Cookies are a Colorful Process!

Sometimes when I talk about making cookies people don't understand what a lengthy process sugar cookie decorating really is!  It goes way beyond the baking stage.  Here is a little breakdown of an average cookie session for one set of cookies (20-30 cookies):

Baking: 1-2 hours
Mixing Icing: 1- 1 1/2 hours
Decorating cookies: 3-5 hours depending on detail
Cookies dry for at least 24 hours and many times a second layer needs to be added, which takes more time.
Wrapping cookies: 2+ hours
Clean up: too long! 


When I make over a hundred cookies at once, it is quite a process!  I'm not complaining at all, I like doing it but it does take a lot of time! 

Here are some before and after pictures of this past weekend:

Here they are all set up and ready for decorating.  The sticky notes were to help me remember what each person wanted and personalization items, things like that! When I have this many cookies my poor family can't eat at the dining room table : (

These bottles make it all happen! I ordered these from Karen's cookies (great site!) and use Wilton tips and Americolor gels for coloring the icing!

Here is the after! Lots of color, lots of icing everywhere.  These still needed some details but were pretty much done!