… at least in my part of the world, though we’ve had our uncomfortably hot days already. Any big summer plans? We’ll be digging into the lead-filled walls of our 1930s fixer-upper home this summer, so my daughter and I will be heading North to visit family to avoid the dust.

A little trip down memories-of-summer lane for you, aka my archives.  Just in case you missed them the first go around. And also because I’m too exhausted to come up with something new today.  A true sign of summer. Maybe tomorrow. All the summer ideas are collected in one handy place if you just click that “Seasonal” button up there.

I’ve got some s’mores.

(s’mores on a stick, s’mores marshmallows, self-reflective s’mores)

Some refreshing beverages.

(lemonade cookies, gin and tonic, cookies for your cosmo)

Some refreshing fruit.

(strawberry patch cupcakes, watermelon cookies, strawberry spread)

How about some cool treats?

(popsicle cookies, ice cream sandwich pops, ice cream cone cookies)

And you must head to the beach.

(turtle cookies, starfish cookies, candy shells)

And be sure to celebrate.

(stars and stripes cookie bites, BBQ marshmallows, 4th of July cupcakes)

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to make summer BBQ marshmallows you will need:
marshmallows
food coloring pens*
lollipop sticks (optional)

*I use Americolor Gourmet Writers, the set of 10. Craft stores should also have food coloring pens, but the color choices are limited. One note: For the watermelon, there are two shades of green. I also have the KopyKake food coloring pens, which have a lime green marker. If you don’t want to buy two sets, you can just use one green for the watermelon.

TIPS: To draw designs on marshmallows, simply use the markers as you would a regular marker on paper. It’s best to let one color dry about 10 minutes before switching to another color to avoid bleeding, but I’m usually in too big a hurry. But I do try and do the black outlining last, as black has the best coverage (as in, the other colors won’t show through). For finer detail, hold the marker upright and just use the very tip of the marker. To make into pops, just insert a lollipop stick in the underside of the marshmallow at any time, before or after you draw.

how to draw a watermelon

1. draw and fill a red semi circle
2. draw a thick semicircle line around the red (except for the flat part) with light green (If you have 2 greens. If not, just do this with the green you have and skip to step 4.)
3. draw little lines on top of the light green with the dark green
4. outline the semicircle with black and draw seeds

how to draw a glass of lemonade

1. draw a trapezoid and fill with yellow
2. draw a bent line in red for straw
3. outline the glass with black (making sure to outline the glass rim a bit above the top of the yellow, leaving some white space between)

how to draw mustard and ketchup bottles

1. draw a line with yellow
2. under the line, draw a rectangle and fill with yellow
3. under the rectangle, draw and fill a sort of bulb shape with yellow
4. draw a red line
5. under the line, draw and fill a rectangle with red
6. under the rectangle, draw and fill a long rectangle (I have my ketchup bottle “behind” the mustard, so I just went around the mustard bottle for that part.)
7. outline both with black

how to draw a hamburger

1. draw a triangle with yellow (cheese)
2. draw a red line on top of the yellow (tomato)
3. draw an oval (going around the cheese) and fill with brown (hamburger)
4. draw a green squiggle under brown (lettuce)
5. draw and fill a semicircle on top and bottom with brown (buns)
6. draw over the hamburger again to darken the brown
7. outline with black

how to draw ants
1. for each ant, draw and fill three circles with black
2. draw six lines for legsTweet

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!