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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How do you feel about messes? Do mounds of shoes, balls of cat fur and piles of paper drive you mad? They drive me mad. But my husband, our kid, our baby, our three cats make messes. None of the above mind or notice said mess. I mind and notice said mess. I chase after all of the above tidying. Always tidying. I think if I keep my house in total order, all magazine-home-like, my mind will be at rest. I will be in total control of life’s chaos.  Except I’m messy by nature and lack cleaning skills. I’m impatient and imprecise. I “clean” by quickly wiping down visible surfaces. I vacuum cat fur every day, but only what’s apparent to the eye. I don’t lift stuff. Or scrub. Our toothpaste is abominable. And don’t get me started on the car. I’m pretty sure there are food products petrifying under the seat, but I’m afraid to look.

My cookie decorating reflects this rushed imperfection. I’m in awe of those decorators who are machine-like perfect. (You know who you are, Bridget, Callye, Glory, Marian, Hani… ) I’m not. And never will be. Which is why I’ve been embracing this whole “messy” cookie thing lately. Like these chaos cookies, chaos heart cookies, messy letter cookies and monster cookie sticks. It’s OK to be messy with your decorating when you say it’s on purpose.

In case you can’t tell, these are supposed to be firework cookie pops. I made them messy on purpose.

how to make messy firework cookie pops for the 4th of July

you will need:*

cookie dough

royal icing

circle cutter

cookie sticks

food coloring

disposable decorating bags

couplers

size “3″ decorating tips

rubber bands

*Find the circle cutter (2-inch used here), cookie sticks, decorating bags, couplers and tips at the craft store. For the food coloring, I suggest Americolor Soft Gel Pastes. (Sky Blue, Red Red and Bright White used here).

step one: bake your cookies. Prepare cookie dough according to the recipe. Roll out, cut out circles, insert sticks and bake according to the directions. Let cool completely. For tips on making cookie pops, click HERE.

step two: prepare your icing. Prepare royal icing according to the recipe. Divide and tint red, white and blue. Prepare decorating bags with couplers and tips, fill with the icing and close tightly with rubber bands.

step three: decorate your cookies. Pipe each color on the cookie. Start at the center and pipe out. For tips on basic cookie decorating, click HERE. Let the cookies dry overnight.

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4th of July:

Star sandwich cookie pops, pop rock marshmallow pops, ice cream sandwiches, swirl cookie bites, stars and stripes cookie bites, 4th of July cupcakes.

And if this isn’t enough sweets for you, I rounded upTweet

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It’s been over a year since Sugarlicious hit the shelves, and I’m still super proud of that book. Why? Because it packs so much information in over 200 pages. It’s the book I wish I had when I started moving beyond decorated cookies into cupcakes, cakes, marshmallows, stuff on sticks and the mysteries of fondant.

Here, I’m going to expand on the Sugarlicious Chart I include in the back of the book. While I provide ideas for sweet crafts here and in the book, my goal is for you to learn the techniques so you can mix and match and make your own. But not everything goes together well. I wouldn’t use royal icing to top cupcakes, egads!  And you can’t use edible markers on buttercream frosting, but you can use them on poured sugar icing. See? It gets confusing. So what goes with what?? Royal icing, frosting, fondant, cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, marshmallows… aaaaagggghh!!!?!  Though I’m sure you can find examples of exceptions, below are the matches I think work best.

I usually choose one of these sweets to start:

• cookies or cookie pops, • cupcakes, • cakes, • cake pops, • petits fours and • marshmallows or marshmallow pops

And here are your choices for toppings:

•  royal icing, • buttercream frosting, • poured sugar icing, • fondant and • melted candy melts

And these are some things you use for decorating:

• royal icing designs, • piped frosting, • fondant and candy clay decorations, • edible markers, • painting and stamping with food coloring, • sprinkles and candy, • edible icing sheets

NOW WHAT GOES WITH WHAT??

These toppings are best with these sweets:

• top cookies with royal icing, poured sugar icing, fondant, or dip pops in candy melts

• top cupcakes and cakes with buttercream frosting or fondant

• dip cake pops in candy melts

• top petits fours with poured sugar icing or fondant

• leave marshmallows bare or dip pops in candy melts

These decorations go best on these toppings:

•  on royal icing, use piped royal icing designs, fondant or candy clay decorations, edible markers, painting and stamping, sprinkles and candy or edible icing sheets

•  on buttercream frosting, use piped frosting designs, fondant or candy clay decorations, sprinkles and candy, or edible icing sheets

• on poured sugar icing, use piped royal icing designs, fondant or candy clay decorations, edible markers, painting and stamping, or sprinkles and candy

• on fondant, use piped royal icing or frosting designs, fondant or candy clay decorations, edible markers, painting and stamping, sprinkles and candy or edible icing sheets

• on candy melts, use piped royal icing or frosting designs, fondant decorations, edible markers, or sprinkles and candy

I hope this helps!! In the book, of course, I go over each of these sweets, toppings and decorations in ridiculous detail.

Below is a cheat sheet.

To PRINT, click HERE.

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The heat is here. Now you’ll hear me complain about the heat until the first crisp day of Fall. But this year, instead of mooching off of friends, I actually splurged on pool passes for myself, Maeve and Violet. I even bought a baby swim thing that essentially amounts to 15 feet of mesh material I’m supposed to know how to wrap around me to hold Violet so I can handle two kids in the pool. I don’t know how 15 feet of mesh is supposed to be comfortable in 95 degree weather, but the lady on the package looks happy.

As Memorial Day approaches, I’ve rounded up some Summer treats from my archives. You can find everything for this time of year up there in the Seasonal button, too. And if you need more Memorial Day ideas, check out this roundup of 22 food and party ideas over at my other blog.

Summer classics as cookies:

watermelon cookies, lemonade cookies, popsicle cookies, cookie ice cream cones.

Frozen stuff:

frozen yogurt pops, ice cream sandwich pops.

S’mores!

S’mores on a stick, s’mores pops, self-reflective s’mores.

Beach creatures:

Starfish cookies, crab and fish cupcake toppers, turtle cookies.

Get outside:

Baseball cookie pops, camping cookies, mini tennis cookies.

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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!