Celebrating the Fifth Annual Ornament!

The holiday season is almost here, and we’re thrilled to unveil our fifth annual Icing Smiles ornament! While Icing Smiles has proudly served families for 15 years, this milestone marks five years of creating a special collectible that captures the heart of our mission: bringing joy, hope, and unforgettable memories to children and families facing medical challenges.

The Inspiration: Awe, Wonder, and a Life-Sized Elsa Cake

This year’s ornament was inspired by a truly magical moment: a child standing in awe before a life-sized Elsa cake created by Paul Joachim. The photo perfectly captures the essence of Icing Smiles — pure joy, wonder, and the unforgettable “smile moment” that comes when a child sees their dream cake for the first time.

While the ornament design adapts the cake for a collectible keepsake, the feeling remains the same: awe, delight, and the incredible impact a cake can have on a child’s life. Cake artist Paul Joachim shares:

Capturing the Mission in Every Detail

The 2025 ornament depicts a child standing beneath a towering five-tier cake, decorated in our signature Icing Smiles colors and whimsical designs. It captures the sparkle in a child’s eyes and the shared happiness of families who, for a moment, can set aside the challenges of medical treatments and simply celebrate childhood.

Tracy, Founder and Executive Director, shares:

Chelsea, Marketing Manager, adds:

Lauren, Operations Manager, who works closely with families, explains:

A Tradition of Five Ornaments

This year’s ornament celebrates the fifth annual collectible in our series. Each ornament tells a story, reminds us of the generosity of our Sugar Angels, and highlights the joy and hope delivered to families across the country. Every purchase supports Icing Smiles’ mission to deliver dream cakes to children facing medical challenges, making the holidays — and every celebration — brighter.

Bring the Magic Home

The Icing Smiles 2025 Ornament is available now! Perfect for your tree, a special gift, or as a keepsake to celebrate the fifth ornament in this cherished series.

Price includes shipping.
Ornaments will begin shipping November 1.
Limited quantities available — order yours today!

By purchasing this ornament, you help us bake a difference, one smile at a time.

Celebrating 10,000 moments of joy, one cookie at a time — and the families, bakers, and sponsors who make it possible.

Ten thousand cookie packages. Ten thousand moments of joy. Ten thousand reminders to families facing unimaginable challenges that they are loved, celebrated, and remembered. This month, Icing Smiles reached an incredible milestone — our 10,000th Surprise Cookie Care Package was delivered. And fittingly, that package went to a very special family we’ve had the privilege of serving multiple times: the Swartz family.

Clara Hope: Defying the Odds

Clara’s story is nothing short of miraculous. She was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) and a Type 4 Laryngeal Cleft — meaning her lungs were underdeveloped and her esophagus and airway began as one connected tube. This rare combination of conditions had never been survived before.

In her first months of life, Clara endured multiple major surgeries to repair her airway and digestive tract and to place a tracheostomy. She spent her first six months in an ICU, tethered to machines but surrounded by hope. Clara’s mom, Victoria “Tori” Swartz, shares:

Today, Clara requires ventilator support and receives nutrition through a feeding tube, but her doctors expect that by kindergarten she will be free of all equipment — living a healthy, active life.

How the Smiles Began

The Swartz family was introduced to Icing Smiles while still in the thick of Clara’s hospital stay. Tori connected through a Facebook group with another “medical mama” — who turned out to be our Operations Manager, Lauren. Lauren shared Icing Smiles’ mission and encouraged Tori to request a Dream Cake.

Since then, Icing Smiles has celebrated four birthdays with the Swartz Family.

• Sibling Birthdays – This summer, her older children turned 6 and 4 one day apart. Each received their own show-stopping cake — one an icy blue Elsa ice palace, the other a bright yellow construction zone. “The kids felt spoiled, and everyone who sees them is amazed by the cakes,” says Tori.
• First Cake – While Clara was still in the hospital, her older siblings, ages 5 and 3, were treated to a Paw Patrol cake and cupcake display. “During a season where our big kids had to be really flexible and resilient, it was sweet to be able to give them something so fun and extravagant, and to be able to share it with others in the hospital,” Tori says.
• Clara’s First Birthday – A milestone no one knew would come. Baker Pete created a towering rainbow masterpiece with a removable smash cake just for Clara. “Rainbows have been a theme with Clara, reminding us of the rainbow that’s come after the storms we’ve weathered,” Tori shares. Pete cleared his schedule to personally deliver the cake, telling Tori, “Even if it doesn’t [work], it does. We will make it work.”

The Sweet Surprise of Cookie Care Package #10,000

After spending seven long months in Florida for Clara’s treatment, the Swartzes returned home to Georgia. Not long after, a package arrived — no announcement, no expectation — just pure surprise.

Inside was an Octonauts-themed cookie puzzle set, made by Sugar Angel Martha Timke.

A Baker with a Heart for Families

For Martha, baking for Icing Smiles is deeply personal. Her first son was born with a blood disorder that required blood transfusions every 2–3 months until he was two years old. Though he is now a healthy 37-year-old, Martha has never forgotten the exhaustion, fear, and stress of those years.

While she loves creating elaborate Dream Cakes, the Cookie Care Packages hold a special joy for her. “Anonymously sending out cookie orders is especially fun for me. I imagine what it might be like for the family when they receive their surprise… That’s why I often make cookie puzzles for the younger ones — it’s two treats in one.”

Learning that her Octonauts cookies were the 10,000th package made the moment even sweeter:

“Once I drop the box off at the post office, I never know what’s happened to it. How rewarding it is to know that my cookies reached their destination and that my family got to enjoy them!”

Her message to bakers considering joining Icing Smiles?

Powered by Partnership

Our Cookie Program wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsor, Domino Sugar, whose generosity fuels thousands of these packages each year. Paula Summers, VP of Marketing, Domino Sugar shares:

More Than Cookies

For the Swartz family, every cake and cookie has been a bright spot during long, difficult seasons — a moment to feel seen, celebrated, and loved.

Here’s to the next 10,000 Cookie Care Packages — and to every smile, milestone, and memory they represent.