Angry Birds Cookies Part 1 {Pig}

Since Easter is about to come and go, if you haven't snagged these from Target, you better do it quick.  Besides being cute Easter cutters, I also used the bunny to make the first cookie in my Angry Birds collection.


If you don't already know what Angry Birds is, don't feel bad.  Neither did I until my seven year old son enlightened me.  Long story short, it's a cell phone game where killer birds are on a mission to destroy little green pigs hiding in random structures...

Okay, maybe that makes the game sound a little violent, but in reality, it's very cute and from what I hear, VERY addictive.

To make the Angry Bird Pig I used the bunny cutter from my Target Easter set, and trimmed him up a little.


After allowing my cookie to completely cool, I prepared my icing.  For this I needed:
  • black icing for piping outline
  • red, white, lime green, leaf green and black flood icing

To begin, outline the cookie as shown.  Then, using light green flood icing, add the snout and use black for the insides of the ears.


Let the first steps set for about five minutes, then using black flood icing, quickly add eyeballs, and nostrils.  If you are worried about bleeding, skip the black areas and add them LATER after the cookie is completely dry.

To finish up the flooding steps, fill in the remaining areas with leaf green flood icing, and add a small drop of red for a mouth.  Let dry overnight.


To finish up Mr. Pig, use food color markers to add the final details.
I outlined his eyes and mouth, and went around his snout with green, although it was okay without it {I tend to get a little hung up on details like that}

When you are finished, you will have this little guy...

who happens to be cookie #1 of this set.

For Part 2, Click {HERE}

Easter will be here tommorrow! I hope everyone is safe
 and spending time with the people they love the most!


· angry birds, button cookie tutorial, decorating, Easter Cutter, How-To, pig

My New Favorite Tool {Giveaway}

I know it's April Fool's Day but I have a fun giveaway for y'all today, and that's no joke! 

Recently, I stumbled upon the handiest little tool.  Do you know what these are?




Let me tell you, I LOVE THESE THINGS!

Back in November a cookie friend of mine sent me two of these babies as a gift.  The rest is history.

Two was just the beginning.  I wanted more!  So, I contacted Karen and Mike of Karen's Cookies who tracked them down. Now, you can have your own! 

Each shaker is the perfect size to hold 1, 2, or 3 containers of disco dust and allows even application with less mess!
And because Karen and Mike are as excited as I am, they have offered to give TEN of my readers three shakers and with a surprise color of disco dust!

Isn't that cool?!

If you would like to win your own shakers, there are three ways to enter...
  1. Become a follower of this blog, and leave me a comment telling me so.
  2. Leave a comment and tell me your absolute favorite color of disco/pixie dust that Karen carries, or if there is a color that you would like to see in her shop.
  3. Tweet or share this giveaway on Facebook.
Of course, leave your email addy, or your entry won't count.  Be sure to enter before midnight tomorrow night {Saturday, April 2nd}  I will announce the winners Sunday morning =)

If you can't wait that long, click on the photos above for a direct link to Karen's site.  They are super affordable and I have a feeling they will fly off the shelves!

Good luck!


· decorating, disco dust shakers, giveaway, pixie dust shakers, Tips, tools

Bunny Ear Cupcake Toppers

This is a rather long how-to, so I am going to try to keep my long winded-ness to a minimum.  We'll see how that goes =)

This is another project I got to check off of my to-do list.  Last year, I had big plans to make these for my kiddo's Easter party...I didn't quite make it, but this is going to be my year!  Aren't they cute?

I tried to think of a cute catchy name, but I couldn't, so maybe y'all can help me out with that one 


You really need to start this project a day or three ahead of time.  It's a three-step process.  Baking the cookie toppers, decorating them, and then constructing the cupcakes.  It may seem a little drawn out, but your kids will thank you!

To begin, cut and bake your cookies.  I used a Wilton bunny face cutter that I got from an Easter kit that Walmart carried last year.  If you don't have that one, don't panic.  You can cut the ears off of any rabbit face cutter you have around.


After they cooled {the next day in my house}I used very stiff royal icing to "glue" a bamboo fork to the cookie.  You can skip this step by baking the stick into the cookie, but for whatever reason I decided to do it this way...EITHER works, just go with what strikes you that day =)

PS-I get those cool little bamboo forks at World Market.  If you cannot find them, toothpicks work, OR if you are feeling industrious, cut popsicle sticks in half and use those.

These probably need to dry overnight also if you have the time
 When this is done, it's time to decorate the cookie toppers.  It's pretty simple.  You only need two colors, white and pink.  I used a #3 tip, outlined the cookie, filled it with white flood icing, and then added the ear middles using the wet-on-wet technique.  When that dried, I outlined it again in white using a #2 tip {the last step isn't shown, but you can see it on the final cookie}
Once again, let the cookies dry overnight, and the next day you will be ready to construct.

In the middle of all this, I happened to notice that the bamboo forks were a little longer than I wanted them to be.  This was VERY easy to fix. 

I happen to have an awesome weapon tool that I bought for making those cookie cutters I never got around to making.

Have any of you ever heard of tin snips?  If not, this is what they look like.  I think the only reason Bern-Dogg allowed me to get them is because he figured they'd end up in his tool box eventually anyway, BUT he was not so lucky.

 I love these things! The are basically SUPER SCISSORS! They allow me to easily cut things that I am usually to weak too cut on my own. So, in other words, he's never getting them back!

A little FYI while I am thinking about it...These make cutting those popsicle sticks that I mentioned before MUCH easier...

Anyway, moving right along... For this project, I wanted to make a cute little cupcake wrapper with a fluffy little bunny tail.  This is what they looked like. 

For more on these, hop {no pun intended} on over to my friend Mique's blog, Thirty Handmade Days, for a {cute cupcake wrapper template, printables AND instructions =)}

Once you get that all figured out, gather your supplies. You will need: wrapped cupcakes and a corresponding number of toppers, a pastry bag filled with white frosting and your desired tip, which I skipped this time, black sugar pearls {4mm}, pink candy beads, {8mm} and tweezers.


 Frost your cupcake into a peak, and press your toppers down into the icing.


Then, using the candy accents, add your bunny face.  Do this last because if you don't the face will become distorted when you add the toppers, right, Beth? ;)
 And there you have it, cute little bunnies with a fluffy little pom pom tail!  I also made another version using a plain cupcake liner.  It works perfectly as well!
 These little guys are time consuming, but it's not so bad for a once-a-year, special Easter treat.  They are so cute I can't help but SMILE.  I made him green so he'd look like a bunny sitting in the grass!


However, if you don't have two or three days to spare, Mique has just the thing for you.  The PAPER version.  Click on the photo below, or the link above to get yours!


I hope these will make it onto your Easter list this year.  They will be the hit of your party, and it's a fun project to do with your kids.  They can definitely help with mixing, cutting printables, and constructing the wrappers and cupcakes {just keep them away from the tin snips if you like all of their little fingers}

What fun memories!

Happy Easter baking everyone!


· bunny ear cupcake toppers, cookie cupcake toppers, decorating, Easter

Anthropologie Inspired Easter Cookies

I recently had the opportunity work on an Easter project with the amazingly talented Sandra Downie, event planner, and author of the blog, The White Library.  My assignment was an Anthropologie inspired dessert table.  How exciting!  Who doesn't LOVE Anthropologie?!

I was very eager to get to work because it gave me the perfect opportunity to work on some Easter designs that I've had locked away in my head since last year.  Looking at the storyboard, I instantly knew that they would be perfect!

These are the cookies that I made for the project.  I was going for a shabby chic, rustic look...something similar to the finish of antique metal garden ornaments.

 If you'd like to see the whole spread, head on over to Sandra's blog, The White Library, to see her {Anthropology Inspired Easter Dessert Table}

As for the cookies, I bet you are wondering how I got the rustic finish. 


True to form, it was in the most unconventional way.  I made my own dirt!

 Please don't laugh too much if you can help it.  I actually got the idea from my little boy. 

One day, I caught him {I still call him Tatters, even though he's way too old for that} coming in from yet another digging expedition in our backyard.  I noticed that his feet were covered with a crust of dried mud, and I was trying to keep it off of my light carpet.  It's really pretty gross if you think about it, but it was like a light bulb clicked on in my head.

Now, before we go any further, I'd like to add a little disclaimer.  You can certainly get this effect with lustre dust.  Brown, mahogany, and Spanish moss, maybe mixed I suppose... However, I live in a pretty rural place, and I didn't have time or the desire to pay eight dollars to ship a tiny little pot of shimmer to my door.  So, I decided to make it instead.

To do this, I spread some leftover dark brown icing from another project onto a sheet of waxed paper two days before I knew I would need it.  I let it dry thouroughly.  Then, I broke it up into smaller pieces on the paper.
 I then used a mini-processor to pulverize it into a fine powder. {I completely forgot to take a picture, but you get the idea}

See?  I totally made DIRT!

To "age" my cookies, I took a bunny that I had flooded in ivory and covered with a raised vine pattern, and dusted them with royal icing "dirt".  If you look closely, you can actually see it very well. {I copied the vine pattern from a card that I found in the dollar bin.  It did it freehand since I was going for a rustic look and it didn't have to be perfect}


In some places, I couldn't get as intense of a color as I wanted, so, to make it a little more dramatic, I used a little sponge to apply my powder.


It really worked beautifully, and I got a one-of-a-kind look.


Now, in the future, you can be sure that I will be ordering all three brownish shades of lustre dust.  However, in a pinch, making royal icing dirt worked for me!  I hope it will work for you too =)





· Antiquing cookies, decorating, Easter Cookies

Peeking Bunny Cookies

Accidental successes reminded me of this little guy =) Isn't he cute?


The funny part is, I didn't plan him that way.  While making last year's Easter cookies I ran into a little road block.  My cute little bunny was the outcome.

If you look closely at one of my platters from last year, you can see Mr. Bunny AND his twin brother the stand alone bunny.


When I found this cutter I was SOOOOOOOO excited, until I began using it.  It only took one batch of cookies for me to learn that if the ears did not break off while cutting, they would soon after being handled. 

Baking didn't help the situation.  If the ears didn't snap when I removed them from the pan, it was a miracle.  I was very disappointed and desperately wanted to salvage my project.

What seemed like a fail quickly took a turn for the better.  Mini {and major} disasters often lead to some of my best ideas. 

 In an attempt to maintain my sanity, and salvage my cool cutter, I came up with another plan using that same bunny and a scalloped square.


First, I cut out the square cookies.  Then using my bunny cutter, I lightly imprinted the dough so that I would have an clear outline to follow after baking.  Remember to be gentle.  If you press too hard, it will separate too much during baking and leave a large gap.
 After they are baked, follow these steps...
 I added the ears while the white fill icing was still wet. This is referred to as wet-on-wet.

After letting the bunny dry for at least an hour or two, begin step two of the fill process.


To get a dimensional effect on the bunny face, you must work in steps, giving each addition twenty or so minutes to dry.

 When the cookie is completely dry, add the final details.  I outlined the bunny, and added the eyes nose and whiskers.


Round cookies also work beautifully. This time I added sanding sugar.  I thought they were especially pretty like this.


Imprinting cookie dough will work for almost any design.  It is another way to get the effect of a KopyKake projector without the investment, and also to salvage those cute but impractical cutters.

Try it!

· Bunnies, decorating, Easter, impression designs, Tutorial

Rainbow Tie-dye Cookies

St. Patrick's Day bit me with the rainbow bug!  They are everywhere...pancakes, waffles, Rice Krispie treats, Jello...and STILL, I am not tired of seeing all of the pretty colors.  So, I decided to make
more.


These simple cookies are very beautiful  AND what's even better is that they are easy to make!

The hardest part is gathering all of the supplies.  Be prepared to spend an half an hour or so mixing icing. 

This is what you will need...


I always match the outline to the first color I plan on using in the sequence.  In this case is was red.


Once this part is complete, begin filling in your cookie with each color.


Then, drag the tip of your boo boo stick through the icing.  Be sure to alternate sides as you drag to keep the design even.
Just in case that was a little hard to follow, I also drew a little diagram.  Notice that you can drag the tip either way...I suppose if you want your tie-dye to be accurate, you should begin in the middle of the cookie and drag outwardly to the edge. 

Truthfully, I'd never even thought about it until I wrote the paragraph above this one, and now that I realized I did it backward {maybe because I was taking pictures of myself doing this}, it's going to bug the CRUDDY out of me, BUT, I AM NOT REDOING THIS TUTORIAL =) So, learn from my goof.
You might also be wonderin' why you should wipe the stick after every swipe.


Another observation after the fact.  Dragging in hides a lot of the purple.  Dragging out would have created a pretty starburst shape and shown more of the color. And looked like real tye-dye. Arrrrrgh. 

They are still pretty though, right?  Even before they dry.


If this little how-to has caught you a little late for St. Patrick's Day, there are plenty of other places tie-dyed cookies {or reverse tie-dye in this case} come in handy.


Have I ever mentioned I get hung up on the small details?  I'm still grumbling about doing them backward, BUT STILL, aren't they pretty?


If you need boo boo sticks, AKA cookie scrapers, or icing bottles, check out Karen's Cookies.  She has both, and she will get them to you very quickly!


· Cookie, decorating, tie dye, Tutorial

-