Treasure

My first attempt at a treasure chest was really cute

I decided to try something a little different this time and use sanding sugar instead of piping all the gems.  I think it was much neater looking and it sparkled like treasure should! 

How Do I...make my own cookie cutters?

As I have said before, I follow a lot of great cookiers who make fabulous cookie designs and have easy to follow tutorials for those of us who struggle with some concepts!  Sometimes they make something so cool that I ask to borrow their ideas and recreate them but this post was so well put together I decided to just link to that instead of recreating it.  Thanks LilaLoa for the fantastically, easy idea!  

LilaLoa: How Do I...make my own cookie cutters?

Bluebirds

Lately, I am seeing cookie ideas in everything, including a lady in Sunday School yesterday who had an awesome dragonfly on her shirt.  Let's just say I am easily distracted.  Alas, I didn't take a picture of the shirt (It was my first time in that class or I might have asked.) and have already forgotten it.

   I did get this blue bird theme done.  I found the bluebird idea here but the nest and birdhouse, I got from a piece of scrapbook paper.  

Most of my designs start like this.  I had the tree figured out but I could not find a suitable nest.

Doesn't the tree look sad without a nest?

Very cute idea but not for this design. 

The coconut was too real for the whimsical cookie and the eggs, well, they lacked cuteness.  I was beginning the think my little blue bird wouldn't be able to produce eggs.  Finally, I just piped some eggs on wax paper and hoped they'd speak to me while I finished up the other cookies.  After they had dried for about an hour, I took a chance and squiggled out a little icing nest and dropped them in.

I was very pleased with the results!

So was the blue bird!

Sanding sugar is something I don't use too much but it was a great addition to these simple flowers!

I love it when my ideas actually work!  I don't post the failures but there are quite a few!

 

Old MacDonald

I love farms and all the animals that are normally associated with them! These cookies were cut out of leftovers from an experiment with chocolate dough. I like the chocolate dough (and so did the first customer who ordered it) but I don't have many requests for it. The dark color made these characters really stand out! They were sent to a cute little boy for his 2nd birthday!

Food

Here are some fun food cookies!

2 regular cookies with a chocolate cookie for the burger patty.

Left over dough makes great "fries"!

My son loves pizza and cookies!  How about both?

Bumblebees

I love to watch bumblebees. My dog loves to catch and eat them.  These are the only bumblebees that I would consider eating.  Funny how I hardly ever get to eat my creations.  It's probably a good thing! These were for a sweet friend of mine in MN. 

Ahoy Mateys

Pirates are a big attraction right now and cookies are no exception.  These were fun to make!  10 of them are our first gluten-free cookies!  I think they turned out well but we'll have to see what the party goers think! 

NEW and IMPROVED Blog Contest

So...my first blog contest was a bust.  I only had a  couple of people actually follow the instructions and ended up ditching the whole thing out of frustration!  Be patient with me, God isn't finished with me yet!  :)

I decided to have a new contest because I need something that I can't seem to pull out of my own mind.  A Cookie Capers Logo, a simple representation of what Cookie Capers is all about.  I must have this logo in order to go forward in my dream of turning this hobby into a legitimate business. A logo is required as part of writing a business plan to submit for grants and other funding.

The contest rules are:

1. You must not steal artwork, clipart or any design.  Period.  You may use artwork with proper permissions. You must have said permissions in writing when submitting a design you did not create yourself.
2. The design should be simple with clean lines and easily reproducible images.  We want to put this logo on business cards, ads, flyers, labels etc.
3. All entries must be submitted by May 16, 2012 to cookiecapers5@gmail.com
4. A winner will be announced May 21, 2012 and prizes awarded within 14 days of the winning announcement.
5. If no suitable logo is found by the deadline, Cookie Capers reserves the right to extend the contest deadline or terminate the contest.  We do want to come out of this with a great logo but it has to be the perfect one!  I'll know it when I see it! 

Now for the good part.  If we (meaning me) choose your design as our logo you win:

1. The design credit.
2. $100 cash
3. Cookies for a year - 12 cookies delivered to you each month. Each shipment will represent the holiday or theme for that particular month.  (ie  Christmas, Fourth of July, Summer, Spring etc)

 I hope one of you has the perfect design in mind and can get Cookie Capers moving forward!  Good Luck!

Gluten-free

GLUTEN FREE!!!  If you have a special someone with gluten issues, we now have your cookie!

I have been experimenting with several gluten free cookie recipes in order to find the perfect recipe that will hold up well against royal icing and lots of handling.  I think I've found a great tasting, gluten-free cookie! Obviously, they are not quite the same as my regular cookies but they are very good.  I'll have to see if the children eating them this weekend think so! 

Spring

Spring has sprung around here! I had so much fun with these Easter cookies! They are so bright and colorful!

Faceless bunnies.

Base coat of icing. 

Funny how 2 black dots and an orange triangle make all the difference!  I love this little guy.

This one was my favorite because I had never done any kind of basket and it really turned out nice!  I only made one of these but I will definitely be making more now that I think I have a good design!  :)

Cuteness!

A dozen or so bunnies, chicks and eggs stuffed in a basket.

150 Mini eggs found their way to good homes this Easter!

What an adorable idea!

I wish you could have seen this arrangement in the spotlight on the recipients kitchen counter!