Cookie Bouquets and More Tutorial

I thought it would be fun to get a new set of cookie cutters and opted for plastic ones this time. I usually like to go for the copper ones, but it gets kind of pricey so I thought, why not try out Wilton's 101 piece Cookie Cutter Set?

I looked inside the box and look what happened next! I made.....................

Personalized cookie bouquets, baskets of cookies and giant cookie pops! (and a little house of baby crackers for an 8 month old who can't quite eat cookies yet) These happened to be perfect as party favors for my 2 year old's birthday party.

I made letters to spell out each child's name using the alphabet cookie cutters that were included, fun summer shapes (flowers & butterflies) and large round cookies decorated to look like lollipops.

Here are most of the Cookie Bouquet Supplies I needed to put everything together.

I ended up having to make 3 sets of icing colors to decorate the cookies which was quite time consuming. This is because I thought it would be nice to get different colored planter pots for each child and I wanted the colors of the cookies to co-ordinate with their planter. I would definitely recommend getting everyone the same color to save time. Unless you are not obsessed with colors having to co-ordinate. (Something I am working on) Above is the 3rd set of colors.

To make the icing, I used this recipe.

For the sugar cookies, I used this recipe.

After baking and cutting out all of the cookies, I decorated them. Once the icing dried, I piped the royal icing one the back of the cookie, then placed the stick on it. I was sure not to press the stick down all the way to the cookie as this sometimes causes the stick to fall off even after the icing dries. I then covered the stick with more icing, then allowed it to dry completely.

For the letters, I carefully broke the long candy stick in half and attached the stick, the same way as above. Be sure to cover the broken end of the stick with the icing so that the rough end does not show.

These are the pots I used to plant the cookies in. Other containers that can be used to make lovely cookie bouquets are large mugs, decorative bowls, pretty buckets, teapots or cookie jars.

I lined each pot with tissue paper.

I then placed a bag of sugar in the pot.

Next, I arranged the cookies in the sugar. The sugar can be used for coffee or tea which are perfect beverages to enjoy with the cookies. The sugar can also be used to make more sugar cookies.

I carefully tucked in the bag and arranged the tissue paper around the cookies.

Here is what it looked like.

To finish it off, I wrapped it in cellophane and....................

tied it with a matching bow!

For the children with longer names, I lined up the cookies to surround the bottom of the pot before wrapping in food safe cellophane. This was because the pots I used were not very big. (4" pots)

To fill the pots, I used sugar, but here are some other options:

Fill a foodsafe pot/container with white sugar, topped with packed brown sugar. You can include a cookie recipe, (such as Oatmeal) so that the cookie bouquet recipient can use the sugars to bake more cookies! Oatmeal cookies require both brown and white sugar, so this would be perfect.

Styrofoam alone or wrapped in tissue paper to match the cookie bouquet container.

Florist's foam which is already green and ready to go!

Candy (smarties, jelly beans, m&ms)

Rice

*If you are using a large pot/container or makeing several bouquets, using styrofoam or florist's foam would probably be best as candy, rice or sugar may get pricey.

Here is one of the baskets filled with tulips.

The cookie pops displayed in a sundae cup.

Another completed bouqet.

A bouquet for my niece Emily.

I also filled some other sundae cups with smarties and put Twinkle Pops in them to make a twinkle pop bouquet. Can't have a child's birthday party without lots of candy, cake, cookies and ice cream!