Painted Fall Foliage (November 2014)

Woah, I let a few months pass before having another chance to post...time to catch up!  This past Thanksgiving, I was really torn about whether or not to even make cookies.  Let's face it, there are always so many pies that who has enough room for a cookie?  Plus, I was getting tired of the whole turkey cookie...I mean there are only so many variations on creating a  cute cookie from, arguably, one of the ugliest birds.

But, after doing some research online, I came across a combination of several ideas that proved to be more inspiring at this beautiful time of year.  Happy Loris Baking on Etsy had a great concept that I was very eager to try...painting the background of the cookie before piping the design.  Using a very small amount of the icing itself and some water, I was able to create a sort of shading effect in blue and yellow.

After the backgrounds had dried, I piped the swirly trees (as inspired by a photo on by Julia Usher on Cookie Connection) and used the quins I had purchased on Etsy to represent leaves.

Although unsure how blue fit in with the platter of autumn hues, I think it was a nice contrast.

To provide a mini cookie option, I was inspired by a pinterest pin and used the autumn colors to create swirly leaves.

Ah, I love a good theme.

In the end, I was just happy to find a more sophisticated Thanksgiving theme (and I think I gave those pies a run for their money). :)

Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Boo! (October 2014)

Ok, this post is titled "Boo!," not because of some sort of cookie tragedy (is that such a thing?...yes, I'm afraid!), but more appropriately because of Halloween.  

Man, the cookie decorators I follow have some amazing ideas for Halloween!  I love these witch boots from Sweet Sugarbelle that she made a few years ago, and I decided to risk attempting them myself this year.  I followed her steps almost to the letter, and I was pretty happy with how they turned out.  She designed these using an upside-down shirt cookie cutter...so smart!

Since the boots were so intricate, I used a much simpler "Boo!" design for the spider web cookies.  I just used the wet-on-wet technique to add a pop of color all at once, and then I added the writing (and small spider!) with black icing once the main area dried.

Mini cookies are not only one of my favorite ways to add interest to a cookie platter, but they have also been a fun way to pass out favors at school.  This time, I used snack bags stuffed with "Five Little Pumpkins."  Although fairly simple, since there were SO many of them, they were pretty time consuming.  I used 20-second icing in 3 stages to give the pumpkins the right texture, and then I added the details.  I had thought about drawing on the faces with a food coloring marker, but because of the ridges on the pumpkins, it wouldn't have looked right.

 When they were all laid out on a platter, the colors seemed to coordinate nicely.  We had a great time bringing these to our friend, Stacie's house for an afternoon of Halloween-themed fun.  She had everything from ghost tortilla chips to punch over dry ice to spider cupcakes...so clever!  Oh, and we also wrapped up the kids in toilet paper mummy-style...classic.

 I love this action shot too!

 Happy Halloween!

Turkey Platter (November 2013)

Since Thanksgiving and Hanukkah were the on same day this year (so crazy), I had been cookie-ing overtime lately.  Here is what I decided to bring to Thanksgiving this year: a Simple Thanksgiving Turkey Platter, ala Sweet Sugar Belle. 

I used a snowman cookie cutter for the body and a leaf cookie cutter for the feathers.

Seriously, very easy.  But...not so impressive without the platter.

With the rest of the dough, I made a few turkeys using a flower cookie cutter (inspired by Palm Beach Pastry on Etsy) and mini leaves to give to classroom teachers...you know, to say, "Thanks."

The leaves were a mini version of my autumn leaves from last year, giving me another excuse to play with food color spray mist.

This year, with the craziness the holidays always bring, I was "thankful" for any shortcut I could find, and this cookie platter was just the thing.

Happy Halloween (October 2013)

I think my daughter goes to one of the last preschools where homemade treats are still allowed (given that they don't contain nuts).  To be extra careful, I replaced my almond extract with extra vanilla extract, but then I was off and running with the thought of making cookies for a reason...a fun, festive reason-Halloween.  I kept thinking of places I could bring these cookies to share, so I decided to make 2 batches of cookies, all of minis, yielding close to 300 in total.  

The baking didn't actually take that long, since they were all made out of 4 cookie cutters, and the decorating was also not all that time-intensive, since they all had the same color themes, and taken individually, were fairly simple designs.  My brain was working overtime with the designing and planning (mostly regarding the order in which to use the colors to save myself from making the same color twice or doing too many extra dishes), and although I'm sure some think I'm crazy, I want to emphasize how much I really enjoyed this project.

All these cookies were made from 4 cookie cutters.  Mini pumpkins (obviously), mini leaves (candycorn), mini circles (flying bats, spider webs), and mini tulips (ghosts, owls).  Somewhere on-line I had seen an idea to use a tulip cookie cutter for a ghost, but otherwise, the designs were all my own this year, some inspired by my kids' favorite window clings.

For most of the cookies, I outlines them with a piping consistency and then flooded them with a thinner consistency of icing, as I usually do.  But, for the pumpkins and for the candycorn, in order to, again, save some dishes and to give them that bumpy texture, I used something Sweet Sugar Belle calls, 20-second icing. 

This smaller plate went to my son's park district music class, mostly for the adults to share and for his teacher.

 

And, for my daughter's preschool class, I bagged about 6 cookies for each student, slapped a little label on them, and they were ready to go.  Afterwards, I saw some other moms had used bag toppers on their kids' treats...a good idea for the future to dress up these resealable snack bags.

And, I saved a few extra colors to make a more, well, feminine version of the Halloween cookies to bring to my daughter's ballet class for all the girls.  The kids liked the black cats and the ghosts wearing a tutu (my first attempt at brush embroidery, and although not perfect, definitely a technique I want to try again).

Happy Halloween!

Preschool's Gonna Be a Hoot (September 2013)

I can't believe my baby is old enough to be going to preschool this year.  I knew she was ready, and I knew she was going to love it, but somehow that didn't make it easy.  We visited her school for orientation the week before school officially started.  Her teachers, who are both personal friends of our family, are amazing, and the class was decorated with little owls, each with a new student's name on it.  My daughter was a combination of excited and nervous, but mostly excited to learn what preschool was all about.  It had really been hyped up at our house.

I decided to also be more excited than nervous, and it was with that energy, that I decided to create this platter.  I gave a bag of cookies to each of the teachers in her classroom and a platter for the other teachers to also enjoy.

The owls were inspired by Sweet Sugar Belle, but instead of using an egg cookie cutter shape, I used my Eskimo cookie cutter and added little feet.  I've learned this is one of the most versatile shapes I own, and it's become one of my favorites. 

 

I also used advice from her website to create the quilted cookies.  I love their look, and it really wasn't all that much work...just required some patience.

In the end, the first day of preschool was much more difficult for me than for my daughter.  She found the rocking horse and the dress-up station and became so excited about playing that she had very little time to reflect on being away from mom.  I, on the other hand, found I had much more separation anxiety.  I knew she was in great hands, but I missed her, even for 2 1/2 hours.  She was turning into such a big girl! 

I've become much better at drop-off, I think, and I really love hearing her tell me all about her day at preschool on the car ride home afterwards.  I also now get to enjoy the one-on-one time preschool is affording me with my son.  

So, it's been an adjustment for everyone, but a definitely good one.

The Cookie Platter (Halloween 2012)

My idea of a cookie platter (before I discovered cookie decorating) consisted of a batch of one kind of cookie displayed nicely on a serving tray.  Not until I began following Sweet Sugar Belle's blog did I realize how much potential a platter of cookies might have.  When she creates platters, they really are more like works of art.  I'm not being dramatic-just look at these: "Decorated Cow Cookies", "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas", and "Shark Cookies."

Aside from her incredibly talented artistry and cookie-decorating skills, she has mastered the ability to highlight each of her designs, balancing complicated and simple images with coordinating colors and interesting textures to make a remarkably interesting, but not visually overwhelming assortment.
Have I mentioned how much I admire this woman?!

While my first attempt at a cookie platter pales in comparison, it was definitely a challenge putting together such a compilation.  With Halloween in mind, I had some inspiration from my 4th of July firework cookies and these spider webs from another favorite blog, Sweetopia.

The purple and green ended up coordinating well with the orange pumpkins, making the final platter come together.

The eyeballs (thanks to Sweet Sugar Belle for the inspiration) added a new dimension to the platter.  Not only did they add an element of visual interest with the difference in size, but they were the biggest hits at the party, since guests were much more likely to pop a few bite-sized eye cookies than commit to a giant pumpkin cookie.  (Good to remember for the future.)
 

The more I look at the creation of a cookie platter, the more I realize how much this is really right up my alley.  I am all about themes (throwing a party, giving a gift, even dressing the kids at times).  Call me cheesy, but my mind starts racing once I get a good theme going.  I can't always turn my brain off, and some of my best ideas are when I'm falling asleep, driving home from work, or in the shower.  I like when things all seem to fit together an fall into place, even if they're corny.  I loved our coordinated Wizard of Oz Halloween costumes and the "When I'm 64" Beatles party for my mom's, yes, 64th birthday.  (Bet you can't wait to read about all those cheesy party details.)

The platter, then, is really just an expression of the "cookie theme," and therefore, I know this one trial is only the beginning.

Fall (2012)

It's about this time on my cookie-making journey, when I ran across Sweet Sugar Belle's blog, an amazing cookie artist from Texas who has inspired many of my cookies from here on out.  She has taught me so many techniques, like her 20-second icing trick, brush embroidery, and royal icing transfers, but most of all, I find that I just can relate to her.  She is creative, yet methodical, and while we both enjoy the process (which takes way too long to describe...what with the dough-making, the cookie-cutting, the baking, the royal icing preparing, the outlining, the flooding, and the detailing), we appreciate whatever shortcuts/tricks we can find to make it go as smoothly as possible.  She makes this hobby accessible for the self-taught baker, like me.

For example, she can take one basic cookie cutter and think of many different ways one could shape it into something else and vice-versa.  Look at how many different ways she has made a giraffe (and all with common cookie cutters).  Anyhow, if you have any interest in delving into the depths of this whole cookie-making vortex, she is the gal I can't recommend enough...

These pumpkins are my first attempt at her "perfect" pumpkin and jack-o-lantern designs.  (My pumpkins from 2013 turned out much better, I think, and the same techniques were employed...with a little more practice and better icing consistency.)  In any case, these cookies were made with the fall season in mind, obviously. 

Some were used at Halloween...

and some at Thanksgiving.

These leaf cookies started out as either yellow or orange, and then sprayed with food color spray from Wilton (think spray paint, but edible).  An excellent way to add some realism to the Thanksgiving dessert platter...thank you Sweet Sugar Belle!

And, speaking of being thankful (timely, don't you think?), thank you for providing such a creative and inspiring blog, allowing me to pursue an interest I never even knew existed several months ago.  You are a real artist...with the tastiest of mediums.