UPDATE! Congratulations to Jeanne!! Her comment number 214 was drawn to win the prize. Thank you to all for participating!! I only had an inkling before of the turtle’s significance in story, place and personal lives before you shared with me. I love turtles even more now for being so significant to so many of you!!
I’m working on another new feature and giveaway for next week so stay tuned….
I’ve been wanting to try the brush embroidery cookie decorating technique for years now, and given the title of my blog, it’s shameful I’ve not yet. These turtles were inspired by this Lily Pulitzer pillow at Garnet Hill. To echo my own words about this pillow for my roundup of throw pillow ideas at Houzz (see all 20 pillows here), everything about this pillow is my grandmother. She grew up on the Jersey shore, so she was no stranger to beach-themed decor, but always in the most subtle, clever and tasteful way. An early-Lilly addict, she’d have loved this print. That and the piping on the border, shape of the pillow and colors are so reflective of her house when I was a kid. Sigh. But I digress…
Back to cookies. And brush embroidery. Oh right, and the GIVEAWAY!!! I’m giving away everything you need to make these cookies (minus the cookie dough and royal icing, but I do have great recipes for those, and I’m throwing in the only tricky-to-find ingredient, meringue powder). For details on how to enter, scroll to the end.
For the turtles, I think these would’ve made a greater impact had I had the detail on top be an even darker shade of green, but alas, next time. For a much more apparent contrast, use white instead of green:
How to make brush embroidery turtle cookies
you will need:*
turtle cookie cutter
food coloring
5 disposable decorating bags
3 couplers
3 decorating tips, size “3″
rubber bands
scissors
toothpicks
small, clean, flat paint brush
*For food coloring, I prefer Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Electric Green used here). You may find the cookie cutter in the craft store seasonally. Or click HERE for tips on finding cookie cutters. Find the decorating bags, couplers, tips and paint brush in the craft store. Or, win them from me!! See the giveaway below.
step one: bake your cookies
Prepare cookie dough according to the recipe, chill, roll out, cut out turtles and bake according to the recipe. Let cool completely.
step two: prepare your icing
Prepare royal icing according to the recipe. Divide and tint (I usually work with about 1 cup at a time) three shades of lime green. Just use one or two drops for light, more drops for medium, many more for dark. Prepare three decorating bags with couplers and tips, fill with each of the three colors (reserving half of the light green and the medium green) and close tightly with a rubber band.
step three: decorate the background
Pipe a circle for the shell with the medium green and let set. Pipe the head, feet and tail with the light green and let set. Thin both the medium and light greens with water, a few drops at a time, until the consistency of thick glue. Fill empty decorating bags with each of the greens, snip about 1/2-inch from the tip and pipe to fill the shell with the medium green and the head, feet and tail with the lighter green, using a toothpick to encourage the icing as needed until the entire background is filled. Let set overnight.
step four: brush on the design
When the cookies have set well, pipe the design with the darkest green. First, pipe this sort of rectangular petal shape. Then dip your paintbrush in water, dab on a paper towel and brush from the icing inward in little strokes.
Repeat all the way around the outside of the shell, dipping your brush in water and dabbing on a paper towel as needed.
Then repeat with an inner circle:
Then one more little rectangle in the center:
Let dry well, preferably overnight, before handling and packaging.
And now…
The GIVEAWAY!!!
For a chance to win:
a turtle cookie cutter
5 decorating bags, 3 couplers, 3 decorating tips
2 bottles of Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Electric Green and Bright White)
a little paint brush
meringue powder
AND
a Sugarlicious apron and a Sugarlicious spatula
leave a comment to this post before
Sunday, April 22, 2012, midnight EST
One winner will be chosen at random. Winner has 48 hours to respond after being notified before another winner is chosen. Contest worldwide.
Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!
239 Comments
very, very cute! I know my grandkids would love these cookies!!!!!! And I’d love to win!
Oh my goodness these are so cute!! My sister loves turtles so this would be awesome to win and make for her!
Love this technique! So neat!
I hope I win this give away to try brush embroidery, and make roal icing for the first time while using this awesome cookie cutter.
OMG wish I had turtle cutters!
Awesome turtle cookies! Looks easy enough too! Thanks
THIS IS SOOOOO ADORABLE!! I absolutely love this idea. It would be really fun to win this, i would be making those all the time! haha
My sister LOVES turtles. I can’t wait to make these for her birthday! Shes going to be so suprised. Thank you!
Interesting…I have never heard of brush embroidery for cookies? Great instructions and pics – thanks for sharing!
Oh wow that’s one lovely turtle! I hope I win.
Lovely! Such a creative way to use the brush technique
I LOVE these cookies!! My grandson would go crazy for them!! I love all of the wonderful ideas I see on your page! Thanks for always sharing!!
what cute little guys!
So cute! Would love this!
Oh I love the turtle cookies!
Thank you for sharing the brush embroidery technique. I have been wanting to try it and you made it look so easy, I think I can do it. Thanks for a chance at the giveaway too.
Wow! Super cute, I have a friend who would love these! I never knew how to do the brush embroidery with royal icing!
Cute!
I would love this package and would make them for my son’s preschool class for an end of the year gift. @Lorraine’s cookies – salome78@aol.com
So cute! I was really excited when I figured out what this technique was just by looking at a cookie that used it. Simple!
Love these cookies my kids love turtles, we live near a lake, so we catch and release them all the time!
so cute, I have been wanting to try this for a long time, just never been brave enough to make royal icing!
Wow I love the use of the technique!!
I would love to win that kit so I can do my own turtles!!
I never even considered using brush embroidery this way! They look amazing. Thanks for sharing!
What a creative idea for a technique! I have only done flowers and butterflies with it, this will be a fun summer addition! Thanks for the opportunity to win great stuff too!
Love how this technique made their shells look so real!
THANK YOU Meaghan for opening your GA worldwide!!!
Love these turtles, totally awesome! My daughter has a pillow just like this. Thank you for this tutorial, it is wonderful!
Wow the turtles are so cute. I would love to win and give these a try. Thanks for sharing another great technique!
Who’d have thought using the brush technique for the turtle shell? It totally works! How cute!
They are really beautiful. I love turtles so does my 2,5 year old. I hope you can ship oversees, he he. Don´t worry, I am sure I am not going to be the lucky one to win this giveaway!!!!
How cute r these!!! I can’t wait to try this technique on a few other shapes. I do not have a turtle but would love one !
The urtles are wonderful and simple. Thank you
My aunt who just passed away loved turtles. I would so love to try and make these for when we scatter her ashes.
My daughter loves loves turtles:) I cant wait to try and make these:)Thanks so much for the How to and a chance to win some great stuff:)
Those turtles look GORGEOUS with that design on them!
Can,’t wait to make these for my grandsons! Pick me please!
This is amazing!!
These are soooo cute! I LOVE sea turtles! There’s a volunteer sea turtle project in Costa Rica that I’ve been wanting to do for some time. My schedule hasn’t allowed but but I think it would be great! Thanks so much for sharing and putting together this great package! I’d love to win it and make these at home!
My daughter would love these cookies, she adores sea turtles. I would love to win this prize so I can make her cookies for her birthday in June.
These are so cute. What a great way to use brushe embroidery.
Those are the cutest!! Great giveaway!
What a cute idea!!! Just when I thought turtles couldn’t get any cuter!
I have been enjoying your cookie decorating posts SOOOO much! I made all the easter ones & now am looking forward to trying these cut little turtles! Never thought I could make cute cookies! So glad you taught me that I can!! Thanks!
What a great idea to use this technique on turtle cookies!!
Awesome cookies and very cool technique. I bet the pictures don’t even do them justice! Love the step by step decorating instructions. Thanks to blogs like this, I’m a much better decorator and would love to give these cookies a red hot go!
I would love to win this. Thanks for the giveaway.
The turtles are so cute. I’ve only tried the brush embroidery technique once myself, they came out okay. I just need some more practice. Thanks for hosting a cool giveaway.
very good idea for an animal cookie! thank you for the giveaway! It is nice, because is one of the few open worldwide.
So cute! And thank you for having a worldwide contest, so few of those around.
The Tokelau (a Polynesian nation in the South Pacific, accessible only by a three day boat’s journey) is “Fonu”. The Fonu is considered an Ika Ha, a sacred fish. I would love to win and bake some for my Elders who find joy and great appreciation in the artistic aspect, the yummyness, and the cultural significance of this cookie. Good luck to all that enter!
My future daughter-in-law has turtles as pets, so I know she would love these, and I would love to make them for her because I love her!
ma sono fantastiche!!!!!
spero tanto di poterle vincere!!!!!
kiss from italy,
byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
This would be so fun!
How pretty!
I would love to try the brush embroidery. You make it look so easy. The turtles are so cute.
I would LOVE to have everything needed to make these! DS just saw them and now he wants mama to make turtle cookies!
Love them! Would love to be making turtle cookies in our house!
Adorable…..thats all I can say!
I love it! I will definitely have to try this out!
I have seen so many people trying this technique. It guess I need to try it too. And I love the cookie cutter!
These are so cute! I love turtles and these look like fun to make!
Coolest cookies ever – love them
Ohhh emmm geeeee!! This so cute! Pick me pick pick me *Crosses fingers*
I like the idea, never imagine how useful the embroidery technique could be. Thanks for the opportunity. maryangeles_reina@yahoo.com
My daughter bought your book and is crazy over everything in it!! She’d love to win this.
Love this!
These are gorgeous, I went to Hawaii in September and I fell in love with the sea turtle, I am not sure I’ll be able to do these justice, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Heck yeah I want to win
This is so awesome! My nickname is turtle and this would be an awesome set to win to bake cookies and give them to my friends as an inside joke!
Love the turtle cutters!
Turtle Cookies?!! Super cute!! I have a pet turtle, makes me want to add some red ears!
Found your blog through Pintrest and saved it to my Favorites and came back for another look. My neice is having a baby shower May 12th and her nursery theme is turtles. These are so cute and would match her theme perfectly! Love the fact that you also have cookie and icing recipes. I’d love to win the contest so I’d have to make the cookies for the baby shower, I’d have no excuse not to! LOL
What adorable cookies! I would love to win the set…
These are amazing! I so want this!
these are SO CUTE!!!
So cute.. I have seen this in a few different mediums, but I must say on a turtle it’s the best!! Would love to win this one for sure!
So cute! I never thought of doing brushwork on anything other than flowers.
you make it look so easy! i’m going to have to try this technique!
You´re like my “sensei” for this matters… I secretly follow you, but I just LOVE everything you do. Halloween??? Your designs were THE hit in my party
Wanna win!!! we all do!!!
I don’t have a turtle cutter in my collection – would LOVE to have it! Thanks for offering such a nice giveaway package!!!
Son preciosas y parecen sencillas de hacer. Lo intentaré seguro. Gracias por enseñarnos tus maravillas. Besos desde Zaragoza (España).
love the turtle cookies. hope i win so i can try them at home . u did a great job.
I love it! It´s a fantastic tutorial!
thank you from Spain.
I would like to participate. Thank you!
they are lovely cookies.
These would be great to make for a weekend beach trip! I’ve yet to attempt the brush embroidery, maybe if I win it will give me the extra push to do it
Wow! What a great idea using the brush embroidery technique on a turtle shell! Thanks for the giveaway!
These are precious. What a fun giveaway! Thanks for the opportunity!
Please, enter me. I love the turtles.
Hugs
I love embroidery! Just never thought I could do on a cookie!! I love it!
WOW! What an idea! You are sure very skillful, and I would like to try how I can do this!
I love cookies! Thanks, mamatkins@hotmail.com
I love the turtles! They are too cute! Thank you for the giveaway.
Who would have thought to use brushed embroidery on a turtle! Love it! Such a great idea!
Green is my favourite color! The turtles are so cute!
What a great idea!! the cookies are beautiful..
I looove the turtle cookies!!!
These are adorable! My daughter loves turtles so these would be fun to make…fingers crossed!
These cookies are adorable. I have never thought about doing brush embroidery on cookies, but I plan to try it in the near future. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely adorable! My granddaughter loves going to the zoo and especially loves the turtles! Why? Because they don’t move away so fast and make loud noises! lol! She’s a mess!
Anyway, I am definitely going to order this cookie cutter if I don’t win because she would love this! Too cute! Thanks for the contest AND tutorial!
Loove it! pick me!
What a great technique, and an awesome giveaway!!
WOW! how beautiful
These are fabulous! I need to make them.
Ohhh goody! Free stuff is always so cool!!! I hope I win these cool items
Adorable cookies!! I have been wanted a Sugarlicious apron since I saw them here.Would love to win.
Go green turtles.. love ‘em
also the techique inspired me, thanks a lot for sharing.
I have been meaning to try the brush embroidery technique for months…If I won-NO more excuses!
These cookies are adorable.Thanks!!!!
Lovely turtle!!! Next week I would try it.
I will so try again to win one of your great giveaways. This idea is sort of scarey for me but I will try it. So, bring on the supplies and I promise I will make them sort of as good as you do, lol. Love your stuff. Thanks.
I love turtle- and this cutter is so sweet! thanks!
I LOVE this!! I’ve been looking for turtle cookie ideas for my friends Hawaii wedding:))
Love the tortuga idea.
I for sure have to try this embroidery stuff. Looks amazing ( at least when YOU do it ) Thanks for the giveaway.
Turtles are my favorite! Love the cutter. Thanks for the sweet (literally!) giveaway.
These are so adorable! I’m still trying to work on my decorating skills and would love to practice with these tools!
So in love, turtles are my favourite animal!! I haven’t seen them done with the brush embroidery before, looks great!! Thankyou for offering a world wide giveaway
Those are so cute! The best part is my 2 yr old LOVES sea turtles
nice job, these are very cute
Love the turtle cookie cutter – too cute!
These cookies are so adorable!!! I love turtles!
Super cute cookies! Love the turtles….thanks for offering the giveaway.
LOVE the brush embroidery!! I’m so anxious to try it now!!!
These turtles are SO cute! Would love to make these for my kiddos!
I love turtles. these are so cute
They are so cute! Thisbis avgreat idea, thanks for the tutorial!
SSSOOO cute! I want a turtle!
Beautiful turtles, Meaghan. I was lucky enough to see turtles nesting and swimming many years ago on vaca in Greece. I’d love to win this set but not sure I qualify with being an international subscriber/reader.
So cute. My boys would love it. Thx
How cute are those turltes!!!
too cute!!!! Love all your creative ideas. Wish I could eat one!
this will be perfect for my boyfriend who’s sooooo into turtles!
These cookies are beautiful! I love your blog! I would over to erin, thanks for the chance.
I love your turtle cookies they are super cute and I would love to make these myself and this give away is super nice of you!!! I love all your stuff and I stock your blog lmao
Great job on the embroidery ~ very Sugarlicious
I would love to win this giveaway. My 3 year old grandson loves turtles! And he begs me daily for cookies. What a combination!
Adorable turtle cookies! Reminds me of Hawaii and the sea turtles encountered every time we snorkeled.
Super cute! The embroidery technique really makes them stand out.
Just starting to teach myself decorated cookies and I so far I only have bags and couplers so this would be great to add more to the supplies I know I will need.
I’ve loved this technique since the first time I saw it! You found the perfect cookie to display it..so cute!
Totally adorable! I am going to try this
I love this unique technique!! I can’t wait to try it.
perfect for my son’s 2nd bday- our ‘tudul’ theme
I Love turtles! these are so cute!!
Such a cute idea! I love turtles! Hope I win…fingers crossed!
These are fabulous! If I won them I would make them for all my friends at school! We all know that teachers need lots of treats at the end of the year!
What a great decorating technique and it’s perfect to create a turtle shell.
Imformative post, thanks for shating the details of brush embroidery. The turtles are adorable.
these are so cute!!!
Those turtles are adorable! They would be great for a sea or ocean-themed party!
Oh my gosh! I love turtles! Super cute! You make this technique look so simple! I am excited to try it!
boy you are making me hungry!
Adorable cookies – my girls would love these!
Amazing cookies! If only I could do it!
I LOVE the creativity! I would never think to use the brush embroidery technique for turtles, love it!! Great job!
Super cute !
Brilliant decorations. I’m definitely trying this one.
These are adorable! I love that you used the brush embroidery technique for something other than flowers… I feel inspired
Ooo! Love the turtle cookies. What a neat idea to use for encouraging everyone to save the Turtles. Would love the turtle cutter.
I love the tutorial! I’ve been meaning to try it!Thanks for having a worldwide giveaway!
Wow sensational and beautiful all in one!
I’d love to win, these turtles are beautiful!!!
How cute! Would love to be the lucky winner.
Reminds me of the turtles back at my grandparents village. Whenever it’s the mating season, we’ll go to the beach and watch the turtles lay eggs for hours. They are so cute, you just want to hug them!!
What a great idea and so cute! Keeping my fingers crossed!
What a clever idea! They look really gorgeous.
So cute!
I have never tried the brush technique. It makes a very interesting pattern; will have to try this. Thanks.
I’ve been excited to try the brush embroidery. Thanks for making it look so simple!
Love it! I always wondered how those types of cookies were made, yours look so cute!
I would love to bake these for my turtle rescue sister, Maggie. They are so sweet!
This brush technique is fantastic. It looks much more natural! Definitely want to try this one.
Oh, how very sweet! Literally!!
Wow, Meaghan, you’ve done it again! Those turtles are adorable. I love how the royal adds contrast AND texture. That would work for other animals and flowers. Thanks for the idea and another great giveaway!
I love cookies and turtles!!! I’d like to make a batch!!! Hope to win!!
I love this use of the brush embroidery technique, turtles are genius. I especially enjoy the subtlety of the green on green.
Very cute! I would have never thought of brush technique for the turtle shell!!
This turtle lover must take a chance on this giveaway. Gotta go check out the link to find this cookie cutter. Love both colors of icing. Thanks for sharing this beautifully decorated cookie.
I think it’s an amazing idea to use the brush embroidery technique for animals and I love how this turtles turned out. They actually remind me of the pet-turtle I had as a kid.
This cookie cutter is awesome!!
I’ve seen this brush technique around and loved the look, but not a fan of flowers. I LOVE the idea of it on a turtle! Totally inspired me to try it soon
Turtlicious – never seen this technique before!
Oh my gosh, those turtles are adorable! I’ve piped on cookies and I’ve used my paint brushes on cookies, but I never thought of piping and dragging for this technique. Thank you so much for sharing!
i love turtles like cute little squirt from finding nemo
hope i can win this totally awesome gift pack!
Oh those are sooo cute! I have wanted to try this technique for awhile now, but I only use glaze so I am not sure how it would work! Thanks for the great giveaway!
Kim
The Cookie Puzzle
I think these are fabulous! Would love to win this great giveaway! Thanks!
My grandkids would love these cookies! Pick me.
Cute giveaway. Love the turtle.
These are adorable and would be perfect for my friend’s baby shower – all frogs & turtle themed!
What a very sweet giveaway, I have liked you on FB. I would love to win this and beable to make them with my grandchildren. Thankyou for the chance to win your giveaway.
SO pretty!!! LOVE turtles!
Just discovered your blog through one of the needlework blogs I read. What fun!
LOVE these turtles! My totem is the sea turtle, and it would be so cool to make these.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Such cute cookies and a great tutorial! I love turtles!
oh pick me pick me! I would love to win this wonderful prize!
you are so creative…i have only seen this technique done on a flower.
would love to win
This is so awesome! I have always wanted to learn how to do this technique and I can’t wait to use it. Would love to make some cookies for my best friend, turtles are her favorite animal!
What a wonderful and creative way to use the brush embroidery technique!
How cute! My neices have all grown up, but they’re having babies, so I’ll be able to teach them to make cookies. Thanks for the chance to win.
These little turtles are so cute – love how you did the brush embroidery on them – so creative!!
OMG! My 3 year old daughter just loves turtles. I absolutely have to try to make these now. You are so creative!
I would love to win this and give it a try…very cute
Adorable cookie that is not girly. It’s a big possibility for my little one’s first birthday. What a perfect idea for this method!
These are just gorgeous – always sucked in my animal cookies – they are so cute! Love the embroidery technique – never seen that done before. Well done!
LOVE these turtles! I am so glad that you decided to try the embroidery technique. You did a beautiful job.
Love this technique! Thanks so much for sharing it. And I pinned ya too!
THIS IS AWESOME. I wanna try it for sure, my sisters and brothers would love them so much!
I am gathering up your list for decorating cookies to give to my daughter for her birthday at the end of ythis month. PS your blog address will be very promenent in the package! Thank you so much for all the wonderful information.
I have been wanting to try the brush embroidery technique also. I wouldnt have thought about using it for turtle shells! What a creative mind!!
Wondering if the embroidery technique works on flower cookies, maybe butterfly wings…
I love the look of brush embroidery and those turtles are absolutely adorable!
AWESOME!!! thanks for the chance,
mary
Oh, what lovely turtles! The green-on-green one is my favourite. I, too, have been wanting to try brush embroidery for ages, but have never got round to it… Maybe these turtles will motivate me to try the technique (even when I don’t need flower cookies!)
How cute are those. I love the brush embroidery technique. I have been seeing it everywhere these days. Thanks for the giveaway.
Now how stinkin cute are those turtle cookies. I would love to be the winner of your fun and generous giveaway
I love turtles and I can’t wait to give the brush embroidery technique a try. Thanks for making it appear easy.
Those are so cute!! And so much detail, almost makes you not want to eat them, but of course we will!
I would love this…so cute. Thanks for the giveaway.
Super super cute!!! I so need to try this technique out,thanks for the great giveaway
Those look delicious.
great idea using brush embroidery- I never would have thought of that. Really cute!
Oh my gosh!! These are adorable. I would love this kit!
These turtles are too cute! I would love to have a go at trying to recreate them! Thanks for the opportunity to try
I love the turtle and you blogs. I have bookmarked your site for future ideas and how to’s. I really like your work.
Thank you for showing how the brush work was done. I think your cookies are too cute and my little boy keeps pointing at every pic saying “I want Mama, peessee!”
Wow! These are amazing! You just gave a wonderful idea for a butterfly idea!!!
What a great idea to give the turtle some texture on it’s back. You are very talanted.
I love the turtle cutter and could use it to celebrate the turtle project at Jekyll Island.
Oh wow! That is a really cute design for turtle cookies! They look so yummy~ Very cute giveaway
~ Kieli ~
Woohoo!!! finally a competition that us South Africans can enter!
Those cookies remind me so much of my honeymoon in the seychelles… boy do i miss it there. That would be such a wonderful surprise that I could make for my hubby for our 1 yr anniversary!
My husband loved turtles and I would really like to make some of these for his grandsons. And it looks like a great technique to learn. I could see using it for some flower detailing.
I love turtles, so does my 2.5 year old!!!!
These turtle cookies are adorable! I love turtles and am now inspired to try the brush technique.
My son is totally into sea turtles right now so it would be awesome to win this!!!
Love the brush technique shown on these – I’ll have to give it a go!
Love them and I think it will be more forgiving to start with this technique on this project than on flowers.
Thanks for the “how to” on this technique. They are really cute.
These cookies are adorable!
Wow! Just learned brush embroidery this weekend! Would love to try the turtle!
I can’t wait to try brush embroidery.