I’ve received three baby shower orders in a relatively short period of time, so I’m going to try to space out their posts a bit. This order was for Baby “Shin” – her prenatal name. I’m looking forward to hearing the explanation once Baby Shin’s true name is announced at birth. 
I was given a lot of flexibility with this order. The only requirement was that I use pink. Right away I envisioned white rocking horses, a fuzzy brown teddy with pink accents, and the requisite pink onesies. My vision was so clear that I anticipated the decorating to be straightforward and easy. Not so fast, Becky!!!
First, I overbeat the icing. In order to make the overbeaten icing spreadable, I added too much water. The result… the icing just wouldn’t dry. I had to scrap (eat) all the original onesies. With no extra dough in the house, I had to start from the very beginning. Good thing that onesies are one of my favorite cookie to decorate. There are just endless possibilities of cuteness.
Then came the teddy bears. These required only piping icing, so they didn’t suffer from the fate of eternal stickiness. My problem with these was finding the right tip. I was really committed to “fuzzy” bears. First I tried a leaf tip. I knew the result was mediocre, but was hoping it would look better after drying. The next morning Jack began (as he always does), “Mom, I LOVE these cookies. You did a great job!!” But then, “Mom… I think you’re going to have to re-do this bear cookie.” If it’s not acceptable to a five year old, clearly it’s not acceptable to me!
Then I tried a #5 tip (just a big hole). I asked John if the brown icing looked like… well… you know what brown icing could look like. He hesitated before carefully wording a supportive answer. No good. Next, I cut a tip myself that I have used for various applications in the past. It was decent, but not great.
Finally, it dawned on me to use the star tip. That time, I was pleased. Isn’t he adorable? This is a picture of the first one I decorated. My technique improved as I went along and they looked even cuter.
I’m not going into the rocking horse hardships because this post is long enough already!
It was an order full of mishaps. But in the end I gained a lot of knowledge, earned three more nets, and have already received another order from an attendee of Baby Shin’s shower. Moral of the story: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”
The bears are adorable! I think they might be my favorite, so far, but there are so many of your designs that I have loved, choosing one is too difficult!
Aww, thank you, Diane! You’re so gifted yourself that a compliment from you means an extra lot!
Becky!
I’m sorry to hear you had some frustrations with making these cookies. The end result was WONDERFUL! I loved having a special touch from you at the shower and the onesies were just too cute for words!
The story behind “Shin” is that when we found out we were having a girl, I asked Rock (big brother) what her name should be. He said “My favorite girls name” with a look that made me feel really silly for not knowing what his favorite girls name was… When I asked which name was his favorite girls name. He said “SHIN!” with a look that said “Duh, Mom!” That was several months ago and he has continued to call her Shin. That will not be the name on her birth certificate, but I’m sure it’ll be a nickname for years to come!
Thanks again for the beautiful cookies. They were the perfect addition to the shower!
Thank you for the story!! Very funny and sweet too.
In terms of the frustrations; no biggie. I worked on these during the snowstorm, so I had time and didn’t feel too rushed. It was just a good learning experience. I was relieved that they tasted OK because I thought that some of the mistakes had a negative negative impact on flavor – especially on the horses. After eating a broken one, I considered doing all of them over too, but time was just beginning to be a factor.
Congrats on your pregnancy! It was an honor to contribute to such a special occasion!