So I have a kindergartener. She goes to a public charter school here in Washington, DC. I’ll spare you all the charter school talk, since I’ve waxed on about it before. (To read more about the charter school system in Washington DC, click HERE and HERE.) These pencil cookies are for all the superfantabulous teachers and staff at her school, Inspired Teaching.

If you don’t have a kindergartener yourself, or if you don’t know any, I’ll tell you a little bit about what it means to be in kindergarten. It means you talk all the time. You talk all the time because you know everything. Often, having this expansive knowledge means you must correct the grown-ups around you an awful lot. You also think the world revolves around you, so you must be heard the second a thought enters your brain, no matter what is occurring around you. If the grown up you are interrupting asks you to be patient, you explain, loudly, that you can’t because the thought actually WILL leave your brain if you don’t get it out right then. As a kindergartener, you can do much more for yourself, and you know the general rules of life, but sometimes these rules are hard to follow and your toddler past still sneaks up on you in the form of whines, tantrums and arguments. In fact, arguments are relatively common for a kindergartener, be it with other kindergarteners or with siblings, friends or any grown-up. And as a kindergartener, your logic is outstanding, if only to you, so this gives you much ammunition for arguing. As a kindergartener, you also must move frequently throughout the day. This can mean jumping, running, somersaults, dancing or any similar physical activity. Often, this must be done on busy city sidewalks or during quiet time, but safety and appropriateness cause very little inner conflict for the kindergartener.

Imagine spending seven hours a day with 20 kindergarteners.

This is why we have a week of teacher appreciation. Because teachers are spending thirty-five some hours a week with our children. And they are stunningly patient and deft at handling their little (I mean big) egos. And all while teaching them stuff.

Teachers are awesome.

They deserve more than a few pencil cookies, but this is what I cooked up for the staff at my daughter’s school this week.

to make pencil cookie favors…

you will need:*

cookie dough

royal icing

pencil or crayon cookie cutter

food coloring

disposable decorating bags

couplers

decorating tips, sizes 3, 4 and 5

rubber bands

*Find the decorating bags, couplers and tips at the craft store. For food coloring, I suggest Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Egg Yellow, Chocolate Brown, Super Black and Electric Pink used here), found in specialty stores or online. For tips on finding cookie cutters, click HERE. This is the cutter I used.

step one: bake your cookies. Prepare cookie dough, chill, roll out, cut out the pencils, bake according to the recipe and let cool completely.

step two: prepare your icing. Prepare royal icing according to the recipe. Divide and tint your colors, yellow, pink, gray, black, and tan. You’ll need the most of yellow. Prepare decorating bags with couplers and tips, fill with each color and close tightly with rubber bands.

step three: decorate your cookies. For general cookie decorating instructions, click HERE.Use a 3 tip to pipe the black point. Then use a 3 tip to pipe the tan part of the pencil. Pipe and fill the eraser with a 4 tip. Pipe lines of gray with a size 4 tip. And pipe lines back and forth in yellow using a size 4 or 5 tip. Let the cookies dry overnight before packaging.

To package the cookies…

You will need:*

cellophane favor bags

ribbon

this label printable

these circle labels or white, letter-size photo paper or cardstock

Print this printable onto the circle labels or just print onto paper and cut out tags. Place the cookies in a cello bag, close with ribbon and either stick the label on the bag or use a hole punch to attach the tag to the ribbon.

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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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Anybody remember that Staples commercial not too many years ago? The Christmas carol, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” plays as a man skips gleefully through the aisles of the store. Behind him, we see (presumably) his two kids trudging through the aisles of the store, miserable. Back to school supplies shopping. Now that I’m not one of those kids, but the parent of one of those kids, I fully appreciate that commercial. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year when I can be free of, I mean, send my darling back to school. Oh, we’ve had a fun summer together, and as baby X is arriving soon, I’m glad we had so many days together to do so many things. So. Very. Many. Days. But as summer winds down, I’m going crazier and we are becoming more and more boring, and I just can’t bear another episode of My Little Pony (or seeing her brain whither away because I’m too exhausted to inspire her in other ways).  So I welcome you, school, with open arms.

I quickly hopped on board the Back to School Bake-Off, hosted by Sprinkles & Grins with Best Friends for Frosting. I got a box filled with more goodness than you can imagine to inspire a fun back-to-school treat. (I found icing and sprinkles and gems, oh my!) Check out all the Sprinkles & Grins products HERE. You must see what all of the clever bloggers did with their boxes. Flashcard cupcakes, lunch note treats, snack pops, cake pops, hand pies, oh my again!

And you, too, can enter for a chance to win a year’s supply of dessert decorating products from Sprinkles & Grins!  The contest runs from September 4th to the 27th, so I’ll be sure to remind you when it starts. Just enter a recipe and photo for cupcakes, cake pops, brownies, cereal treats or cookies using at least one Sprinkles & Grins/Signature Brands product and you could be swimming in sprinkles and icing and frosting. For contest details CLICK HERE.

These bite-size gold star cookie jars are super duper easy to make. I used Betty Crocker’s sugar cookie mix and cut out all the tiny stars. Then I decorated them with Betty Crocker’s White Decorating Cookie Icing and Cake Mate Glitter Gold Cupcake Gems. Once they dried, I packaged them in mason jars, adding notes from this free back to school printable I made so it’s clear that they are meant as a reward for a job well done.

For full how-tos to make the gold star cookie jars, CLICK HERE.

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More fun with crushed Smarties! I think this is as far as I can go with the whole “Smarties”/school thing. But methinks the kiddos will need some cheering up as school time approaches. (I’ve already declared my personal joy at the start of school when I made these Smartie pants cookies.) And as an extra bonus, I made you a printable for straw or lollipop stick flags so everyone will get the whole “Smarties”/school thing.

how to make back to school Smartie marshmallow pops

you will need:*

marshmallows

lollipop sticks or paper straws

candy melts (any color)

Crisco

Smarties candy

Ziploc

rolling pin, mallet or hammer

Styrofoam block

flag printable (optional)

*Find the lollipop sticks, candy melts and Styrofoam block in the craft store. Find paper straws at specialty stores, such as the Layer Cake Shop. If using the flag printable, you’ll also need white letter-size cardstock or heavy paper, a color printer, scissors and a glue stick.

step one: crush your candy

Place a few rolls of unwrapped Smarties candy in a Ziploc and crush with a mallet, hammer or rolling pin. I put mine on a cutting board to save my counter. Set aside.

step two: dip your marshmallows

In a microwave-safe container (or on the stove-top in a double boiler), melt the candy melts according to the package directions. I usually work with one cup at a time, and microwave on 50% power for 1 1/2 minutes, then 30 second intervals until just melted, stirring well. TIP: Add 2 or 3 teaspoons of Crisco to the candy melts before nuking for easier dipping. Skewer a marshmallow with a stick or straw and dip to coat in the melted candy melts. Gently tap off the excess and immediately coat with the crushed candy. Prop in a Styrofoam block until well set.

step three: add the flags

If desired, print out the Smartie flag printable on letter-size paper with a color printable. Cut out the flags, using the gray lines as a guide. For each flag, fold in half and cut a wedge at the end. Unfold and glue the entire underside of the flag. Wrap around the lollipop stick and press to seal.

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I’m keeping things simple this year and going with my standard for Christmas gifts: bite-size decorated cookies in mason jars. Mason jars are just so perfect for packaging. I made all of mine in advance and put them in the freezer. You can dress them up with tags, felt, ribbon, whatever, and even attach gift cards, as I’m doing with the teacher gifts. I added tags from a free printable found HERE at Sass & Peril (thanks, Sass & Peril!), that I spotted on How About Orange (thanks, How About Orange!).

I just made my go-to sugar cookie recipe and royal icing. All the cookies are cut out on 1 1/2-inch circles except for the mini candy canes. I tinted the icing my colors with Americolor Soft Gel Pastes. I prepared decorating bags with couplers and size “2,” “3,” or “4″ tips. Find bags, couplers and tips at the craft store, or click HERE for info on finding supplies. For a quick tutorial in cookie decorating, click HERE. After decorating the cookies, let them dry well overnight.

For Santa, I piped the white on the hat and outlined the mustache and beard with white icing using a size “2″ tip. Let it set a bit, then piped to fill the white, red and peach with a “3″ tip. I piped dots with a black “2″ tip.

For the candy cane, I used a mini candy cane cutter that came with a set and piped red and white dots with a “3″ tip.

For snowballs, I just piped and filled white circles with a size “3″ or “4″ tip and immediately coated with white sprinkles. For the snowflakes, I piped a turquoise background with a “4″ tip, let it set a bit, then piped a white snowflake with a “2″ tip. For tips on drawing snowflakes, click HERE.

And for the snowman, I piped and filled white circles with a “4″ tip, let set a bit, then used a black “2″ tip for the smiley face and an orange “3″ tip for the carrot nose.

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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!