2018 Christmas Cookies

Due to life's ups and downs, I've been focused on so many other things that design work has come in dead last on my list. The arduous process of relocating after 24 years of living in the same house took on a life of it's own. To this end, I've painted more rooms than I can count, repaired sprinkler pipes, deck railings, realigned and re-stacked retaining wall blocks and became the queen of fixing dry rot. The normal stuff like repairing drawer glides, replacing broken toggle switches and patching and re-texturing walls goes without saying. Now multiply that times 2 houses, and you can see why I've had no time to make cookies or design anything. I did get to add an impact driver and finish nailer to my toolbox, so that's a plus.Yes, this girl owns and uses all the tools in the garage!
My husband's recent stroke and other health issues knocked us down again, and made us take stock of what truly matters. The family received an early Christmas present however with him getting better quickly and hopefully on the road to a complete recovery.
Okay, enough of that!!!!
Below are some old tried and true designs as well as some design-as-I-go ones. After a few icing consistency mishaps I started to work my way back into cookie bliss.

Candy Cane and Peppermint Candy Cookies

Christmas Trees and Sleigh Cookies

Christmas Tree Cookies

♥ Happy Decorating ♥

Christmas Cookies - 2015

As usual I had more design ideas for Christmas cookies than I had time to complete. So I was happy to at least be able to finish and photograph a few new ones.

This hand numbing and cross-eye inducing mountain contains over 500 decorated mini cookies. I've done these before, only not nearly as many.

These were added to chocolate dipped pretzels, spoons, biscotti, and Oreos along with toffee, peanut brittle and spritz.

White on white snowflakes with silver indentations.

The center snowflakes are molded fondant.

Set of edible top hats.

Black edible 3-D top hat cookie filled with mini snowflake cookies.

The snowflakes on the hat are punched out of a white icing sheet and detailed with icing.

Red edible 3-D top hat cookie filled with small chocolate dipped pretzel rods.

The band is fondant and the buckle was made with silver dragees.

White edible 3-D top hat cookie filled with decorated Christmas mini cookies.

The hat band is made of fondant and decorated with icing leaves and red Sixlets candy.

Elf cookie place-card and 3-D cookie mug filled with mint chocolate candies and candy canes.
The mug was suppose to be another hat, but the brim broke so I added a candy cane handle and molded fondant trim.
The elf's legs are candy necklace beads on bamboo skewers.

Elf place card cookie sitting on a 3-D red hat cookie.
This elf''s legs are candy necklace beads strung on licorice laces.
In hindsight I should have pick a different color for the shoes.

♥ Happy Decorating ♥

Easy 3-D Easter Basket Cookies

It wasn't until I was almost finished with these designs that I realized I should have taken photos along the way. Hopefully the very short mini tutorial at the bottom will help somewhat. 

3-D Easter Baskets using colored cookie dough as well as chocolate cookie dough.

I wanted these to be easy and quick, and since I already had the bows and edible lace left over from other projects they were.

Oval basket with a Twizzler handle and fabric bow.

Round basket with a Twizzler handle and edible lace bow.

Oval chocolate basket with a chocolate Twizzler handle and fabric bow. The doily is edible lace.

To make the round basket you'll only need one of these scalloped round cutters, but to make the oval baskets you will need two.
These happen to be made by Wilton.

To make the oval basket you will need to stretch the two round cutters using different stretching points as shown by the arrows in the above photo.

When you stack them they should look like this. The scallops should alternate evenly.

The Twizzlers candy already have a hole in them so I just used a lollipop stick to secure them into a handle shape.

I added the holes to the top cookie before baking using a soda straw.
The bottom cookie does not have the center cut out so it will hold little candies.
You could add mini decorated Easter cookies to these as well, but that would take the "easy" out of them.

♥ Happy Decorating ♥