American Flag Cookie Cups - a Guest Post from Sweet Sugarbelle

Today we have a genius among us.

A cookie genius!

Callye is a new friend of mine that I have come to adore over the past year.

We are co-professors over at University of Cookie and she runs the outstandingly adorable and informative cookie site The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.

I am so glad she agreed to help me out while I am gone...

because let's face it I have been slacking on my cookie decorating lately.

Drumroll please....take it away Callye :)

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Hi, my name is Callye and Shelly invited me over to do a guest post today. 

Lots of people know me as as SweetSugarBelle, and I am okay with being called that because I'm totally aware that I have one of those names that makes you turn and ask your friend, "NOW, how do you say that?"

For those of you who are interested, it's pronounced cali, as in California...

ANYWAY...

I really wanted to think of something cool to do today because in a way, guest posting is a lot like house sitting.  If I do a good job, Shelly may just let me come back over some day...but if I mess up and do something like forget to feed the dog for a week, well, um, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet you won't be seeing me around here any time soon.  SO, if you feel so inclined, have a heart, and tell her I did a great job and took very good care of her house while she was gone =)

Now, any of you who already know me, probably know that I'm obsessed with cookie decorating.  Even if you don't,  it won't take you long to figure out that I may actually have some sort of  cookie decorating disorder.  So, it stands to reason, that if I'm hanging around, that's what we're going to do.

After thinking long and hard about it, I had a genius moment and decided that it would be great if I did something pertaining to COOKIES and CUPS, with just a little Fourth of July flair.  This is what I came up with.

I used my handy dandy Wilton Cupcake cutter for the cookie part of this project.  I have gotta say, I REALLY love that thing and I think EVERYONE should have one.

After the cookies are baked, you will need the items below to decorate these cookies.

In case you're wondering, 20-second icing is basically a thicker version of flood icing that I use when I don't feel like outlining everything. If you want to learn more about this icing, click HERE.

Now for the fun part, decorating. Start at the bottom and outline and fill it with blue.

Let that dry for a little while, and then add the red and white stripes, allowing the colors to dry well in-between steps. 

This is ESPECIALLY important if your icing is prone to bleeding.

At this point, let the cookie dry overnight so it will be ready for stenciling.

*A little note on the star stencils. I have two types {because I'm a hoarder like that} one being a regular cookie stencil, and the other a journaling stencil. I got lucky when I found the blue one. I came across it in the regular stencil section in Michaels, I just had to look around a little.  If you get a chance, do the same.  It's pretty handy to have around.

At this point, prepare the tools that you see below...

Oh yes, and you must not forget, my super secret stenciling tool, THE UGLY COOKIE!

Try not to laugh too much while I explain...

The ugly cookie is the product of necessity.  In REAL life, I have this big plan for my husband to build this amazing stenciling tool I've dreamt up.  BUT, since most of us know how those deals go...I had to come up with something else.  The something else is the UGLY COOKIE. 

Basically it's an old, hard as a rock, reject cookie that I use as a support while I am stenciling. 

It's perfect for this because since it's iced, it's naturally the exact height I need it to be. If you don't happen to  have an ugly cookie just lying around, try to find something else in your house that is about the height of an iced cookie, such as a magazine, or kids book.

{By the way, y'all feel free to talk your husbands into inventing a cool cookie stenciling tool and becoming filthy stinkin' rich so I can let mine hear about it for the next twenty years...}

Now that that's been said, here's how the stenciling works.

To stencil stars onto your cookie, first place the ugly cookie and the cookie you are working on very close to each other. Next,  position the stencil on top of the blue portion of the cupcake cookie, lining up the stars with where you want them to go.  Then, use the ugly cookie as a support to secure the stencil so that it doesn't move around as you work.  Take a tiny bit of stiff royal icing on the tip of the spatula...

and begin spreading it over the stencil.  Be easy with it!  Make sure to hold the stencil firmly and spread the icing away from you.  If you don't hang onto it, you will smudge the whole thing, and that's a mess that's almost impossible to fix.

When the stars are covered, remove the stencil by lifting up and away as shown below.

WAIT A MINUTE...PAUSE...HALT...errrrrrrrrrk!

So you see THAT?  Do you see the DREADED blob?!?

That's what happens if there is an open space under the design you are stenciling.

The good news is, IT'S NO BIG DEAL! *scared ya, didn't I*  Just use your spatula or a toothpick to immediately remove it and everything will be A-OKAY.

To finish up, fit your blue piping icing with a #2 tip and add the "wrapper lines".

Let them dry and you will have these.  Cookies that are cups, for my post at Cookies and Cups! {I'm really proud of that, can you tell?}  Oh yes, and they're supposed to look a little like the American flag too =)

Whew!  Okay, that's it.  I'm done {or finished if you ask my mother} but in any case, it's finally OVER!

Forgive me if I talked a little too much because I don't get out often, and that's what I do that when I see REAL grown-ups, or maybe even all the time...

I had a good time, and I'm glad I got to hang out.

The only thing that would have made it better would've been if Shelly were home.

As for me, I'm not on vacation, so you can come visit me if you want.  I hang out over at The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle, and spend all my time talking about cookies to people who's eyes don't glaze over when I get on a roll...

Thanks again Shelly for letting me crash your pad, it was fun!
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Thanks so much Callye!!

I am going to be on vacation for the next few weeks, so I have some awesome guests lined up to share delicious treats with you!
Hope you guys enjoy!
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