Hot Air Balloon Cookies {bridal shower}

So the last few sets of pictures I've taken, I COULD NOT figure out why they were so out of focus and blurry. Well today while looking at my lens I realized some grimy little fingerprints were all over it! Two and three year old little rug-rats do not mix with nice cameras ;). Hopefully my lens isn't scratched, but I apologize in advance for the foggy pictures! 

Mother's Day Cookies {roses and bird cages}

We have lived in Virginia now for almost 4 and a half years, and in that time I have never sent cookies to my mom or my mother-in-law. I have meant to so many times but somehow life (and many orders!) have gotten in the way. 

I finally decided I HAD to send them both a little surprise and Mother's Day was the perfect time for me to do that! 

I think I was more excited for them to get these cookies than any other order I have ever done. Seriously. I love being able to make something to show the people I love how much they mean to me. And what says 'I love you' more than a cookie? Nothing, I tell you.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there! Especially mine :)

Christmas Lambs and Candy Cane Cookies {easy picture tutorial for lamb with a flower cutter!}

So dang happy Christmas is just around the corner! Our house is nuts right now with my husband in the middle of his law finals, and me in the middle of my undergrad finals (with lots of cookie orders on top of that). Of course, it's always crazy at the Bowen house what with the 3 year old and 20 month old little boys tearing around. 

I hope to do at least one more tutorial for Christmas, but for now here is a very simple lamb cookie using a flower cutter. You could even do this in buttercream and add little eyes or a bow to the lamb. 

What you'll need:

- thick black icing

- thick white icing in a bag with a #2 tip

- flower cookie cutter

First fill in a little black head and ears right in the middle of your cookie. I didn't wait for mine to dry, but you can if you'd like. To start on the 'wool', just add small dots close together until eventually the entire cookie is filled in. Add more dots in any areas where the cookie is showing and voila! You've got your very simple lamb cookies (which go great with some very simple candy canes). 

I love getting emails with questions and pictures of cookies you've made inspired by things on my blog! I love seeing others work and hearing their stories, so thank you to all of you who have sent me emails and left comments. As for tutorial requests, I will really try to get around to all of them as quickly as possible :) Just be patient with me!

Happy cookie-ing!!

xoxoxo,

Caitlin

Superhero Cookies {for a little girl birthday}

I did these for my niece's 5th birthday party. They were shipped off to Manhattan a few weeks ago (notice the Manhattan skyline cookies?!). I want to make them again, they were so much fun!

I love the way they turned out. In the pictures you cant tell, but each superhero is sparkly. 

Happy birthday to one of the sweetest, most beautiful little girls I know!

What Does the Fox Say?! {fox cookies using a butterfly cutter}

I'm sure everyone has heard the funny/slightly annoying song 'What does the fox say'.. my two year old LOVES it and asks for it every time we get in the car! He is constantly singing it and dancing around the house. I confess, I like it too. So I had to make some fox cookies.

To make these you will need:

* a butterfly cookie cutter

* orange 20-second icing (check out this tutorial here)

* black 20-second icing

* white 20-second icing

* ivory 20-second icing

* fine tipped paintbrush

Once you've cut the bottom of the butterfly off with the top of the butterfly cutter, press the little jagged edge at the bottom until it's smooth

Using your 20-second orange icing, make the outline to the face. Wait for 15 minutes, then fill in the ears and rest of the fox's face. 

Add a black nose and eyes once the cookie is dry (give it at least 6 hours). I used brush embroidery around the face. Out of pure laziness I didn't make a thicker icing to do the brush embroidery and it would've been much cuter if I would have! Oh well, lesson learned :). 

The last step is to pain on little black eyelashes and you are done!

There you have it! Happy fall ya'll. 

Royal Icing {how to}

Royal Icing Tutorial. Everything you need to know to get started!

When I started decorating cookies as a hobby I tried probably 20 different Royal Icing recipes. Some used Merengue, some didn't, and some even used egg whites. They were all very similar so I basically just came up with my own through trial and error. You may try it and find you don't love it and make your own adjustments!  

SO HERE WE GO! ROYAL ICING MY WAY

(if you're not making a large batch of cookies you can cut this in half or even into fourths!)

Royal Icing

2 lbs {1 bag} confectioner's sugar

6 Tbsp Meringue powder

1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp warm water

1 tsp. imitation vanilla (or any other non-oil flavoring!)

As the merengue powder goes, I just use wilton. I hear more expensive brands are better, but with my husband in law school and me in undergrad I like to stick with the less expensive option for now! So far it's worked perfectly. :)

Before you start ALWAYS.. like, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS (get the picture?) wash your mixing bowl and paddle/whisk attachment. If any oil at all gets into your icing, it will not set up or dry properly and you will be kicking yourself for not taking the extra five minutes!

Once the mixing bowl and attachment are washed, I whisk together the confectioners sugar and merengue powder. To that I add my warm water and flavoring. I usually add just a teaspoon or two more of the warm water, especially if it isn't humid outside. But be careful! Once you add the water you can't take it out, and the worst thing next to getting oil in your RI is getting it too runny. 

Some people choose not to flavor their royal icing, I think it makes all the difference though! My favorite combinations are vanilla and lemon, vanilla and orange, or vanilla and lime. Again, MAKE SURE the extract you buy is oil free! I've found 'imitation' flavorings are usually oil free. 

SOOO.. once the liquids have been added, I mix on medium high for 7-10 minutes. It should look fluffy and form stiff peaks like meringue. If you're a first timer, at this point you may think your icing is waaay too stiff, but have no fear, you've done it right if it looks like this. See? 

So stiff in fact, that your paddle attachment should stand on it's own without moving in the royal icing.

Now take a dish rag and dampen it with water, then place it over the top of your mixing bowl to keep the RI from getting a hard crust on the top. 

Here is where it can get a little bit tedious (especially if you're doing a lot of colors), but consistency is everything. When my cookies don't turn out as planned it is because my consistency was not right. 

From here I start on mixing colors and getting the consistencies right. Take desired amount of icing from your mixing bowl and put it into another (CLEAN, OIL FREE) bowl. Add coloring. Then add one teaspoon at a time add warm water into your icing. Stir until it reaches 'line' consistency. It should look about the same as toothpaste. Line icing should hold its shape nicely, but still be smooth enough to squeeze out of an icing bag without killing your hand. 

Now it's ready to bag (don't use it all, you'll want some of the same color for 'flood' icing). I like disposable decorating bags , a #2 or #1 tip and use twisty ties on the ends.

Now for the flooding consistency! I use the rest of the icing and slowly add more water until it is about the consistency of shampoo. A good rule of thumb is to lift your spatula and let the icing run off, the icing swirls should disappear within about 10 seconds. Once I have the right consistency I put my icing into decorating bags. This is where I am weird. I know most cookie decorators use squeeze bottles.. I tried em' and I don't like them! That's just personal preference. My flood icing goes into decorating bags without a tip and I cut the end just the tiniest big when I'm ready to decorate.

So the tips don't get clogged, I get another damp kitchen towel and fold it in half. Put the tip of your bag in the fold like this.

Just follow these steps until you've done all of the colors you plan to use for your cookies. You can store icing at room temperature or in the fridge. Good luck!

Voodoo Doll Cookies {inspired by treasure troll dolls)

Even though I had some MAJOR trouble with my royal icing (I'll talk about that in my next post), these are my favorite Halloween cookies thus far. Super easy and so cute! I used two cutters; gingerbread man and bumblebee. Cut the wing off the bumblebee to use as hair for your voodoo doll. I would love to do a bunch of these in mini size! Perfectly creepy for halloween and so easy. 

Happy October everyone!

Pumpkin Decorated Cookies {Easy Picture Tutorial}

Fall is in the air and I am LOVING it!! The leaves are starting to change here in DC and it is easily my favorite time of year. Plus fall means cookies.. so that's good. 

Because I promised to do a tutorial but haven't gotten around to it, I did a easy picture tutorial for you guys. This was an order for a Gender reveal party announcing the gender of their little 'pumpkin' (such a cute idea)! Her colors were gray, yellow and blue. 

Thanks for the order, Nicole! Congrats on baby boy :)