The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

Scalloped Round Cookie Cutters {WFMW}

2011-06-22T04:00:00.006-05:00

First of all, I would like to let everyone know this will be my last post here on blogger. Although I am a little sad *mostly because this comes just as I am finally learning how to work things here* I am also excited and ready for a change. Be sure to subscribe by email so you can move with me, or come visit me at my new site when it is launched =)

Now for the cookie talk...

Although I like most of my cookie cutters, scalloped rounds are the ones that I love above all the rest.

If I were about to be left on a deserted island and could only take ONE single cutter, I would take a scalloped round.

Actually, the VERY first set of cutters I EVER really spent "real" money one were the Ateco four-set scalloped rounds {top right corner} and I still use them to this day.

The beauty of scalloped rounds is that you can do ANYTHING with them. They work for almost any theme and design.

Suppose you need jungle cookies, and you don't have the cutters? Put it on a round.

Hydrangeas and not in the mood to hand cut? NO PROBLEM!

You can even use them to build cookies.

Bottom line, a good set, or even just one scalloped round is essential to ANY good cookier's cutter collection.

OKAY, in my usual LONG WINDED FASHION...I'm not quite finished.

Now, I want to talk about a similar cutter, scalloped ovals.

Now this might come as quite a surprise, *where's that sarcasm font* but I own quite a few of these also.

Although I use all of them, I have a favorite.

I got this scalloped oval cutter from Copper Gifts two years ago, and it's one of my most frequently used cutters. If you are serious about cookies, invest in one of these.

I use it all the time, particularly to make centerpiece cookies like these {pardon the OLD photos}.

Just so you know, this cutter is a bit over four inches wide. However, if you are on a budget, or if you need a smaller one, I have the perfect solution.

See these babies? I get them from World Market, and they cost a whopping ninety-nine cents.

Besides being GREAT for round cookies like these, they also have another quality I love.

With a little squoosh, they instantly morph into the perfect sized scalloped oval.

So simple I ALMOST didn't think of it!

I used this cutter to make these cookies and for my recent Father's Day Ties.

So, whether you need a large oval or a small, you are covered.

I used both in this collection.

And just in case you don't have access to World Market, I have yet another solution, using one of the most common cookie cutters of all, the FLOWER cutter.

Besides making a beautiful scalloped oval, they also work REALLY well as clouds!

So, tip for the day, always keep a scalloped round cutter on hand, and don't forget to buy a few extras to make those ovals.

This works for me and I hope it will work for you too!

Flag Cookies

2011-06-20T21:33:00.001-05:00

Are you looking for an Independence Day cookie to impress, but that doesn't take a ton of time and work to accomplish?

These are "those" cookies...

And this is just the very beginning of a SLEW of red, white, and blue ideas, SO, get ready!

To make these cookies you will need:

Black outline consistency icing with a #3 tip
red, white, and blue flood icing {I actually used red, navy, and ivory}
white or ivory piping icing and a #1 or #1.5 tip

Outlining is the first step when I make cookies like these. To make sure they come out evenly, I do it in sections as shown below. For this set, I chose to make a quarter of the cookie blue with stars.

However, you can do an entire half if you choose. It might make it a little easier to evenly divide the cookie into sections.

Either way you decide to go, after you have outlined the cookie, let it dry. When it has completely dried, begin filling the sections. You must work one section at a time and let them dry between steps so that the colors don't bleed together.

I did the ivory first, and then the navy.

When the other two colors dried a bit, I added the red.

At this point, you need to let the cookie dry overnight if possible. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I waited a couple hours and then I applied the stars. The advantage to waiting until the base is completely dry, is that it minimizes the risk of bleeding, so if bleeding is an issue for you, wait a bit.

I have had several emails asking how I made the stars on these cookies. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

I went back to my grade school days of star drawing.

Use the icing tip to close any openings in the star. You will want to make sure the icing is not too thick or this won't work as well.

Let them dry completely.

I don't often have bleeding problems, however for those of you who do, be sure to make sure each color is dry before moving on.

These are easy, and since all the outlining is done in black, they require minimal prep work.

Hope to see these in your Fourth of July roundup!

Happy Pappy's Day Cookies

2011-06-18T22:55:00.005-05:00

Are you sitting at your computer fretting a little because it's Father's Day and you haven't made one single treat for the DAD in your life?

Maybe you were busy, or procrastinated a little...in any case it's not too late. YOU can make PAPPY cookies!

I call them Pappy cookies because these are dad's favorite. He doesn't need all the bells and whistles, just plain old cookies with a sprinkle of sugar on top.

Simple and easy.

Of course, I color them, because that's what I do, but really, he loves them just plain.

I didn't even use a cutter. I just pulled out my fluted pastry wheel and went to town.

All you need to do is make my basic sugar cookies, add any flavor your dad likes such as, lemon, orange, any kind of zest, almond, or vanilla...sprinkle them with sugar {I prefer the raw kind mixed with lemon zest} and bake.

My dad is a funny guy. We call him Pap or Pappy or sometimes another pap-related nickname that makes mom glare at us and everyone else giggle.

He was born an old soul, I guess. Nanny said even when he was a little little boy, he'd wake up with the sun, head out to explore all day with his dog, and then be home and in bed before she made him.

Since I was a little girl his dream was to grow old, wear rimless spectacles, and live in the middle of nowhere with his dogs. This is him.

So far, he's doing pretty well. He's got the glasses, he definitly lives in the middle of nowhere, or at least somewhere close, and the dogs, oh the dogs!

See? He loves his dog, who is appropriately named Junior. They even look a little alike.

And guess who likes cookies too? Especially if they look like him.

But if you ask me, he's a bit spoiled. A baby even...Definitely the favorite child. Although, I may just be jealous we were so easily replaced.

{PS, Junior has a sister, Rosie, and Pap loves her, but J will always be TOP DOG}

He even made that little picture of the dogs up there. I worry about him a little...

Speaking of dads...we have another favorite dad around here.

You guessed it. BERN-DAD!

Ooops...wait, wrong picture.

That's him and his mini-me. I don't have one with him and all the kiddos. Apparently, I need to work on taking more group photos this summer!

In any case, Happy Father's Day to my special dads, and to all the other great daddies out there.

If you haven't made him a treat, twenty minutes is all it takes, so it's not too late, get to baking!

Have a wonderful day Father's Day everyone!

Making a Paper Cookie Stencil

2011-06-16T05:26:00.002-05:00

Today I have another little tip to simplify your Father's Day cookie decorating.

You don't need blessed hands to perfectly pipe designs onto a cookie. It just takes a little thought, planning, and practice.

Of course, I own a necktie cookie cutter, but I had some leftover cookies that needed to be decorated, so rather than make a whole new batch, I made them work for what I had in mind.

These are a little simpler than a lot of the cookies I decorate, but that's the point. This is a technique that is good for anyone and any design, beginner to advanced, simple to complex.

If you want fully iced cookies, take a minute to outline and fill your cookies the day before decorating and let them dry overnight.

In the meantime, sketch an image, or find one online that you like and size it smaller than the cookie you will be working on.

Use an Exacto knife to cut out the image, and you will be left with a perfect little stencil.

I use card stock for this, because it's sturdier, and also, because in this case I prefer paper over plastic because it has more traction on the smooth icing.

However, if you are planning on using this as a stencil for spreading royal icing, it will have to be made from stencil paper, which you can find at craft stores and in lots of Walmarts.

To make these cookies you will need:

flooded cookies, dry and ready to decorate
food color marker {I used the same color I planned on piping the outline with}
a small stencil, handmade or store bought
black piping icing
flood icing in your choice of colors

Now here we GO!

Before I get into this I need to brag a little. Notice that I am able to hold the stencil, pipe, and take a photo?

I WISH I was that good, but I'm not. It's an illusion. The truth is that the photos where I am using both

hands were taken by my seven year old.

What a strange life the children of bloggers must have. Can you imagine how THAT conversation goes at school?

"My mommy works at the bank. They have candy there."

"How strange. My mom makes cookies all day and goes all over the house taking hundreds and hundreds of pictures of them."

Unconventional, maybe a little, but one of these days when I am the mom of a world-famous food photographer, I'll know where he got his start.

Anyway, I drift...

Back to COOKIES. This technique is as simple as placing the stencil on the top of the cookie, ensuring it's centered, and tracing around it with the food color pen.

Carefully lift the stencil straight up off of the cookie, keeping in mind that if you slide it around, it will smudge.

Then pipe around it with black icing and a #1.5 or #2 tip.

The photo below is another SuperKid masterpiece. I am pretty proud of this one!

Let the outline dry {Little Bit took this pic too},

then decorate however you like! Simple, yes, fun, yes, and you can use this idea to make any design you'd like!

Perfection, and you don't even need a KopyKake projector.

For a similar project, click HERE.

Father's Day is almost here. What will you be doing for the dads in your life?

Making Cookies From Paper Templates

2011-06-15T08:41:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I was BURSTING with Independence Day ideas, and completely at a loss for Father's Day. So, I did what I usually do when I don't have an answer, I MADE something up. Yes, I do that a lot...

This is what I came up with. Now AFTER I made all of these, I had all sorts of neat ideas like "DAD" on a bed of grass and a golf ball where the heart is, or replacing the heart with a shotgun shell for all those hunting dads...but that's going to have to wait a few days.

For now, this is what I've got, which is appropriate, because I sure love my dad.

It's really easy to do, and also very inexpensive. I tend to use cardstock because it's handy, easy to cut, and sturdy enough to stand up to repeated uses, BUT you can do stencil paper, manila folders, or my personal fave, old plastic lids.

Once you've cut out your design, place it directly onto the dough and cut around it with a sharp paring knife.

Word to the wise,don't try to show off and cut too fast. You might lose something important.

I do this ALL THE TIME. I'm a doodler, and this feeds my habit. Would you believe it if I told you I almost drove my algebra teacher to drink with my constant doodling? This has been a lifelong affliction.

These are some recent ones. I have a drawer full of these, and Berndogg has been trained NEVER to throw away one of my scribbled papers. It could very well be my latest masterpiece!

I used hand drawn templates to make most of the cookies below and also for my decades platter.

Did I mention this is CHEAP...and EASY?! { I know I did, that was for emphasis}

So, until Beth or Eric allow me to move into the guest house and adopt me as one of their own, this is what I will do...

I hope this inspires to to make your own shape when none of your cutters are just right. It really allows your creativity to FLOW!

This week has really flown by! Remember, I will be moving from Blogger to Wordpress very soon, so be sure to sign up to receive an email for new posts!

Bomb Pop Cookies

2011-06-14T00:00:00.004-05:00

IT'S HOT HERE, and of course, this makes me think of popsicles again. Specifically one of my favorites, BOMB POPS {really they are all my favorite, but I don't like to admit it}.

I have always had a love affair with Bomb Pops. I actually tend to call them Astro Pops, but those are really suckers.

In any case, the popsicle version was a rare thing in my kid days. Mom never bought them for us, because she said it took two hours for my brothers and I, {probably mostly me} to DEVOUR the whole box. So for this Otter Pop kid, the ONLY time I had the pleasure of enjoying a bomb pop was in the summer, of course, on the occasion that I was visiting my Nanny, because she was VERY generous with the quarters AND because my REAL home was literally in the middle of nowhere. No ice cream trucks out there, kids =(

ANYWAY, here is my obsession in cookie form.

I used a small baby bottle cutter like THIS ONE to make the actual cookie, and inserted cool little half-size popsicle sticks that I got at my local craft store.

To decorate Bomb Pop Cookies you will need:

black piping icing
red, white, and blue flood icing a tiny bit thinner than 20-second icing...maybe 17-second-ish
any color food color marker

These are not difficult, just tedious...

To begin, use the food color marker to divide your cookie into segments as pictured below. This will help to keep them uniform as you decorate.

As you can see, I used my purple pen because I don't use it that much. After the cookies were marked, I outlined them with black, using a #3 tip. You can definitely use a #2 if you like.

Next, I began the flooding process. The key is to fill alternating sections so that you get the definition of a real Bomb Pop.

Let them dry for 30-40 minutes {I prefer to use a fan} then come back and fill another section.

In hindsight, I could have done this in 3 steps, BUT, I've never been known for doing things the easy way.

Let that dry for a while, and then fill another section...

And after a bit more drying ANOTHER, and FINALLY they are finished!

I probably didn't need all of the pictures, but I'm a visual person, so I like to really put it out there.

And for those of you who think it's mildly insane to do all the steps above this works just as well. Same concept. Three sections, fill the red and blue, come back, fill the white, let it dry, and use the black and a #1.5 or #2 tip to add lines.

And if you want yours to have a cute little bite taken out of it, I do this...{ignore the fact that these are watermelons rather than Bomb Pops}

Any, fluted edged cutter will work, by the way.

I hope that everyone out there is COOLER than I am! Did I mention that it is disgustingly HOT here?

*Sigh* since I can't change that, I'll concentrate on cookies...

These are the first of MANY red, white and blue cookies to come in the weeks leading up to the fourth! It's going to be a lot of fun, so get ready to DECORATE!

Oh yes, and if you are into the theme thing, you HAVE to see these BOMB POP cupcakes that my friend Kristan made. How's THAT for a par-tay?!

Lingerie Cookies

2011-06-13T02:31:00.004-05:00

Lingerie cookies are ALWAYS popular for bachelorette parties. They are funny. {Especially when making them with your little brother} I've made them PG and a little more than PG...either way they always bring giggles.

I used two cutters for this set, a Wilton heart, and a swimsuit cutter that I got from Little Fox Factory, whose cutters I LOVE, by the way...

When I make lingerie cookies I usually do several different designs just to keep it fun. I picked my favorite today.

To make these you will need:

white, black, and light brown flood icing {the back should have a #1 or #1.5 tip}
piping icing in white, with a #2 or #3 tip and an extra #1 or #1.5 tip
piping icing in black with a #1.5 tip

Begin with a swimsuit or corset cookie. I prefer this cookie, but Copper Gifts and Ecrandal both have very lovely corset cookie cutters.

PS- I feel compelled to mention my friend Marlyn decorated most of the examples at both places =)

If you are short on time, or money, baby onesies can be adapted NICELY for this project!

Here we go! First, outline. If you look carefully, I changed my mind on the design soon after I began piping? SIMPLE fix. I just scraped off the part I didn't like with a toothpick and started again.

After I outlined, I filled the sections. I waited a little while between so that there would be definition between sections and they wouldn't run together.

After that dried, I filled in the little "peeking" section in the middle with light brown.

For a "sexier" cookie, although, I am not sure cookies can be sexy, you could make the middle section flesh tone {for tips on skin tone icing, click HERE} and add a little belly button...but since I like my tummy hidden, I went with the cover-up.

IMMEDIATELY, use the black flood icing fitted with the #1.5 tip and add leopard print to the wet center section. To see a tutorial on making leopard print cookies, click HERE.

Next, use the white piping icing fitted with a small tip {#1.5} to add lines for "boobies". If it makes it easier, turn them upside down and draw those simple little doodles that made birds when you were in grade school!

Next, use the black piping icing fitted with a #1.5 tip to add ruffles.

Last, add the last few fun touches. I did "waist" lines and a little ribbon, and then let them dry completely.

These can be made in SEVERAL different designs and styles and accented with many other cookies to personalize them.

Are you surprised these are for a Texan bride-to-be?

You should absolutely try these. Whether you make them before the party, or decorate them as one of the activities, they are a ton of fun and lots of laughs!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Woodgrain Cookies With Royal Icing

2011-06-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

This year, much to my dismay, I was pretty short on Father's Day ideas {sorry Dad}. It seems like everything I came up with had been done, and done, and done. So, I compromised a little, and just started thinking along the lines of "manly" rather than trying to do theme cookies.

I settled on wood. There is something manly and rugged about a plank of wood.

This is one way of getting the wood grain effect with royal icing. For the record, I also REALLY like THIS METHOD from my friend Renee of Kudos Kitchen, and I am planning on buying a fan brush just for that reason TODAY. But until then, this is how I make wood grain cookies with royal icing.

For this project, you will need:

darker brown and lighter brown flood icing
very dark brown piping icing for outlining, and #1.5 {or #1} and #3 tips.
toothpicks
Flood icing in your choice of colors {for the "DAD" part}

If I had thought this though a little better, I would have made a bigger contrast between the two browns I chose, but since I didn't {can y'all BELIEVE I am not perfect} PRETEND I did =)

First, BTW, I am making this snappy because I have some shopping and Red Lobster eating to do today, outline the cookie with the dark icing and a #3 tip. Go rugged, like a real piece of old wood you might find lying around.

Next, flood MOST of the cookie with the brown color you want to be most prominent.

Immediately afterward, add the secondary color to the open spaces.

Then, use a toothpick to swirl it all around.

Then, use the dark piping icing to come back and add "wood grain" to the still wet icing, so that it sinks into the base a little.

At this point, let them dry.

Now I will teach you a quick, cool way to nicely pipe a shape onto a cookie without one of those fancy projector thingies. For more on that, by the way, click HERE.

All you need is a food color marker in any color.

I use the marker to map out what I plan to write on the cookie.

Then, I use the dark brown piping icing and #1.5 tip to pipe around my guide letters, and after they are dry, fill them with colored icing.

I hope that makes sense, I'm telling you, I rushed a bit...

The flood icing covers any eveidence you cheated. Don't we wish it was ALWAYS that easy?

Let them dry completely...

and you will have these.

You can use this little trick to put about anything you like on a cookie. If your daddy is into DIY, do tools. Sports, balls and such. Hunting or fishing, bobbers and bullets. There are TONS and TONS of options.

They can work well with many other themes including western, kids parties and more.

I used this technique for one of my favorite western platters for a close friend of mine. As you can see there's a lot more contrast here.

I hope you have fun trying this out.

A few other things, while I'm here. I havent't posted the winner of the LorAnn giveaway yet, but she has been notified, and I have heard back from her, so if you didn't get an email, it's bad news this time. =( BUT, I still plan on posting what cutters I used for the cookies, so stay tuned for that.

Also, my big blog switch is coming SOON, so be sure to follow via email if I havent scared you off already so you don't miss anything...

I have a lot coming up for the switch-over and Independence Day, so stick around. It's going to be FUN!

Now, off to shop and eat and have a little fun. If you aren't doing the same, I hope you are at least decorating cookies!

Happy Friday!

Wilton-Style Roses for Cookies {WFMW}

2011-06-07T19:49:00.000-05:00

This is the second part in my three part series about putting roses on cookies.

I have mentioned before that I am a Wilton dropout. It's TRUE. I took the first class and then never made it back. It had nothing to do with the class, but more with the fact that it required a sixty-mile drive and cake baking. And y'all know how I feel about cake baking!

However, I learned one of my favorite tricks from this class, the Wilton rose {in my own sloppy way}.

They are so pretty and very relaxing to make. I'm kind of obsessed with it.

I had to adapt this to cookies, mainly so they'd be smaller.

To make Wilton-style royal icing roses for cookies, you need:

two bags of stiff royal icing in the color of your choice {by stiff I mean it completely holds it's shape like the fourth photo down in THIS POST}
a #3 and #101 Wilton tip
a #9 flower nail
1x1 squares of wax paper
clean cookie sheet

You can actually buy pre-cut squares of waxed paper, but my Nanny's angry ghost comes to visit me anytime I consider it, so I make my own. It's much more economical.

This is how I do it. KEEP IN MIND, Wilton has a nice, pretty, perfect way to do it that you can see HERE, but as always, I did it my way...

To begin, I put a tiny dot of icing onto the flower nail, with the #3 tip,

which I used to secure a wax paper square to the nail.

Once it's secure, you are ready to begin piping a rose.

Use the bag with the #3 tip to make a little cone-shaped mountain in the center. You need to make it about 1/2 an inch tall so all of the petals will fit around the base. To get the thin tip, release pressure on the bag as you pull up and you should end up with a nice perfect point.

When you have done that, use the bag fitted with a #101 tip to make the center. I included tons of photos, because this is where it get a little tough to explain, and absorb.

The wide side of the tip will be down, and the thin part on top. Angle the wide end close enough to the rose to touch, and simultaneously spin the nail while piping. Make sure to only cover the tip, not the whole base.

Keep going until you have made a complete rotation, and touch the tip to the base to close the center.

Next, add petals. This is where I get a little sloppy. Wilton has a method. I call it the 3/5/7 method, three petals on the first row, five on the next, and seven on the outside. It works well and the roses are perfect.

I, on the other hand, DON'T do that. I start out with good intentions, but depending how it goes, I just keep on piping until the thing looks okay.

It worked okay at first. I managed to get three on the first row.

To do this, you put the tip, wide part down, into the same angled position as you did to make the centers, and then squeeze an "arch" onto a section of the base {ideally a third of it}. Make sure to tilt the thin area slightly away from the base so you get that thin petal edge.

So far so good.

This is the point at which I get off course. It's kind of a tiny space I am working with, and a VERY tight squeeze, so from here on out, I do the same thing as above but I keep going...

And going...

and going, until they look pretty to me.

As I finish each one, I line them up on a cookie sheet to dry. As you can see, I like doing this.

I make tons and tons of them when I have leftover icing. It really is relaxing.

If you missed my how-to on simple roses, check it out HERE.

Using the "almost" Wilton-method for making icing roses works for me, and I hope it works for you too. For all of you beginners, I would highly recommend signing up for the 3-4 part class at your local Hobby Lobby or Michaels. Even if you aren't into cakes, it's a valuable resource for learning the basics of decorating. Many a fine decorators got their roots in a Wilton class.

If I left anyting out, or you're still feeling a little bit nervous, you can view Wilton's how-to HERE. Just use the tips I suggested so that they will be smaller.

Good luck and happy decorating! Stay tuned next week for part three!

Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe

2011-06-06T22:00:00.006-05:00

Lots of you know that I am pretty new to this blogging thing. I'm still learning every day. One of the big things I've learned along the way, it that it doesn't make sense to have a cookie decorating blog without a cookie recipe, SO finally, I am posting one.

Keep in mind, this is the recipe I prefer. You don't have to use this particular recipe to make beautiful cookies. Use the one that works best for you and adapt it to your personal taste.

What I can say for this recipe is that it's easy, which is just my style. I've always said, I am not a baker, as much as an artist who happens to use cookies and icing as my medium.

It works great for me. I like it, and I have made thousands of cookies using this recipe.

So here it goes..

To make my basic sugar cookies you need:

1 c. {two sticks} of REAL unsalted BUTTER, softened
1 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 egg
2-3 tsp flavoring {pick what you like, I prefer almond}
2 1/2-2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Cream together softened butter and confectioner's sugar. Crack the egg into a separate bowl, and add the flavoring. I use emulsions, but extract also works well. Add that to the butter sugar mixture and mix until the egg is thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add little by little to the mixture.

I can tell the dough is ready when most of it sticks to the paddle.

When I touch it, it has a little give, but does not stick to my fingers.

Roll out on parchment to about 1/4 an inch thick, use flour for dusting as necessary. Then, cut and bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes. This version makes 2-2 1/2 dozen, doubled, it makes 4-5 dozen.

When they are cool, they are ready to decorate.

A few notes about my recipe...

The dough DOES not need to be refrigerated. That's why I like it.
The dough needs to rest a little after mixing, it will firm up a little bit after a minute or two
The recipe doubles well
Baking times are approximate. You must KNOW your oven. Watch them the first few times you bake them. Get a thermometer, and do not over bake. If the cookies are browning you have gone too far.
This dough can be flavored any way you like.
The cookies freeze well
There is a lot of leavener in these cookies. This is not a typo. The general rule is less leavener so they don't spead, but I've never been one to follow the rules.
This recipe does spread a little. If you don't like that add a little flour.
Speaking of flour, start with 2 1/2 cups. Add another 1/4 of a cup if the dough seems to sticky.
If you don't like salt, leave it out altogether.
If you only have salted butter, use that and reduce the salt.
I prefer decorating day-old cookies. They are less likely to leach oil back into your icing if they have had a day or two to "dry out". They are still soft, however.

I use this for all my cut-out cookies. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

If it doesn't work the first time, KEEP practicing. That is the key.

GOOD LUCK and happy baking!

Well, DUH!

2011-06-05T00:00:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I have a great idea...

Then soon afterward, someone has a way better idea! A week or two ago, I posted what I thought was a VERY nifty idea for graduate cookies.

Then, a few days later, I see these {of course this is my version} on one of my favorite cookie blogs, LilaLoa.

So, I'm here to say, FORGET what I said two weeks ago and follow these instructions from Lila Loa!

Best idea ever! Why piece together cookies, when you can use one easily accessible cutter and accomplish the same thing? Perfect size, easier, AND as cute as can be!

I totally wish I had thought of this!

Little Luau Cookies and Where to Shop

2011-06-03T04:00:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick little thought for Friday. You don't need a special cutters to make specialty cookies. Just use what you have.

A few days ago I made these little luau cookies for my neighbor to use as cupcake toppers.

I had a pineapple cutter, but other than that, I was out of luck. So, I went through my little box of mini-cutters and came up with ways to make what I needed with what I had.

I used the cross to trim the arms off of the baby onesie, and the pineapple to trim the cross, and I had a perfect little set. You could also use a mini-star as a starfish or a scalloped round as a seashell. the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

So, before going shopping, take another look at the cutters you have. And if that point you still feel the need for new cutters, try these wonderful shops.

Of course, there are many many more, these are just my most frequented faves. And when you spend too much money on cutters, just remember, you are not alone!

Happy Friday, I hope you find lots of fun new toys!

Wedding Bouquet Cookies

2011-06-01T22:32:00.004-05:00

During my years as a cookie maker I could always tell what time of year it was by the cookies that people requested. This is most definitely wedding season.

These bridal bouquet cookies aren't a design that I would recommend for mass production. They are very detailed and time consuming, therefore something I think would be more suited as special gifts for the wedding party rather than favors.

I used my tree cutter to make the base shape for these, although I have seen several using the Wilton shooting star cutter that are VERY pretty.

You will need several colors of icing to make these cookies:

pink, yellow, orange, white, green, and aqua 20-second icing
navy, green, white, and pink, piping icing
several 1.5 or #2 tips, one #67 leaf tip, and one #101 petal tip

To begin, add green around the edges {leaves} and to the bottom of the trunk {stems}

Let this dry slightly and then flood the center with aqua 20-second icing. Be prepared to work quickly from this point on.

Be sure to work on the cookies one at a time, because if you get too far ahead of yourself you will not get the same effect as you do when using the wet on wet technique.

Very quickly, use the white flood icing to add daisies to the aqua base.

Then, come back with the yellow and orange flood icing and add centers to the daisies and smaller orange blossoms.

At this point, I let the cookie dry for about an hour before adding a pink base for the roses. I did this so that they would have a little more dimension than the other flowers.

At this point, I let the cookie dry completely. the next day, I used the white piping icing and a #1.5 tip to outline the daisies,

and add swirls to the roses {for more information about adding roses to cookies, click HERE},

Next I used the #101 tip to add ribbon to the space I left on the stem area of the cookie.

I let that dry for ten minutes or so, then used the same tip to add a bow.

Next I used the #67 leaf tip to add green leaves.

Making leaves is simple. All you do is hold the tip at an angle in the place where you would like the leaf to be. Give it a bit of pressure and pull outward quickly but carefully, releasing pressure at the point you would like the leaf to end. Lift up a tiny bit at the end to give the leaf a good tip.

Make sure the icing is stiff enough to hold it's shape or your leaf will not look like a leaf.

Finally I used white and green icing to add a few finishing touches, centers to the orange blossoms, and stems to the bottom of the bouquet {I changed to a #1.5 tip for this step}

When they are dry, you'll be left with a very special cookie, perfect to use as gifts for the wedding party, or others who deserve a special wedding treat.

{WFMW} Making Roses on Cookies, Part 1

2011-05-31T21:48:00.006-05:00

When I first began making cookies, I was very intimidated by piped flowers. Particularly roses. It took me a while to find a method that I liked. Over time, I have found three that work for me, and I wanted to show them to you.

Since it's a lot of information, I decided to break it into three parts. I'm going to start with what I call easy roses.

These are the kind of roses I used for cookies like these.

And when I say easy, I mean easy. To do this, tape a piece of wax paper to the bottom of cookie sheet. I always use painters tape because it's a lot easier to remove than any other type.

Then prepare your icing. You'll need flood icing and piping icing. I put a #1.5 tip on both.

To begin, I used the flood icing to make several "flower" shapes on the wax paper. Then, I let them dry for about an hour.

After they dried for a bit, I used the piping icing with my #1.5 tip to add a "squiggly swirl" to the top.

After they dry, you can peel them off of the paper and store them in an airtight container to be used as needed.

Easy roses can also be added directly to a cookie if you don't want to pipe them ahead of time, just follow the same steps.

This is the quickest easiest way I know of to get the look of a rose on a cookie.

Tomorrow, I'll show you how I made these bridal bouquet cookies using this technique.

Pretty Pastel Popsicle Cookies

2011-05-30T22:20:00.004-05:00

It's HOT! All weekend long we were baking out here in West Texas, and not in the way I like. With temperatures soaring up to 103 degrees this past Saturday, we didn't even venture outside until after six. Of course, this made me think of popsicles, so I made these.

Even though I had to wait until about midnight to bake them, they were worth it. All you need is a cowboy hat cookie cutter

and skinny popsicle sticks. I got these at Walmart.

First, I baked the popsicle cookies. I made them by trimming the top from my cowboy hat cookie with a knife.

While they were cooling, I used heavy duty scissors to cut my skinny sticks in half.

Next I flipped my cookies, piped double lines of stiff royal icing onto the cookies, and used it to "glue" the sticks to each cookie.

You may wonder why I chose to do it this way rather than bake them into the cookie. The reason is simple. It's easier than trying to insert two sticks into each cookie.

When you are ready to decorate, you will need twenty-second icing in your choice of colors. I chose these, however you can use any combination depending on the occasion. For example, I'd go with red, white, and blue for Independence Day

To decorate pastel cookie pops, follow these steps:

Outline one side of the cookie,

then fill...

When the first half of each cookie is covered, let them dry for thirty minutes to an hour.

When the first side has had time to dry a bit, come back and fill the second side of the cookie.

Immediately, afterward, add a white accent mark to the wet icing.

When they are dry you will have an adorable cookie treat.

These would be PERFECT for birthday parties, holidays, or just a summertime treat.

If you need a larger version of these, check out my friend Meaghan's blog, The Decorated Cookie. She made BIGGER cookie popsicles!

Keep your eyes peeled for cookie Bomb Pops, because I am definitely on a ROLL!

Memorial Day

2011-05-29T21:01:00.000-05:00

I try to stay off of my political soapbox, but today I'm making an exception.

I almost didn't write this, because I didn't want to be the Monday downer, but I want to make sure others remember the real reason for Memorial Day.

I feel like often Memorial Day is often thought of as a day of furniture sales, races, and barbecues. But in truth, it is SOOOO much more than that.

It is a day to remember our heroes, and the sacrifices they have made so we can continue living as normally as possible in an imperfect world.

I have been a military wife, lived in a military town, and had military friends and family. Sometimes I think that many people don't realize the sacrifices these families make for us. There is nothing normal about military life.

Right this VERY minute, we are fighting a war. It's easy not to think about it. In fact, I think many of us don't, and that breaks my heart.

One story that especially moved me was the story of The Chosen Company's Second Platoon.

Not five days ago I sat at my kitchen table with my cousin as he shared his photos and videos of war with me. I asked a lot of questions, of course, because I have been long curious about what really goes on over there.

As we talked he mentioned an abandoned base, in a valley surrounded my mountains. Immediately I asked, "Who in the HELL would put a base there?"

I'm no soldier but it doesn't take much to figure out what a terrible idea that was.

Anyway, today, less than a week later, I caught the full story of this doomed base. It's a story that needs to be heard, and these heroes deserved to be remembered.

Also, I would like to take a moment to remember two fallen heroes from my cousin's platoon who made the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, SPC Benjamin Osborn and SFC Ofren Arrechaga. May these heroes be remembered always. My thoughts and prayers are with their families.

Lorann Bakery Emulsion Giveaway

2011-05-26T23:00:00.007-05:00

I talk about bakery emulsions a lot, so I thought I would explain them a little. Basically they are alcohol-free flavorings that stand up to high heat, so that they don't lose intensity when they are baked. It gets a lot more complicated than that, but thats the simple version.

I haven't always used emulsions. I actually tried LorAnn almond emulsion on a whim last year, and became addicted.

I can smell the difference, and taste it even more. They are easily interchanged with extracts because one teaspoon of emulsion is equivalent to a teaspoon of extract. Also, Lorann tells me that they can be used in royal icing.

Since I like them so much, I also wanted to share them with you. I'm very excited because LorAnn Oils has offered to give one reader a bottle of every flavor available!

There are a few ways to enter to win:

Become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment telling me so. If you already follow me, let me know.
Take a shot on guessing what sneaky cutters I used in the photos above. One guess per platter.
Tell your friends about The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle so they can join the fun too!

Leave a comment for each separate entry, and let me know how to contact you. if I can't get in touch with you, you can't win. Ends Friday, June 3, at midnight.

If you tweet or Facebook, that can also be counted as an entry.

Good Luck!

Mini-Bandana Cookie Toppers

2011-05-26T01:30:00.000-05:00

It's almost the weekend, but you still have time to make a quick Memorial Day cookie treat. These minis are even easier than regular bandana cookies.

To make these, you'll need:

red and blue twenty-second icing
black food color marker
white piping icing and a #1 or #1.5 tip
mini-cookies in the shape of your choice

I used squares, but circles, stars, or even flower cookies, like these by Sweet T Cookies would be adorable also!

All you need to do is cover flood your cookie with 20-second icing. Let it dry completely, and follow my bandana cookie instructions to complete the look. This is also a super quick, no outlining way of making large bandana cookies.

The only variation will be the border...if you have a straight sided cookie you can still do the ruffle, however with the scalloped border I had to change my method just a little.

When they are ready, just lay them on a frosted cupcake. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tidy Mom's easy cupcake recipe. I am admittedly CAKE CHALLENGED, however, since I found this recipe, I have managed to make pretty, uniform cupcakes without batter all over my kitchen.

Speaking of perfect cupcakes, I also LOVE this post on making uniform cupcakes by My Baking Addiction.

And, since it saved me even more time, I used store bought frosting. Don't hate me...I'm a cookie girl through and through.

In any case, these are easy and fun, and can work in many different ways...as toppers, minis, or as an accompaniment to larger bandana cookies.

Show up with this Duo, and you'll be the hit of your Memorial Day weekend bash!

Airbrushed Koi Fish Cookie {Guest Post}

2011-05-25T04:00:00.003-05:00

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. One of the best things about this cookie adventure is the friends I've made. Even after two years, I am constantly amazed by the talent, ideas, and generosity of the women with whom I share this crazy obsession.

As I mentioned before, I am recovering from arm surgery. Before it even happened, I was pretty nervous about the effect it would have on my ability to decorate and keep up with blogging. Of course, I shared these concerns with my cookie friends.

Enter Marlyn, one of the oldest {duration, not AGE} and dearest of these friends, and also the creator of these cookies.

The peacock is about my all-time favorite cookie, and I don't even have words for the heart...

ANYWAY, now that you have met Marlyn...the rest of the story...

After mentioning to Marlyn that I was nervous about the upcoming weeks, she surprised me with this amazing tutorial.

I don't know if I was hormonal or what, but it brought me to tears. Not only was I AMAZED at what she had to offer {I'd never even considered this until reading this tutorial} I was deeply touched that she took my words and invested the time and knowledge into creating something so wonderful to ease my worries.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU, Marlyn. I am PROUD to call you my friend.

Okay, hormonal, mushy spew over OVER. ♥ you, M.

Now, for the REAL fun! Marlyn has created this awesome tutorial to demonstrate a way to airbrush cookies, without an airbrush. YES, it's as cool as it sounds!

To make these Koi cookies you will need the following supplies:

Cookie sized stencil, available at most craft stores
Mini/small spritz bottles, I got mine at the dollar store in the cosmetic section in a refillable travel set. *Purchase as many bottles as colors you plan on using
Gel food color
Cookie cutter that will suit the stencil you have selected.
Masking tape
Black and white piping icing {optional}

I began the process by adding a few drops of Americolor gels into the spritz bottles. I then poured about an inch of vodka into the bottle with the gel and shook it up, then sprayed it into the sink until the color came to the top.

I chose to use vodka rather than water because it dries much more quickly. I did not test whether water would work but I suppose you could give it a try if you don't want to use vodka.

For my cookie design, I found this cool koi stencil and a PERFECT paisley cutter from Ecrandal.

To begin, you will need to bake and flood your cookies so that they have a smooth base of white icing.
It is preferable to dry them overnight since the stencil and color will be wet and could possibly damage the surface of a semi-dry cookie.

NOW TO DECORATE

First, I placed the stencil onto a piece of card stock to test both if my color was dark enough {if not add more gel} and secondly it was to mark the areas that needed to be masked before spraying the cookies.

I sprayed the paper, let it dry, and then cut out the image as close to the outline as possible.

I then placed the slightly damp cut-out in a book to ensure that it dried flat.

Next, I positioned the stencil cut-out on the cookie. Keep in mind you can use corn syrup to hold in place if the misting happens to move it. Also, I recommend doing this project on a paper towel to reduce mess.

Before spraying the cookie do test spray into the sink to ensure that the color is flowing properly. THEN, spray the cookie. It took 3 spritzes to get the coverage I had in mind.

I then removed the card stock to reveal a white spot for my stencil.

Wait for the first color to dry, {it took mine about 5 minutes} then place your stencil over the white spot on the cookie.

The next step is VERY important! Before moving on, check to see if any of the cookie is exposed beyond the edge of the stencil. If it is, you must cover the area to protect it from overspray...I used masking tape.

Voila! Now, you're ready for color number two!

Once again, mist color into the sink to get it flowing, then spray the koi design.

This layer also took three sprays. See the little beads that accumulated on the stencil? Gently remove the stencil to ensure that none of the color beads fall back onto the cookie.

At this point, the cookie could be considered complete, however, I felt it would look better with some definition.

Just for the sake of experimentation, I did two versions of this cookie, one using the method demonstrated above {left}, and another using my airbrush {right}...
I think I prefer the spritz version, although, I wish I had added a bit more color to the vodka mixture.

Back to the details. I mixed up some black and white RI {piping consistency} and proceeded to outline the white lines on the fish. Then as a finishing touch, I added a few white air bubbles.

The final result, an airbrushed cookie, without an airbrush!!!

It does not always take expensive or specialized equipment to get a professional effect. A little creativity, thinking, and determination go a LONG way!

I am still in awe of this technique, and most of all my wonderful, friend Marlyn. Thanks again for sharing this with us, and teaching me yet another new skill. I plan on incorporating this technique into my designs very soon!

How to Make Camouflage Print on Cookies

2011-05-24T04:00:00.003-05:00

To start off, I have great news!!! My cousin is FINALLY home from Afghanistan...so, I made him his VERY own set of cookies. {He's one of my biggest fans.} I was beyond excited for him to come over, and I am glad he doesn't have to go back for a LONG time.

And since it is so close to Memorial Day, I figured it would be a good idea to post my camouflage tutorial.

Some of you might have seen this before, but I thought it might be worth a repost before the holiday.

In this particular case, I chose pink, although I would not recommend it for your tough Army guy cousin...

For this project you will need:

Icing for outlining
3-4 shades of flood icing, a tiny bit thicker than you'd normally use for flooding

For regular camo, I tend to choose an olive and dark forest green, khaki, and black or very dark brown, but you can use any color combo you choose. Blue is especially pretty!

First, outline your cookie.

Now, get ready to work pretty quickly, so that your cookie will have a flat surface. Try to work on only three or four at a time...

Use your primary icing color {the one you would like to be most prominent} to add "puzzle" shapes randomly over the surface of the cookie as pictured below.

Then, quickly move on to the next color,

and the next...

Finally, add the last color, filling any open spaces. I save the darkest color for this step so that it doesn't overwhelm my cookie.

Just for example sake, I wanted to show you these. I got a little ahead of myself and did too many at once.

I ended up with a slightly raised, bumpy surface. It was OKAY, but ideally, I \ prefer for them to be flat...

When you are finished, you will end up with cookies that look like these...

Or these if it's your boy cousin who's getting the cookies =)

Glad you're home, and even gladder you came to visit me, D!!!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, and thank you to all of the men and women who sacrifice so much so that we can remain safe and free.

I linked up to Tidymom's I'm Lovin' It, Friday!

Bandana Print Cookies

2011-05-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

Bandana print is one of my favorite patterns to put on a cookie. It is bright, happy, and has a lot of impact, yet it's still surprisingly easy to do, and a very forgiving pattern.

The supplies you will need for these cookies are minimal:

black piping icing with a #3 tip for outlining
red flood icing {or whatever color you choose for your bandana print to be}
black Americolor food color marker
white piping icing with a #1 or #1.5 tip

The following steps are very simple. First outline your cookie. I use squares most often, but you can do circles, flowers, stars, or anything else that strikes your fancy.

When the outlines are dry, flood the insides of your cookies with the color you chose. At this point you will need to let the cookies dry completely, preferably overnight, or at least eight hours.

The next day, use the food color marker to draw the base of your bandana print onto the cookie. You can be very precise or completely random. Use a combination of paisleys, diamonds, dots, flowers and other designs you may find on a bandana. If you have trouble visualizing, I suggest Googling bandana print, OR looking at the real thing.

Next, use the white to add a ruffle to the outside edge of the bandana. I have tried it both ways but I feel like it's a little "naked" without it.

Finally, use the white to embellish all of the designs. If you have bare spots, add more designs, or even a simple black or white dot.

And that's all there is to making your own adorable bandana print cookies.

Do not let this pattern intimidate you. Just let it flow, and do what feels natural to you. Use bright colors for a springy look,

You can go girly,

Rugged...

Or just plain traditional.

No matter how you do it, bandana is always cute! Hope to see you try it soon!

Four Decades Worth of Cookies

2011-05-20T15:47:00.002-05:00

This is my latest cookie project. They took FOREVER with my bad arm, but I was also forced to get back to some of the basics of cookie decorating that I have forgotten in my constant rush. It's definitely something I'll be writing about soon. But for now, some pretty cookie pics!

Just for fun, I'll talk about how I came up with these. Most of them are the obvious choices or something I Googled and adapted to what I pictured in my mind. The glasses are my moustache cookie cutter in disguise.

In case you are wondering why there is only half a Bel Air, the reason is simple. I had to think of a way to make a detailed cookie, without it being huge. My solution was this. I've seen '57 Chevy cutters and cookies from the rear view, so I thought why not do the same thing, just a little bit differently.

That's one of the best things about cookies. You can do things like that.

Then onto the sixties...pretty standard. However, I did draw the hippy girl. I'm pretty proud of her. AND, I also managed to get tie-dye right this time {for a tutorial, although somewhat BACKWARD, click HERE}!

The bell-bottoms were SUPPOSED to go with the 70's set, but they kind of warped into something else as I worked. I found a CUTE clipart and I was trying to seventies-ize them. I failed, but I just went with it.

This is the set I feel needed a little something more. I like the lava lamp. Afro-guy isn't what I planned. I meant for him to be a girl, changed my mind mid-stream and by the time I figured out I didn't like him, it was too late. He was made from a simple scalloped round cutter.

Speaking of sneaky cutters, do you recognize the peace sign? It's an old Wilton bunny cutter.

I think he eighties were the easiest set for me. i could have done lots more. I am pretty proud of my Cyndi/Madonna chick. I drew her also. It was one of those times that everything just worked.

Actually, it worked even better than I had hoped, and any of you that do cookies you know that's a great thing!

The cassette was a rescue job. It almost didn't make it, but I couldn't bear not having it included, so I scraped it and started again.

These are my faves...or at least they were when I took the picture. They've already changed, and will probably change again next week, and the week after.

Speaking of redos...the jukebox was another do over. The first run was a disaster, so off came attempt one, which thankfully led to a much nicer second run.

Here they are all together, minus the purple flower that didn't fit. But you're not missing much, it's pretty standard.

I also made a splatter painted centerpiece cookie, with my friend's name, who wouldn't appreciate me blasting her true age all over the internet { there WAS a point to these cookies, LOL} SOOOO I left it out of the photos.

So, here's to fun cookies, a good cookie night, and THE WEEKEND! I hope everyone enjoys it!

DIY Colored Sugar Pearls {Guest Post}

2011-05-18T22:21:00.005-05:00

HI!!! I'd wave, but I am currently sporting a crippled arm. I had a little surgery not long ago, and I'm still super sore.

Yes, I know, it kind of sucks...especially when you decorate cookies for fun and they got my good arm. But lucky for you, in the meantime, I found something REALLY cool to keep you occupied.

I stumbled upon this little trick on my friend Linzy's blog, Flour and Sugar, and I was so tickled with it, I couldn't wait for her to share. Besides being a baker and decorator, I feel I need to mention, she's ALSO a doctor. Yup, a doctor. Impressed? I sure am!

So, to keep you entertained, while I'm on the mend...here's LINZY!!!

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Wowza! I am so blown away to be guest posting here today, seriously somebody pinch me! I have spent numerous ~~hours~~ ~~days~~ months oogling over Callye's amazing creations and I couldn't be happier to share a little tutorial with you all today! So what are we waiting for!

Have you ever found yourself sitting in front of the beautifully colored sugar pearl display at your local baking supply store, attempting to justify to yourself that buying a whole container of bright pink sugar pearls is a worthwhile investment? Even though, you know the project you need those beautiful pink pearls for will only require about 20 pearls and then you will be left with the remaining 2 or more ounces of pearls just sitting in your baking supply, waiting for another opportunity to shine. Truth is, I bet you will never use them all, and then you will find yourself doing this same justification down the road when you need some green, or purple, or blue pearls. Am I right? So unless you plan on creating your very own display of multi-colored sugar pearls to rival your local baking supply store, stay tuned to save yourself not only some cash-o-la, but also some oh so precious storage space!

All you need are the following:

white sugar pearls
soft bristled food safe paintbrush
color of your choice
small container you don't mind staining

Start by dipping your brush into your food coloring...remember a little bit goes a long way!

Place your white sugar pearls into your bowl and start stirring the pearls around with your brush. You may think that you will come out with patchy colored pearls, but fear not, continue stirring and stirring and stirring and I promise, they will come out even.

keep going and going and going...really it does not take too long ;)

There you have em...pretty little pearls in any color you need! Allow to dry for a couple of minutes before applying them.

Now you say you want a simple yet sophisticated project to do with your pretty little pearls? Turns out, you are in luck! This next little tutorial is not only pretty, but rather resourceful, and who doesn't like that!

To make these pearly mums, you need the following:

piping bag fitted with a coupler and
parchment squares
really thick royal icing (see pictures below), now this is the resourceful part, you can take your leftover royal icing, thicken it up, and voila, you have the perfect mum icing!
sugar pearls

To get started, thicken up your left over royal icing by adding a teaspoon at a time of confectioners sugar. Stir in between additions until thick, stiff peaks form.

(left over flood royal icing)

just a spoon full of sugar...

helps your icing thicken up :)

Next up, fill your piping bag fitted with a coupler and tip #81

Take a parchment square and pipe a "plus sign." With this tip, you should have the curve side closest to your parchment, in other words, it should be making a smile not a frown. This is the bottom of your flower, so this will determine how large your final product will be, you can make them as small or as large as you like, just remember to allow extra time for drying the larger they are.

Now pipe an "x" the same size as your "plus sign."

Now fill in the empty areas with the same length petals until you see very minimal parchment.

Next you will pipe the second layer of petals. As you can see in the below picture, your second layer is slightly shorter than the base.

Continue layering each set of petals making them shorter with each layer until you reach the top. The larger your flower is the more petal layers you will have, therefore requiring extra drying time.

Okay, almost there...now all you need is your pretty little sugar pearl stamens

I always use tweezers to pop them in just the right spot.

Voila! Now you have pretty little flowers to add to any project you like...cookies, cakes, cupcakes, table decor (j/k)...I think you get the point! Best thing about them is that they store perfectly so that you can use them at a later time. Resourceful I told ya! They use up your left over RI, they store to save you time later and they make just about anything prettier, so what more could you ask for!

I hope you guys find this tutorial useful and thank you so much for following along. Please stop by my blog to check out a couple of the projects I have used these resourceful beauties on:

Anniversary Cake

1st Year Birthday Cookies

Happy Baking...Happier Eating!

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Thank you again for coming to my rescue and teaching me a fun new trick, Linzy!

Happy Graduate Face Cookies

2011-05-18T04:15:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I get a little bored with my cutters. I have just about every graduation cutter available, I think...but eventually I found myself wanting something a little more than just the average cap or diploma.

So, I made these...

They were attempt two at a set I made last year. The problem with the first set, however, was that I used my actual cap cutter and a circle, so they were HUGE...or at least WAY bigger than I like my cookies to be.

So this year, I scaled it down, using these cutters. You can use any size you like but I used a square fondant cutter {about 2 inches} and a 3 inch round.

Of course, if you happen to own a diamond already, use it =)

If not, take your little square, and give it a gentle squeeze.

If you want to make a long-haired graduate, be sure to grab an Easter egg cutter.

This is how I constructed the BOY graduate.

I did the exact same thing to put together my GIRL.

Bake and you will be ready to decorate. I personally like to wait a day or so before decorating, however, if you're in a hurry just make sure they are completely cool and you're ready to go!

To decorate happy graduate faces you will need:

black outline and flood icing
outline and flood icing for hair in the color of your choice
twenty-second consistency skin tone icing
candy beads black or colors for eyes
food color marker or piping icing for mouth {black or colored}
colored piping consistency icing for tassel

First outline the cap. I went ahead and added sideburns on my boy cookie at this point.

Next, I used twenty-second icing to make a face. For help with skin or flesh tone icing colors, click {HERE}.

Quickly add black candy beads to make eyes. You can also personalize these further by using colored beads.

Next, fill the top of the hat, and the hair on the BOY cookie.

Let the cookies dry for a while...20-30 minutes, then fill the second section of the cap, add the button and if you are making girl cookies, outline the hair. You can also use a #2 or #3 tip to make individual strands or curls.

Let the cookie dry a bit, then add the neck and other details like the nose and tassel.

At this point it's best to let the cookie dry overnight or for at least eight hours. When the cookie is dry, add details such as eyebrows, and a smile.

Now, it may be the girl in me, but I like my girl graduates dressed up, SO I like to give them a little lipstick. I used a 1.5 tip to add the lips.

To get dimension, I do this in two steps. I add the top lip, and then after a few minutes, I go back and add the bottom lip.

I'm sad to say, I had to skip the mascara and blush, but I'm working with a crippled arm, and I'm WAY to shaky to be playing cookie beautician. Feel free to add them if you like.

One little note. Make sure the icing you're using to make lips is on the thicker side...in my laziness, I decided to go ahead and used some thinner leftover icing to start. BAD idea. It worked out OK...but my poor blondie looks like the victim of a bad collagen injection =(

And there you have it, happy graduate face cookies...at least I HOPE all your graduates are smiling!

On that note, congratulations to all of the 2011 high school and college graduates!

Angry Red Bird {Part 3)

2011-05-17T00:00:00.004-05:00

Finally, here's part three in my Angry Bird series, Angry Red Bird. Do any of you recognize what cutter I used to make him?

If you guessed a BALLOON, you guessed right!

To make angry red bird, you will need:

red, orange, ivory, black, and white flood icing
black piping icing for outline
black food color pen {I prefer Americolor for this project}

Let's get this show on the road!

Let the outline dry. Complete step two.

Soon after adding the eyes, move on to step three

Let them dry for about twenty minutes, then you are ready for step four.

You are now ready to add the beak. I free handed mine by googling him on my Ipad and using it as a guide while I piped. I also forgot to point out that this is where I added the unibrow!

Soon afterward fill the middle part of the beak. Let this dry for about thirty minutes, more if you have problems with your black icing bleeding.

Finally, use the orange flood icing to fill the last little bit of the beak.

Finally, after the cookie has completely dried, use the black food color marker to go around the eyes.

Tada! There you have it!

Here's the whole crew...I mean the ones I made...there are many many more!

If you want to learn how to make Angry Yellow Bird, click {HERE}.

If you'd like to learn how to make Angry Green Pig, click {HERE}.

Now I have to brag a little. My friend Landa, who specializes in making original cookies made the most awesome Angry Bird collection which you can see on her blog, Baking with Landa. She completely went beyond the basic characters and made a whole darn collection for her kiddos. Those are some LUCKY boys!

Also, if you are not following me via email, PLEASE subscribe! I will soon be moving and I want all of my friends to come with me! So, don't forget!

Cheap and Easy DIY Cookie Cutters

2011-05-15T20:00:00.003-05:00

It's no secret that I am OBSESSED with decorating cookies. I make them every chance I get, and I am constantly coming up with new designs. Although I'd love to have a custom cutter for EVERY shape I make, it's not really economical or practical to do this for every design.

They sell cookie cutter making kits, but to be honest, I have a really hard time using them without the help of my husband and his tools, and to make matters worse, he doesn't always get the design how it was in my head {I HOPE he's not reading this} or do it on my schedule. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

So, nine times out of ten , if I need an odd cookie shape, I make a plastic template. If you want to learn how to make them too, here's my plastic cookie template tutorial.

However, there are some times that I really need a cutter and since I'm not one to wait around for the husband, I went on a quest to find a way to make them without any assistance.

I searched up and down the Internet, and eventually I ran across a tutorial to make cookie cutters from easily available household items.

Unfortunately, I was never able to find it again, but using the basics I learned from that tutorial, I began making my own custom cookie cutters.

This is what you will need:

aluminum oven liners
scissors
gloves {very important}
permanent marker
pencil
Exacto knife
4 inch template made from foam board {buy thepre- measured type and cut along the lines}
yardstick
clothespins
super glue
printer paper

First, trim all of the edges from the aluminum liner. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE wear gloves! The raw edges of aluminum are as sharp as razors and can REALLY hurt you.

For the record, I got the COOLEST pair of gloves from Woman's Work, and I love them so much that they inspired the whole color palette I used for the cookies.

I love the fact that they are made for smaller hands and I can work in them comfortably. Plus, like I said, they are CUTE! Just because a girl does tough work, doesn't mean she can't do it pretty =)

After the edges are removed, use the foam board template to mark off a four inch section on the aluminum.

Use the yardsitck to find the mid point of the section, and draw another line down the center. {There will be two 2 inch sections}

After you have marked it, cut along the farthest line, indicated by the arrow. The middle line is there to serve as a reference point when you begin forming your metal strip.

After you cut, fold the strip in half along the 2 inch line. I always do it along a straight edge such as a table to keep the folds sharp and precise.

Once you have done this, unfold the strip, and fold the left side in to meet the center line.

Do the same to the right side. Carefully fold it to touch the center 2 inch mark.

Then, fold this in half again, making sure the sharp outside edges are folded to the inside where they cannot harm you.

Just in case it was hard to understand by the photos, I also included a diagram of the folding steps.

When you reach step three, fold it in half once more.

All this folding will leave you with a strong but flexible aluminum strip.

When this is done, I always take my scissors and run them back down the strip to really straighten and flatten the edge, which will eventually be the cutting edge of the the cutter.

Now you are ready to make a cookie cutter.

A while back, I saw an adorable set of lower case serif font alphabet cutters that I really wanted. I was really bummed that they weren't available to purchase, so I decided to make my own.

Before I began, I sat down and sketched out the way I imagined my letter cookies to look. You can also print an image from your computer, but since I already had a pretty solid idea, I sketched mine.

The sketch doesn't have to be perfect, it's only a guide. If you look at mine you'll see I did alright on the "j" but the "t" got a little bit scratchy.

When I finished I used a permanent marker to outline the drawing, taking care to avoid a lot of the more intricate little curves and corners.

It's a common misconception that an EXACT cutter is needed to make cookies in a certain shape.

Personally, I am not really concerned with exacts. I take a basic cookie shape and use my icing to tweak the design. It's a lot less stressful this way, and also leaves room for a little creative flair.

Now for the fun part!

The next step takes a little practice and patience.

Using your sketch, start shaping the aluminum around the design.

Just a little tip, when you are forming curves, find something round to bend the metal around. I used an old rolling pin here, but you could use dowel rods, PVC pipe, or anything else around the house.

It's also helpful to keep a pair of needle nose pliers handy, just in case. Most of the time, I don't use them but you never know when you might need them.

When you get the shape just right, tighten everything up and measure where you should cut off the overlap.

I'd give it about an inch or so, then snip off any excess.

Use super glue to attach the ends and clothes pins to secure them until dry.

I'll admit, it's not the prettiest cutter ever, but it will make beautiful cookies. I have several of these that have lasted a very long time. Every once in a while, one will come un-glued, but I just re-glue it, and it's as good as new. In a pinch, I've even used hot glue and and staples to close the cutters.

I use this method most often to make cutters for" fad" designs. It's great in situations where I am making too many cookies to hand cut, but I won't use it often enough to justify investing in a custom cutter.

I also live in a rural area so I don't have access to specialty supplies and have to mail order almost everything. This allows me to make my own cutters with things I can pick up locally and without waiting on shipping.

Is anyone surprised at the end result? It always amazes me that such simple everyday things can be used to make such pretty cookies.

Lilly Pulitzer Inspired Wedding Cookies

2011-05-13T13:59:00.003-05:00

Love is in the air! It's wedding season, and ever since unexpectedly watching the royal wedding, I've had the fever!

Normally, I am an elope kind of girl. I really tried to convince my husband to take all of our money, set out on a nice vacation, and get married there. I'd have been totally okay with being married by Elvis...until I see something like this.

I worked on this Navy and Pink Lilly Pulitzer inspired wedding with event planner and friend, Tanya, of Save the Date for Cupcakes.

Making cookies is easy when you have a good designer in your corner...

These were inspired by Lilly Pulitzer's Optical Confusion fabric in navy.

I love them all grouped together!

Isn't it amazing?

The larger "I Do" and "I Do Too" cookies were Tanya's brainchild. I wasn't quite sure where she was going with them, but I LOVE how they turned out. Don't you?

Lesson of the day. Don't question the designer. Trust their vision!

I cannot decide what I like best. I LOVE the bride's hair piece, the banner, and the paisley cake pops but the one tiny detail that stands out the most is the groom's tie. I know, weird...

You can see more of the pretty details over on Tanya's blog, Save the Date for Cupcakes.

Stay tuned for many more wedding ideas!

May Flowers

2011-05-13T12:32:00.001-05:00

Now that you have seen 3-D flowers in pots...let's do it another way. Do you recognize the cutter? It's one of the MOST common cutters I have ever seen.

Did you guess? Without a bit of trimming, Frosty became a beautiful May flower. It's that EASY!

PS-If you EVER see this cutter around, snag it. It's one of my most useful cutters!

And just for your enjoyment, more May flowers.

This is what I did with the embelishments I made from leftover icing. Not too shabby, eh?

Rango Cookies {How-to}

2011-05-10T04:15:00.022-05:00

Recently we took our kiddos to see the movie Rango. First of all, let me say, although I LOVED it myself, it might have been a little too "adult" for my kids. If they had watched it instead of spending most of their time fighting over the lone pickle, I might have had some explaing to do.

Aside from that, Rango was pretty darn hilarious. So, I cookie-fied him!

This is kind of a two or three day project, so start early.

The day before, you should bake your cookies. To cut these, I used a metal dog bone cutter that I stretched out a little.

After the cookies were baked, I spent the rest of the morning making royal icing accents to use as Rango's eyes. For more information on how to do this, read my post on what to do with leftover royal icing.

I didn't really make the disks an EXACT size, I just used my mangled cookie cutter to gauge how big to make them.

Once you make it here, you are at a standstill until they dry. This is when I do laundry and other un-fun stuff like that.

The next day, I used Wilton Foodwriters to make the markings around Rango's eyes.

In this tutorial, I used the neon green color, but I'd recommend the dark blue or green below. Those colors will show up a lot better on the finished product.

Using a Google Image as reference, I made the appropriate markings on the disks.

Now for the decorating

To make Rango cookies you will need:

Prepared disks for the eyes {see above}
Light egg yellow piping and flood icing
Black 20-Second Icing
Blue and Green Wilton Airbrush Colors
Primary Color Wilton food writers
hole puncher
corn syrup
toothpicks
#1, #3, and #13 tips

Begin by attaching the eyes

Then, outline his face...

Then, fill. When you fill, you are going to want to flood in sections. Fill one area and let it dry a bit, THEN, move onto another. This gives your cookie dimension and texture.

See?

Now, let this part dry completely. It may take a whole day. *Is anyone beginning to think I am insane yet*

Notice his icing is a little flawed in places. This wasn't by mistake. The good thing about being a lizard is a bumpy face actually makes you look better, so instead of removing any air bubbles that came up, I left them.

Too bad this doesn't apply to my complexion!

Pardon the photo gap...I accidentally erased a few important ones, so I had to improvise. At this point, use a #13 tip to add the ridge above his brow and food color markers to add lip wrinkles...pardon the disgusting description...lip wrinkles was all I could come up with.

Here comes the cool part. I needed a way to keep the bright yellow color around his eyes "safe" while I sprayed him. So, I used a regular old hole punch, and applied these dots to the area I wanted to protect.

I made them stick by using the very tip of a toothpick to apply a tiny speck of corn syrup as an adhesive and then attached the dot. I didn't worry about the corn syrup because ultimately, it ends up hidden.

This is where things get FUN! Have you ever seen this stuff?! I use it all the TIME! It's how I get the airbrushed effect without actually owning an airbrush. {BTW, I plan on changing that REALLY soon}

I've used it for on many projects like my fruit cookies and my sunset baby feet cookies it to get a beautiful shaded effect.

SPRAYTIME!

First the blue, then the green. Don't get carried away. A little goes a long way. And word to the wise, do this in a well ventilated area. It smells pretty ROUGH!

Let them dry a bit, this goes pretty quickly, and then use tweezers or another toothpick to pop off the dots. See? I told you it was cool!

Then using your yellow and black flood icing, add little eyes. Use the #1 tip, and first make a yellow dot, then quickly come back and add a black dot, wet on wet style.

Then use the yellow {still with a #1 tip} to add the last little details...I did nostrils and more lip wrinkles.

I mentioned referring to Google Images before...this is what I meant. The WHOLE time I am working, this little guy is not far from my side.

Oh yes, and my hubby came up with this idea right after I finished these. I thought it was cute, so I am throwing it out there. I even baked a few with some leftover dough, with good intentions of decorating them. BUT, I ran out of steam and they ended up in the freezer. I'm sure they will end up making a cameo at some point...

And there you have it...

RANGO cookies

These could look so adorable with bandana print cookies, cactus, or any other Western themed cookies.

Have fun with these.

If you want to make matching cupcakes, my friend Kristan has the cutest Rango cupcakes on her blog. You should definitely check them out!

Flowers in Pots Cookies

2011-05-09T05:30:00.004-05:00

I'm one of THOSE girls. YOU know the ones...I'm one of the gals that HATES to get flowers.

It actually pains me {unless they are wildflowers or borrowed from my neighbor's rosebush}. Otherwise, if my husband is going to spend $100 on me, I want something that will still be alive {or useful} after a week...

For example, cookie cutters!!!

Anywho, I made these for one of the most inspiring ladies in my little world. Most of you have probably heard of Bakerella, right? She's the cake pop lady.

Lately, she hasn't been feeling very well, so I decided to send her some flowers to cheer her up. Of course, since I don't believe in flowers, {and also because ~~stolen~~ borrowed roses don't ship very well}, I made her a different set, SweetSugarBelle style.

The best thing about these is that at least if they disappear it will be into a tummy, AND they will be remembered for a long time.

*my booty proves this theory*

For each cookie you will need:

bamboo forks trimmed to 2 inches
terracotta and green piping icing
black flood icing
black sanding sugar
3 1.5 inch cookie
2 inch cookie ring
#3 and #67 Wilton tips
mini-flower cookie
shelf-stacker rack {similar to this one}

First, I baked the cookies. The cutters I used are shown below. To elaborate on the list above, every finished cookie requires three 1.5 inch rounds, and one 2 inch round with the middle removed, which technically makes it a ring, so we'll call it that. They also require one mini-flower cookie, no larger than 1.5 inches. If you don't have a mini-flower, you can make a round work.

I will let you do the math since I never much cared for that subject.

Tint the dough you will be using for the pot whatever color you choose, I used a mix of orange, tulip red, and warm brown. For more help on mixing colors, see my color chart {HERE}.

THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT! Immediately after baking, insert a trimmed bamboo stick into a 1.5 inch cookie for each pot you plan to make.

Let those cool and then it's time to begin putting the cookie together. First use the terracotta icing to make a ring around the "stick cookie".

*A little FYI...the cookie in the bottom left corner is how NOT to do it. Refer to the middle one.

Drop the ring onto the icing to "glue" the pieces together.

Next, fill the empty area with black flood icing. Not only does this make the cookie look more realistic, it also helps to hold the stick firmly in place.

While the black icing is still wet, sprinkle it with black sanding sugar to look like dirt. Let it dry completely, preferably overnight.

The same day, put together the base. The best method is pictured below. This keeps the cookie level and makes a nicer finished product.

Also, have several mini-flower cookies decorated and ready to go. A good technique for decorating these would be my 20-second icing. It would be a good idea to decorate them the same day you complete the steps above so they will all be dry and ready to go on day two.

Now to add the flower. This is where the shelf-stacker comes into play. If you don't know what these are, they are little shelves that you slip inside your cupboards to add a shelf where there isn't one.

It just happens that the cookies fit perfectly into the slots so that they will lay flat. I got this one at Walmart, and have only used it specifically for this purpose.

If for some reason they are loose, try the trick below to level them.

Use a #3 tip to add green royal icing for the "stem" as pictured below, then stick the finished mini-flowers onto the top of the stem.

Let them dry well. About 2-3 hours I'd estimate...

Then it is time to connect the two cookie parts as pictured below.

ALMOST FINISHED...

Use a #67 Wilton leaf tip to add leaves,

And finally, you have FLOWERS in POTS!

I made daisies

and tulips =)

They sure made me happy, and I hope they lift Angie's spirits too!

As cute as these are, at the suggestion of my friend Kim, I think they might be EVEN cuter with little ladybug accents, similar to these cookies...

In any case, I hope you will make these for someone you know that might need a little pick me up.

And to Bakerella, thank you for using your amazing creativity to inspire others!

Feel better SOON!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-07T02:30:00.007-05:00

I know I am a day early, but unless it's to play on Pinterest, or shop for cookie supplies I won't be anywhere near my computer, so I'd better say it NOW...

Besides all my best buds, one of the biggest things I miss about living in Virginia are the thrift stores. Barbara and I used to spend HOURS scouring them on Saturday mornings and pretty much any other day off just to see what treasures we could find.

It makes me a little sad that they aren't the same here. I guess Texans like to hang onto their junk. Still,I try to stop every once in a while when I go to town, on the chance I might get lucky.

Last weekend must have been one of those times, because I found this beautiful old chippy plate, and a perfectly-proportioned matching candlestick. I loved that it has a wider more stable base.

I've been so enchanted by all of the DIY cake stands lately, and now I had the pieces to make my own.

Besides being pretty, it made a smaller, cookie size pedestal, which is more useful to me than a full blown cake stand.

Constructing it was SOOOOOOOO easy I barely took any pictures. All I did was buy a tube of Loctite Instant Mix Epoxy, clean the bottom of the plate with alcohol, add epoxy to the edge of the candlestick, and stick it to the bottom of the plate. You can get really technical and measure, but I felt like living a little on the wild side.

It bonded in one minute, but it took 24 hours to cure, so I used one of my heavier books and flower pots as a weight and let it dry overnight.

The next morning I had a perfect, beautiful cake plate that inspired matching cookies.

They really remind me of my mom, who is the first in a list of women who helped mold me.

I sure didn't make it easy on my mom, but as I get older I see a lot of her in myself, and I am a lot more merciful and understanding toward what it must have taken to juggle what she did. I LOVE you lots, Mamye.

My second "mom", Nanny has been gone two and a half years now, and I still miss her every day. Over time, the sadness has faded into fond memories and most days I can have a two way conversation with her in my head. I don't always understand why she loved me so fiercely, but I am SURE glad the did.

My third "mom" Miss Wanda, kind of adopted me as a stray. Just the sound of her voice set my worries flying away, and if I ever needed good honest advice, she was and still is my lady.

My last "mom" is my friend Stephanie. She was the person who gave me the courage to dream.

I love all of these ladies with all of my heart, and I am glad every day that they were and ARE a part of my life...

Now, it's my turn to be a mother and I HOPE I can give to my kids what these ladies gave to me.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Cinco De Mayo Round-up

2011-05-04T18:42:00.012-05:00

Since I got into this whole cookie thing, there's this thing I did that REALLY annoyed Bern-Dogg. Anytime anyone came over, I would find a way to direct the conversation toward cookies, and TAKE over. Then out came my lap top, eyes would roll, and one unlucky person {most often my friend Lori} would be stuck looking at dozens of cookie pics...you see where this is going.

The great things about blogging, is I don't have to do that anymore. Almost everyone who comes here does so willingly, and WANTS to look at cookies.

So, thank you for fulfilling my need to share AMAZING cookies with the world. Here are my Cinco de Mayo picks.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO ACCESS ORIGINAL POSTS

I have to say that these are my favorite CDM {totally made up that abbreviation} cookies of all time. These cookies by Oh, Sugar Events blew my cookie mind. I don't even know where to begin. The paper banners and calendar cookie are genius!

The second set of cookies are a close second...my friend Kim made these. The best part is, aside from being an amazing cookie artisan, Kim is also a party planner and blogger. She just started a blog called The Partiologist and it's so much fun!

My friend Bonnie made these, and I love them all! The flag is incredible, not to mention the piñatas...and I love how she even made a standard chili different by making it a double!

I love the bright beautiful colors of this set by Bee's Knees Creatives. The best part is, they ship!

As for these...no words. They were made by Galletas Divertidas.

I've been smitten with this sun cookie since the day I saw it. It's creator was another one of my talented Flickr pals, Susan. This is just one of many. She has a jaw dropping collection on Flickr, AND, she uses glaze!

These creative little cones from Haniela's STILL make me smile AND she's got a how-to along with SEVERAL more breathtaking photos on her blog, Haniela's, so you can share them too!

Now to monopolize for a moment with my cookie idol, Maryann. I'm thinking Maryann's years in El Paso influenced her cookies just a bit. She has the BEST collection of Mexican/Fiesta/Southwestern cookies!

The bad news is, she doesn't blog because she devotes 100% of her time to her daughter, but she does answer questions {time permitting} AND there is more to oogle on her Flickr photostream. I just about lost myself over her latest set.

And more from the AMAZING KIM, AKA The Partiologist!

These little beauties were made by my friend Beka, of Sugar Sanctuary. You can see more of her work by "liking" her Facebook fan page! I LOVE the cauctuses {I think the correct word is cacti, but it sounds STUPID} and the little flames on the tips of the chilies!

I love this set from txrefugee on Flickr. What a wonderful photo!

These sombreros by Caryn's Cakes are some of the best I have EVER seen! They are even shaded! I also like the crossed maracas and the curvy cactus.

These gorgeous cookies are from Sweetopia's first blog post...Aren't they wonderful?

And I am loving this Cinco de Mayo collection from A Dozen Eggs Bake Shoppe.

You can purchase Laura and Dave's custom cookies {HERE}. And I can say from experience, they are SOOOOOOOO good!

And finally a few from ME...

Import beer =)

Citrus and Sombreros

And more...um, Mexican alcoholic beverages, LOL...would y'all believe that I don't even drink?!

Enjoy your tomorrow, even if the celebration is not until the weekend. As for me, I will be moving right along...what a crazy week! Teacher appreciation, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's day, and more {I'm thinking the Kentucky Derby is Sunday OR sometime this weekend also...}

Thanks for letting me share my obsession!

{WFMW} Icing Bottles

2011-05-03T19:46:00.003-05:00

I get probably 3 emails a day about my cool little bottles. "What are they?", "How do they work?" and "Where can I get them?" are the most common questions.

So, today I am going to show you my cool little bottles and tell you where to get your own.

I pretty much use three different types of bottles. A regular old Wilton candy bottle, and small and large bottles that are made to be used with couplers.

For those of you interested in the bottles with couplers, this is how they work...

The set comes with a bottle, coupler, coupler ring, and a plastic tip which is approximately the size of a #3 opening. I don't care much for the tips they come with, so I always throw them away them and use my own.

Here are the "lid parts" {I used my own tip}

All you do is connect the three parts just like on a piping bag, screw it onto the bottle, and you're done!

This type of bottle can sometimes be found in local cake supply stores, but most often they have to be ordered. Especially if you live in the boonies like I do, which brings me to these...

Wilton squeeze bottles

They weren't actually intended for cookies, but they work pretty darn well.

They come in three sizes, mini, regular and large, but its a weird system to me...by my standard the mini is regular, the regular BIG, and the large, HUGE! But that's just me...

I'd tell you the exact measurements, BUT since it's not in the product info and I'm not in the experimenting mood...I'm going to make a guesstimate. The mini holds about 6-7 ounces of icing, so the regular probably holds 10-12, and the large maybe 16? Just a guess.

The great news is, you can get the minis, which are my personal fave, at Walmart for about two dollars.

You will have to order the bigger ones from the actual Wilton site and you can find them {HERE}.

Wilton also makes a tinier set of 18 but I don't like them at all. It almost takes an act of God to get the icing into them. In my personal opinion, you are better off just buying the small coupler-type bottles.

HOWEVER if you want to try them, Karen's Cookies sells them {HERE}. To save you a mess and tons of frustration, the best way to get the icing into them is to snip the end off of a pastry bag and use it as a funnel.

On the subject of tips, of my favorite Wilton bottle suggestion is this...For faster flooding, just snip off the tip. Works like a charm! {It was almost impossible to not overuse "tip" in that paragraph}

If I were to make a recommendation, I would suggest you buy mostly the Wilton type {from Walmart} and a ton of small coupler types. These are the sizes I most often use.

I prefer the Wilton for flooding and use the smaller one for detail work.

I keep a few of the large coupler type on hand, just in case, but I don't use them as frequently as the others.

They also all come with nifty little lids so you can use them to store the icing in, although I wouldn't leave it in there for too too long...

If you need to stir them, the handle end of wooden spoons work great,

or good ol' chopsticks {thats my extra long pair from World Market}

And when you are ready to wash them, nothing woks better than a bottle brush. I go through TONS of these!

Icing bottles have not eliminated my need for a piping bag, but I absolutely could not do without them...

I use them for all flooding, and also for full on decorating with 20-second icing.

Now for the fun part...you can get these in a lot of places, so I am just going to make a list. To find them, click on the shop and you will be taken directly to them.

I think that Country Kitchen has the best selection, however, they often sell out in ALL of these shops, so you may have to look around.

There are also other places to get them, I just listed my favorite shops. So, if you prefer to shop elsewhere, they are most often found under candy making tools and supplies.

This is all that I know about icing bottles *I think*

If you need help filling them, check out this little video.

I have an embarrasing number of these things because I LOVE them and they really really work for me! I hope they work as well for you too!

Teacher Appreciation Cookies

2011-05-02T22:42:00.004-05:00

May 2-6 is Teacher Appreciation Week. It's also Mother's Day Week, which leaves me with twice as much work because my mom IS a teacher!

Seriously, I'm not kidding. She was my computer teacher in high school. Don't get any ideas about free rides. She might have been the meanest teacher I had. Made me sit by her and threatened to make me sit in the hall when SHE made me giggle {true story}. At the risk of being disowned, I cannot even share what I was giggling at.

Anyway, a week or so ago, I saw the prettiest printable Teacher Appreciation tags, and I just knew I needed to find a way to "cookie" them. ~~For the life of me, I CANNOT find them again {my head keeps thinking they belong to~~ ~~TidyMom} but they were basically light blue dotted backgrounds with an apple printed on them...~~ The tags were made by Beth of "It is What it Is", and I saw them on Cheryl's weekly linky party. THANKS so much for helping me track them sown, Stephanie!!!

I love the colors. They inspired me. I did my usual cookie on a short stick, and just stuck it into a cupcake.

I LOVE this doctored cake mix recipe from TidyMom. It's thicker than regular cake batter and makes clean uniform cupcakes.

They are simple but pretty. If you are interested in the making custom liners, I love this template that I found on Skip to my Lou. I use it often.

Another idea for teacher appreciation gifts are simple jars of mini cookies.

These are super simple and easy when decorated with 20-second icing.

Don't feel like you need a ton of special cutters to make these, just be creative.

I use a simple square, cut into strips, end pinched for crayons and pencils. Scissors are an armless mini-gingerbread man. The glue bottle is a Torah cut into fourths, and a mini-wedding cake makes a great stack of books. The possibilities are and endless as your imagination!

I marked the photo to show where I trimmed them.

I don't care much for this photo, but I think it's the only example of mini-scissors that I have...

And, even more minis!!!

Here are a few more inspiring cookie ideas for teachers!

And here is my precious little first grader. We were so lucky to get a wonderful teacher this year. I'll be sad to see her go, and hope that my younger whildren will also be in her class.

Thank you, Mrs. Addison! We appreciate you and all that you have done for us this year!

Be sure to take the time to thank your teachers this week. Send her something nice. It takes a very special kind of patience to do what they do, and I definitely don't have it, SOOOOOOOOO I am eternally grateful for all they do!

I've linked up with:

Citrus Slices and Wedges

2011-05-01T23:26:00.002-05:00

First of all I need to say...one Nation, under God. Today is a day of thanksgiving. It doesn't quite feel right to celebrate the death of another human being, however, in this case, I am thankful that this monster will never have the opportunity to hurt another person with his EVIL...

On a lighter note, lets talk about cookies. I have been making citrus cookies since I saw this amazingly inspiring set by one of my FAVORTE cookie artisans, The Decadent Cookie. Click on the photo to view more of her work.

They are simple, but some of the most beautiful cookies I have ever seen.

Today, I will teach you how to make my version.

You will need three different colors of icing. A darker shade for the outline {use the 20 second rule for this}, a lighter shade to flood the middles, and white for the detail work.

At the risk of confusing you, I'd like to offer this little tip...hope it makes sense. Make only the dark outline color first, and do ALL the outlining. THEN, use the leftover dark, mix it with a little yellow and white and then you will have the perfect color for filling.

This technique can also be used to make oranges and lemons also.

I decided to do a video for this tutorial because wet-on-wet is a little easier to demonstrate this way. ENJOY!

These are a PERFECT Cinco de Mayo treat, and would be wonderful using my Lemon Poppy Seed Cutout recipe.

I am looking forward to the coming week. For those who are hurting, I wish you peace. Rejoice in the good, comfort those who mourn. Count our blessings and do good always.

Royal Follow-up

2011-05-01T03:45:00.004-05:00

I thought it would be good to kind of summarize yesterday's theories, and to put up a few photos of pretty cookies to make up for the ugly ones from yesterday.

So, here's what we came up with. Overall, I am leaning toward overbeating as the cause of my mishap.

However, a few other common denominators of this kind of disaster are:

excessive amounts of icing color, particularly red, black, and browns
inadvertently contaminating the icing with oil
humidity {I have thought this before, BUT it was not a factor in this instance}

I also had a few other interesting suggestions that I think apply:

bright white icing color {I have had mishaps with this stuff also}
Too much water before flooding

I didn't quite give you an exact answer, but there is definitely some good information here.

I also really like {THIS ARTICLE} by Sweetopia and {THIS ARTICLE} by Bake at 350...both are filled with great tips and info.

And since you had to look at my disappointing Union Jack photos yesterday, I have some nicer ones today.

PS-To further perplex everyone, tonight when I came home, I checked to reject cookies {still sitting where I'd left them after taking photos, LOL, AND they were UGLY, but dry! What the heck?!

Oh well, the world may never know. In the meantime, enjoy some photos from my archives =)

Royal Weddings, and Royal Disasters

2011-04-30T10:45:00.003-05:00

One of the BIGGEST complaints about royal icing is that it can be a ROYAL PAIN IN the wazoo...

The royal wedding fever COMPLETELY missed me until yesterday morning. I was too busy to even think about it. I had a simple cookie design that I wanted to try as a gift for one of my childhood friends that I probably haven't seen in 15 years. She was coming to town, and I wanted to make some special cookies for our little reunion.

Since I was expecting her in the afternoon, I got up EARLY the next morning when Bernie headed to work to give them a looksie and turn off my {NEW} fan.

I knew immediately something was VERY VERY wrong. The icing was not the slightly shiny matte color it should be, but looked as wet as when I'd flooded the cookie.

My heart SUNK. I mean, even if I could re-bake and re-decorate them, there was no way they would dry before it was time for her to arrive...

Luckily, since our actual get together wasn't until Saturday, I was able to shoot her a text and gain another day to fix things.

Obviously, I was less than pleased...besides the unplanned baking marathon at 4:00am, I was out of eggs and had to make an early morning convienence store run. Have you ever noticed you see the darnedest folks when you go to the quick stop at 4am?

As for the icing, I was so busy throwing a FIT, I almost forgot to take a picture...ALMOST.

The best way to describe it texture wise is marshmallow fluff. Slick, foamy, and when the surface is touched, it sticks and peels away in a layer, kind of did like Jello does when you touch it before it's completely gelled.

As for an explanation of WHY, I don't really have a great one {yes, I know that's not helpful at all} but, I have an educated guess. At first, I really really thought I had added too much color. BUT the second time around, I was forced to do the same thing, and it didn't happen, which leads me to believe that it was something else.

I think that some way, some how, I got oil into the icing. It's really funny because after almost two and a half years, this has happened to me a TOTAL of four times EVER including this one. The funny thing is...I have been thinking about this "phenomenon", especially since one of my FB fans recently had the exact thing happen to her.

So, on that note, even though I am not positive that was the cause, do everything you can to keep oil out of your icing.

Just for the record, my cookie buddies and I have a few other theories on what causes this to happen.

One is over addition of color, the other is humidity. If ANYONE has anything to add, or anything they can contribute to solve this mystery, feel free to chime in. I am not trained or an expert, so I may very well learn something.

The same things also happened to my friend Shelley, {HERE}. She thinks she may have overbeaten. That may very well be what happened to me. I walked away SEVERAL times...

Here's a few more shots...

As for the cookies, all's well that ends well. I fixed it, I got to watch the most amazing wedding that I have ever seen, and I even got to take an afternoon nap.

As for that wedding...I went from not caring at all, to watching through tears. I was proud for Britain. Proud for the young couple, in awe of the traditions of the monarchy, and admittedly very excited to see what the future holds for the two.

I sincerely hope that life brings them the greatest joy and happiness, and that they use their celebrity and privilege to change the world. I'm proud to have witnessed a joyful moment in history, when good news seems to be in such short supply.

On that note, I am praying for all of those affected by the storms last week. I must admit, I feel a little helpless and overwhelmed with all of the devastation lately.

I hope that everyone spend this Saturday thankful for what they have, and for those that are struggling, I hope that you have peace. I don't have a lot of money and I am kind of grounded, but, if you are reading this, and I can help in some way, I am all ears.

Have a peaceful day, everyone.

Chips and Salsa Cookies {Tutorial}

2011-04-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

Cinco de Mayo is kind of a big deal where I'm from. There are all kinds of events in all of the surrounding communities to celebrate. There are festivals, music, and of course, my favorite, Mexican food!

I decided to celebrate cookie style. I've posted these cookies before, without instructions and received several inquiries about how I made them curved. So, I thought I'd show y'all before the big day!

Since I knew I would be making these more than once, I went ahead and had the Bern-Dogg cut dowel rods to fit my sheet pans.

If you don't want to go through that all that trouble, foil works too {THANKS MARYANN!}

Next, I prepared the "chips". I used my lemon poppy seed cut-out recipe.

When it was time to bake them, I spread a piece of parchment paper over the dowels and then placed the cookies over the dowels.

I always bake these a little bit longer than normal to make sure they stay firm...about eight or nine minutes. It is VERY important that you let them cool completely before removing them. If not, they will break. I actually left mine alone for a few hours.

When the cookies were ready, I prepared a fruit dip and tinted it guacamole green. I used Americolor soft gel paste. The combination was three parts avocado, one part egg yolk yellow, one part leaf green, one part warm brown.

For the fruit dip, I like this recipe from Kraft. All I did differently was add well-drained pineapple.

I also cut up strawberries and kiwis for the "salsa". When I did this in January, I had to sweeten the fruit, but now that spring is near, it didn't need it.

You can serve everything separately and let your guests construct their own...

Or, you can serve them hor'dourve style.

Regardless, they will be a hit!

They may look a little different, but they taste just like fruit pizza!

I hope you will give these a try, they are WONDERFUL!

My #1 Fan {WFMW}

2011-04-26T22:06:00.021-05:00

*This post has been edited from the original

I am sad to say my WFMW tip resulted in the demise of an old beloved friend, Fanny, who until yesterday, was nameless...

RIP, Fanny, 2001-2011

When I first posted this I used pictures of my old fan, which was what I called "dirty" as in scuffed and gray from 10 years of use {including painting, which explains the light misting of birkshire beige, and outdoor barbeques, garage sales and more} He was also rickity and dingy beyond repair. I wasn't worried about it, because it was what I considered wear and tear dirty, rather than "DIRTY" as in filthy.

I appologize to anyone who I might have offended, and I will take better care to choose my words and appliances a little more carefully in the future. That being said, by the previous comments, I feel like the photos detracted from what really is a very good piece of cookie advice, so, I went out to Walmart and picked up some new fans, and I am editing this post to include mostly photos of the new fan, aside from the one above. So, here we go again...

This is the view into my former dining room on any given day.

As they dry, I just aim the fan at the cookies. Not only does it speed up the process, it also gives them a nice sheen {obviously tis is a re-enactment}

I had to dig into the archives {I am proud to say that these were pre-Kopy Kake} for a good example of why I love my fan. This is a very good visual of my idea of the "perfect" icing finish.

Not quite matte, but not rock hard shiny.

Now don't go blasting your cookies...no one likes a hurricane. A nice medium to gentle breeze will do.

I love this little trick, and I don't think my cookies would be the same without it. It works for me, and I hope it works for you too!

For anyone who might be offended by this post, I'd ask that we agree to disagree.

Angry Birds Part 2 {Yellow Bird}

2011-04-25T22:49:00.001-05:00

If that's not really his name, I'm sorry. I was serious when I said that I've never played. I let my son pick the next to be posted, and he chose yellow, because he thought we should save the best {red bird} for last. So, yellow it is.

For this little guy, I used a Hershey Kiss cutter I got from Hobby Lobby over Valentine's Day...if you don't have that one, just use a balloon and lop of the bottom or you can even hand cut if you'd like.

To make Angry Yellow Bird you will need:

Black piping consistency frosting for outlining
Ivory, white, black, red, yellow and orange flood consistency RI {I forgot to include ivory in the photo}

To begin, I outlined the shape of yellow bird in black

After giving the outline at least thirty minutes to dry, I used ivory to add the tummy area, white for eyes, and filled in the head feathers and dotted the eyes with black.

When I am working on a character cookie, I usually leave my laptop open beside me so I can look at the picture while I work. You can also use your mobile phone, OR, print out the image. Regardless, I find it REALLY helps to have an image to refer to.

Let this dry for another 30 minutes, and then fill the rest of the cookie with yellow flood icing.

At this point the cookie needs to dry for 4-5 hours.

Finally, I added the facial details. I used black icing to outline the area where I planned on putting the beak, and red flood icing for angry red eyebrows.

Then after allowing the beak outline to dry for a bit, I filled it with orange.

When that was completely dry, I used a black food color pen to outline the eyes and fix his beak. See how it ran together a little bit? All it takes is a swipe with a black marker and problem solved.

Tada! Angry yellow bird.

Just in case you missed the how-to on Angry Green Pig, you can check it out {HERE}.