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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Those sneaky Victorians sure knew how to circumvent uptight social mores with style. By attributing meaning to flowers (as in, the Language of Flowers, as in, floriography), they could send covert messages to their secret loves via bouquets. How very clever and romantic. I’m taking their cue, but without the secret lover part.

These flower cookies serve as wishes of health for a friend of mine who underwent surgery. The Eglantine Rose, according to the Language of Flowers, signifies a “wound to heal.” (Scroll to the end to see the flower in real life.) I’m sure we can all interpret “wounds” as we wish, beyond the cut of a surgeon. I know all too well how fragile the body is and how easily we are wounded, but we’re designed to heal. For my friend, I’m hoping that happens quickly!

to make Eglantine Rose cookies

you will need:*

cookie dough

royal icing

circle cookie cutter (2-inch used here)

food coloring (white, yellow, pink and brown)

3 disposable decorating bags

2 couplers

2 decorating tips, size “3″

rubber bands

flat paintbrush

liner paintbrush

*Find the cookie cutter (maybe part of a set), decorating bags, couplers, tips and paintbrushes in the craft store. For food coloring, I suggest Americolor Soft Gel Pastes, found online or in specialty stores. Bright White, Egg Yellow, Electric Pink and Chocolate Brown used here. For tips on finding supplies, click HERE.

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

step two: make your icing. Prepare royal icing according to the recipe. Divide and tint white and yellow (you’ll need a lot of white, just a little yellow). Prepare two decorating bags with coupler and tips. Fill one with half of the white icing and one with the yellow. Close tightly with rubber bands. Cover remaining white icing.

step three: decorate your cookies. Pipe the flower centers with yellow. Pipe the outline of the petals with white icing and let set 15 minutes. Thin remaining white icing with drops of water, stirring well, until the consistency of thick glue. Fill an empty decorating bag with the thinned icing, close with a rubber band, and snip off about 1/4-inch from the tip. Loosely pipe icing to fill the flower petals, encouraging the icing as needed with a toothpick. Let the cookies dry very well, preferably overnight.  For general cookie decorating tips, click HERE.

step four: paint your cookies. Pour a few drops of white food coloring on a palette (plastic plate, wax paper, whatever) and add a drop of pink. Mix with the paintbrush. Dip the flat paint brush in the paint and, starting from the edges of the petal, lightly pull the brush towards the center of the flower to paint the petals. You can add a drop of water if the paint mixture is too thick. Next, pour a drop of pink on the palette and go over the light pink at the edges a bit. Mix some drops of white coloring with some brown drops to desired shade on the palette, and use the liner brush to add dots on the yellow. Let dry. For more tips on painting on cookies, click HERE.

By the way, this is what the real thing looks like:

This is not my photo! Click the pic to go to the original source,

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Some of you may remember I contributed some wedding favor ideas to the June issue of BRIDES magazine. Well, you can spot me again in the October issue. In this blog post you’ll find the how-tos for making the painted cookies in paper cones that appear in the issue. Use any decorative paper you like, and just match the cookies to the paper. Or, instead of cookies, save some hours and use any small candies or treats.

The decorative paper shown is from Paper Source. Click HERE to go to this pattern, the Yuzen Red and White Blossoms, but you can’t help but linger on this site with all the paper choices.

you’ll need:*
cone template

painted cookies

*Find decorative paper, cellophane bags and ribbon at the craft store. Choose bags roughly in the 4 by 9-inch size. Click on “cone template” above to go to the template.



step one: Print the templateon plain, letter-size paper and cut out the template.


step two: Trace the template with a pencil on the underside of decorative paper and cut out. If making multiple cones, try and trace templates as close together as possible to minimize waste.


step three: For each cone, fold at the flap. Place a piece of double-sided tape along the entire length of the flap (on the decorative side). Roll the cone and seal at the flap.

step four: Place a couple cookies in a cello bag, and fit the cello bag as far into the cone as you can. If necessary, use a small piece of double-sided tape to secure the cello bag to the cone. Fill the rest of the bag with cookies and tie closed with ribbon.

you’ll need:*
cookie dough
frosting or icing

*The frosting is used only to adhere the fondant to the cookie. You may use anything you like, even store-bought, or just brush the cookie with light corn syrup instead of using frosting. Find pre-made fondant in the craft store or online or make your own. Also find the cookie or fondant cutter at the craft store, probably as part of a set of circles. Paint brushes will be in the Fine Arts section of the craft store. Use a plastic egg carton, plastic plate or sheet of wax paper for the palette. For food coloring, I suggest Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Sky Blue, Electric Pink, Red Red, Bright White and Chocolate Brown used here). For more tips on finding supplies, click HERE.

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


step two: Tint fondant by kneading a drop or two of food coloring into a handful of prepared fondant. Or, if you prefer, leave the fondant white. If the fondant gets sticky from overhandling, let sit uncovered at room temperature for about 15 minutes until easily pliable. Use confectioner’s sugar on your surface if needed to prevent sticking.


step three: Roll out fondant about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out circles with the same cutter you used to cut out the cookies. Adhere the fondant circles to the cookies with a dab of frosting, icing or brushed corn syrup. Let stiffen a couple hours, uncovered at room temperature, and then paint.


step four: Paint on your cookies: Pour a few drops of food coloring on your palette. Add a drop or two of water and mix if the food coloring is thick. For pastel colors, add a drop or two of white, mixing well. Play around with more drops of color or white to achieve desired colors, always starting with one drop at a time.

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1997 was a bizarre year for me. I needed a series of major surgeries, so I took the whole year off, moved in with my mom, and spent much of the year in and out of hospitals. But it wasn’t all bad. I had this sanctioned year off with no responsibilities, no kids, no job, just TV watching and crafting. When else in life can one do this? I took classes on decorative painting, found old glass jars, and went nuts with my acrylic enamels. Every single time I spot Renee’s work, I think of this year of leisure (minus her talent).

These sunflowers are a throwback to 1997. I pulled out my little round brushes, my “palette” (ie egg carton), my “paints” (ie food coloring) and painted the same sunflowers I painted 14 years ago (minus the post-surgery pain killers).

UPDATE: My sister was terribly offended I also failed to mention the other bonus of this year: Traveling with my wonderful and beautiful sister to London and Paris. Yes. Between major surgeries. (She carried my bags.)

To make these, I just used my cookie recipe, chilled, rolled out, cut out squares, inserted sticks, and baked. I mixed up my royal icing, tinted light blue with Americolor soft gel paste, Sky Blue, and flooded the squares with the icing. I let the cookies dry overnight. Then, I poured a few drops of food coloring on a palette (Egg Yellow, Electric Green, Leaf Green and Chocolate Brown), mixed each with a couple drops of white food coloring, and painted away. By the way, Renee happens to have a great cookie painting tutorial HERE at University of Cookie.

My kid also pulled out her camera and took some pictures. I think the first one of the off-center Easter Bunny Pez dispenser is a reflection of existential angst and the feeling of meaningless in the over commercialization of culture.

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Does anyone out there get the Cake Central Magazine? If so, can you look at the October issue and tell me if you spot these cookies in it? Cake Central found me, contacted me and asked me to paint some cookies for the issue. So I rolled out, cut, baked, sugared up, painted, drew, propped and photographed these birdie cookies just for Cake Central Magazine. And now I have no idea if they are in the magazine. I keep trying to contact the person who found me, contacted me and asked me to paint some cookies for the issue and I never hear back.

As one who has been entrenched in the writer/submission world for so very many years (though I should note, ahem, I didn’t “submit,” I was solicited) I absolutely understand space and aesthetic concerns, so if you don’t see my cookies in there, no sweat. I have a nice big folder of rejection letters already, andI have a pretty thick skin about such things (though did I mention I was solicited? I didn’t submit?). But the ask-me-for-something-I-go-to-lengths-to-comply-then-you-forget-me thing is more concerning.

Alas, I will give the benefit of the doubt and just assume there was some unforeseen snag somewhere in production, and the whole staff is up to their ears in craziness, and all intentions are good. Right? I hope so. But I thought these little guys at least deserved to have their 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!