Santa cutters?  To make mermaids?  Yup!  Let's just say that it's my own little "Christmas in July" party.  I love being able to re-purpose cutters!  I realize that it's a gift that I have that not everybody has.  Other people can sing and dance and reach the the top shelf of their kitchen cabinet without a stool.  Me?  I can make a mermaid from a Santa cutter.  #winning      

So which Santa cutters did I use for these cuties?

This Santa cutter is my current favorite to make Santa cookies.  It comes in a set with some other Wilton holiday cutters.  Find it here.

This cutter is Wilton's Santa comfort grip cutter.  Find it here.

I try to stick to my *average* sized cookie (say 3.25"-3.5") when I complete my orders.  It's ingrained in me, through my attempts at keeping things even-steven between my boys.  Otherwise known as my attempt at World Peace.

Sometimes, I still purchase mini cutters or extra big cutters because you just never know when you'll need them.  Lo and behold, an oversized Santa makes a great mermaid too!  Find this cutter here.   

So don't neglect those "out of season" cutters.  You might just find a shape that will work perfectly for your design!

I have always admired magnolia trees and the blossoms they don.  The rich, glassy leaves. The ginormous white silky blossoms.  It's just amazing to me how a tree can produce such LARGE, beautiful flowers!  Although I haven't spent much time in the South, I can just imagine a Southern Belle sipping her mint julep beneath the shade of a magnolia tree.  Sigh.

A few years back, I made a cookie magnolia and just loved it!  I decided it was high time that I shared how to make it!  

I used a six-sided flower cutter, like the one in the picture below.  I think I purchased this concentric flower set from Walmart.

What you'll need:
* six-sided flower shapes, baked with your favorite cut out cookie recipe
* white icing 20-second consistency
* green icing- just a little bit!
* yellow nonpareils (you could use yellow sanding sugar or icing if you can't find these) 
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9. About 30 seconds after piping the green center, add the yellow nonpareils.  

I love these blossoms because they use a widely available cutter, and they don't use an airbrush!  And remember, if you can't find yellow nonpareils (or don't feel like getting a huge container of them) just use yellow icing dots!

May these magnolia blossoms bring out the southern side of y'all!  

I have a confession.  I've never actually been to a tropical beach.  Sure, I've been to the beach- I live a little over an hour away from the Atlantic Ocean.  The thought of visiting a real tropical beach- like in the Caribbean-  is really, really appealing.  Hot sun, a cool fruity drink, soothing sound of the waves.  But then the reality sets in.  I get sunburned in about 2 seconds, flat.  I don't actually swim in the ocean- I'm more of a stand-in-the-surf, let's-go-find-seashells kind of girl.  I am wary of the unknown creatures that reside below the ocean's surface (thank you Discovery Channel).  So when I made these cookies, I had to rely on lots of photographs to imagine what a real tropical beach would be like, and ignore the reality of the sand grains that never seem to wash away no matter how many times I shampoo.

Although I made this cookie design on a plaque shape, it would work well on many different shapes, like a circle, oval, or rectangle to name a few!  OOh- imagine this on a thought bubble shaped cookie!!   

What you'll need:
* baked cookie shape using your favorite roll-out recipe
* sand-colored royal icing in 20-second consistency
* aqua blue royal icing in 20-second consistency
* darker blue royal icing in 20-second and thicker consistencies
* white royal icing, in piping consistency and very thinned flood consistency
* dark brown royal icing, in piping consistency
* medium and dark green royal icing in piping consistency

7.  Use the darker green to add more leaves and shrubs.  You're all done!

I love how you can see the sand beneath the surf!  I airbrushed a tiny bit of pearl sheen to add just a touch of extra sparkle. 

These cookies would be a great addition to any luau or beach-themed cookie collection!

See how I made a similar hula-girl cookie design here.  

Ice cream cones are a favorite summertime cookie design.  Check out my spin on this cool treat!  It's super easy!

While your ice cream cone is drying, smear a thin layer of your ice cream color on a piece of parchment paper.  I used an offset spatula for this.  Let the smeared icing dry.  It shouldn't take too long- less than 30 minutes depending on the humidity level.  

Add a few drips and some lines on the ice cream dome and that's it!
Wasn't that easy?

I'd bet that this technique would look cool on single ice cream scoops made with a trimmed round cookie.  Or better yet, an ice cream cookie with
some REAL ice cream on the side.
Yum.

Check out these ice cream cone cookie designs from Sweet Sugarbelle and
The Bearfoot Baker!
In the meantime, here's an ice cream cone toast to you and your summer!

Inspired by a bikini cookie made by Sweet Sugarbelle, I used a corset cutter to make this cute hula girl cookie!  I used a ruffled edge corset cutter, like this one. 

Check out my video on how I made it!  This video was my very first iMovie.  I won't win any Oscars, but I learned a lot in the process! 

I received many wonderful inquiries as to how I created the seashells for this "Sweets from the Sea" collection.  Check out my tutorial on the starfish here. 

When I think of starfish, these beauties come to mind. 

Do you know that they are called "Sugar Starfish"?!  Honest!  And with a name like that, I just knew I had to cookie them!  After studying many starfish pictures, I thought that I would try to recreate the texture with royal icing and nonpareils.   

School will be out for my kids in less than two weeks.  It is the first year that I am not teaching and experiencing that sheer giddiness of handing in my classroom keys for the summer.  No, this year it's different.  In less than two weeks, my boys will be together 24-7.  With lots of fighting, and yelling, and eating, and a little bit of getting along thrown in there.  Just a little though.  My days of quiet cookie-making are going to come to a screeching halt. 

School-themed cookies are great gifts for those individuals who have tolerated and taught the offspring as a sort of consolation prize.  Of course these could be used for the start of school too!

Chances are, your necktie cutters are out anyway for Father's Day.  Just chop off the knot part and you have a chunky pencil.  

Take that grad cap and lob off the tassel.  Turn it upside down and it's great for a stacked set of books.  The grad cap cutter is also great for cute Pool Frogs.

The ultimate teacher gift, though, is an extra month of summer.  I wonder if BRP Box Shop has a box big enough for that. . .

Use a 20-second green to pipe the frog skin.  Quickly add a few yellow spots.

Grab some 20-second white and fill in the mask.  While it's still wet, add in a little blue to give it that "glass" reflective look.  Drop in some black for eyes now too!  Pretend there are eyes in the pic :)  Let dry for a bit. 

Grab some thick black icing.  Add some of the facial details- like the nostrils and happy smile. 

Once the mouth has dried a bit, pipe the snorkel tube with a thicker icing.  Mine was a little too thin, but it was already in the decorator bag.  And I was feeling lazy.

After the snorkel tube has crusted, add in a few small details to the tube to finish it off.  I think he's ready to jump in!