Are you up for the challenge?

I have been decorating cookies for a while now.  I have done some cute cookies.  But I seem to always look at someone else’s work and think “Wow, they are really talented.  I could never do that.”  First off, I should never compare myself to anyone else.  We are all wonderful in our own way.  And maybe someone is looking at my work as I am looking at another’s thinking it is the best thing since sliced bread.

I thought the other day about why I couldn’t do that.  Sure they may have more experience under their belt.  Sure they may be decorating cookies on a more frequent basis than my every so often day.  But really it boiled down to I never gave myself the confidence to step up to the plate and try.

I bought the cutters needed and decided to try and challenge myself with a little more difficult cookie.  LilaLoa had a wonderful tutorial with a video for me to reference which made it seem possible.  I love decorating videos and picture step by step tutorials.  The step by step guides are great for when I am at the counter decorating so I know what step to do next.

I am so happy I went ahead and tried.  I am so happy with the results of my unicorns!!

I was so excited by it I decided to make another set as I was off for 4 days and had the time.  I then chose the mermaid set that was seen by Sweet Sugarbelle.  She also has a great tutorial for the mermaids and mermaid tails.  I made a couple extra cookies with the first set to try the mermaids to see how they would go before making a full batch.  I have never done that before and I was glad for the practice run.  It helped me see what I needed to change with her.

I really liked how the second set turned out as well.  Boy am I glad I tried stepping out of my comfort zone.

We boxed the mermaids up and gave them to our neighbor to bring to work for my Random Act of Kindness.  He is a police officer and we wanted to say thank you to him and his fellow coworkers for all they do for the community.

You cannot succeed in something if you don’t push past the hard parts.  Success comes from overcoming a challenge.  What will you succeed at today?

Make it a great day,

Jen

 

Donating cookies

I bought a new cookie cutter set the other week from Michaels.  It is the Sweet SugarBelle milk and cookies cookie cutters.  She did a similar set to these years ago and I have always liked the idea and have wanted to do them.

I was off for 3 days from work and had some left over royal icing, so I decided to make some cookies just to try out the cutters.

I tried the tipless bags again for the milk cookies.  I am still unsure how I like them.  The concept is great of not having to use a tip.  But I then used my PME tips for the cookies and it went smoother.  It could have been because I had to make a fresh batch of royal icing, or that my flood consistency was better.  Or it also could have been because I was in a better mood the next day.  Some days your head is not in the game and I do feel like it shows in your cookies.

So, here I was with a bunch of cookies and no one to give them to.  I remember hearing you can donate them to the local fire station.  We have one a mile away.  So, Sunday morning I gathered Paul and Alex up to drive over there to drop them off.  We rang the bell, but no one answered.  I was discouraged when we got back in the truck to go home.  Here I had a plate of cookies I wanted to give away and now was bringing them back home.

We were in our neighborhood and I saw the family a few doors down getting in their van.  We have only smiled and waved to the family before, never struck up a conversation.  I told Paul to stop the truck, got out and gave the cookies to the boy, got in the truck and drove the 3 houses down to our home.

Paul came in a few minutes later stating the dad just stopped by.  He tried to catch us before we left.  He wanted to say the cookies looked so nice and thank you.  And guess what, it was his birthday that day!  What are the odds that we would stop and give that family cookies without thinking and for it to be his birthday.  It made our day!

I am so glad I could put smiles on that family’s face Sunday.  Cookies truly can make a difference in people’s lives.  That is why I will continue to bake.

Make it a great day,

Jen

Goals

Like most people at the beginning of the year I was all about a life planner.  I made a planner (that I never used) and for the first time created goals for myself.  I have never been a goal setter.  I always would have liked to set goals, but never did.  I would say I didn’t know what kind of goals to set for fitness, or couldn’t make up my mind etc.

While I was knee-deep in the life planner I created a list of goals for myself for 2017.  I wrote down 3 goals on 01-05-17.  I don’t know if I printed it off and put somewhere.  I don’t think I have looked at it since maybe 01-10-17.  This is one reason I am not good at goal setting.  I forgot all about my goals for the year shortly after making them.

I came across the list today and realized I crushed all three goals!!

1. Donate cookies to church – At the beginning of the month I gave our pastor a set of Halloween cookies for Pastor appreciation month.
   1. Look into bake sale for No Kid Hungry – I had a Facebook bake sale during Easter and raised $90 for No Kid Hungry.
2. Practice cookie decorating, would like to be able to go to Cookie Con 2019 **this goes hand in hand with donating to church.  Can donate my practice cookies – I have been decorating more throughout the year and want to continue to get better.  I have tried some new techniques and I keep Cookie Con Sept 2018 in the back of my mind.

What a great feeling it is to know I was working towards my goals even if I didn’t remember.  I guess cookie decorating is becoming more and more of who I am and what I love to do.

There are two spots left on the sheet.  I wonder if I can think of two more goals for 2017 and complete them before the year is done.

Make it a great day,

Jen

Tipless decorating bags

I have recently come across the tipless bags by Truly Mad Plastics.  I feel like I am a little late to the game on this one.  I thought I would give them a try since I use the same consistency for outlining and flooding.

Saturday was not my night for decorating.  Many things that normally don’t cause an issue, were a problem.  I normally don’t have many craters, but every ghost had one.  My flooding was off and not smooth.  My consistencies were bad.  But I continued to power through.  I also feel like I stepped back several years with my skill level.  I think I was expecting too much from the bags and was not giving it my full attention.

I have used tips for almost 10 years starting with buttercream.  I want to continue to use the new bags, but I need to rely on my skill level more and take the time the cookie needs.

Semi Sweet Mike has a great tutorial on the ghost cookies.

October is National Pastor month.  I decided to pack up some cookies and have Paul deliver them to our church.  I love these boxes from BRP Box Shop.  They make giving cookies look so much better.

Make it a great day,

Jen

Ice Cream Cone Cookies

I have been following Sweet Sugarbelle for several years now.  She has come out with a kit that includes cutters, instructions and templates.  I picked up the kit and made one of the designs this weekend.

I started at the bottom of the cookie.  I flooded the bottom for the cone.

Once I was done with all the cones, I went back and added the lines.

Next, I flooded the brown icing for the chocolate on top.

After that I flooded the middle of the cookie white for the ice cream.

The last step was adding the sprinkles on the top.  Alex woke up at this time, so I had to rush to get the sprinkles added so I could be done.

I bought sample boxes from BRP Box Shop a month ago.  I wanted to give some cookies to the neighbors, so I thought the box would be perfect.  It fit two cookies very nicely.

I did not use the template for this design, but I imagine I will use it with some of the other cookie designs that I make.

Make it a great day,

Jen

 

S’mores cookies

I found this design by Glorious Treats a while ago and have wanted to make them.  We booked our first camping trip with Alex, so I thought these would be perfect to make.

I have seen other bloggers use wood for backgrounds lately.  I was just about to ask Paul to make one for me out of wood when I came across a blog.  She was showing her setup for food photography.  There was the wood background, but it was a vinyl backdrop.  AHA!  That is so easy and simple.  I can’t believe I thought everyone had these wood planks stored all over their house.  I ordered one from Etsy and was excited to use it.

I used do basic simple pictures, but I am trying to take a little extra time in my presentation lately.  Plus, Alex loves the leftover graham crackers.

Cookies really do take a long time to make.  These took longer then I was expecting. I was originally going to decorate Sunday morning for 2 hours before Alex woke up, but decided to do them Saturday night instead.  I am glad I did as I would not have been able to finish them Sunday morning since they took 2 1/2 hours to decorate.

Cookies are my weakness.  I always have to find a way to get them out of the house before I eat them all.  This time we brought some to our neighbors.

Make it a great day,

Jen