog through Pinterest, and your recipes look delicious. Photos and writing are both beautiful, too! My folks’ 40th anniversary is this summer, and I can’t wait to make these for them. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your creativity!
As a side note, you said something that is so sweet to me about your brother having special needs and your parents still hanging in there together. My husband and I (who will celebrate our 10th anniversary this summer) have two children- a son with special needs and a daughter, much like your family. Such an encouragement to me to see all four of your smiles in the same pic :)
Thank you again for the recipes! The salted oatmeal cookies are next for me!
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A very useful topic, many people who like to take photos will be grateful to you!