You'll have them buzzing with glee when you bring out these cookies made with Bee Themed Stencils from Confection Couture!
Here's what you'll need:
- Bee Messages and Frame Cookie Stencil Set
- Will You Bee Mine Cookie Stencil
- Cookie Cutters
- 5" x 3 1/2" Rectangle
- 4" Hexagon
- 2" Circle
- AirGenie Airbrush System
- Gyro-Cut Craft and Hobby Cutting Tool
- Cookie Magnets
- Plastic Bottle with Dropper Tip
- Quadrant Masking Tool (x2)
- Stencil Genie
- Screen Genie
- Wonderbar Accessory for the Stencil Genie
- DecoPac Airbrush Food Coloring
- Midnight Black
- Honey
- Gold Shimmer
- Bronze Shimmer
- Sugar Cookie ingredients
- Royal Icing ingredients
- Glad Press'n Seal
- Paper Towels
The first step, of course, is to bake and ice your cookies!
Airbrushing the Shaded Edges
After your cookies have cooled and the icing has set, thoroughly shake your bottle of DecoPac Bronze Shimmer airbrush food coloring and load 5-6 drops into the reservoir of your AirGenie Airbrush System airbrush tool.
Test out the color and spray intensity on a piece of white paper or stack of paper towels prior to airbrushing each cookie and color. Adjust the flow as necessary using the knob on top of the AirGenie unit.
Apply the shading by aiming the tool at a low angle towards the edge of the cookie. Use a small circular motion to as you spray to keep the color light and even. Rotate the cookies as needed to cover the entire edge.
Repeat this step for all circular and hexagon-shaped cookies.
Mixing Colors
For the honeycomb designs, try mixing colors to get the perfect shade! Add a couple of squirts of Honey colorant into a plastic dropper bottle. Add an equal amount of Gold Shimmer, cap, and shake to mix thoroughly.
As before, test out the color on white paper. If necessary, adjust the color by adding either more honey or more gold.
Preparing to Stencil
For cookies that are too large to fit inside the Stencil Genie, try using the Wonderbar accessory to help hold your stencil in place.
Place the Wonderbars, magnet side up, on either side of the cookie. Next, position the honeycomb background stencil where you want it. Then, place half of your Stencil Genie on top to lock everything into place.
Use stacks of cookie magnets to help press the stencil flat against all portions of the cookie surface. Next, temporarily lift away the stencil assembly in order to position the bee masking piece underneath the stencil. This will help make the bee and its trail more visible later on.
Stenciling
Test out the spray on your paper towels and then apply the colorant using light, even coats utilizing the small circular motions mentioned earlier. If any portion of the stencil is still lifting away from the cookie surface, use a long needle or chopstick to hold that area down while airbrushing.
Once finished, lift away the stencil assembly and place this cookie aside.
For the honeycomb design of the hexagon cookie, use a couple of Quadrant Masking Tools to protect the areas around of the cookie that surround the region you'll be airbrushing. For this cookie, use both halves of the Stencil Genie in lieu of the Wonderbars. The rest of the steps are the same.
Cleaning the Airbrush Tool
Before you switch to a different color, you'll need to clean the airbrush tool.
To do so, rinse out the reservoir four or five times using clean water. Then, reattach the hose, fill the reservoir with water, and run it with the dial turned all the way up until empty. Repeat this step, once more with water, and then a third time using an inexpensive 100-proof vodka.
Once the reservoir is empty, run it a few more seconds to ensure that all the liquid is removed.
Advanced Masking Techniques
Load some midnight black into the airbrush tool.
To mask off more intricate design elements, such as the bee, use Glad Press'n Seal.
Cut a piece roughly the size of the stencil and lay it over top. Then, flatten out the plastic to remove any bubble or wrinkles. Next, use the Gyro-Cut craft and hobby cutting tool to trim any excess plastic from the edges of the stencil.
Next, use the Gyro-Cut cut around the bee element (but not the trail). Turn the blade sideways and use it to lift a corner of the trimmed portion and then simply peel it away. Position the design in the center of the Stencil Genie and mask around it using the Quadrant Masking Tool.
The Screen Genie helps keep stencil lines nice and crisp. Place it over the stencil and Quadrant Masking Tool. Then lock everything into place using the top of the Stencil Genie.
Airbrushing the Black Elements
Position the stencil assembly over the circle cookie where you want the design and airbrush it as you did earlier.
Repeat the above steps to airbrush the black border and the "You will bee missed" text onto the rectangle cookies.
Next, mask off and airbrush the bee and trail elements onto the hexagon cookie.
Do the same for the bee and trail designs on the rectangle cookie, taking care to line up the elements with the space you left in the honeycomb background at the start.
Your bee themed cookies are complete and ready to welcome Spring and all its beauty to your life and that of your friends and family!
