Painted Christmas Tree Landscapes (December 2014)

The day after Thanksgiving, we had plans to help some close friends decorate their Christmas tree and then go to the tree-lighting ceremony in our town with a group of other friends.  Because I never seem to go to any occasion without a plate of cookies, I planned ahead (for a change).  Using the same technique I had used for my Thanksgiving Fall Foliage cookies, I made a few extra blue painted backgrounds to try with 

Christmas trees this time.

After the background was dry, I used 20-second icing to create a layered green tree and placed a yellow star sprinkle on top.

The biggest debate, especially since I don't celebrate Christmas, is what effect worked best for the garland, which was white icing draped across the tree and showered with either 1) white sanding sugar, 2) white nonpareils, or 3) rainbow nonpareils.

I quickly made a few mini trees with some remaining rainbow nonpareils for a mini option, all in one quick motion.  Personally, I thought the rainbow garland looked the best, but mostly because of all the color.  The most realistic, according to my husband and the hands-down winner in our informal poll of friends, was the sparkling white sanding sugar.

So thankful that we can help our friends and family celebrate Christmas in this way!

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!

My Kind of Music! (October 2014)

Well, this next batch of cookies were inspired by my new labor of love, an interactive parent-child early childhood music program that is taught by me (a speech-language pathologist) and an established and in-demand early childhood music specialist in our neighborhood.  This class is more than a "Mommy and Me" class, as it is specifically tailored to meet the needs of ALL children, especially welcoming those with special needs.  

As a team, we are so passionate about this program, and I could blog about it all day.  

Instead, if you are interested, I highly recommend you check out our Facebook page and our website, where you can also watch a short youtube video of what to expect in one of our classes.

This new adventure all began very organically.  Once I experienced Miss Michelle's music classes with my own children through the park district, I was hooked.  Not only was I excited about the curriculum and her musicality (she writes her own songs and plays the guitar!), I was impressed with her ability to connect with the kids, while involving the parents throughout the class.

If only the parents that I worked with everyday (parents of children with special needs) had a place to take their children, where they felt they could experience the social, bonding joys of a music class, and also support their child's therapeutic goals.  AND, wouldn't it be nice for these amazing (and exhausted) parents to meet other parents who understand and support their needs?

I guess these are lofty goals, but Miss Michelle and I are up for the challenge!

As we are much more familiar with therapy, music, and education, we have had a major class in marketing and business over the past few months.  This logo was designed by a family friend of Michelle's...isn't it great?  I love the playful design and the colors.

I knew this would be the inspiration for the cookies that follow.

From my all pinterest searching, Katie's Something Sweet shop on Etsy inspired these guitar cookies (above), and I tried my best to mimic the guitar in our logo for these guitar-shaped cookies (below).

 I guess it's not that surprising that I had a guitar in my cookie cutter collection, and since I was already into the theme, I decided to also use my music note cookie cutters.  I totally forgot how HUGE they are.  (FYI, the bigger the cookie, the less likely they will be eaten.)  But, they did add some balance to the very busy platter.

I also made some mini circles, surrounded by sanding sugar of matching color for more bite-sized music note options, and there were definitely takers of those.

Originally, I brought this platter to our very first pilot "My Kind of Music" class.  Michelle and I munched a bit, as did some of the office staff and our photographers (thanks family!).  Due to various allergies, they weren't shared with the families, but as this whole endeavor has definitely been a team effort, this was just my way of saying, "thanks."

I guess I communicate through cookies often.  

I used the leftovers from this platter to bring to a meet-and-greet event with other therapists and early intervention providers, to help advertise our program (in the yummiest way I know how.)

It was only a matter of time until my "work-life" and "creative-life" collided.

Here's to the start of a new journey!

The Force is Strong With This One (October 2014)

So, I a few months ago I received an invitation to my friend Mary's baby shower.  She now lives in Washington DC and we don't talk as much as we used to, but I didn't even know she was pregnant!  I assumed because I have not yet joined the Facebook revolution that that was why I was left out-of-the-loop, but no, she said she wanted to surprise all the guests and that no one had known.  

Could have killed her. :)

I couldn't be happier for Shaman and her, and when I found out they were coming to Chicago for one of their baby showers, I knew I wanted to contribute some cookies, especially since I knew this was going to be no run-of-the-mill baby shower.  I was right...my eclectic friends chose a Star Wars theme for their shower, and, from what we learned at the shower, their little daughter will receive a name likely based on a character from one of the movies/books.

Now, being a person who has not even sat through one full Star Wars movie (I know, Mary and Shaman don't even understand our friendship), I didn't really know where to start.  I did some research, but pretty much stayed true to my original inspiration, Princess Leia and her famous buns...yes, even I know that.

So, Princess Leia was the only feminine aspect of Star Wars that I could think of.

I used two skull-shaped cookie cutters and overlapped them on the dough before baking, creating the shape of Leia's head.  I used 20-second icing to create an ivory face, and then I alternated using 20-second brown icing for her hair, waiting for each side of her part to dry first before filling in the adjacent side.  I used a few piping details, and voila...not too tricky.

I wanted to also have some full-length Leia's...well, not full-length, you know.  I used the Wilton girl cookie cutter, since she already has pigtails.  Really, Leia is pretty easy or maybe boring?  Who designs the only love interest to be dressed in an all-white smock?  I found a picture of her with a silver belt, so I went with it!  Again, I waited for each part of her white "ensemble" to dry before adding another white element, like with the boots.  And, I tried to add some more femininity with the heart-shaped pink lips...really trying here!

Ah yes, the rattle-shaped pink light saber...what, that's not a thing?

I decided to keep the rattle shape since, after all, it was a baby shower; I figured with it being so thin, the light might break off its handle too easily (lesson learned from many disassembled umbrella cookies); and maybe the extra sprinkles helped to give a little aura around the light?

But, perhaps my favorite was the last-minute onesie cookie.  I had forgotten that Shaman and Mary's dog is named Luke (of course he is). :)  

These could not have been made for any other reason!

Some of the Leia faces were bagged as favors saying, "Celebrating Mary and her bun in the oven."

I know...

 The rest looked seemed to work together nicely on a platter.  Seriously, this is one of the most fun projects I've ever worked on.  It really pushed my creativity (as there was no one out there who had designs I could copy), so I take full ownership of these cookies (and my limited Star Wars knowledge).

To Shaman and Mary, I wish you both all the best welcoming your new little "Star Trooper."  

May she be as awesome and unique as you both are. :)

Baptism Celebration Dresses (October 2014)

One of our good friends had a baby recently, so for her baptism, I wanted to make some little dresses to honor the occasion (in cookie form, of course).  I had been very inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest (where else?).  I'm not sure what language/country this is, but the cookies speak for themselves.  I was overwhelmed at first by the many different variations, but I had such fun creating new designs with the simple color palette, I could see how this baker made so many varieties.

I first outlined and flooded the dresses all in white.  I added another layer of white outline to help make the shape stand out.  I was impressed with how different each dress looked even though I was using only white, pink, and a bit of green.  Additionally, all the designs were created by simply varying the placement of ruffles, dots, roses, sashes, and waistlines.  I think the combinations are endless.

To pull together all the different dress designs, I decided to create a monogram using the wet-on-wet technique for making roses as a background (just as I had done with these baby onesie cookies.)

For the mini option, I chose simple pink hearts.

Although I was happy with how they turned out, I was kicking myself for running out of pink party plates (or any color for that matter).  We were leaving the platter at the celebration, so my go-to platter wasn't available.  That meant, a regular paper plate...

NOT my first choice, but what can you do?

Happy to celebrate with you, Makena!

Filigree Challenge (September 2014)

"Filigree," although a very familiar-looking design, was an unknown word to me until a few months ago.  I discovered Sweet Ambs cookie art, and well, wow.  She makes some of the most detailed, ornate, and elaborate designs ever, and almost always finishes them with a little airbrushing and gold luster dust.  Knowing how much time it takes me to complete much simpler designs, I wonder how many hours she spends...

really, it's impressive.  

Well, I had admired one of her designs awhile back.  They were her interpretation of a set of mugs from Anthropologie (now no longer sold in the store).  So beautiful...the colors, the design, and yes, the filigree.  

After some trial-and-(lots of)-error, I decided to cut way back on the details of the design, focusing instead on a few key elements.  I also scaled back on the number of color combinations I was using and added some mini flowers to the platter.  This was the end result.

She does almost everything with a wet-on-wet technique.  The difficult thing about this decorating style is that all the colors need to be pre-mixed and ready to go.  Also, the margin for error is much less, since it's all blending and drying together in one flat, cohesive design.  That means the filigree design has to be created in one fell swoop.  But, if you are new to this technique and watch her tutorial, she makes it look so easy.

Much too easy (it's super-tricky!!).

You know, I was up for the challenge, though.  Always good to try new things, right?

And, since I had no clue how I would fare, I didn't even have a real occasion for which to make these.  I ended up bringing them to a family picnic.  They were all eaten, but perhaps a bit fancy for that get-together.

 It's hard to rationalize that no matter how long the cookie takes to decorate or how intricate the design, they could be a total "failure," and still taste yummy.

But then...what's the fun in that? :)