A Royal Birthday Celebration (March 2015)

So, a good 6 months have gone by since I've made this batch of cookies.  Life gets busy.  But, in these last few months, I have had some time to reflect on the various cookies I've made over the years, and these, well, just may be my all-time favorite ones (as least thus-far).

As anyone with a daughter approaching 5 years old can attest, there is nothing quite as captivating as those Disney princesses.  Whenever her friends come to play, the first thing they do is decide which dress they are going to wear from our costume stash.  They'll play a game or two, but then, there are more decisions are wardrobe changes as the play date carries on.  So, we thought it would be fun to host a Royal Costume Birthday Ball, with princess (and prince) cookies to match.

 

I was most inspired by a photo I had seen on Pinterest from the Etsy store, NotBettyCookies.  Her stuff is amazing!  

 

At first my husband thought I was crazy.  But, I stayed focused and persevered, taking it one step/dress at a time.  Look closely at each cookie...there really are only a few colors on each with just a few important details.  When I looked at it that way, the project wasn't too overwhelming.  

The 2 batches I made are almost all the same, untouched cookie cutter, the princess ball gown.  For Prince Philip (Sleeping Beauty's prince...the one with the red cape), I simply cut off the top of the gown cookie before baking.  Prince Charming required a bit more cutting, as I started with a basic square to give him his oh-so-handsome, broad shoulders.

I did make an extra large number of these princes, in comparison to the number of princes...come on, if you were a 5-year-old boy (or younger brother), would you really want to choose a princess cookie?  No, the answer is no (in case that wasn't clear).

Cinderella and Belle both got a spray of silver and gold sheen, respectively, after they had dried to give their dresses some sparkle.  Otherwise, they were basically only 1-2 colors.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Rapunzel were also just 2-3 colors.  I loved how Rapunzel's skirt had a bit of a petticoat underneath...

ah, such a fair maiden.

Both Rapunzel and Snow White had similar sleeve detailing.

Anna and Elsa were the most popular cookie choices of the young guests.  Anna was the most difficult cookie to create, simply because of the amount of colors required.  Elsa's dress was accented with sanding sugar to really give it that "magical quality," although she became a bit more curvy than originally designed (!).

On a platter, they really did look so pretty. 

Perfectly captured the theme of the day, and it was a very cool feeling to know that I created something that made the kids 

light up with excitement...

especially my little birthday girl (which was the whole point after all).

Lucky Days (March 2015)

St. Patrick's Day is not typically a big celebration in our house, but since it's cause for a party at preschool, I volunteered to bring the dessert.  I had been inspired by some of Sweet Sugarbelle's pot of gold cookies, but, I'm not going to lie.  I was also looking for something easy.  She had taken a mini flower cookie cutter and used it on each side of a circle cookie cutter to make her own rainbow with clouds...

that sort of sounded like a lot of work!  Instead, I used a scalloped square.

The key to these cookies was thinking ahead.  I made a bunch of little pots of gold first.  These were mini circle cookies made with black and yellow icing.  The yellow was quickly covered with gold sparking sugar to give it a more realistic color and texture/shine.  

(You know, since these are realistic cookies after all.)

Then, I filled in the white "cloud" on the large square cookie.  While the icing was still wet, I dropped the mini cookie right on top...sticks just like glue.  (This is the same technique I used to make my aerial ballerinas last year.)  Making all the rainbow colors was the most time-consuming part of this recipe.  However, I couldn't take any shortcuts with that.

Just as I was preparing to bake these bad boys, my dear friend shared the news with me that she was pregnant with baby #3!  She wasn't really sure how to tell her family, and I had mentioned that I was knee-deep in St. Patrick's Day cookies.  

I had a large Shamrock cookie cutter on-hand from my Crate and Barrel "Year of Cookie Cutters" set, and she and I brainstormed some ideas.

We decided that having a few decorative cookies on top of a platter of cookies/brownies would do.

I love to help contribute to these happy-go-lucky celebrations!