"Is there a theme for the shower?" I asked.
"Yes - it's Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head themed."
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head?
The toys that have all those little attachable pieces?
That creative experience of mixing and matching, customizing, and making something unique?
I had an idea.
Just like the toy came with different pieces for the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears (and hat? and moustache? and shoes?) I would make little cookies to represent the eyes, nose, etc., and people could choose the cookies they wanted to make a unique face! Pretty soon, however, I ran into a problem. While Pinterest confirmed that I was not the first to come up with such an idea, I knew I wasn't going to be able to find a Mr. Potato Head cookie cutter set anywhere. How was someone supposed to cut out cookies without a cookie cutter?
After quickly giving up on the idea of trying to craft my own cookie cutters, I decided to make templates out of wax paper, then use the templates and a sharp knife to hand-cut each of the 120 cookies.
It's a good thing I was so excited about making these cookies. I don't know if other creative people feel the same way, but when I get my teeth on a new idea or project, I tend to jump in with both feet, my entire calendar, and an open wallet. A good dose of excitement about a project can carry you pretty far... the only question is, at what stage in the project will the excitement wear off? It always does eventually for me, especially if the process takes longer than I was expecting.
One of my favorite aspects of trying something new is discovering potential problems and playing around with different ways to solve it (I blame the mathematician in me). For this particular batch of cookies, I was having trouble moving the unbaked cookies from the cutting board to the baking sheet. The cookies kept tearing up or getting deformed! Fortunately, a quick Google search recommended firming up the cookies by popping them in the freezer for a few minutes. This is a trick that I've used on every batch of cookies since.
I thought that baking the cookies took a long time, but I was sorely underestimating the time needed to decorate. Don't get me wrong - decorating is the best part. I'd rather decorate than bake any day.
However, I was definitely new to the lining/flooding technique of applying icing. I hadn't realized that the liner icing needs to have time to dry before filling in the outlines with the thinner flood icing.
This was a very good lesson to learn. It's tough sometimes when a plan doesn't work out the way you anticipated, but if you focus on the learning aspect of a problem, then you're not too discouraged by issues and you can work on solutions instead!
I really did have a lot of fun decorating these - especially because I could sit in front of the TV and watch Good Mythical Morning episodes on YouTube while I worked. Have you ever seen their "Will It" series? So funny. The "will it dumpling" episode is my favorite!
Another issue that I discovered was icing discoloration. You can probably see it in the picture to the right... notice how the brown is darker in some areas and lighter in others? It's not supposed to be like that. At the time, I didn't know what went wrong or how to fix it, but it didn't affect the taste or quality of the cookies, so it was one of those wonderful non-issue issues. Those are the best :D
And here are the results: mix-and-match Potato Head cookies! If I ever decide to do these again, I'm commissioning someone to craft me some actual cookie cutters.
These were a very ambitious start to a cookie-making hobby, but I did enjoy making them and - even better - seeing my extended family enjoy them at the shower!
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24
After quickly giving up on the idea of trying to craft my own cookie cutters, I decided to make templates out of wax paper, then use the templates and a sharp knife to hand-cut each of the 120 cookies.
I thought that baking the cookies took a long time, but I was sorely underestimating the time needed to decorate. Don't get me wrong - decorating is the best part. I'd rather decorate than bake any day.
This was a very good lesson to learn. It's tough sometimes when a plan doesn't work out the way you anticipated, but if you focus on the learning aspect of a problem, then you're not too discouraged by issues and you can work on solutions instead!
I really did have a lot of fun decorating these - especially because I could sit in front of the TV and watch Good Mythical Morning episodes on YouTube while I worked. Have you ever seen their "Will It" series? So funny. The "will it dumpling" episode is my favorite!
And here are the results: mix-and-match Potato Head cookies! If I ever decide to do these again, I'm commissioning someone to craft me some actual cookie cutters.
These were a very ambitious start to a cookie-making hobby, but I did enjoy making them and - even better - seeing my extended family enjoy them at the shower!
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24
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