The One with the Business of Baking

I have many hobbies. I love learning new things, expressing my creativity, making others smile. In the past few years, I've dabbled in crocheting, knitting, scrapbooking, jewelry making, laptop slipcover sewing, cookie decorating, recipe creating, blogging, graphic designing, and photography. Honestly, I've loved every one of these activities, though some of them were more easily mastered* than others. 

*I use the term "mastered" a bit loosely. I would consider myself a life-long learner. 

I have high hopes for photography. I love my Canon Rebel. I love experimenting with settings. I love setting up a shot. Unfortunately, I don't have much of a technical understanding of this multi-faceted art form. I would really enjoy taking a few photography classes, I have dreams to develop a photography business with my husband, but most of all I want to capture the beautiful moments of life. 

One day--maybe someday soon--I'd love to take cake decorating classes at our local craft store. I have a set of decorating tips, but I don't have much of an icing-making skill and creating anything other than a flimsy edging is beyond me. This hobby flows over onto my cookie decorating desires. I see so many beautifully decorated royal icing sugar cookies all over the blogosphere and I want to emulate them. Creating favors for showers or weddings or birthdays would be so much fun. I've already found my favorite sugar cookie recipe. Now to learn to sophisticatedly decorate them.  

Knitting and crocheting and sewing are super useful skills. Too bad I never had a real home economics class in high school. I envision myself embellishing existing clothes, making lovely gifts, or re-purposing old fabrics. I only know a stitch or two of each of these crafts, but with a book my grandma gave me, I'd love to learn more. 

Blogging and graphic design go hand in hand, and I can't imagine leaving these hobbies behind. Being a part of the blogosphere is now more of a lifestyle for me than a hobby. I love connecting with friends--new and old--and learning from those with more (or different) life experiences than I have had. 

And then there's my baking. If you know anything about me, you hopefully know I'm a lover all of things sweet. I can spend hours in the kitchen creating new treats, perfecting old recipes, and licking the batter off my fingers. (I wish cookie dough would stop being delicious to me. And don't worry, I wash my hands.) 

I have tried various mini-business ventures in the past year and Kevin's encouraged me along the way. Last week, though, we were talking and he had a wonderful idea. It is high time I focused. I need to focus my attention and energy on one hobby-turned-business and develop it into the best it can be. 

And so I choose baking. Cookie baking to be precise. The blogging and graphic design and photography skills are all essential elements to making an online bakery business successful, so I won't have to turn my back on all of my newly developing passions. But I'm going for it. I opened my Etsy shop for business yesterday evening. Search for The Adorkable Bakery under adorkablebaker and you'll find me! You should totally check it out. And if you have suggestions--design, recipes, or otherwise--let me know. 

For months now, our teens, our friends and our family have been filling my ears with praise for my cookie creations. I believe I make amazing cookies, and I would love to make this into a sustainable business. But I will need your help. If you've ever tasted my baked goods or peanut brittle or chocolate covered butter toffee, and you thought it was totally tasty and ridiculously amazing, please tell your friends about my shop [http://www.etsy.com/shop/adorkablebaker]. I'd love to do business with them. 

Whether it's celebrating the exciting or cherishing the everyday, my cookies and candies are for you!