After a conversation with my sisters.. and a reality check.. I realized that my desire to make beautifully designed cookies was going to end in frustration and failure. I am a perfectionist when it comes to design and my depth perception issues won't align well with my expectations. I can't even paint my own nails!

I do love cutouts though.. so I may consider stencils though I am not sure I am up for the time involved for something that I didn't hand draw/decorate. Does this recipe work nicely for just a granulated sugar topping?

I will make three kinds of cookies this year-- the ever loved white chocolate cranberry macadamia nut cookies, an attempt at a coconut flour thumbprint cookie (which I had and loved last year) and some kind of rolled/cutout cookie..

Jelly, it is, and it is also on the India cookie thread. Only I don't think they had almond, which I like as an addition. It rounds out the vanilla without screaming almond IMHO.

I also had my own Word file which incorporated some of the rolling and cutting tips, so I cut and pasted it.

Funky it will give you a perfectly shaped cookie with a very nice taste (but in the end a simple sugar cookie). You could just put sprinkles on it if you wanted. But for me the attractions is as a canvas if you will. If I were not decorating, i'd make Snickerdoodles!

ok, I changed my mind! The polar bear is awesome-- and it doesn't have such fine detail that I think I'd be unable to do it. I think the key is choosing designs that I can manage with my limitations.

Thank you, Mtn.. I was actually kind of bummed until I saw your latest post.

Funky, the cookies do not have to look like this to be fun:

In fact, I liked the idea of the twine, so I am making round ornaments and already ordered twine. But mine will simply be marbled, more like these. If you can pipe a few straight lines and have a toothpick you are done!

Just to be fair here.... maybe I'll post my address. Just in case any of you want to try out batches of cookies. It's the LEAST I could do! I'm also good at critiqueing, so you'll get good feedback! See guys....I'm "here for you"...... ;-)

Faron

Funky, I have used that cookie for years now. I found the recipe when I needed to bake about 150 cutout cookies. I was sold with the first batch. The flavor is a good, butter based cookie that you can vary a bit with some lemon, almond, orange oil or extract -- but the process for rolling them out is the real game changer. It is easier, less messy and it keeps the cookies consistent in taste and texture from the first to the last. Last time I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond, they had a lot of the bands for rolling, but some folks use a chopstick or dowel to get the level. The bands are just nice because they give you a matched pair in several sizes and they don't take up a lot of room to store and always have handy.

Then you can put your time and energy into the decorating. Or not. Try the marbling or simple design that needs little detail to look great -- mittens, hats, polar bears, many dogs, reindeer, snowmen, presents that only need a bow....

Mtn -- perhaps. Inspection is tomorrow and if all goes well, they plan to close on the 5th.

I saved these cookies from Pinterest because I thought they were pretty and would be easy for a novice like me to make.

http://minipiekitchen.com/christmas-sugar-cookies/

Funky, I agree. The design doesn’t have to be complicated. Below is a really elegant, easy design on a round cookie. And, check out dipping the cookies in royal icing versus piping and flooding. Easy-peasy.

Those are cute, dee. And the trees in chickadee's post would be somethng anyone or age should be able to do. Remember that even the pros have some cookies that don't make the tray or the photo shoot. And if you look closely at the ones that do, they aren't perfect -- they are handmade,

Mtn -- the hearts on the mittens have always been a favorite.

I LOVE the polar bear! Mtn could you please copy and paste the icing recipe, my computer gave me an error message when I tried to use the Sweetopia link.

Hi Lucille, It may be hard to read, but here it is:

Let me hasten to add a few tips in re icing:

1. It is easiest to use meringue powder rather than egg whites (I got it at Michael's).

2. I used two boxes of 10x, which is not exactly the weight of confectioner's sugar in the recipe above... but very close

3.More important than the recipe is the handling of the icing. Do not over beat or you will get bubbles. Let set for 20-30 min after beating. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to avoid it drying out; it last for days if not weeks that way. Shake your cookies a little after you ice them to get rid of any bubbles you see.

4. The icing will be thick, like icing you might use on a cake. You will need to thin it just a bit to make it a good consistency for piping lines and decorations. You need to thin it even more to make it thin enough for flooding consistency. You can find lots of videos using those terms to help you understand how to slowly add water to reach a certain consistency. Look for the "knife test" instructions.

5. If you are facile with a pastry bag, all the more power to you! If not, I like squeeze bottles. I have big ones (like ketchup size) with a pastry tip attached. I also have small ones, because it is easier to use when full and if you are just using a color for decorating you many not want a lot of it.

6. I think it is easiest to start by piping an outline on the edge of your cookie, and then going back with flooding in the same color. If you are very good at piping you may want a contrasting color --- I am not

7. Some designs, like the marbling, are done when the bottom, flooding color (white on my bear and mitten) is still wet. Others are done after the cookies dry (that can take as little as 3-4 hours or as much as 24hr). You can use thinned out flooding icing as glue when you do the next layer ona dry cookie.

8. To reduce mess, i put my cookies on a drying rack over a sheet pan as I decorate. I also keep a stack of damp paper towels next to me.

ETA

Chick - I agree, really cute and pretty. As with home decor, I am very attracted to all white cookies. Only thing, I can't believe she is rolling out chilled dough on a floured surface without spacers! A big thumbs down for that old approach. Never again. Here is a photo of how it should be done, i just googled it. 2 layers of parchment and spacers!

Dee - I have not piped enough to make such nice, fluid, decorations. I only pipe edges and then fill in with the same color, so you cannot really see how unsteady I am

So we made our cookies yesterday and I used the rolling pin spacers. I think my technique is off, as they weren’t perfect. Better but still had some too thin ones, etc. I probably should watch some videos. Cooke’s are still delicious though!

Let's just say that no Bakery need fear that I will compete....

My attempt:

A friend's:

theclose, I bought the rings for the rolling pin, too. Mine seemed to work well, but I have to admit that my 13 year old did most of the rolling (and cutting and baking).

The cookies were for my class of 6 year olds to decorate at our end of term party. I made the mistake of storing them in the freezer in the man cave (basement). Mr. Daisychain completely "forgot" that I specifically told him not to eat those cookies. Luckily there were just enough left for every kid to have one, but I was not impressed when I went to the freezer on the day of the party and found them half gone.

My family has resigned themselves to getting the scraps after I've cut out the cookies, and taken to assigning images to them like one might interpret clouds (I reroll scraps, but only once).

Against my better judgment, I agreed to make poker theme cookies. As I advised above, pure geometric forms are less forgiving (ie squares, rectangles and circles). Flowers, animals, etc are always easier IMHO. I got my circles nearly perfect, but my rectangles got a tad wonky, compounded by my poor piping skills. I did dip the surface of the circles, far easier than piping a perfect shape.

I was very happy with a fresh batch of polar bears I made for DD to share with dorm mates at boarding school. Love the twine on the bags too.

Poor piping skills? I completely disagree. None of the above look like a beginner made them. They look incredible!

Those are all adorable! You have skills, Mtn!

Mtn, those look great! I'm always a sucker for polar bears and the poker cookies are fun and well done. I didn't make any cutout cookies this year. The only cookies I made were the family Dutch Christmas cookies. Had to make those, but hardly felt like baking -- they are a slice and bake. Weird year for me.

oh my gosh.. the polar bears are seriously adorbs!! You must be having soooo much fun!!

Thanks, Jelly, just don't enlarge the photos, trust me.

Outside and Lascatx, Thanks, I am really on a kick with these. I am now in search of groundhog cookie cutters ...

ETA - I am Funky, and all your fault

A groundhog is actually a cookie cutter I do not have, so I had to look. Yep -- found one on Etsy for $1.95, or on cookiecutter dot com on sale for $1.25one on Amazon for $5.99 with Prime shipping. And there are more -- just spotted a copper one that is a little larger on Amazon for $14.79 in case you like copper cutters or want a larger cookie. Those will be so cute.

OK, I blame you, Mtn and Funky -- I am about to order several cookie cutters.

Did you get an email from me mtn? The bears are seriously adorable!!! And the poker cookies look great!

The thing about the groundhogs is they are not nearly as cute as the polar bears, so IDK. But my one DD was born on GH day, so. The other will be 16, and I want to make something like these, tied w a sweet 16 ribbon. The cutter is from spain and I can find similar, but not quite as pretty. Not sure where i can buy such teeny sugar flowers, either.

Robo - i will go check! Im on my phone and that account is not on my phone.

That is a beautiful cookie cutter. I don't think I've seen one with the detail in that stand. That will make them a little trickier to cut out, but with that never fail recipe and technique, I think you will be fine. If you don't want to order from Spain, the closest one I found was on Etsy -- seller is thebakersconfections. They sell a set -- one without the stand and one with a stand that is simpler than the one from Spain. Either way, those will be so much fun to decorate.

You can buy sugar flowers (cake decorating places, Etsy), but you can also make them. I haven't done anything that dainty (remember, I have boys), but I have seen that you can do royal icing, sugar paste, gum paste, fondant (which I think would be too heavy for tiny flowers. The ones I saw that you could buy were royal icing.

I didn't realize you were thinking of the groundhogs for a girl's birthday. Most of the cookies I saw when I went looking were plain gingerbread or spice cookies or things I wouldn't want to waste my time with. Did you see the ones that were a full front decorated with a top hat? There was another one that was a large dark cookie with two smaller light colored cookies for cheeks to make a face only. Then I saw a side view of a cutter with the groundhog on all fours -- thinking that one could have a top hat and scarf if cold and grey or sunglasses if the forecast is for sun. That is more of a challenge.

And I was actually thinking about getting some garden themed cutters for a get together down the road, but I need to double check what I already have.

Here’s a beautiful 3 layer cake cookie cutter, made by a small business. I’ve ordered from him, and his cutters are incredibly well made.

Dee, those are just wonderful! And my guess is copper won't rust, which would be nice. I bought plastic to avoid that but my cleaning person put those in the d/w and they were ruined. : ( I love love his Dutch houses on there!

Lascatx,

I went ahead and ordered things I could get quickly, via Amazon; I only have 9 days for one bday and the other is Feb2. So i need to start practicing. I think I will make some cake stands jadeite and some a grey/silver. I found an example of flowers i think I can manage... free form is always my friend. I have bought edible sugar flowers on Etsy before, but never seen anything as small as those above. I like your groundhog day ideas; I will have to experiment. I May try chocolate royal icing for that.

Love this look and will try to copy it.

Here’s another really easy flower.

Copper cutters do not rust, but they will spot and turn if not cleaned and dried carefully. DH washed a couple of mine -- but they can be polished.

Which groundhog did you decide on? You know -- the standing one could be made to hold something -- like a tiny cake, a flower, a heart (with a 16 piped on it), a present -- either cut out of dough or cut out of fondant and made ahead of time. If you have never worked with fondant, I would suggest trying the marshmallow fondant -- basically melt marshmallows and add powdered sugar. Search online and you will find the recipe in a number of videos, blogs and tutorials. If you make them ahead, you can let them air dry and keep them until the cookies are ready.

You can definitely do something like those flowers and I bet you can make them prettier. You could also do the wet on wet royal icing flowers -- like the hearts on your daughter's mitten. They would look pretty on a cake. Even hearts and flowers. I have wanted to make pretty cake and teapot cookies (have the teapot cutter, but not a tiered cake one), but I don't have anyone to make them for. You don't know how bad I want to come play. Have fun. Post photos (I know you will).

Just saw this cute polar bear cookie, and thought of you for next year. Love the Santa hat!

Dee, the Santa hat is sooo cute! Thx, will def have to try that!

I confess, I am not using tips, I am using squirty bottles! So that easy flower would not work for me. I need to teach myself to get over my pasty bag phobia, really.

Lascatx,

Which new cookie cutters did you order?

I got the standing groundhog. He is cute. but a tad small. I may do scarves again, since I have a lot of scarf experience, LOL. I just don't think I will like the colors no matter what.

I used fondant on my poker cookies, for the suits. I happen to own little card suits cutters; cannot recall why! I just bought the pre-colored fondant sticks. Kinda gross but I rolled them out to 1/8" and it was only one on each, so not much to ingest. I am intrigued by homemade, fondant, may try that.

I like the scrawny flowers above, i like their sort of modernity. or their cartoonesqueness?

I love the teapots and the teacups!

Where are you? We could get together and bake just for fun, LOL. I don't really know anyone who wants a ton of cookies, esp in January, so I just foist them on kids. : ) I am also going to foist some on my book club. I will make them small. If it gets really bad, I know a shelter that takes homemade foods, and they like sweets (I used to feel as though they got a ton of sweets from bakeries and tried to bring somewhat healthier stuff, but they say there is always demand for sweets!)

I tend to get a little obsessed with any new project (people who know me on GW have seen this movie before!) and I am totally cookie obsessed right now. I feel better about it though, after my DH, who saw me choosing between the copper cutters and cheapo plastic ones, said " I think you should have the right tools for your hobby.". Then i felt better. I have a hobby, not an obsession. Whew...

Mtn, alas, I am in Texas -- hence the TX in the name. I'm near Houston. It would be a bit of an undertaking to have a cookie baking session, but it is always fun to share interests, obsessions or hobbies with another.

I did order one of the Ann Clark tiered cake cutters on Amazon but don't have it yet (I delayed my order while I was considering another item). I am also planning on ordering some cutters from cookie cutter dot com.

The cutters I plan to order are butterflies, a caterpillar and possibly a bumble bee, lady bug -- maybe other garden themed ones. I kind of fell into another hobby -- I started raising monarchs a year and a half ago after years of growing milkweed for them as part of a butterfly/hummingbird garden. I want to make cookies for a get together of some members of a monarch butterfly group. Another one of those things that started small (and totally by accident) and has become an obsession -- I mean hobby. LOL Most of the work is in keeping the caterpillars fed and protecting them from predators so they can become butterflies and there are networks out there to help each other. I belong to a group that is planning on a seed and plant swap to support those feeding efforts this spring -- I thought cookies would be fun -- and one hobby could help me justify my other one. LOL

I'm not sure what your squeeze bottle comment was responding to, but when I was talking about the wet on wet royal icing flowers, you can totally do that with squeeze bottles. In the same way the hearts on the mitten are done with a drop of color into the wet background and then a toothpick drug through it to to make the heart, you can do a circle of dots and drag the points into the center to make a daisy like flower. There are also little roses with green leaf buds - the leaves are essentially hearts you can curve and the roses are swirled.

Here's something else you can play with. The photo below shows my first attempt at painting some cookies with food coloring. I used toothpicks and very fine artist brushes. The paint was food coloring thinned with water or vodka (alcohol evaporates off) on a dry white icing background. These were done with the dough scraps from some Dia de los Muertos skulls and I was just playing around with a Scottie cutter I had recently gotten because of the son at Carnegie Mellon. If I do something like this again, I will have to watch Coco for inspiration on motifs and how to use them on animals. Sorry for carrying on so -- have fun!

ETA: MTN, you or anyone with girls should search online for photos of high heeled cupcakes. They can be pretty simple or very detailed, but they are fun. I helped my younger son make them so he could present them in a pink bakery box (kind of the size of a small shoe box) when he asked his date to prom. We did the rolled cookies for neels, but I see some done with pointed ice cream cones for the heels. Milano cookies for the sole and the cupcake is the toe of the shoe. I took photos, but if I still have them, they are on a back-up drive. Both my phone and laptop have changed since then. Anyway, if you have girls, they could be something fun to do sometime.

Dee, yes, some of my bottles have couplers. But I am not sure if you can control the flow as finely as one can with a pastry bag? So even w the couplers I am using plain tips.Love your menagerie; great job on the giraffes. BTW, your cookies look thicker than mine. How did you choose the thickness? Are the more than 1/4"?

Lascatx, sometimes i think I have figured out someone's name, but YNK. Could have sworn Hhireno was from Reno. But it is "Hilton Head Island Reno". So I figured you could be in LA, SC, TX, or L.A,. or none of those! There used to be a Laxmom on here who I thought was near the L.A. airport (code LAX), but she just was chill (lax).

Anyway, I don't think we can be baking buddies IRL, LOL! It is a bit far. My tiered cake cutter and my groundhog arrived today. I noticed that the tiered one is a bit wonky and crooked, before I even use it. I am starting to become a cookie cutter connoisseur! I don't have time to reorder, but duly noted the poor quality.

I love your garden theme ideas, and yes, you have a good excuse. I think your people will be tickled pink by butterfly cookies. I have a spring charity bake sale I am already brainstorming over! How lovely to raise butterflies.

Thanks for the clarification about the wet flowers, and the idea of using coloring (I have also become a bit of an Americolor groupie too, now). I love those little scotties! So sweet.

I have never seen those high heeled cupcakes, what a scream! Do they hold together? TDF

Getting the heel to stabilize is the trick. I didn't want to make up some stiff royal icing glue for two cupcakes. I don't remember, but I think we tried getting creative and found something that worked. I remember marshmallows being cut to try making flowers and bows for the shoes. I think we might have made marshmallow "glue." Royal icing -- like you do for gingerbread houses, would probably be best, I think a whole party full of shoes would be so much fun. Decorating them could be a fun party activity.

I've got to remember the ground hog cutter. I think he is in the cart waiting for me to finish the order. Hope to do that tomorrow. I'm calling it a night now.

With the holidays all but distant (sweet!) memories, and 700+ cookies later, I'm just now scrolling through this thread. Makes me want to find a reason to make more RI cookies -- I just love seeing everyone's creations!

lascatx: With our yard's late start this year, we brought in six Monarch cats in late October/early November -- this was my first time 'sterilizing' the milkweed leaves (brought indoors and washed/rinsed with diluted bleach) to stave off the dread OE parasite. Somehow, four more cats matured and survived our recent hard freezes (beneath sheeting in the yard), and we've got chrysalises out there again. I may need to pull them indoors before this weekend's overnight freezes.

mtn: I adore your polar bear cookies and will need to add them to my 2018 rotation. :) The RI recipe you posted is exactly the one I use (recognized the image immediately, as I have a couple of marked-up copies in my cookie binder). I add imitation vanilla and butter flavorings (1:1 ratio) to improve the RI taste a bit. I've tried the squeeze bottles, but find they're too stiff to be manageable (for me). Have you tried the plastic wrap 'bullets' technique? Many internet references advise to insert the RI bullets into pasty bags, but I skip that step and use the bullets as is. While I'm icing, I keep the bullets upside down, tips jammed into moist paper towels to prevent the RI from crystallizing:

It's so much easier to twist down plastic wrap as you go, as opposed to the stiffer (and much larger) pastry bags.

I decided to do gingersnap/bread cookies this year instead of butter, just for a change of pace. (Note: I'm still looking for the original Ginger Bears recipe from September 1989 Bon Appetit, p. 96, if anyone can share. After saving my back copies for decades, I finally decided to purge, wrongly assuming one can find everything on the internet...nope.) After having already cut out several dozen gingermen/people cookies, I was reminded I'm not very good at piping perfect smiles: my ginger peeps were looking quite deranged. Google was once again my friend (you guys will lose yourselves searching for repurposed cookie cutters). I turned my gingies into reindeer:

I had only green sugar pearls, so the red noses were piped. These were a heck of a lot of fun to make (and give).

Javiwa, I have to ask where you are located since you have monarchs. I thought my friend who built a hut to raise them was totally over the top -- and told her so a year or two later after asking her for help getting started. I saw the wasps attacking the very fat cats and decided I had to do something. That was mid-summer 2016 -- didn't know much about cleaning or how to avoid OE -- only that is was a bad thing. I had an entire group lost to OE and/or parasites so I was primed to learn more for 2017. I thought collecting and cleaning eggs was over the top at first too, but I had some early cats that were questionable for OE and was looking for help. I found enough online to convince me to try. Totally nerve wrecking the first time or two, but another game changer.

I will look and see if I might have the old Bon Appetit recipe. I have some old issues upstairs and I have a couple of books I could check. I should purge, but your experience is one reason I don't. I have this fantasy that I will scan all the recipes first and keep a digital copy -- I think my arms would fall off first, but it is the dream.

The reindeer are adorable. Though the idea of upside down peeps with deranged smiles is kind of funny too. LOL Have you ever made the reindeer with pretzel antlers? I made those when the boys were kids -- a lot of fun to make too, with whimsy in a totally different direction. Anyway, repurposed cookie cutters is a good thing. I have done a little of that on my own, but should do more.

I am going to have to try the icing bullet approach. I will admit to using my share of ziploc bags with a snipped corner as well as piping bags. So often, I am doing only simple lines and/or dots that don't require me to change tips and it's so easy to "cheat."

I have to say that as much as I would enjoy having a bakefest with all of you, I am glad to find some folks with similar interests. I am known as a baker and that is a novelty among my friends. Most of them will do most anything to avoid baking. Now I need to get a photo of pretty cookies. Those scotties look rather crude -- they were, but it was a hurried concept test before shipping out the main cookies.

lascatx: I'm in Missouri City (MC/SL border). A million years ago, when the kids were still kids, it was the same event that encouraged us to start our rescue mission: my son was mortified as the cute newly-hatched cat was devoured by a wasp. We're very much a 'let nature run its course'-type family, and there was no way our operation was large-scale enough to pull indoors every egg we saw; but we did our part that year and found it so gratifying to have released ~ 20 butterflies.

Regarding the BA back issue: thanks for checking. Those old editions are fetching a pretty penny, so hang onto them. I messed with a bunch of recipes and worked my way backwards to a very good one, but I still don't recall them being as good as the original. DH happily ate my deranged gingies -- no way I was giving them as gifts. :)

Icing bullets: Another plus is not fussing with getting the icing into a baggie (which I've proven very sloppy at). I use this technique (~ 1:10), except I skip the pastry bag part...and I use wayyyyyy less plastic wrap. :)

Yes, there is no way to neatly get icing into a bag. Some always goes to the sides, no matter what I do. I just squeeze it down the best I can and fold over the top -- but I do want to try the bullets. I had not seen that before you (I think) posted it earlier. Definite advantages.

We released 50-60 butterflies last year -- the number 57 is stuck in my head but I can't verify it. We lost a similar number to disease and predators -- every single one we had at the time, in the late part of the season. That was terrible. Then I read that the migrating numbers had a big loss again last year. Very discouraging. This year, we had a tenfold increase, pushing close to 600, plus I mailed out hundreds of eggs to folks in areas with milkweed and no monarchs. Because of Harvey, Irma, the wildfires in the west and such a harsh year on top of the losses last year, I was determined to do what I could, but this coming year, I need to find better ways to manage it all. Not looking to increase, or even necessarily match, 2017 numbers -- just make it easier and not let it push past what I can enjoy. And leave time for decorating cookies. ;-)

Mtn -- I told you I understood about hobbies. I tend to do things seriously or not at all. LOL

Jawiwa,

Thanks for that link about icing bullets. Even I can do that (I think!)

My dough is chilling and my royal icing transfers are piped and drying ... the fun begins.

Those reindeer are cute. I saw something similar with a gingerbread man cutter, but the reindeer nose was a milk dud I think or maybe a malted milk ball.

One of my faves about repurposing cutters is this heart-shaped one:

Okay, back to report.

First, I love the icing bullets! Easy peasy. I don't think it would work for flooding, though? Right now I am doing flooding from a squeeze bottle and piping in a pastry bag w a bullet.

Second, royal icing transfers are a breeze and I like the dimensionality they give. I will be doing that again.

Third, be careful with the groundhog's tail, it breaks off easily. I made 10 or so but have not decorated them yet.

Fourth, I need to buy more Americolors. I really like their Ash grey, for example (the cake stand in one set). I did have fun mixing a jade-ite sort of color though.

Fifth, if you break a cookie, esp when hot, you can glue it back together seemlessly and sturdily with piping icing! Amazing.

One problem I had copying the modern-cartoony flowers above was that none of my dips were delicate enough to make such a fine detail to fit in the spot. They ended up very blobby.

These will have to do for DD1. I will refine them for DD2 (who also wants a few groundhogs AND some snickerdoodles).

First try:

Awww, those turned out great! Love the color combinations you used. Regarding the icing bullets, you sure can use them to flood -- just make sure the icing consistency is a bit thinner than you would use for finer-detail piping. Depending on the area I'm flooding, I also move to the next largest tip. I usually stick with mini (1") to medium (2-1/2 to 3" cookies), so never use other than #1 and #2 tips. Can't wait to see the decorated groundhogs!

Thanks, Javiwa. But if it is flooding consistency, how do you plop it onto the Saran wrap?

There are several #-of-seconds methods for distinguishing between piping and flooding consistencies. If I'm going to outline and immediately flood with the same color, I shoot for 10-second icing: run a butter knife through the middle of the icing. By the time I've counted to 10, and given the bowl a little side-to-side jiggle, the icing will have flooded the line over. I'm able to pour this icing onto the plastic wrap and have it ooze ever so slightly. Sweetopia.net does a really good job of explaining the 10-second icing here, and outlining-and-flooding here.

Absolutely beautiful! (and now I want that ribbon to put on a million things around my house lol)

Yes, I know those guidelines and find them useful. Just wasn't sure if I was fast enough to get it wrapped up for a bullet! Plus the flooding icing is pretty easy to put in a bottle anyway.

ETA: I did these graduation cookies for my cousin's wife who works at cross-town rival USC....told her it was a HUGE ask, doing these for her. ;)

For the cap, I first outlined, let it dry for about 10-15 minutes, then flooded the middle two parts. For the medallion, I used the 10-second icing to both outline then immediately flood -- no textural difference between the two reds. HTH!

OMG the cap is so so so cute!

TY, mtn -- it was a fun project to work on.