Lots and Lots of Leprechauns!


St. Paddy's day is coming up!  To be perfectly honest, I've only ever made ONE set of St. Patrick's Day cookies, some very simple shamrocks when I first began this cookie journey.

In the years that followed, I always had good intentions to make more, specifically Leprechauns, but one thing always stopped me.  I just could not find a cutter I just really loved...

So, this year my mission was to find a way to use the cutters I already had to make a leprechaun I could be proud of. 

Here's what I came up with =)



This one is probably my personal favorite.  This Frankenstein cutter is one of my favorites.  I have used it for SOOOOOOO many things!



This design was also pretty high up on my list.  all I did was snip off  his chin, and I had the perfect base for my leprechaun!


This snowman has also turned out the be a pretty handy dandy cutter.  I could have skipped the trimming altogether, I just did it for grins...

I didn't like this cutter much as a wreath, but it sure made a cute leprechaun!


Lots and lots of you probably own this common Wilton cutter.  I happen to have to old plastic one that I acquired from my mom, but the newer coated metal version is still easy to find.


This is another one of my favorite, easy to locate Wilton Cutters.  I have used this one for Frankenstein, Santa, snowmen, Scarecrows, Christmas, Valentine, and Birthday cup cakes, and now leprechauns.  I think this is one of my all-time most useful cutters!


This cutter actually belongs to Belle.  I am constantly stealing it from her playdough kit =) I ♥ it!

And even if you have nothing else available but a simple round cutter, {or a tin can biscuit cutter} Leprechaun cookies are not out of reach!


It took me a long time to learn not to be restricted by cookie cutters.  Be creative, use what you have, and make it work for you!


Happy decorating!


· cookies, creative cutting, Irish, Leprechauns, St. Patricks Day

Simple Heart Topped Cuppies and a Recipe =)

Valentine's Day is almost here, and what could be cuter  than a heart-topped cuppie cookie?  The best thing is they are super simple.

Follow this simple tutorial to create cookies like these!



Using two common Wilton Cutters,  follow the simple example below!


That's all there is to it.  And if you are in the mood to try something new, bake my Cherry Cordial Roll-Out Cookies.  They are chocolatey with a hint of cherry and very very good!

Cherry Cordial Roll-Outs *edited since posting

1 ½ c unsalted butter

2 ¾c confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½tsp almond extract

2 large eggs

½ c finely chopped maraschino cherries, drained

4 c all-purpose flour {maybe a little more}

¾ c cocoa powder {I used half dark and half regular}

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

Cream together butter and confectioners’ sugar. Add vanilla, almond and eggs and whip until light and fluffy. Sift together flour cocoa powder and salt and add to the wet mixture one cup at a time until fully incorporated. When dry ingredients are combined mix in the chopped cherries.

Chill dough for a WHILE, like long enough to watch a movie,

Roll out on floured surface and parchment. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350°.


Yay for the weekend!  Have a great Friday, and happy baking!


· cherry cordial roll-outs, creative cutting, cupcake cookie, Tutorial

Cookie Cutter Crazy!

I have a problem.  Those who know me have seen it up close and personal.  I am a hoarder.  A cookie cutter hoarder!

I get lots of questions about where I get my cutters.  Sometimes I remember, sometimes I don't.  I get them for gifts, I order them, I have people bring them to me when they travel to foreign countries, sometimes I make them, sometimes I bend the ones I have...

Bern dogg and I tried to count them once.  We gave up after the 900's.

Not to long ago, I had a gal get REALLY irritated with me when I could not tell her where I purchased  a certain cutter.  Instead of trying to explain, I'll just post a picture.  It's worth a thousand words, or in this case, a thousand plus cutters!  So, please don't be mean to me if I say I don't know.  I am not fibbing...I REALLY DON'T KNOW!!!


This doesn't include the 41 new cutters I got for Christmas, the other full basket in dining room that I have been using recently, or the others I plan on ordering from Karen's cookies with my Christmas gift cards in the next few days!  I know it's excessive, but it's my thing.  Some girls do shoes or nail polish,

*ahem, you KNOW who you are ;)*

I do cutters.  And, I like to enable others with my affliction...makes me forget I'm nuts!

*right ,Bea?*


 As for cutter shapes.  Lots of them I do remember.  Especially recent ones.  I had several people ask me about my reindeer this year.

 I just wasn't really digging this guy as a leaping reindeer...


So, I bent him a little to give him a wider neck, and turned him around, and he became a new man, which I like,  A LOT!


I also made another reindeer.  Don't give me credit for creativity...it was desperation.  I have about 200 mini cutters at least, and my cute Rudolph was in the mini box. It was late, and I was tired, so I looked at the cutters I was using, and I improvised.  It took a few seconds more to trim them, but digging though the minis could EASILY take twenty minutes, so this is what I did...


From that, came these. 



So, moral of the story?  NEVER JUDGE A COOKIE CUTTER BY ITS SHAPE,  It can be any thing you imagine! And, no matter what your husband {or wife} says, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TO MANY COOKIE CUTTERS!!!

If you liked this post, hop on over and visit my friend Pam at Cookie Crazie.  She's way better than I am at this! She is the QUEEN of creative cookies shapes! 

Hope everyone has a happy Monday. Back to work for us all!

Were we even off???


· chirstmas cookies, creative cutting, Rudolph cookies, Tutorial

Cowboy Snowmen

*FIRST OF ALL, the long delayed winner of my last giveaway is...helpergirl, Kelley!!!  I will be contacting you soon to arrange shipment!  Congratualtions, Kelley!*

Well there may not be snow in San Antonio, but it's a Texas Christmas to me...

That's really a song.  I promise. George Straight sings it and once back in my LimeWire days, I got the nastiest computer virus trying to illegally download it ...What an expensive song that turned out to be!

Anyway, I often wonder if anyone besides  Texans have ever  heard it.

I keep thinking of my brother off in snowy cold Utah, and I wanted it to be a Texas Christmas for him, so I made him these.


I cannot decide if my favorite is the rope snowflake, or the sand globe. A snow globe doesn't really make sense here...come to think of it neither do snowmen!


If you like Cowboy Frosty, he's pretty easy to make!


 I came up with two ways of course, the hard way, and the easy way.  For the hard way, you will need your ghost cutter (it doesn't have to be this one, as long as it's the same general idea) and a round cutter that looks proportionate to the hat.  Don't make it harder than it has to be.  You're not after perfection.  The details can be worked out later with icing.




Follow steps 1-4, and you will have a cowboy snowman in no time flat!



The bad thing is, I always think of what I should have done mid-project.  If I were going to do this over again, I would probably go this route...

I mangled one of my many gingerbread men to make a rounder snowman face...then I cut him out and used a knife to finish out the details.



It might look a little complicated, but it's a heck of a lot easier than that apple pie I mentioned earlier! 

After I made these, I got a wonderful surprise in the mail!  I recently won TWO awesome Ecrandal cutters in giveaway on Glorious Treats.




  At first I was more excited about the snow hat, but when I received them, I fell in love with my waving gingerbread man.  I had to try him IMMEDIATELY!!!  I altered him a little to match the rest of my theme.  Isn't he cute?



Happy *CREATIVE* baking =)



· Christmas cookies, cookie cutters, cowboy, creative cutting, snowmen Texas

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