Arabian nights,
Like Arabian days,
More often than not
Are hotter than hot
In a lot of good ways.

Come on down,
Stop on by,
Hop a carpet and fly
To another Arabian night.

During the summer between 7th & 8th grade, I had a crush on this cute, older boy in my church youth group. He was two years older than me, and a year younger than my older sister, and I think we both fancied him a bit. Somewhere early on, I learned that his favorite Disney film was Aladdin, and I was certain it was fate: that was my favorite movie, too! Though the movie had come out the Thanksgiving before, our local “dollar theatre” picked up Aladdin for summer showings, and Steve and I saw that movie SIXTEEN TIMES over the course of the summer (sometimes with my older sister, sometimes not). At least once, my friend Melissa came as well, and my sister and I were both disheartened to see that it seemed our crush Steve liked *her* instead. :-/

Still, my love for the movie hasn’t wavered over the years. Just last week, I watched it again, and I can still recite every single word of the film easily. Oh, Ali – you’ll never betray my younger heart! ♥

As for my newer “loves,” I belong to a group of the sweetest (literally!) cookie friends a girl could have, and for the last month, we’ve been working on an exciting collaborative project – a virtual Fairytale Baby Shower! My darling friend Anne, of Flour Box Bakery, spearheaded the project, assigning each of us a fairytale character. Our assignment was to make a set of baby shower cookies centered around our character as a baby. Other than those guidelines, we had creative freedom!

I was absolutely tickled pink to wind up with my old friend, Aladdin! I began sketching, and I took a bit of “artistic license,” deciding instead to make a more toddler version of him, and I had so much fun involving so many details of the Arabian soon-to-be prince. 🙂

I decided to leave out some of the most notable characters from Aladdin, such as the Genie, Jafar, Iago & Abu. Why? Well, I figured that since Al didn’t meet them until much later in life, they weren’t a part of his babyhood at all. And as for his beloved Jasmine, well… stay tuned until later in this post. 😉

I also decided that a few certain items would be a part of every Arabian child’s world: toy lamps & magic carpet receiving blankets, for example.

One other thing we participants were encouraged to include were a few key phrases. After all, it’s not a fairytale if the story doesn’t begin with, “Once upon a time…” And everyone knows that these sweet stories must end with, “… happily ever after!” Because this particular project is for precious babies, Anne chose to highlight that these cherubs would be, “LOVED happily ever after,” too. So sweet! ♥

I’m excited to show you some close-ups and explain the details behind each of my cookies, but first, I want to introduce you to the fabulous friends I had the pleasure of working with for this project. Just as I have told the story of a fairytale through baby shower cookies, each of these dear ladies has as well, and let me assure you: there are some AMAZING, sugar-filled works of TRUE ART awaiting you! Plus, remember how I didn’t include Jasmine in my cookie set? Well, Aladdin’s beloved is featured below! 😀

• Little Red Riding Hood, by Angela of Oh, Sugar! Events
  – Facebook Page & Oh, Sugar! Events Blog
• Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, by Susan of The Painted Cookie
  – Facebook Page & The Painted Cookie Blog
• Rapunzel from Tangled, by Adrianne of Color Me Cookie
  – Facebook Page
• Alice from Alice in Wonderland, by Debbie of Mt. Lookout Sweets
  – Facebook Page & Mt. Lookout Sweets Blog
• Prince Charming of Cinderella, by Tiffany of TheRedCooky
  – Facebook Page & TheRedCooky Blog
• Jack and the Beanstalk, by Laura of LaurasCookies
  – Facebook Page
• Princess and the Pea, by Anne of Flour Box Bakery
  – Facebook Page & Flour Box Bakery Blog
• Pinocchio, by Stephanie of The Hungry Hippopotamus
  – Facebook Page
• Peter Pan, by Elizabeth of SweetArt Sweets
  – Facebook Page & SweetArt Sweets Blog
• The Frog Prince, by Anita of Sweet Hope Cookies
  – Facebook Page & Sweet Hope Cookies Blog
• Jasmine of Aladdin, by Kimberly of Sweet Creations
  – Facebook Page & Sweet Creations Blog
• Little Bo Peep, by Lorraine of Lorraine’s Cookies
  – Facebook Page & Lorraine’s Cookies Blog
• Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, by Andrea of Cupookie
  – Facebook Page & Cupookie Blog
• Cinderella, by Hillary of The Cookie Countess
  – Facebook Page & The Cookie Countess Blog
• Hercules, by Sarah of Songbird Sweets
  – Facebook Page & Songbird Sweets Blog
• Sleeping Beauty, by Natalie of Palestine Painted Cookie
  – Facebook Page & Palestine Painted Cookie Blog
• Goldilocks from ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears,’ by Liz of Arty McGoo
  – Facebook Page & Arty McGoo Blog
• Robinhood, by Teresa of Sweet-T-CakeS
  – Facebook Page
• Thumbelina, by Callye of The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle
  – Facebook Page & Sweet Sugarbelle Blog
• Mulan, by Krista of Cookies With Character
  – Facebook Page & Cookies With Character Blog
• Ariel from The Little Mermaid, by Georganne of LilaLoa
  – Facebook Page & LilaLoa Blog

Wasn’t that just AWESOME?! I can’t pick a favorite among my cookie friends, as everyone did an INCREDIBLE job on their cookies, and each cookier brought such talent & creativity to their fairytales! I’ve been oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over these cookies for the past day, and I just can’t stop dreaming over them!

Lastly, I’ll leave you with the close-ups of my own cookies in the Aladdin set. 🙂

A sweet, “Snake Charmer” onesie is perfect for any Arabian baby.

A magic carpet stroller. I decided that a regular magic carpet would be too
dangerous for a baby, so this is a way to ride magic more conservatively.

A magic lamp pull-toy. In my head, a baby pulls the string &
a puff of swirling gold smoke comes out to delight them!

The beautiful castle of Agrabah. Every Arabian child looks upon
the castle & dreams of being a Prince or Princess.

A toddler-version of Aladdin. (I changed a character from the movie
to resemble more of Aladdin’s clothes & style.)

Rattles are a baby’s favorite musical instrument, and I decided that
a musical snake was perfect to display that sound.

Remember the two golden halves of the scarab beetle needed to find
the ‘Cave of Wonders’? How perfect is it that Aladdin had BOTH of them
when he was a wee babe, as pins on his cloth diapers!

Another toddler Aladdin, this time playing with a toy magic lamp. (This
was another character I modified from the movie. He’s wearing Aladdin’s
traditional purple vest, but I decided that Al didn’t start displaying
his abs until he actually *HAD* them later in life. Haha!)

The Aladdin logo – very important for this collection! (I drew it on a plaque,
and there’s tons of gold glitter, too.)

Who opened the ‘Cave of Wonders,’ again? Oh, that’s right. “The diamond in the rough!” Even as a baby, Aladdin’s mother knew he was special, and she clothed him accordingly.

A goofy camel. I’m not sure about this, but I’m thinking that maybe
camels bring babies in Arabia, rather than storks. Ha!

The essential “Once upon a time…” cookie, included
with pyramids in the dusty Arabian scene.

And the closer, “LOVED happily ever after!”

A huge THANK YOU goes out to Anne for her brilliant idea, and for allowing someone like me in this splendid project. It has been my pleasure & honor to work with these ladies, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity! ♥