Fruit Fusion

Before I was a paper crafter, I was a baker.

I once proclaimed that I wanted to be known as the mom who always had fresh baked cookies in the kitchen.

And then I actually had children :)

Yeah… fresh baked cookies are now a luxury to be had in the home of some other, much more organized mother who, apparently, does not spend a good portion of her every day life resetting every single fort building material couch cushion back upon said couch.

But.
My dream has not died.
In fact, I think it has grown.

Not only do I want to make fresh baked cookies… I really want to make fancy fresh baked cookies.

I’ve been putting it off until a very certain date… that infamous era known as “when I have more time.” In the meantime, I’ve been doing what any good OCD person with a dream does… research.

In the form of blog reading.
And I am now the blog stalker of the cookie greats.

The three I am currently idolizing frequenting are Bee in Our Bonnet, Bake at 350, and The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.  Let me put it in paper crafting terms for you - as Debbie Olsen is to Copics, these ladies are to cookies.  Comprende?

They. Are. Amazing.

So. When Papertrey Ink’s new Fruit Fusion stamps arrived at my doorstep… I knew it was TIME.
That sweet little strawberry stamp had me at hello.

I took one look and was suddenly swimming in images of matching strawberry cookies. And so, without further ado…




And, of course, the cookies needed some cutie pie packaging...



I’ll give you all the deets on the packaging in just a minute. For those who are interested, I’ll give you a super-fast-totally-not-an-expert-here take on the cookies, all righty?

First off, I used the sugar cookie and royal icing recipes from Bee in Our Bonnet. (<--- This link will take you to their recipes as well as a great tutorial on the basics of decorating with royal icing.)  They promised a soft and yummy cookie with this recipe and I have to say… they totally are soft and yummy.

I mixed up white, pink, and green icings based on her recipe and suggestions as well.

I didn’t find a strawberry cookie cutter at the store that I went to, but I had a back-up plan based on all of my {obsessive} research.

 


I purchased 2 heart cutters (medium and large) and two star cutters to coordinate. The idea is this… take your rolled out cookie dough and cut out a heart shape, then a star shape. Then… and this is the tricky part… cut a partial star out of the TOP of the strawberry. Now just pick up the star shape that you already cut and slide it right there on top of the strawberry. Squish it together a bit and…

Tada! Heart cookie + Star cookie = Super cute strawberry cookie.



I outlined the cookies with white, then flooded the green parts (above) and the pink parts (below).  While the pink icing was still wet, I dropped in the white dots.  Since both icings are still wet, the white dots just sink into the pink and the cookie ends up totally flat... I thought that was so cool!  {Sidenote… I did attempt to make the same pattern as on the strawberry stamp, but apparently my rudimentary cookie skills are not up to that skill yet.  Trust me.}



I let the cookies dry for a full day before wrapping them up like so…



Um… yeah… if I keep up with this cookie thing, I will be going through a LOT of glassine bags.  They are so perfect for the job.  Translucent and beautiful. 

I wanted to keep the embellishments simple to let the cookie show, but I also wanted to keep them cute :)  I stamped the tags with Polka Dot Basics II, then added the sentiments from Fruit Fusion: Strawberry, and layered them over some Parisian Lace tissue doilies.  One stitch across and everything stays put.



I used the same idea to make an “envelope” for the card; again using a glassine bag.  The medium size is *perfect* for slipping a 3 ½ x 5” card into.  The recipient can just rip right below the stitched part to open it up.  I thought that would be fun and sort of like the card is a present, too.



I added a little patterned paper from The Girls' Paperie. The colors were perfect and the flowers reminded me of strawberry plants, so it was a win win.



I added another doily (I cut several layers of white tissue paper at once - maybe 10 layers - and then pull the doilies off in groups of 2 or 3 layers) and stamped the sentiment right on top.  I used an aqua mist layer stamped with little polka dots to help tie everything together.



A quart sized strawberry container filled to the brim with cookies makes the perfect  sweet gift basket.  I just cut the lid off since the giant cookies prevented it from closing anyways.  A little ribbon wrapped around the top and a strawberry tag finish it all off.



Well... what do you think???  Honestly, I was kind of nervous to show this one off!  My cookies are totally a first attempt and far from perfect.  If you're looking for perfect (or just looking for something to make you drool in awe) you'll have to visit the cookie ladies I mentioned above.

As I was going along I was figuring out what I'll do different for next time (the icing I used for outlining was too thick, the icing I used for flooding was too thin, etc.), but...

I'm really happy with it. I love getting the chance to think creatively in a different way... it somehow sparks all sorts of ideas for paper crafting.  I have another project from the kitchen for tomorrow's post, too :)

But before you go, be sure to check out the amazingness that the rest of the DT has in store for you...

Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Erin Lincoln
Maile Belles
Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillilps
Michelle Wooderson
Danielle Flanders

Later, friends!



{Berry Sweet} berry basket
Stamps – Fruit Fusion: Strawberry, Polka Dot Basics II
CS – Aqua Mist
Ink – Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, VersaMark
Fibers – Aqua Mist Ribbon, Button Twine
Die – Fruit Fusion: Berry, Parisian Lace
Other - glassine bags