Geez, I’ve done a lot for Spring in the past few years. Which is funny since I much prefer Winter. I know, I know, I’m the lone person out there for whom this is true. But snow is so dang pretty, I never tire of it. Just wish we actually got some this year. And I’m the type who doesn’t want the cold to end, I want to wear sweatshirts and sit in front of a fire. And the world is just quieter in winter, and gosh I like the quiet. And… enough longing for Winter. I need to psych myself up for Spring. Above are vegetable garden cookies. Ha, as if I actually “garden.”  As always, you’ll find everything seasonal in the Seasonal button up there, but below I’m linking to a few of my favorites.

I noticed a few themes in the collection. Each one is pretty predictable.

Cherry blossoms, of course, since I live in Washington DC and all. Cherry blossom cookies, painted cookies in cones, cherry blossom marshmallows, painted cherry blossom cookies.

Birds!   Bluebird brownie pops, poured sugar birdie cookies, painted birdhouse cookies, chicken (or hen?) cake pops.

Bugs! Bug marshmallow pops, butterfly cookies, bug topper printable on Oreo Cakester petits fours, bug cookies, easy Starburst dragonfly toppers, fondant bugs.

And of course, flowers.  Felt flower cupcake toppers, gerbera daisy cookie pops, carnation cookie pops, bite-size daisy cookies, how to make a flower cookie arrangement, springtime marshmallows.

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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!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Meg! She won the book and prizes. And Congratulations to DD, Shannon, Elin and Ilissa! They won the cookie cutters and other Sugarlicious goodies. Thank you to all for participating!!

Just in time for the holidays! OK, so I’m too late for Halloween, but the other holidays. One last hoorah and trip to the post office before Baby 2 arrives in December. So I’m giving away a signed copy of my book, published earlier this year, Sugarlicious: 50 Cute and Clever Treats for Every Occasion (because you covet my autograph, right? Just humor me). AND I’m giving away some other things, like some Sugarlicious oven mitts, aprons, spatulas and Post-It notes. AND I’m giving away some Fall and Winter-themed cookie cutters for your baking in the next couple of months. It’s an all-out extravaganza, I think.

Read all about my book, Sugarlicious, HERE.

A peek inside the book:

(scroll to the end for the giveaway)

THE GIVEAWAY!

To enter: Leave a comment to this post before Thursday, November 8, midnight, EST. That’s it!

The Prizes: Five winners will be randomly drawn to win:

• •  1 winner will get a signed copy of Sugarlicious AND the Sugarlicous oven mitt, spatula, apron and Post-It notes AND the cookie cutters (leaf, turkey, pumpkin, snowman and snowflake).

• •  4 more winners will receive: The Sugarlicious oven mitt, spatula, apron and Post-It notes AND the five cookie cutters. (Sorry, folks, I only have one copy of the actual book to giveaway, so that goes to the 1st place winner.)

The Details:

Given my limited funds, I can ship to US addresses only.

Winners have 48 hours to respond after being notified before another winner is drawn.

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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!

pumpkin patch cupcakes from my book, Sugarlicious

 apple cake pop placecards from my book, Sugarlicious

Now that Halloween is officially over, it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Given my almost-bursting belly at 8 months pregnant, I might be relying a bit heavily on the old archives this season. As always, I’ll keep my SEASONAL button up there updated (or I’ll try to). Here are some favorites from Thanksgiving past. Click the photos or the captions to go to the original posts.

You can check out more ideas in this Thanksgiving roundup for Reader’s Digest I made awhile back and I have a few more treats at Celebrations.

 Thanksgiving Day marshmallow activity for kids

Give kids marshmallows and edible writers and let them make their own! Printable instructions included in the post.

easy pumpkin pie cookies

bite-size Fall cookies

falling leaves cookies

A note to all those suffering the effects of Superstorm Sandy… It feels very odd to post today on cookies and sweets when my mind is elsewhere. My heart goes to all of those impacted by the Storm! I’m in Washington DC, where we got by relatively unscathed. But my family is from the New Jersey shore, and I’ve been obsessively checking for updates. I’m extremely fortunate my family are all safe, but my brother and his family are without power indefinitely and still shaken by the storm. My dear cousin and her family lost their home to the storm.  Merely searching for a gas station is a many-hours long ordeal, and my brother has sadly witnessed violence and utter chaos in the wake of the storm. I hope you’ll all keep those who lost so much in your hearts as well!  Rebuilding will take much time and patience, and I, like many, I’m sure, are already seeking ways to help.  Thank you for visiting and listening!

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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!

Thank you everyone for your tremendous outpouring for the Wilton 101-Piece Tool Caddy giveaway! Over 1109 comments. I couldn’t believe it. A winner HAS been drawn randomly and notified this morning, and will be announced as soon as I get confirmation they received their notice.  But don’t despair, details about the KitchenAid givaway are coming soon! In the meantime, you can still enter the Wilton caddy, KitchenAid and Sugarlicious giveaway HERE at Woman’s World.

As promised, I’m back to talk about all of the tools you love (which are pretty much exactly the tools I wax on about in Sugarlicious, so yay! We all think alike!). These are collected from the oh so many comments you left for the Wilton giveaway, and though I wrote this post before the last day’s worth of comments, I did my best to go through them all and add what I could.

BUT FIRST, A SUPER QUICK GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment here by midnight tonight (yes, tonight) and I’ll randomly choose one winner to get a Sugarlicious Prize Pack that includes a Sugarlicious apron, spatula, oven mitt, Post-It notes, a sneak peek booklet and some recipes. (Note that the book itself is NOT included in the giveaway, as I’m all out of my own books.) Contest worldwide.

THE TOOLS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

Understandably, there is much support for Wilton’s products. Wilton makes just about everything you need for decorating sweets, and their products are widely available online and in craft stores (and while they gave one of you an awesome caddy, they didn’t pay me to say that, many of the products I use are Wilton’s).   Your favorites (and some of mine) are:

GENERAL TOOLS

Below are what many, many of you voted on as your faves, and they are mine, too! All of these are listed in Sugarlicious, of course.

•  Disposable decorating bags (This is MY go-to as well as the majority of yours, can’t live without tool. I, too, use them for cookie decorating, for cupcakes, candy melts, non-sweets, everything.)

•  Decorating tips—I, too, use Wilton’s decorating tips for frosting cupcakes and for decorating cookies.

•  I was glad to see a few shout-outs for couplers, which allow you to switch tips easily.

•  And to add my own, rubber bands! Use these to close decorating bags to prevent oozing.

•  Other Wilton favorites include rubber spatulas for scraping bowls and spreading icing (Elaine), the comfort grip cookie cutters (Carrie) and miniature cookie cutters for making pie crust decorations (Laci Jamison), the Wilton chocolate melting pot (Anne J-Z and Karla) and the quick release (Lynne).

• I certainly have to agree that cookie cutters and fondant cutters are in the list of essentials. Read more about building a cookie cutter collection HERE. I agree with Dee, I use fondant cutters a lot, even for cutting out cookies.

•  Toothpicks are a must-have tool, as many of you note, for scraping mistakes, encouraging icing, even decorating techniques.

•  Parchment and wax paper are on the necessities list for many, including me. I line baking trays with parchment and use wax paper for easy cleanup and practicing piping. Though Charlene Wiggins points out “My favorite tools are my practice board with patterns.” And many note they use parchment piping cones for decorating.

•  Georgianna writes, “A simple but imperative tool that I have is a set of teeny rubber spatulas. I couldn’t decorate without them!”

•  I’m glad to see KitchenAid mixers getting a lot of use. I use mine almost every day.

•  I’m also glad to see how well-represented SPRINKLES are for decorating, covering mistakes and just for fun.

•  Also vital, you can’t decorate without food coloring. Danielle Smith, I agree, I use Americolor Soft Gel Pastes. (For tips on food coloring, click HERE.) Emily writes, “I have JUST discovered Wilton colour gels – and I am in LOVE with them.” And Madiha Naeem says “My fav tool is my icing colors .. love trying different color combos and bringing a cupcake to life.” Agree!!

•  And just like Angelica Geoge, who suggested decorating pens, I always have these in stock.  (CLICK HERE for tons of information on food coloring pens.)

•  Marie’s must-have decorating tool is a “wooden skewer with a sharpened tip for drawing fine features with frosting.” Now something new I have to try.

•  Emma Gonzalez says “My fondant roller is my favorite tool.”

•  I have not mastered my convection oven, though, as Tracy has, sigh.

•  Some other good go-tos: Ziplocks (Maureen) and

•  a gum paste/fondant tool kit (Christa Dunn).

•  And Elane has a Cricut, something I’ve yet to find under the Christmas tree!

•  And yay, I’m glad sticks got in the mix! Thanks, Tammy Moore, for adding popsicle sticks.

•  Katie S. uses tweezers (yep, definitely helpful for things like dragées!)

•  Sharon uses a paintbrush to decorate sweets (I love “painting” sweets, too! And even added that to the book.)

•  Suz is right on when she says “my all time favorite tool is a steady hand”!

•  Amber, too, mentioned the internet, and Julie mentioned Pinterest. The source of MUCH addiction, I mean, inspiration, to be sure!

•  Jamie Spagnola said, “I can’t live without my ‘google image search!’”  YES! I agree. Certainly not to find and copy others’ work, but when drawing or creating art on sweets, especially objects and cartoon characters or landmarks, sometimes you just need to see what they look like. I understand this fully. At the cookie store, we’d have requests daily for such things (Big Ben? A hammer? Dishwasher? Garfield?). In the early days, we didn’t have internet access, so we had a huge ClipArt book we called “The Bible.” Once google images came about, it changed the game.

COOKIE DECORATING

•  Squeeze bottles—I actually don’t use these, I use decorating bags instead for cookies, but most swear by the bottles!

•  Lorna “ cannot live without my boo-boo stick from Karen Cookies ( apparently I make a lot of boo-boo’s ).” And Penny Carsner said the same thing. And Cynthia H.  And Shelley. Me too! We went through many boo-boo sticks when I worked at the cookie store. They aren’t easy to find, I’ve found them wholesale, but not retail, so I’m glad for the Karen’s Cookies tip. Find them HERE.

•  Ryan Alice Piccine can’t live without a silpat mat, “an amazing multitasker.”

•  Vbaler, yes, luster dust definitely counts as a tool.

•  Decorating tips are must-haves. I use sizes 2, 3, 4 and 5 for cookie decorating, but 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 are the most popular. (GOTTA get some 1.5s)

•  Amanda @ Foodfascinations says “I can’t live without a wooden skewer when I’m decorating. They are great for helping to flood royal icing and mix in color.” Another item now on my must-try list.

•  Linda Livingston says she uses dowel sticks to make sure all the cookies are the same thickness.

•  Shirley Murray, I must agree, says cookie cutters. “I love to decorate cookies using my large collection of cookie cutters. I find the cutters at thrift stores for pennies! Can you believe someone would part with their cookie cutters?!” Um, no, no I can’t.

CAKES

•  I also agree with the many who said offset spatulas are crucial for frosting cakes and cupcakes.

•  When it comes to cakes, it seems tools to just get that frosting on their smoothly are paramount. Lindsey (café johnsonia) writes, “my favorite decorating tool is my bench scraper.” As did Amy Nguyen for “clean sharp edges!” And Robin, from Bird on a Cake, too. And a turntable is also a popular choice, and Connie added a cake splitting tool, “like a giant cheese slicer.” And Jane uses a cake lifter.

•  For cake decorating,  stars, leaf tips, number 22 and the 2D nozzle are popular decorating tips.

CUPCAKES

•  Windy writes “I grew up on cupcakes iced with a knife or if we were getting really fancy, a spatula. I’ve found the joy of icing bags and tips. Now that I’ve found them, I can’t live without them!!” Yep! Me, too!  The popular decorating tips for cupcakes are stars, leaf tips, and the 1 M.

•  Shelly says for simple piping, she uses her “Tupperware ‘ball.’ I just fill it with frosting, stick in the tip, and squeeze.” I’ve never heard of this. I think I found it here at amazon. Where have I been?

UPDATE:

Gotta add a couple more from the comments below.

• Natasha uses chopsticks instead of toothpicks. I’m so going to try this.

• Mandy uses a pizza cutter for fondant. YES! Great one! I have pizza cutter listed in Sugarlicious, too. I use that all the time for fondant. Had to add here since I forgot that the first time around. Thanks, Mandy!

MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND WHERE TO FIND THEM…

Well, you could buy Sugarlicious for the extensive list of every supply you’ll ever need and the many stores and locations for buying them…. but I also have lots of tips and links HERE.

Thank you everyone so much for all of your tips and tricks and tools!! I know I got a few tips.

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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!

To enter to win the 101-piece tool caddy from Wilton, a $145 value, CLICK HERE.

I received so many more comments than expected (900 and counting!), so it will be impossible to list every single one here, but I encourage you to scroll through what everyone is saying.  I’ve gone over them all thoroughly and tried to consolidate as many as I could. Today is all about the TIPS you gave me, and tomorrow is all about your (and my) favorite TOOLS.

What thrilled me the most was that reading your comments was like reading Sugarlicious. I kept saying  (to my cat, who was the only one listening), “Yes! Yes! I put that in the book!” or “Me, too!” and “Totally agree!” It made me have even more faith that this book is for YOU. So many of the topics brought up are in the pages of Sugarlicious!!! Phew.  Even better? The gems of advice that I didn’t know. I thank YOU for teaching me!

First, what treats do you like to decorate??

Overwhelmingly, you said cookies and cakes and cupcakes. Without a doubt these three treats are the most popular, especially cookies. Cake pops made a respectable showing, as did truffles and marshmallows and petits fours and little cakes and chocolate and candy. I got one for sugar cubes (Cathy, love this idea!) and surprisingly only a couple for brownies, one  for Rice Krispies treats (Shari), one for donuts(Jory) and only one for pie (Laci Jamison). Cristy Smith decorates strawberries! And we even had a soapmaker (Kelly Croasmun) and  glass fuser (Dianne Van de Carr).

What are YOUR tips and tricks for decorating sweets?

What came through most strikingly was your passion for decorating cookies, cakes, cupcakes and other treats. It’s a hobby–and in many of your cases, career–shared by so many, not to mention passed along generations, as there was lots of talk of grandparents and grandchildren!

Some of the best tips speak to this passion and to a general approach to difficult tasks. Such as Lindsey’s advice to “create what you love,” and “with Love and calm” (Vania).  Patience and practice and imaginationwere three oft-used and important words. And as Tracy Turner says, “Make it fun, otherwise it becomes a drudge, and who wants that??” I love Cindy Schriver’s advice, too, to think outside the box like decorating the “back of chocolate bars and putting flowers on Andes mints.” And Indiana Feliz-Delacruz writes,  “One of my favorite tips would be to be creative – incorporate nonedibles into your decorating (fabric bunting, use wine glasses to hold the cupcakes, etc.)”.

And of course, the practical, such as cleaning as you go (Elizabeth from Lone Stars and Stripes). Or, from Inez, “decorate when you’re not exhausted, on a major time constraint, and most of all have a plan. Don’t forget to have fun.” And being prepared is key: From Susan (Oliepants): “have everything ready to go by the time you are ready to decorate – i.e. toothpicks, glasses with water to store your icing, icings, tissue for clean up, etc. It helps so much instead of frantically looking for something when you’ve already started.” And give yourself time! As Linda from Bubble and Sweet says, “make sure you have a couple of days up your sleeve.”

And I couldn’t agree more with Barb Ann Cline that  you should “Always use a coupon when going to Michaels, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby etc. You can get them in the sunday paper and if you have a smartphone get the geopons ap.”

Hee hee, from Tracy, “make sure the toddler is sleeping before starting the project!!” Yes. I hear you. Also this one from ColleenBF to keep your “husband out of the kitchen when decorating.”

Lisa from Sweet2EatBaking is so right on when she said what matters most is “consistency. It matters from cake batter, cookie dough and clearly royal, and butter icing. If consistency is wrong, it just won’t work.” I say that over and over, too.

And some of your tricks for decorating specific sweets:

COOKIE DECORATING:

Make ahead tips: Taysha makes her royal icing the day before. (YES! definitely, I make mine even up to a week before! Saves your sanity.)  And Brittany bakes her cookies the night before. I do, too. This is the beauty of cookie decorating, so much is done ahead of time, it’s very party-friendly.

One I’ve never tried, Rachelle Dimm rolls dough in a ziplock bag, so no flour needed!

Royal icing tips: Many of you pointed to this fabulous technique created by Karen’s Cookies. As described by Susan Nienhuis, “using saran wrap to encase the frosting before putting it in the disposable pastry bag.” Leah, Barb and Janiece mentioned the same technique! Gail uses this technique, and uses “two different wraps with 2 colors for more fun; just thread them together through the tip.” To see this technique in action, CLICK HERE to visit Karen’s Cookies.

I’ve never tried this, but I love this yummy idea from Jini P. to “add a little extra flavor to Royal Icing and also thin it at the same time, is to use heavy cream instead of water. It works beautifully.”

Marie keeps “my frosting on the stove at low heat to liquefy it, which makes for much smoother lines.”

Kaitlin folds the bag over the edge of the glass to keep it open while filling it with frosting or icing. (Absolutely!! I do this too, only I use my daughter’s Backyardigans cup.)

The decorating: Jen uses Sweet Sugarbelle’s trick of tracing a picture on your cookie with a food marker first. I love this tip. Why don’t I do this?  (Find an example from Sweet Sugarbelle HERE).

And how beautiful does this sound? Ryan Alice Piccine embellishes her cookies with “white chocolate that I have infused luster and disco dust inside.”

CUPCAKES

Tiffany at Fizzy party store buys store-bought cake mix mix so “I can use my time to really jazz up the cupcake tops.” Amen. So do I! And I say this about a jillion times in Sugarlicious.

Rikki Dee scoops the batter with an ice cream scoop.

And there’s a lot of cake and cupcake freezing going on, something I must try more of, as a huge fan of anything make-ahead. Rebecca L. writes “my trick for cupcakes is to always freeze them at least overnight. Put them in as soon as they cool. It makes a huge difference in how long they stay moist.”

EmmaS decorates cupcakes and makes papercraft little picks to match.

Sophie Potter writes “A fun tip for cupcakes: make a small batch of sugar cookies and cut them into fun shapes – they are perfect to put on top of an otherwise uninteresting frosted cupcake! Easy and fun!”

CAKES

Micupoftea uses Meringue Powder in cake batters. Gotta try that!

Some frosting tips… Amy Nguyen always uses a “shortening-based buttercream as it is more stable under warm weather.”  Megan writes, “When decorating with butter cream, if the buttercream is getting too soft, toss it back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to let the frosting set a bit, which makes smoothing out designs easier.” Terri Gottberg “swears by using a 3/1 mixture of apricot preserves and water to brush on my miniature cakes before icing them. It makes them so moist and the icing, whether buttercream or fondant adheres beautifully.” Shannon says “My mom taught me to put a piece of paper underneath the bottom of the cake before I frost it so no frosting gets on the display tray. Then once you’re done, just pull the paper out!”

For smooth frosting, Susie uses an “Italian Meringue buttercream, ices the cake, chills, then scrapes.”  Julie Riley smooths  buttercream with “water and my dough scraper.” Karissa uses a fondant roller to “smooth my buttercream to look like fondant.” (I’m so going to try this!!!)

And the freezing continues. Catherine and Daniele Smith both freeze before decorating, as it avoids crumbs from the cake in the frosting. Shelley Kervel, too, says “always freeze your cake the night before you have to decorate it so that you have plenty of time to work on it without your buttercream getting soft or your layers budging!” Sandy says “My tip is to freeze the cake after decorating to keep it moist.”

CAKE POPS

Claudia is exactly right when she says that for cake pops, the right consistency of candy melts is key. She adds a teaspoon of Crisco (so do I!!). Leslie advises “to make sure the cake warms up a little before dipping in chocolate, or else they crack.” I had no idea that’s why they cracked! That happens to me… so good to know. Jenn uses the container from Toffifee to rest them in after dipping them in chocolate. “They stay round and don’t stick.”

CANDY MELTS

Beth at Hungry Happenings, as many know, is a master at modeling chocolate. “My tip would be to heat water in an electric skillet set on the lowest setting, set glass jars filled with candy melts down into the water, and allow them to slowly melt. You can work with them all day long.” Bah-rilliant. I’m going to do this next time I work with candy melts.

Stephanie writes, “Honestly, I can’t live without my two plastic forks with the two inside prongs broken off for dipping candy. I’ve tried everything else and they are by far the best!!” Definitely a trick I’ve never tried and now must! Thanks, Stephanie!

GENERAL ICING AND FONDANT

For fluffy icing, Pamela writes  “put your bowl in the freezer for an hour before adding everything to be mixed. The coldness of the bowl will help the icing be more fluffy!” Another trick that I have to try!

Jenny uses a “50:50 of gum paste and fondant to make decorations.” Sheesh, why didn’t I think of that? I stay away from gum paste since it’s so hard, but adding fondant is a brilliant trick.

I agree with Dora: “Using cookie cutters makes nice fondant shapes and you can dust them with edible colours to give them more sparkle!”

Fabulous tips, everybody, thank you!!!

Come back tomorrow when I talk about the TOOLS we all use!

For now, I’ll leave you with this poem left in the comments, by Lina:

All year round we like to bake
the sweetest is to decorate
then one year, we made it clear
cupcakes are reason to celebrate

For Cupcake Day we say Hooray!
and to our friends we give away
our Wilton products we could not do with out
but our tools could use more help

Bottles, bags, tips, and dyes
glitters, jimmies, up to our eyes
the finest cakes we do create
because we love to decorate

Pick us please,
these tools we need
to frost away
on Cupcake Day!

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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!