Sweet Valentine's

Hope you all are having a super sweet Valentine's Day!

These are some of the cookies I made for my co-workers

as I will be spending much of the day with them.

I have decided I NEED the small PME tips.

Although my cookies look okay I really need the

smaller tips to get the fine details to really look crisp.

On these cookies I used the Wilton #1 tip.

Until next time, 

Brush Embroidery Cookies

Today I tried my hand at brush embroidery cookies.

I was so excited to try this technique.

Unfortunately, nothing went right with them from the very beginning.

Every step of the way, something went wrong.

I thought for sure these cookies would only be seen

by the immediate family.

In the end, I think this technique hid a multitude of sins

and didn't turn out to badly.

I will try it again in the near future.

Next time I am sure they will turn out better now that I

have had some practice.

 

Until next time, 

Happy National Popcorn Day!

What!?

You didn't know it was National Popcorn Day?

Do you live in a cave?

I thought everyone knew that January 19th was National Popcorn Day.

Okay, I didn't know today was National Popcorn Day either

until I did some digging.

I suppose an explanation is in order so here goes!

I have this friend, Tammy, (she's weird but a friend none the less) that

came into work last Friday (Jan. 13th) and announced

that she was so excited that it was Adverb Day.

What? Are you kidding me! A day just for adverbs!

Well, I figured I will show her I can be just as weird as she is.

Because of the way our days off fall during the week, I haven't

seen her since "Adverb Day" and today will be the first

day we work together again.

I did some research and although I couldn't find anything as unusual

as Adverb Day, I did find that January 19 is

National Popcorn Day.

I have asked everyone at work to wish her a

"Happy National Popcorn Day" when they cross paths.

I also made this little bouquet and filled it with some royal icing

popcorn cookies I made, some microwave popcorn,

some yellow crinkle paper and some balloons on sticks

to commemorate the occasion.

The cookies were made quickly so they are not my best work

but I think they still turned out cute.

So, Tammy, HAPPY NATIONAL POPCORN DAY!

Hope it's a great one!

Until next time, 

More Homemade Cookie Cutters

So, I was cleaning up my craft room after making my homemade 

cookie cutter I posted about previously and had a lot of the

aluminum pan I used left over.

 I didn't want to throw it away so I bit the bullet and decided to make 

as many cutters as I could from what was left of the pan.

My niece is expecting her first baby around Thanksgiving so

I made some cutters the shapes of baby items.

Now, I know you can buy cutters in shapes like these but

I was able to choose my own graphics and customize

the cutters to what I wanted rather than what you

get in the standard package of baby shapes.

I was also able to make them the exact size I wanted too.

The bottle cutter is 2.5 inches wide at the bottom and

a whopping 4.75 inches tall!

I made the bottle cutter a little bigger than the other

ones as I wanted to be able to have a nice

big surface to write the baby's name and birth

information on.

The more cookie cutters I made, the faster I got at it! 

I must also confess that making these has become a little addicting!

It's quite fun to watch the cutters taking shape and trying to find items 

to shape the aluminum around to get the proper curves, etc.

Here are a few more pictures of the individual cutters I made.

(The bib cutter is  turned upside down so you see the wrapped edge of the aluminum.)

The thing is, I still have a lot of aluminum left!

All these cutters and the tutu I made previously came from just

the bottom portion of the pan.  I still have all four of the sides left!

If you would like to see a step by step tutorial on how to make these

homemade cookie cutters yourself, leave me a comment saying so.

I'm not sure anyone even knows my blog exists so I won't waste

my time if I don't get any responses.

Oh, and one more thing!

I was so wrong when I said that it would be expensive to make these.

I was assuming that I was only going to make one cutter out of the pan but, as you

can see, I have made 5 so far and still have enough aluminum left to make

at least 4 or 5 more!

The pan I bought cost me $2.19 (I did spot the same pan elsewhere for $2.00)

and lets assume I get 9-10 homemade cutters out of that one pan,

that is only .21 to .24 cents per cutter!

You don't need to buy any other supplies as the aluminum can be cut easily

with ordinary house scissors (I wouldn't use your good ones).

Has anyone else made their own cookie cutters?

Maybe you have a tip or two you could share!

What worked for you and what didn't?

Would love to hear what you have to say!

Until next time, 

Homemade Cookie Cutter

I was hooked the minute I saw royal icing cookies I found while blog hopping.

As if I don't have enough hobbies already, now I'm going to add cookie decorating?

Bake at 350 and Sweetopia are two of the sites I adore for instruction and inspiration.

Those are some talented ladies!

They make the most beautiful cookie creations. 

Well, long story short, I got busy and made some of my own.

I purchased the basics (piping tips and bags and some Halloween

cookie cutters) and this is what I ended up with.

Although I have a long way to go before my cookies

look like the ones at Bake at 350 or Sweetopia,

I didn't think they turned out to bad.

I felt like baking today but the only cutters I had were of

the Halloween variety.

No appropriate cutters, itching to bake, what's a woman to do?

Well, if your like me, you make your own!

I had recently seen a post where someone had made cookie cutters and

although I read it, I didn't bookmark it.  I searched but, for the life

of me I couldn't find it anywhere in blogland.

I knew the post said they used aluminum flashing from the 

home improvement store but that was about all I could remember.

I had looked through DH's workshop but couldn't find any flashing.

As he was at work and I was itching to go, I looked around and

found I had some of those disposable aluminum pans on hand.

I printed out a picture of a long tutu that I wanted to use as a template

and went to work on the aluminum pan.

I cut it up, pounded all the little indents out with a rubber hammer, 

folded, twisted, bent, crimped and cursed.

(Don't underestimate the power of a few choice words! I think I ended up

scaring the aluminum into submission!)

After about 30 minutes, this was my finished product.

(The "cutter" side if facing up in this picture.) 

You can see the lip of aluminum I folded over so 

that it wouldn't cut my hand when I pushed on it.

Is it perfect? No. 

Does it work?  Well, you tell me!

Take a look....

Pretty little tutu cookies waiting to be dressed with icing!

I found that the slight imperfections in my cutter (wavy edges)

were almost nonexistent after the cookies were baked. 

Am I going to make all my cookie cutters?  No sirree, Bob.

Getting both sides to be symmetrical was not an easy task. 

Cutters are so inexpensive (well, at least the ones I will be buying)

that it doesn't make sense to make all your own cutters as

the aluminum pans aren't cheap themselves.

If I need a cutter I can't find out locally or need a special

design that isn't available already, I will certainly give it another go.

Until next time,