Baby Shower Cookie Platters

I've never done a cookie platter for a customer before, but at the Cookier's Spring Fling a few weeks ago, Maryann (Cookie Artisan) gave an awesome talk about how to design a platter.  When I got home, I was so inspired to give it a try.  It was fate when a customer called just a few days later asking for several cookie platters for her daughter-in-law's baby shower!

I designed a total of seven platters, some large and some small.  Luckily, I had the CUTEST invitation to work with from Tiny Prints.  The colors and patterns gave me tons of inspiration and I used the same "Baby" lettering for some of the centerpiece cookies.

Maryann is a cookie platter design genius, and I learned several tips from her that really helped me when I was designing these platters:

1. Before you start, lay out your cookie cutters on the platter to get an idea of approximately how many cookies you'll need.  As I was baking, I arranged one small and one large platter with naked cookies so I knew exactly how many more cookies I needed to bake.
2. If possible, cover the platter with a layer of plastic wrap before arranging your cookies.  This will help the cookies stick to the platter so they don't slide all over the place while you're trying to arrange them.
3. Include 1 large centerpiece cookie as the focal point of the platter and limit yourself to just a few other complicated designs per platter.
4. Make lots of small, simple cookies with your extra dough.  They save your sanity, help fill in an any spaces, and they're great for propping up cookies on the platter.  This customer wanted hearts incorporated on the platter, so they were perfect for my small, filler cookies.

For the sake of full disclosure, here's a picture that I took of my naked cookie platter (forgive the crappy cell phone pic):

I snapped this picture to help me remember what the platter was supposed to look like after I finished decorating.  

And here's the finished, decorated platter:

Pretty similar to my original layout!

The baby cookies were my first attempt with Karen's Cookies' super cute new cutter.  She has some great design examples on her site so I didn't change things too much.  Thank you, Karen, for the great cutter and the great ideas!

I had so much fun working on these platters.  Plus, I didn't have to tie ribbons on the 100+ cookies that it took to fill these plates!  That's a HUGE bonus for me  

Hopefully they were a hit at the shower!

Toy Story Aliens {Tutorial}

Ooooohhh the claw....

I love the aliens from Toy Story.  These guys were fairly easy to make and you don't need a lot of special supplies, so I figured I'd share with you how I made them.

D'Oh!

D'oh!  That's what I was thinking at 3 am when I was trying to finish these cookies!  Now I know why cookie decorators dread doing character cookies.  They take FOREVER!

Even though these cookies were extremely labor intensive, I still had fun in the process.  I mean really, who doesn't love the Simpsons?!

The cookies were for a 30th birthday party, so I added some "30"s to Homer's belly.  I love all the expressions of Homer.

I thought the Duff beer cans would be my quick and easy cookies to make up for the characters, but not so much. They still involved a lot of steps, but I really liked how they broke up the rest of the cookies on the platter.

These cookies were really fun and I love how they turned out, even if they did take a little longer than I anticipated!

New Mother's Day Cookies!

Cookies are the perfect gift for Mom for Mother's Day, so if you haven't picked up a gift yet, check out our new cookie packages up on the website!


These cookies were inspired by my favorite gift to give to my Mom - coupons for chores.  I liked them because they were easy to make (though not as easy to fulfill) and free, and my Mom liked them because she actually got some help around the house!  I know this is the gift that I would want if I were a Mom :)

We also have a new Mother's Day tea set for the tea-drinker in your life.  Our sugar cookies are perfect with a cup of tea, so what could be cuter than tea-themed cookies!

Mother's Day orders need to be in by May 5th if you need your cookies shipped.  If you'd like to pick them up in Gaithersburg, MD, orders will be accepted until May 8th.


Thanks!
~Jaclyn