The Hard Way, and the Easy Way

Okay, time for a little confession.  Along with a talent for cookie decorating, I also have the unique talent of making things a lot more complicated then they have to be.  Some people are easy going, and some, once they have an idea in their head, cannot accept anything else.  That person would be me *
raises hand*

Anyway, A few weeks ago my friend Brenda made a cookie that just stuck with me.  She called it simple, but I loved it!  It was two candy canes tied together with a green bow.  After that, a simple candy cane just would not do.

So, I did some thinking.  Although I own over a thousand cutters, I never seem to have quite the one I have in mind...nor do I have the patience or money to special order a cutter for every wacky idea I have. (I used to do that, and it got VERY expensive) So, I came up with an solution.  I'd do a little creative baking to create the candy cane I wanted.

*Enter, the worlds handiest cutter*

In real life it wasn't such a dramatic "light bulb" moment.  Ideally, I wanted to use a mini-bow cutter, but I didn't think I owned one, so, I came up with plan B.

Listen closely, I am about to let you a little secret.  In my family, I am known as the cutter mangler.  I have been known to bend and re-shape cutters before I even get out of the store. It's a habit that has served me well.

In it's former life, that little guy up there was a cheapy mini-dog bone cutter. Usually, cheap=sucky... In this particular case, however, it's a good thing.  It takes almost no effort at all to bend this flimsy little cutter into an entirely new shape .  HOWEVER, word to the wise, don't get overzealous.  They are just as easy to break! 

These little guys are so handy, I try to buy one almost every time I go to my craft store.  At fifty cents apiece, they are a steal, especially when you consider that this is the cutter I used to make some of my coolest cookies, including, mini flip-flops, nesting doll cupcake toppers, peanut Bitty Belles, and more than a few itty-bitty naughty cookies. *I linked to Flickr just in case you would like to see those. They are very cute, but not for the faint of heart so keep that in mind before peeking. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

So, back to business. This is how it works... 

Start with BORING old candy cane cookies...

 

Then, do a simple 1,2,3,4...

and...                 

*HOLD UP*

Stop, put on your brakes, rewind!

In the middle of all that, I dug through my mini-cutters and  discovered I had a bow after all (this is a sure sign you have way to many cutters, BTW) So, I decided to make a few more, in the way I had originally intended.

Word of warning: although I think this version is SO much cuter (hubby said it didn't matter), it was a lot harder to piece these litte guys together...

After all that, BAKE and you will end up with this:

They don't look very pretty naked (cookies are more like people than you think)...but all it takes is a little royal icing, and viola...you have these!

I'll admit,this project takes a little work, but, if you are wired anything like me, in the end, it's worth it. I ended up with two pretty good looking versions of a candy cane with a bow, and  a good way of illustrating something that it took me way too long to learn...

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY A SPECIAL CUTTER EVERY TIME YOU WANT A SPECIFIC COOKIE!!! 

Trust me on that one, it will save you hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars on cookie cutters and plastic storage bins, AND keep the signifigant other off your case!

So, that's it, Day 23, and an important lesson...Enjoy!