My Story
The beginning of ITLT...
One of my favorite sayings has always been “Remember whenever you’re in a position to help someone, be glad and always do it because that’s God answering someone else’s prayers through you.” In a small way, this is how I began to create custom sugar cookies and cupcakes.
I say small because my daughter wasn’t actually praying for Grandma to make cookies and cupcakes for her grandson’s birthday, but she was trying to save money. A few months prior, I had tried my hand at decorating a few basic Christmas cookies for the big family dinner. Just for fun, something a little different. Much to my surprise, they were a huge hit! Even more so than the pies, cheesecake, or any other sugar drenched delicacy I had lying around. So, when my daughter made her request, I first warned her they may not look the best, but quickly agreed to help out.
They were horrible! At the time, I felt I had done a fairly decent job considering my lack of expertise or experience. But I knew they did not look remotely like all those gorgeous cookies I had browsed on the computer. Everyone else seemed to love them! They complimented how delicious my cookies were and how awesome they were decorated. Personally, I thought they were just being nice but, I was surprised again when the requests started slowly rolling in from my daughter’s friends. More grandkids birthdays, other kid’s birthdays, bachelorette parties, my daughter’s engagement party. It was fun, challenging, satisfying, and did I say fun?
Then one day, a friend asked me to make cookies and cupcakes for her daughter’s baby shower. This was her first grandchild, so I was already a little nervous, but said, “Sure! About how many people?” And she replies, “Well, there are 300 invited, but I’m pretty sure only about 85-90 will show up.”
You ever get that feeling in your stomach? You know, the one where you feel like you are going to pass out, throw up, and scream simultaneously? But I had already agreed and, despite the raptors making chaos in my stomach, smiled and assured her it would not be a problem. I was so nervous, scared this would be a disaster, and did I mention this was her first grandchild? But once I sat down and began decorating, I realized I had learned a lot over the past couple of years. And I could do this. And I did.
She was very happy, her daughter was very happy, and the cookies were a hit. The ones I did for her second daughter’s baby shower a couple of months later were an even bigger hit. And that is when I decided to market my creations. It’s not often one gets to do what they really want to do. But when you get the chance, I highly recommend pursuing that dream immediately 😊.