Birch Beauties

My parents live in Iowa…well, they live in Iowa for a few more days, but after the new year they are packing up and moving east to be closer to my family and I. I am a very lucky daughter! Unfortunately, they are leaving an AMAZING network of friends. The group of 10+ women that my Mom has become incredibly close with call themselves the “Laughing Ladies”…and they really are! I’ve witnessed it myself! The Laughing Ladies are wonderful, loving, women and I couldn’t wish for better friends for her to have. Hands down both my parents and their friends will go through withdrawals over the next few months 😉

As a parting gift, some of the Laughing Ladies bought my parents a beautiful beautiful painting that weeks before on a little shopping day trip my Mom had fallen in love with. They were sneaky! They bought the painting that same week as the shopping trip and even had the owner of the shop make stories up about the painting when my Mom went back a week later to show my Dad the painting and buy it for herself. When the Laughing Ladies gave my parents the painting, they made my Mom promise not to write them thank you notes. Well…my Mom can be sneaky too ladies 😉 Below is the beautiful painting and her non-thank you card cookies 🙂

Piped the birch trees on a solid black background

Sorry for the lack of rotation! Added a brown background to the bottom leaves

Piped butter colored and gold colored leaves on top of the birch trees

Last step was to add the red leaves on top of the brown background and using an edible pen add the black dots to the larger birch trees

Mom and Dad’s new painting