Bling and Pearls

I made these super cute cookies for a wedding shower that my sis-in-law helped host. I think they turned out great!

Wedding Shower Gift Plaque

My husband's cousin got married, and I made her one of those name plaques that are all over Etsy for $35-$60. The final cost of project was about $15, with some extra supplies for other plaques or crafts.
This is a super easy and cute project!

You'll need:
1 wooden plaque
any color acrylic paint (I used black)
sticky back vinyl for the Cricut (I used white)
Modge Podge
paint sponges
X-acto knife or rotary cutter
chalk and measuring tape
medium fine sandpaper
2 of those small rings that screw into the top (obviously don't know the technical name, see picture)
pliers
hammer, or heeled shoe :)

1. Paint the plaque. Let dry. Paint another coat. Let dry.
2. Sand the edges of the painted plaque for that distressed look.
3. Cut out the letters you need onto the vinyl. I made the first capital letter a 1/2 inch bigger than the other letters so they would stand out. I used two different fonts to cut out the letters. For the name, I used Lyrical Letters, and for the date I used Plantin' Schoolbook.
4. Don't take the letters off the backing yet.
5. For the line, cut a strip of vinyl using your X-acto or rotary cutter. I made mine longer than the plaque. Place it carefully in the middle of the plaque. Use X-acto to cut the length as desired on each side.
6. Place all of the letter exactly where you want them using the vinyl strip as a guide. Use a measuring tape to make sure each side is the same size. Do the same with the date at the bottom.
7. Once you are perfectly happy with the placement, take your chalk and make a mark on the side of each letter so that you can line it back up.
8. Carefully take the backing off each letter and place it in its spot.
9. If it looks wrong in any way, this is the time to adjust it!
10. When you are happy with it, take the Modge Podge and cover the entire visible surface of the plaque.
11. Let dry.
12. Take your hooks and attach them to the top of the plaque. I had to hammer them in first, then screw them in using my pliers. Make sure they are equidistant from the sides.
13. Attach your coordinating ribbon. I threaded it through each hook and then made a knot at the top.
14. If you want to keep your ribbon from fraying, just take a lighter and carefully singe the ends of the ribbon.

Here is the final product!

Bridesmaid (and Bride) Cookies

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I hosted a bridal luncheon for Justin's cousin this weekend. My ma-in-law did all of the work, but I decided to contribute by making a bridesmaid's dress cookie I'd seen on Pinterest and thought it would make a great favor for the guests!
The bride's colors were silver and white, so I had to figure out how to make silver work.

I wish I had taken pictures of the first few steps, but I was covered in flour! So, maybe next time.

Step 1: Make cookie dough. I used this recipe.

Step 2: Using cardstock, make a cutout of the dress shape. (I couldn't find the shape I wanted...)

Step 3: Using the template, roll out and cut dough with a paring knife. I know... tedious. But they were worth it. The cookie recipe link has pictures of her using this same technique. I cut out 36 cookies, and it took two batches of the recipe.

Step 4: Bake! Take them out as soon as you see ANY brown on the edges!
***I made 1/2 of the cookies a few days beforehand and froze them in an airtight container. Let them thaw in their container before icing.

Step 5: Make royal icing. I used DOUBLE this recipe. Using a flower tip, make the flowers on wax paper. I put a little edible pearl in each flower since the middle wasn't too pretty. I also had some extra white, so I decided to make a special cookie just for the bride. I outlined it in white with a scallop at the bottom and then flooded it.

Step 6: I added a few drops of Americolor Super Black to the remaining icing. It looked UGLY! It was like a gray/purple. But, as my husband says, "It's what the 'customer' wants." And, luckily, looked much better once it became silver. 

Step 7: Ice the outline around each cookie using a #4 tip. Reserve the icing left in your piping bag for tomorrow. Put it in a ziploc bag.

Step 8: Add a teaspoon of water to the remaining icing. Stir. Repeat until your icing has the consistency you want for flooding. (If you pull your spoon through it, you want it to fill back in in about 2-3 seconds. Let it sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Then pull your spatula through it to pop the air bubbles.

Step 9: Flood the middle. Fill it very full! I use a small squeeze bottle for this. And a toothpick to make sure the icing touches the sides and the boo-boos in the outline. Let dry overnight.

Step 10: Here's how to get the gray to be silver! Mix some silver luster dust (found in your baking aisle at the craft store) with some lemon extract until it's the sparkle you want. Then, brush it on each cookie with a small pastry brush (looks like a thin paint brush, also in baking aisle at craft store).

Step 11: Use your icing from the piping bag to attach the flowers to the middle of your cookie. The flowers should peel right off!

Step 12: Let dry a few hours, and package them!

They were a big hit! My father-in-law requested an extra dozen, so they must have been good!