Wisdom comes from Experience

January 17, 2011 | 43 Comments »
I have a rule.  It’s one of the first things I tell aspiring cookie decorators, and my #1 cookie tip.?  It’s not cute or catchy, but it’s 100% true, and the sooner you learn it, the sooner you will be on your way to becoming an awesome decorator.
So here it goes, SweetSugarBelle’s #1 rule for decorating cookies…
*It is not about how well you decorate a cookie, it’s about how well you can fix it, or come up with “plan B” when you screw up*
See?  I told you it wasn’t catchy, but boy, oh boy, it’s hard earned GOOD advice!!
I have been decorating for almost two years now, and there is one constant.  No matter how experienced I am, how well I plan, or how sure I am my newest great idea will work, things can still go wrong, and often they do.
Take this Friday for example…
Keep in mind, it’s not always fun to broadcast your goofs for all the world to read, especially when it’s almost unnoticeable after the fact…
But, just so people understand I am human, and that they really aren’t crazy…royal icing DOES some funky things, I will make an exception.
Back to this weekend.  I was working on sock monkeys.  I’d made them before…
However, this weekend I wanted to try a little different design that I’d been toying with.  {Pardon the lack of photos, this was not a planned blog post, but rather a BLOG OF OPPORTUNITY} 
I got about here when I realized this was not what I should have done…

First of all, I wanted the brown areas “sanded” and I was in a hurry.  I didn’t really have the time to wait for the hat and face to dry.  And as if that was not enough…my red icing was doing that funky mysterious thing it sometimes does, getting STICKY instead of dry. {Insert bad words}

Did I mention it was LATE {it had been one of those weeks} AND I needed them the next day?

I didn’t have time to redo, or to even worry about it very long, so I  did what I do best.  I improvised.

Lots of my best ideas come from a big mistake or problem.  That’s what happened in this case.

I needed to figure out a way to sand the brown area, without getting too much sugar on the sticky, stupid red. 

*I have another name for red icing that does that, but it’s not appropriate blog language ;)*
 
So, this was my grand solution.  I preset the eyes in the wet brown flood icing.  I showed the tweezers just as a little FYI…
Then, I filled an icing bottle with a mixture of brown and white sanding sugar, picked out a cookie and said a little prayer!
Fortunately, this was a good night and IT WORKED!!!  {I don’t even want to talk about that bad nights when it doesn’t}

 Thank the Lord, crisis averted, happy ending.

Moral of the story is my #1 tip, again, for emphasis…

*It is not about how well you decorate a cookie, it’s about how well you can fix it, or come up with “plan B” when you screw up*

Next time around, I will approach this cookie in a COMPLETELY different manner.  But last Friday night, that didn’t matter.  What mattered was taking what I had and making it work.

It takes a little flexibility, but creative thinking is a “must have quality” for any decorator. 

Actually, it’s a good life rule in general. 

Think Apollo 13…it ended well because of  people who didn’t give up and thought of solutions…I like that.

Try to practice this in the next few weeks.  You will be surprised how many great cookies come from unexpected little oopsies!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Here’s to a good week!   
Sweet Sugar Belle
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