Minor Miracle, But Nothing to Quit My Day Job Over

I know you have seen the beautifully decorated sugar cookies that I post from other blogs.  They are simply amazing and the fact that many of the bloggers featured here decorate cookies on a daily basis is crazy.  I feel I can say this with confidence because I finally got around to trying it all out this weekend.  I have always had respect for people who made these cookies, but now I might just kiss the next one I meet and then pay them $3+ a cookie to make them for me.  All kidding aside it was a fun process, but definitely involved and time-intensive.

So I first made some sugar cookies using a recipe I found at Munchkin Munchies.  There are a ton of recipes on the web to choose from, but this one seemed to speak to me, and it actually is a great buttery tasting cookie.

This particular shape is going to be used for hearts, but I have seen other bloggers use them to make some adult Valentines cookies that were very cute!

I got a little over zealous with the number of cutters I used!  It's an ongoing issue I am trying to work through.

The most important part to the whole process is that you need someone to guard the cookies until you are ready to decorate.  Good thing the Team Leader was there to help.  She also made sure they weren't poisoned by testing out a few.

The next step is to mix up royal icing.  I followed instructions found at Bake @ 350 for making and coloring the icing.  Once I got the hang of it things it went fairly well, but I definitely need A LOT more practice at the whole process.

Yes I know my outlining skills are that of a 4 year-old, but I am hoping to get better.

The martini glasses are my least fave, but I am sure someone will still eat them.  Thank goodness the Team Leader loves me...as long as I feed her cookies!

After I let the icing dry for about an hour I went back and flooded the cookies with royal icing that had been thinned out with water.

This whole tray was just a pain and it seemed nothing went my way, but it could be due to my lack of patience.  The flooded cookies have to dry overnight, and I was not willing to wait that long to try some additional things out, like adding lines.  Now they look like popcorn buckets instead of cupcakes.

I added disco dust to a few of the hearts to make them extra pretty.  Keep scrolling to see what the green ovals become.

Finally after 2 days of working on these they are done!!!!!

My BFF Type A and myself are huge fans of things going right the first time you try them, but we both had to take a step back on this one.  While I did complete the cookies, they did not turn out nearly as pretty as I would have liked.  So I will continue on my quest for perfection, realizing that the journey IS the reward!  (See Brad I listen when you talk...sometimes!)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!