Cupids, Cherubs, or Angels…Whatever!

January 15, 2012 | 52 Comments »

So, I had this great idea, but it didn’t turn out exactly as planned.  Does that ever happen to you?

I decided that with a few adjustments, my Christmas angel cookies would magically turn into cupids.  Only when I made them, they didn’t quite look like cupids.  They kind of looked just like angels, or maybe cherubs, but they weren’t really “cupidy” at all, so, I improvised…which we’ll talk about in a bit.  For now, let’s talk about how I built them.

The cookies are pieced together using small flower and mustache cookies. You can find both cutters at Off the Beaten Path.  A lip cutter would also work very well for this, if that’s what you have.

To decorate, you will need:

Begin by using fleshtone 20-second icing to create a face on the small flower making sure to leave room for hair.  Set them aside to dry.

Meanwhile, outline and fill the wings with white icing and lightly sprinkle with disco dust.

See the sparkle?  I keep my disco dust in shakers like THESE from Karen’s Cookies.  I love them because they give an even application with minimal mess.  At this point let both cookies dry.

When the cookies have dried, use a #2 tip to add hair, and the marker, black piping icing, and pink 20-second icing for the face.  To save time and icing, it’s also a great idea to use sprinkles {heart and lips} for the mouth.  They can be found HERE.

To finish up, use a cotton swab or brush to apply petal dust to the cheeks.  Pipe a design onto the wings and attach the face with a blob o’ icing.  Don’t you LOVE how technical cookie decorating can be?

Let them dry, and you’ll have…an angel.

Which is NOT what I had in mind. That’s where all the improvisation came in.

I tried adding a pretty heart sprinkle to make my angel more “cupidy” but I still wasn’t happy.  So, I did what I always do when things don’t go my way.  I texted my best friend.

I love it that even when she’s working she’ll answer 911 texts about important things like the difference between cupids and angels, even if it’s only a word.

“Arrows?”

So, I made arrows.

It was pretty easy.  I used royal icing to “glue” sprinkles and toothpicks together on waxed paper, then after they dried, I brushed the ends with vanilla and disco dust.

The idea was to use leftover mustache cookies as bows, then stick on an arrow.  Except that when I made the bows, I rushed and the cookies were so ugly I wanted to forget I even made them.  No sense in ruining perfectly decent cherubangelthingys with ugly bows, right?

So, there will be no photos until round two.  In the meantime, my cupids are bow-less, but it’s a cute idea and I hope someone will attempt a decent version.

Even though I had to go with plans B and C, I decided my angel-y cupid girls were okay in the end, especially when I noticed they resembled my dear friend, Stephanie, who almost qualifies as an angel herself.

The moral of this story? If at first you don’t succeed, improvise.  Or maybe it’s never show ugly cookies.  In any case, all’s well that ends well!

I am finally back in Valentine’s mode.  Sorry it took so long. I took off with a bang then sort of fizzled out.  But I’m finally refreshed and there’s lots more to come, so stay tuned.

Have a restful day of rest, my friends!

3-D Cookies, Christmas Cookies, Cookies, Creative Use of Cutters, Holiday Cookies, Sweet Sugar Belle, Tutorials, Valentine's Day Cookies
52 Comments »