Root Beer Float (Cookie Tutorial)~

 

I thought it would be fun to post an easy tutorial for the root beer float cookies I made earlier this summer (in honor of National Root Beer Float Day~ yep, that's tomorrow).  These were made for a graduation party styled by my friend, Christy from Itsy Belle.

I colored my fondant brown & rolled it so it wasn't too thin, since I'd be using stamps on it.

I measured my cookie so I knew what size to make my fondant, then used a pizza cutter to cut it down to size.  Next, I stamped out the words I wanted...this may take some practice so maybe try a word or two on a scrap piece of fondant first to get a hang of stamping straight.  I actually like the imperfect look that stamping brings to a project, it gives it character!

Once your words are on, take a toothpick and make the lines for your mug, make sure you space these evenly.

Brush corn syrup onto your cookies, staying away from the edges of the cookie because this stuff is super sticky and will sneak out from under the fondant if you add too much.  Once the corn syrup is on you can gently press your mug onto the cookie.

I used the top of this purse cutter to make my fondant, ice cream scoop but a circle cutter would work too.  Add this to the top of the cookie.

Now is a good time to start mixing your royal icing. While that's mixing up you can make your straws...I LOVE stripey straws but you can make them a single color if you'd like, it would definitely save you some time.  If you want the 2 tone affect just roll out 2 different colors of fondant into long, thin ropes.  lay them next to one another and start twisting, gently pressing as you roll it back and forth on your surface so it sticks together.  I always use a little powdered sugar on my work surface to keep the fondant from getting too sticky.  You could also use corn starch.

Cut your straws evenly by finding a size you like then laying your cut straw next to the fondant rope and cutting the next straw the same size.  Continue this until all of your straws are cut.
           (Oops, we have an over achiever in the group!!)

By now your royal icing should be ready.  Put it in a pastry bag with a pretty small tip, I used a #2.  First I outlined the mug and added a handle on the side.  Next I added the "over flow" so it looks like the foam is running down the side of the glass.  Add more royal icing where you plan on placing your straw and immediately add the straw (the royal icing will start to set up pretty quickly).

Add a few swirls of royal icing to hide the seam between the mug and the ice cream and your finished... SO cute, right!!  Let them set up for a few hours before serving them and give them a good 12-24 hours to harden before you place them in bags.

These were used at a graduation party, such a cute idea!  I also made these bottle cap cookies to go with the root beer theme...

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a ROOTIN' great day!!



 xo

Hi Mom, I'm on TV.!!!

Hey everybody!  Sorry it's been a while but I've been having one heck of a busy summer.  Both of my girls are on the local pool's summer swim team, which means practice EVERY day (no weekends, thank God!!) I had my kitchen and dining room made over for a new TV show, and I've had some pretty cool orders, I'll have to share them with you soon.

Wait a minute, rewind to the TV makeover...
That's right, my kitchen was selected out of scads of applications to be made over for the new show, Knock it Off!  This makeover was SOO needed because whether you know or not, I run my business out of my home kitchen.

Here's one of the pics. I sent to the designers and stars of the show, Monica and Jess of the popular DIY blog, East Coast Creative.  Pickled pine cabinets, laminate counter tops, and those floors!! No wonder they chose us! ;)

I don't want to give too much away because our episode airs TONIGHT at 7 EST on the Live Well Network. (Check HERE for local listings.)  Go set your DVR's and let me know what you think!!

SPOILER: If you don't have access to a TV or maybe you don't have cable, you can watch the full episode HERE right now....Shhhh, don't tell everyone else!! ;))


Oh... PS, Happy National Ice Cream Day!!  Check out this "COOL" cookie tutorial I had featured on timetoplaymag.com

Pink Unicorns in the Spring~

As spring fades effortlessly into summer... OK scratch that,
I live in Pennsylvania and the weather is unpredictable.  Today was in the 70's (no, I'm not complaining but it was strangely both chilly and humid...hmm?!)
I've been cranking out lots of cool cookies, cakes and fondant toppers lately (thanks to my imaginative clients) and am hoping, now that my girls will be home full time (summer break starts tomorrow) I'll be able to find a nice middle ground between decorating and the kind of fun that only summer brings...the beach, picnics, tubing... In the meantime here are a few of those treats I mentioned.

Cookies for Three Little Monkeys Studio's Unicorn party

 

           End of year cookies for Kati's 4th grade class

A Baby Shower cake based on the one I made HERE

 

Treats for a photo shoot, shot by my friend and photographer Nicole at Expressions by Nicole Marie

 

And last but not least, a fondant topper that I made for Nicole's darling little one year old, Wren <3 p="">

 

 

xo

  Happy Summer!!!

Root Beer Floats and Graduations~

This is such a busy time of year for almost everyone that I talk to... school's ending, new summer activities are starting, events are being planned...some certain bloggers are getting ready to make their TV. debut!!! {I've said too much}...

Here's a little of what I've been working on lately~

 

 

 

....and a few other things you'll just have to wait for!!  ; )


Happy {almost} Summer!!! xo
 

Save the Date Cookies~

I recently received a "save the date" card in the mail for a wedding this Fall.  {It seems like the trendy and smart thing to do nowadays!} As I hung it up on my fridge, the wheels in the creative side of my brain started turning... when the smoke cleared, this was the result~

I wish I had thought of this 12 years ago when I was planning my own wedding!  If you're interested in these I will ship them to you and you will mail them out to your guests. (or have your trusty bridesmaids do it...seriously, put them to work!!)
Please send inquiries to~ linda.p.schwartz@gmail.com

Balloon Pops {Featured}

I am so happy to share this adorable, Up Up and Away party styled by Tara from One Stylish Party.  She designed the party for her son, Eli's first birthday!   I just love all of the little details and her choice of color palette...

 

I can't get enough of these confetti-filled balloons!  Tara made the balloons I had at my daughter, Kati's 10th Surprise Party... SO fun!!!

 

 

 I made these shimmery, balloon pops to tie in with her theme and color scheme (how cute is the stand she made for them!!)

You can see the party featured today over on Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas. Go see what Amy, the sweets table guru, has to say about it!!


                             xo

Leprechaun Cookie Tutorial

  Happy St. Patrick's Day... I'm feeling lucky today!!!  This week I had the pleasure of working with my sweet, artistic mother.

Most of the good things that happen to me in my life start with my mother.  She has always encouraged me to use my creativity, and has been saying, "Linda, you are an artist" since I was in kindergarten! ;))  The truth is, SHE is the artist!!  Still, at 82 years young, she is SO clever and funny and is always drawing on everything from newspapers to mailing envelopes.  I'm pretty sure I've never gotten mail from her that didn't have some sort of funny drawing on it.   Well, last week I found a sketch she had drawn of a leprechaun sitting on a rainbow and decided I needed to "cookie it".  It was such a fun project for me, so I  decided to make this tutorial for you guys.

The steps are pretty easy to follow and I've included lots of pictures, taken by my talented photographer friend, Nicole of Expressions by Nicole Marie.

                             What you'll need~

Your favorite sugar cookie recipe

fondant

food coloring.

fondant roller

corn syrup

pearl dust

gold disco dust

food use only- paint brushes

black food writer

scissors

sharp knife or blade

parchment or tracing paper

                                          
                           My Mom's sketch~

 

 1.) Start out by tracing the original drawing onto parchment paper.

2.) Make an outline around your drawing to determine the size of your cookie. (I actually scaled my copy down a little because I didn't want a huge cookie. By doing this, I think the drawing started taking on the characteristics of my own drawing style).

3.) Roll out the sugar cookie dough. Using your drawing as a guide, cut out your cookie.

 

                     While your cookie is baking...

4.) Now you can cut your drawing apart to use as a template for forming your fondant pieces.

 For each color, I used around a 2 inch ball of fondant. I added food coloring a little at a time until I had the color I wanted.  I use Duff Goldman brand in white, vanilla, it has a nice flavor and is easy to work with. The fondant comes in a 2 lb container. I buy it at Michaels. You can use any brand of fondant or make your own.  

 

To make the fondant stripes for the rainbow, roll out the colored fondant into long, thin strips. Make sure to apply even pressure while you're rolling them out so they are uniform in size.

 

   Lay your colored strips down, pressing them lightly together, and roll them flat.

5.) Brush your cookie with corn syrup. This will act as your "glue" sticking the fondant pieces to the cookie.

*Make sure you add the fondant pieces to your cookie in the right order. (I'd recommend setting them up on parchment first. Then once you're happy with the layout, add them to the cookie). The corn syrup is sticky so it will be difficult to remove the fondant once you've laid it down.

 

 

6.) Finishing touches~ I add pearl, lustre dust to almost all of my cookies, because it really makes the fondant pop. I used my large brush to add it to the rainbow and the pot of gold. To add the gold disco dust to the pieces of gold, brush them with a tiny bit of water. Then take your large brush, dip it into the disco dust and shake it out over the wet areas. Shake the excess off, it will stick to only the wet areas.

 Near misty stream in Ireland
in the hollow of a tree
Live mystical, magical leprechauns
who are clever as can be

With their pointed ears,
and turned up toes and little coats of green
The leprechauns busily make their shoes
and try hard not to be seen.

Only those who really believe
have seen these little elves
And if we are all believers
We can surely see for ourselves.
{Irish Blessing~ author unknown}
                       xo

Fondant, Favor Cookies {A Tutorial!}

Have you ever decorated sugar cookies? 

  Some cookiers {is that even a word?} prefer decorating their cookies with royal icing, ya know the stuff you use on gingerbread houses.  It goes on wet and dries very hard.  It's great for creating tiny details and intricate designs but in my opinion is not always user friendly.  I like to use fondant to decorate my sugar cookies.  I like the way it tastes (some brands are much better than others), and most of all I love the 3D effects you can achieve without a tremendous amount of effort. 
A friend of mine who makes delicious, gluten free cookies asked me to do a fondant tutorial for her.  So D, this is for you!! {check out her blog, it's very cool!!)

I made these cookies to be used as favors for a bridal shower and think they are something that anyone from a beginner to a professional can and will want to try.  

Once you find a cookie recipe you like, bake your cookies and let them cool completely before you start decorating.  Fondant is temperature sensitive and I can testify that it will melt if it isn't used AND kept at room temperature.  (Sadly, the air conditioning in my car went out just in time for my sister, Carrie's 50th birthday party on a 90+ degree, August day.  What she ended up with for a cake was...let's just say, messy but delicious!!)
  Back to the cookies~

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
cookies to decorate
fondant
food coloring (2 different colors)
powdered sugar (for rolling out your fondant)
fondant rolling pin (if you don't have one a regular rolling pin should work too)
corn syrup
water
small and large paint brushes
patterned stamp (mine is from Michaels craft store)
letter stamps (also from Michaels~clay section)
royal icing (you can buy a mix or make your own)
edible glitter

I find it's easiest to use corn syrup in a squeeze bottle.  You can squeeze out as much or as little as you'd like.  The other option would be to paint it on with a small paint brush used only for this purpose.

 

 I was asked to make cookies to match these pretty, bridal shower invitations.  I started my search for the perfect stamp to use to mimic the filigree and was SO happy when I found the one below at a local craft store!

I added the food coloring little by little until I had a perfect match to the invitation.  Using a little powdered sugar sprinkled on a piece of parchment, I rolled the fondant pretty thin. (around 1/16th of an inch)  You want is as thin as possible because you're going to be using 2 layers of fondant for this design and fondant is very sweet!

Place your stamp down and roll over it with your rolling pin. (pressing firmly but not too hard or the fondant will stick to the stamp.  Adding a little powdered sugar to the top of the fondant should keep it from sticking).

 

 Cut out a circle with your large cutter and press it onto the corn syrup-covered cookie.

 

Follow the same steps for the smaller inside circle.  I recommend stamping your monogram first, then cutting it out.  Add a dab of water to the back of your small circle and press it down to stick it to the larger circle.  Brush the entire cookie with edible glitter such as pearl dust, it makes the filagree POP!

*You could actually stop here, let your cookies sit out for a few hours until the fondant is firm then wrap them in cellophane bags and tie them with a coordinating ribbon.

 

OR...for the more experienced (or daring) decorators, use a pastry bag filled with royal icing and a #2 tip to pipe borders around both circles.  If you do this, I'd recommend letting the cookies sit out overnight before placing them in bags.

 

I hope this was easy to follow.  If not, I'd be happy to answer any questions....for a fee...just kidding!! . 

 

  

Here are some cupcakes and a cake  that I made that same weekend.  I just love the fall colors, don't you?!!

 

 

 

Happy FALL and Happy decorating!!!

xo

You can also find this tutorial on:

 

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Little Red Riding Hood Cookies~

What BIG teeth you have...

Better to eat you with, my dear... {CRUNCH!!}

  ; )

Angry Birds Cookies~

Why so angry, birds?   I just shipped these cranky, little guys off to the winner of a contest I sponsored a few months ago.   Congrats again, Alice!  Your birds should be coming in for a landing on Wednesday!!! : )

.

Sock Monkey 1st Birthday Cake~

 What have I been up to this week?  ....Just monkeying around!!  ;))

 I made my first sock monkey cake a few months ago and these little guys have definitely found a place in my heart!!  xo

 

Happy 1st Birthday to little Anderson, cute as a button!!!

These boy party ideas were also featured on Spaceships and Laser Beams 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake~

Happy Friday, everyone!!!
I just got back from buying boxes for this weekends orders.  On my way home, while I was driving through Doylestown, I noticed all of the sharply dressed people strolling through town.  I felt a slight twinge of envy thinking about where I'd go or who I'd meet up with if I had a weekend night free.  I quickly flashed back to what I had waiting for me at home, the reason I went out for the boxes, the reason I rarely get a night out, and most importantly, the reason I think that I have the BEST job in the world!!!  {see below!} Thank you to Ashley for ordering such a cute cake! xo

I hand painted all of the fondant details with food color that I mixed with a little vodka.   The vodka evaporates out quickly but you could use lemon juice to thin out the food color, if you prefer.

               Happy 1st Birthday, little Nicholas!!