Christmas Cookies

I decorated for a few events this December, which is always fun. 

For my bookstore deliveries I made Winter Trees, Sun and Moons for the Winter Solstice and, of course, Baby New Years to ring in 2013!

My daughter requested these Santa Hats for a Christmas party she was going to at a friend's house.

These trees were added to all of the gifts for my family.

Let It Snow!

Winter Snowflakes for my delivery to Phoenix Books tomorrow. I'm so glad I picked up the trick for using the heat gun to set my icing or those lines and dots would be full of craters.

Turkey Day!

I made these Tom Turkeys for delivery at Phoenix Books in Essex this week. I think they turned out pretty cute but after about the fourth one I decided that I liked them better without the addition of the wing. I'll remember that next time. My daughter brought the extras to school ~ they were a big hit as always. Coincidently, it was also the day of their school Thanksgiving dinner so it was quite appropriate!

More Fall Cookies and a Great New Technique

These are some soccer ball cookies that I made for my niece's soccer team for their last game of the season.

Most people either love or hate this movie. I, myself, love Mr. Jack Skellington. My daughter asked me to make these for a Halloween party that she attended this past weekend. I'd been wanting to make these for a while.

It also gave me the chance to try out a new tip that I picked up. One of my great annoyances with corn syrup icing is the little craters that can form in the smaller details. I've debated if I should switch to royal icing but to be honest, I'm not a fan of the taste or the texture after it's dried. So, I've just lived with the craters. For example, the Hobbit doors from my previous post all ended up with a little indentation in the door knob. It looks like they collapse near the center. I've also noticed this happening at the beginning and end of thin lines. I haven't found an answer for why this happens but someone whose cookie blog I follow suggested I try her method of using a heat gun for a few seconds after icing to help it set quicker and dry faster. I gave it a whirl and it worked like a charm. Without drying with the heat gun the mouths and stitches on Mr. Jack would have been full of little craters but with the heat gun. When I used the heat gun ~ not one.

Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I tried it again on these pumpkins I made for my bookstore delivery today. The little stitches on the patches would have all had little craters but a quick blast from the heat gun right after they were drawn ~ not one. My heat gun is my new best friend when it comes to icing my cookies.

Fall Cookies

I've been working a great deal on decorated sugar cookies over the past month for family, friends and for sale at our local bookstore. I decided to post some of the pictures I collected this fall of some of my creations. 

These are some Hobbit Doors I made for our local bookstore, Phoenix Books, in Essex. They had a very festive party to celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit, the upcoming release of the feature film and, who knew, Bilbo Baggins' birthday. 

After the Hobbit doors were such a hit at Phoenix Books in Essex, I was asked to make these Death Star cookies for their Burlington location to help celebrate Star Wars Reads Day.

My daughter started middle school this year, which was a bigger adjustment for me than it was for her. One of the new things she did this year was try out for the school field hockey team. I made these cookies, designed to look like their uniform tops, to celebrate their end of the season jamboree! They were a big hit!

And, finally, a sampling of the cookies that I have made to be sold at Phoenix Books, Essex.