Bring more cheers to the New Year with these New Years Cookie Stencils from Confection Couture!
Here's what you'll need:
- New Year's Eve Cookie Confection Collection
- Sugar cookies made with the following cutters:
- Cookie Cutters
- 3" Square
- 3" x 5" Rectangle
- 1 1/2" x 3" Rectangle
- 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
- DecoPac Airbrush Food Coloring
- Midnight Black
- Silver Shimmer
- Bronze Shimmer
- Gold Shimmer
- Gold Sugar Pearls
- Silver Sugar Pearls
- White Decorating Icing
- Culinary Tweezers
- Glad Press'n Seal
- Paper Towels
Getting Started
First, bake your sugar cookies using the above cutters (recipe and ingredients not included here). Allow the cookies to cool before flooding them with white royal icing. Wait a couple of hours for the icing to harden before proceeding.
The ratio of cookie shapes for this tutorial is:
- 2x Square
- 1x Small rectangle
- 1x Large rectangle
Shading the Cookie Edges
Carefully shake your bottle of DecoPac Airbrush Food Coloring in Gold Shimmer prior to adding four or five drops to the reservoir of your airbrush tool. Always test out the spray on a stack of paper towels before airbrushing each color and each cookie.
Shade the outside edge of every cookie by angling the spray at about 45° and rotating the cookie until all edges are evenly coated. The gold color should fade as you move away from the edge and towards the center.
Masking
In order to isolate particular elements of each stencil, cut a piece of Glad Press'n Seal and lay over the entire stencil. Flatten with your fingers to eliminate any bubbles or wrinkles.
Use the Gyro-Cut craft and hobby cutting tool to trim around the desired element. Then, turn the blade sideways and use it to lift a corner of the trimmed plastic and then peel it away, leaving uncovered only the design section you intend to airbrush next. Do this for the text "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" and alternating lines "(swirls) ten, nine,...six, five,... two, one..."
Now, shake the bottle and load some Midnight Black into the airbrush tool.
Airbrushing
Now, let's stencil the "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" text onto the smaller rectangle cookie.
The Stencil Genie holds the stencil in place over each cookie. Separate the upper and lower portions and put the thicker side down, magnets facing up. Place the stencil with the chosen design centered in the middle of the square.
Next, use two Quadrant Masking Tools to protect from overspray the areas of the cookie above and below the stencil element.
The Screen Genie works by slowing the air that's pushing the colorant through the stencil. This helps prevent the color from traveling underneath the stencil, ensuring crisp, clean lines. To use it, place the Screen Genie over the stencil and then add the thin portion of the Stencil Genie over the top to lock everything into place.
Place the entire assembly over the cookie with the design positioned where you want it.
Next, add a few cookie magnets on either side of the stencil design to further help press the stencil flat against the cookie surface. This will help reduce the chances of underspray!
Spray the colorant through the stencil while keeping the airbrush tool angled as close to 90° as possible (without colorant spilling out of the reservoir).
Finishing up the Black Elements
Once finished with the "Happy New Year" element, and frequently throughout this process, wipe down both sides of the Screen Genie mesh to remove built up colorant.
Repeat the above technique to airbrush the alternating text of the New Year's countdown onto one of the square cookies.
Repeat the above masking and airbrushing technique on the other square cookie for the "POP" and the champagne glass elements.
Use the Press'n Seal and the Gyro-Cut to mask off the champagne bottle. Airbrush it in black onto the the larger rectangle cookie.
Cleaning the Stencils and Tools
When working with liquid colorants, it's important to clean your equipment frequently to avoid getting colors where you don't want them. Luckily, the cleaning process is a snap!
To clean you stencils and masking tools, simply rinse them off with clean water.
Before switching to a new color, you'll need to more thoroughly clean your Screen Genie. This can be done by either rinsing it under running water, or by spraying water backwards through the screen.
Be sure to dry everything completely using paper towels before reusing them.
Cleaning the Airbrush Tool
You'll also need to clean your airbrush tool between colors. First, rinse out the reservoir 3-4 times using clean water. Then, reattach the hose, fill the reservoir with water, and then run it through on high until empty. Repeat this step, once more with water, then a third time using an inexpensive 100-proof vodka. Once all the liquid is gone, continue to run air through the tool for a couple of seconds.
Mixing Colors
To make the Silver Shimmer stand out a bit more, try adding a drop or two of Black colorant to tablespoon of silver and mixing the two in a plastic dropper bottle.
Mix well and test out the shade on a piece of white paper before airbrushing. Adjust the color ratio until you get the desired shade.
Load the new mixture into the airbrush tool.
Silver Elements
Now, you can airbrush the rest of the words on the countdown cookie.
Proceed with the "FIZZ" text on the champagne glass cookie using the silver mixture.
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Next, you can airbrush the mist coming off the top of the champagne bottle.
Bronze Elements
Now, switch to bronze shimmer and lightly airbrush the remaining stencil elements.
*Note* The Screen Genie can trap some of the larger particles in the shimmer colors so it might not be advantageous with some of the stencil elements. However, it is still recommended for the finer elements, such as narrow text, due to the fact that without it the lines may not be as crisp.
Use the bronze shimmer to add the stars coming off the champagne bottle.
Adding Sugar Pearls
For some extra flair, try adding some sugar pearls to accent your cookies. Add a gold pearl to the label of the champagne bottle and some silver pearls to the bubbles of the champagne glasses.
Use a piping bag with the tiny hole cut in the tip to add a small dab of icing to the pearl. This will act as an adhesive to make the pearl stick to the cookie.
Your New Years cookies are now complete and ready to celebrate along with you and your guests!
