Tidbits

Ding Dong...the Penguins are Here!

Posted by Anne Yorks on Sunday, December 11, 2011

Our Christmas tree is up. It snowed a little bit this week. It's really beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

I have been baking a little bit, but my girls (4 years and 3 months) are keeping me busy during the day and all through the night. During the few quiet minutes I do have, I am sketching. I'm working on a special Christmas cookie project for my family. I hope it turns out like I am picturing it in my mind. 

In the meantime... Ding! Dong! I got a little visit from these guys.

I didn't mind the visit one bit. And, they were certainly dressed for the chilly Pennsylvania weather.


As soon as I saw this little guy in the Pier 1 catalog, I knew I wanted to make him into a cookie. I think he is actually a gift bag. 

Last year, I also made penguins (click here for the blog post). I found my inspiration on a piece of wrapping paper. My cookie inspiration comes from all sorts of places!!


I don't know if you can guess, but I used my Ann Clark ladybug cookie cutter to make this set.

I really don't enjoy hand-cutting cookies...so I decided to use a cookie cutter for my penguins this year, too!

I channeled my inner-Sugarbelle and decided to re-purpose my Christmas bell by cutting off the clapper to make the shape I needed for the penguins. 

I baked my bell-penguins.



Then I outlined the two main sections of the cookie...the penguin and the hat. I like simple designs with two colors.


I do think the order in which you flood a cookie matters. I wanted the hat part to appear on or above the penguin. So I flooded the white parts first and then the red. I amply flooded the red to give it a puffy look.


While the red was still wet, I went back with some white icing and a #1 tip and put a little design into the hat. I added some white nubs (which is the Flour Box term for nonpareils). Nubs come in all sorts of colors. 


And ta-da, my white, crowd-surfing penguin is all ready for the party.


Before I go...I wanted to thank everyone again for taking the time to enter my recent giveaway! Congratulations to Stacey...I hope you and your daughter enjoy the donut maker and other goodies!! Please send me pics of your donuts!!

Have a very sweet week!

Anne