And my last summer drink for the 4th of July that I made for Celebrations: Polka dot milkshakes in blue and red. Sorry, folks, no alcohol in these, but if you want to find a way to add some, I’m totally cool with that.

Just one or two drops of food coloring turns vanilla milkshakes into blue or red. And the polka dots? Marshmallows.

Find the how-tos to make patriotic polka dot milkshakes HERE at Celebrations.

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The next drink I made for Celebrations to celebrate the 4th of July can be either with or without alcohol. So everyone is covered. All I did was turn lemonade blue. That, and add a watermelon star stirrer (aka watermelon pop).

For the how-tos to make blue lemonade (with or without alcohol), click HERE to visit Celebrations.

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Well, one celebration specifically. The 4th of July of course. I’m not exactly known for mixology (except maybe in college, wink wink), so if I can make these layered drinks, trust me, anyone can. If I was better at it, I’d have done three layers: Red, white and blue. But I sort of cheated and mixed the white and blue together.

These are definitely for the non-shot taking types, as the mix of Pop Rocks fizz and yummy, creamy blend of Schnapps and half and half, goes down pretty smoothly. And I got to buy some grenadine. Sheesh, I haven’t had grenadine since I was a kid, in Shirley Temple form. I used to sit at the bar where my uncle tended and order a Shirley Temple with a zillion cherries. But I digress… on with shooters!

For the instructions to make them, click HERE to visit Celebrations.

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My poor Dad. His birthday falls on or around Father’s Day every year. And yeah, I’ll admit it. I collapse them into one gift giving occasion. But in my defense, my dad is really, really difficult to shop for. I can’t imagine if I had to come up with two great ideas at the same time without months of deliberation between the two events. Come to think of it, I’ve only actually come up with one great gift idea for my dad. Ever. And that was to add him as my second card on my Costco membership. Cost to me: Zero. That’s the ONLY really, truly, honest-to-goodness-wanted gift I’ve managed to come up with. See? That’s why he gets two for one. (Scratch that, reverse it, one for two.) He’s impossible.

Thankfully, I always have the cookie thing going for me. He LOVES to eat. Fortunately, he loves exercise as much as he loves to eat, so one would never know of this passion for edibles. He also loves all the new gadgets, which makes me proud of my senior dad. I made these iPad cookies for him a couple years ago.

These “POP!” cookies may need some explaining. You see, his grandkids call him “Pop Pop,” as I called my grandfather. So get it? Pop. Pop. Pop! But these would also be good for the 4th of July, yes?

To make these, I cut out little ovals of cookie dough, baked and let cool according to the recipe. I used my royal icing, divided and tinted with Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Bright White, Super Black, Orange, Electric Green and Sky Blue Egg, but use any colors you like), and filled disposable decorating bags that were fitted with couplers and size “3″ decorating tips. I thinned the white first before filling the bag. For Basic Cookie Decorating how-tos, click HERE. For tips on finding supplies, click HERE. I piped a pop art kinda outline with black. I filled each with the thinned white icing. When that had set an hour or so, I piped the words “POP!” on each. Let the cookies dry overnight before handling or wrapping.

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

My husband loves beer. Craft beers, cheap beers, not cheap beers, bottled beers, canned beers, domestic beers, imported beers, even brewing beer, anything beer. So what better Father’s Day gift from my daughter than beer? But she’s only five. Even if she could get a fake ID, she can’t drive and has no money or taste in good beer. So I wondered what could be a good beer-themed gift for her to make that would not raise any red flags at child services. Ta da! Beer Art. He likes beer. She likes art. Perfect.

Bonus: This is super duper crazy easy to make for pretty much any age. And it looks like actual art I’d hang on my wall. You know, instead of that other art I have hanging on my wall from my daughter’s experimental crayon stages. (Seriously, does every kid get a memo about the stripe of blue sky and corner sun?)

To have your kid make beer art…

You will need:

a bottle and/or can of beer

wax paper

paints

brushes

canvas from the craft store

What to do: Pour out some paints on a piece of wax paper, whatever colors the kid wants. Use the brush to spread the paint around a bit so there aren’t huge glops. Have the kid stand a beer in a color of paint, then stamp on the canvas. Switch colors, mix bottles and cans, overlap, whatever. When finished, clean off the bottom of the beers and return to the fridge so your husband doesn’t know.

And this would be my kid with her beer. For her art. Looking all serious artist-like.

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!