Hello everyone!
We have a lot of big things in store here at SugarEd coming this year. Our online school is a big hit with members, contests and games….. so be sure to sign up for our newsletter on our homepage HERE to get all the scoop!
Now, on to the business at hand. Usually, I am not one to brag. But I gotta say, I love today’s project. It came out just as I had hoped, and we all know how often that happens! I don’t usually have that kind of luck.
Just a few days ago, I was surfing the net, brainstorming St. Patty’s day ideas, and came across the image below.
It screamed cookie to me. I did not think piping the plaid would have the effect I wanted. And I surely was not going to weave fondant bands, LOL. Airbrushing was the only way to go. I could see in my head how seriously cute it was going to be.
But I had two problems: 1) No shamrock cookie cutter and not enough time to order one, 2) Bent needle in the airbrush and not enough time to order one. What bad luck.
So I went to sleep, which is when I do my most creative thinking and problem solving. Yes, I actually come up with my best designs and ideas while in twilight sleep. Weird, huh? But I was feeling lucky, and I hoped that the little leprechaun muses were going to visit me in my slumber.
And it worked! I came up with a plan of attack to get my cute plaid shamrock cookies made. I used a heart cutter to make the three petals.
Now, for the stem. I cut a square from the dough, and then cut off a section, which I tapered both sides of as you can see above.
I pinched one end narrow with my fingers, and then pressed it against the side of a round cookie cutter to give it a curve.
Slipped the stem into place and voila! A shamrock. (I do recommend gluing the edges that meet with some egg white or water to help them adhere better.)
Bake and cool as per normal. If you are lucky, your cookies will not come apart where the pieces are joined. But if they do, do not fear! You can glue them back together with some melted chocolate. You will not see the repair job once your cookie is iced.
Once fully cooled, outline and flood your cookie with royal icing. I outline and flood with the same consistency icing, all at the same time, in order to achieve no visible outline. But you can surely outline with a stiffer icing, and then flood with your thinner icing.
Let that dry 24 hours or so.
Next, I needed a stencil to airbrush the plaid lines. I did not have the kind I needed, and not enough time to order one, so I tried my luck at making my own.
I used a pen to draw lines along food safe acetate in the width I wanted my plaid to be. I get my acetate here, but you could try parchment paper or some other food safe paper.
After cutting the strips apart, I then taped them, equidistant apart, to card stock on each end.
Lay (lay, laid, lain, who really knows??) that atop the cookie with pen ink side up. See how I had to use a little piece of cookie to prop up the card stock on the left hand side? You want to have the strips laying (laying, lying, layning??) flat on the cookie top. If the card stock droops down on the two ends, it will cause gaps between the acetate strips and the cookie, leading to the very unlucky phenomenon known as underspray. (boo, hiss!)
I used the Wilton color in a can. Spray in light bursts over the cookie and stencil. Be sure not to blast the cookie with heavy spray, or have the can too close. That will give you heavy splotches, pooling and dripping of color. Just use a light spray and apply 1-2 coats as needed. Be sure the spray is coming straight down onto the top of the stencil, at a 90 degree angle. Not from the side. Do not push your luck. Trust me on this one.That will cause the spray to go under the strips of the stencil and you won’t get nice clean lines of green.
Carefully lift the stencil straight off, and with any luck, you will have some nice clean green lines. Ta dah!
Wipe off the stencil to get all the color off. After the color has dried on the cookie (10-20 minutes), put the stencil back on with the strips going in the opposite direction.
Repeat the process, carefully lift off the stencil and………..
Were the lucky leprechauns smiling upon us?……..
Or did we push our luck too far?…….
Will luck be a lady tonight?……
Ok, I’ll stop.
Leapin’ lucky leprechauns, it worked!!
I love the beautiful simplicity.
I thought about piping a a border outline, but I thought it would detract from the cookie, so I skipped it. If that little bit of green color on the edges of the cookie itself bothers you, you can pipe a small bead border around the edges of the royal icing. However, that little bit of green does not bother me.
Three lucky shamrocks.
Almost too pretty to eat?
I hope you guys try your luck at making your own stencils. Send me photos if you do, and I will post them on the blog.
Happy St. Patrick’s day everyone! I am off to make a pot of black eyes peas for luck. (OK, who am I kidding; we all know I don’t cook. It sounded good though, didn’t it? 😀 )
Sharon
www.SugarEdProductions.com
Those are pretty!! Great way to get a clover..if you don’t have the right cutter! (Those black eyed peas come in a can – easy pleasy!!! hehehe)
Wow! You are so innovative…Love the way they turned out…
brilliant – where do you get the patience, Sharon!!
awesome! your brilliant.
I love it!!!! awesome job and smart thinking :))))
Sharon you are the best. Thanks for sharing!! Great idean with the hearts.
Sharon, this is brilliant!!! You’re so clever !!
Love them! Their so pretty! I actually have the stencil from Nick Lodge to do stripes and never occurred to me that I could use it for plaid! Can’t wait to try it out! Thanks for the good ideas as always!
Stampin ‘ up did sell a plaid stencil in the past that would work.
Gosh you are certainly creative! I agree, they are beautiful as is. No border required.
Brilliant! Love it! x
Super cute! Thanks for the tips!
You are brilliant Sharon!!!
” no cookie cutter and bent air brush néedle- and no time to order them…” Yep! I so identify with that!!!
Love your solution!!!
Great technique – thanks for sharing.. and for mentioning the helpful spraying tips.
Patricia @ ButterYum
PS – the link for the acetate sheets seems to be broken.
Too cute! Now my brain in rushing as too what else I can use a plaid pattern on. You rock!
Those are definitely a 9.998 on the cuteness scale! Great job there, Sharon!
Here’s my favorite irish blessing for you:
“Let them that loves us, love us.
And them that doesn’t love us, may God turn their hearts.
And if he canna turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we’ll know them by their limping.”
Love it. Thanks for sharing the idea and technique.
These are awesome! We are going to make a batch this weekend! Thank you so much!
Such a clever idea! I have been trying to decide what to make and I think I just did. Thank you sooooooo much!!! I love all the work you do.
Wow – how awesome do these look?!!!! I love it. I will have to give this a shot. I am always trying to “Macgyver” may way through projects at home and in my cake biz. I love seeing alternatives to the “standard” tools. This is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing. I think I will have to try these out!
Love these!! Definitely will try them. I was looking for an easy and super cute idea for shamrocks. Thanks for sharing them!
They are beautiful, thank very much for the tips. I can use them for sure.
Thank you so much! I’ve been wanting to do a plaid print, but didn’t have the right kind of stencil. This helps a ton 🙂
Thank you for the tutorials. Love them!
Thanks for another awesome idea
Grat job Sharon you are unit, fantastic,
The Lord bless you.
Have a wonderful Easter.
Thanks for sharing your creative ideas!! I learn something new every time.
Thank you all for the nice words! Be sure to send me photos if you make them. I fixed the link to the acetate sheets, sorry about that! 🙂
Such a lovely concoction!!!
Those are very clean looking cookies! Perfection.
So cute! I tried this with pastel colors on Easter egg cookies last Easter. But I used a plastic yogurt lid which was ok but you really have to keep the stencil flat. Leaning it on a cookie like you did is genius!
What a great idea.
Super cute! Thanks for the tutorial, Sharon.
I think even I could do that! LOL Those are super duper cute! And so easy! They do NOT look easy at all! WTG!
You are a genious! Beautiful. What cookie recipie did you use? Will any sugar cookie recepie do? Love these. Sleep tight. 🙂
GEAUTIFUL,I LOVE THESE…..
BEAUTIFUL,I LOVE THESE…..
Soooo beautiful and very innovative. Thanks for sharing your art.
Wow!!! You’re so creative. Well done!
You never cease to amaze me. Thank you so much!
Yet another beautiful and clever project! Thank you Sharon and keep ’em comin’ 🙂
Son preciosas me encantan!! 😀
You are HILARIOUS and crafty to. I’m omw to look for a clover cutter, hearts will take too long and ADD might kick in 😉
It is amazing! The things you come up with are simply amazing! That technique is so clever. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, that is just great! Thanks for sharing! I loved it.
Hi Sharon,
I guess you could always *open up a can* of black eyed peas and pretend you slaves over them all day. 🙂
I like finding ways of using what I have In order to do what I need when what I would usually use is not available. Thanks for the idea!
What a wonderful idea, they look beautiful!!
Holy Moses are you creative!! The stem was a genius idea! How I wish I had your talent – even your Big Toe’s worth!
Thank you for sharing with us!!
Love the Shamrock cookie!! Thanks so very much for sharing !!
I am so excited to make these..they are adorable!! Thank you so much for sharing. Happy St. Pattys Day 🙂
Well the pic is cute and the directions were great but I actually tried these and let me tell you mine were a disaster. First I couldn’t get the royal icing thin enough to pour without leaving ridges then I couldn’t get the royal icing to dry, they were really sticky. I let set for over 24 hrs. When I tried putting them in the freezer – condensation happened so I couldn’t spray on the color. I was totally disappointed, but I’m not giving up. Will try again sometime. It was a learning experience!!
Love these! Wish I had come across this BEFORE St. Patrick’s Day! In my favorites for next year. Thanks so much.
Absolutely love it! I have been keeping my eye out for a shamrock cutter but no joy – I wish I had been this inventive. Love the plaid luck too. Will have to try some Easter bunnies!!
thanks everyone. Any sugar cookie recipe that does not spread will do. Angela, I am sorry you had trouble with the icing. It sounds like the consistency was not quite right. And yes, the condensation from the freezer does not do well with royal icing.
Wow! Very impressive.
– Alma, The Tablescaper
How wide are the acetate strips?
you can but them in big sheets and just cut them to the size you need for your cookie 🙂
So very pretty! I hope to do these one day! Because of the way my mind works, I thought also on some of the cookies you could add small white flowers with yellow centers. If you have ever grown shamrocks it has both flowers and the leaves. Just a thought…