Teacher Appreciation Cookie Confection Collection

There's no sweeter way to say "thank you" to our amazing teachers than with the Teacher Appreciation Cookie Confection Collection by Confection Couture.

What You Will Need

To begin, take the fire-shaped cookie and corresponding stencil. Use Glad Press'n Seal to mask off individual stencil elements. Tear off a piece the height of the stencil and press flat against the stencil, removing any bubbles or wrinkles.

Use the Gyro Cut craft and hobby cutting tool to trim around the desired section of the stencil, in this case the apple. Peel away the trimmed portion to reveal the chosen element. 

Next, take the Stencil Genie and separate the bottom and top. Place the stencil over the bottom, keeping the design centered. Now, place the assembled Screen Genie over the the top and lock it all together using the top half of the Stencil Genie. Now, you're ready to load 4-5 drops of the first color, Emerald Green, into the airbrush tool reservoir.

Airbrushing

Always test the flow out on a paper towel or plain white paper prior to airbrushing each cookie. Adjust the flow knob as needed. Apply the color using small circular motions. Stop before the color starts to collect into droplets on top of the silk screen. Once finished, gently lift away the stencil assembly and place the cookie aside to dry.

Changing Colors

As much as possible, try to work with one color at a time. Before switching to another color, you'll need to clean the airbrush tool. First, rinse out the reservoir with water 3-4 times. Then, run clean water through the tool with the airflow turned all the way up. Repeat once again with water and then a third time with 100-proof vodka. Once the liquid is out, continue to run air through the tool for a couple more seconds.

Mixing Colors

This project requires airbrushing colors on top of other colors. Generally speaking, this isn't a problem when the top color is darker than the bottom color. However, occasionally the colors can mix together and form a different color altogether. Because of this, it's always a good idea to test this out the layering of colors on a scrap piece of white paper before moving on to an actual cookie. Also, it helps to have a spare airbrush gun so you can save both colors and not have to deal with extra airbrush cleanings.

After you've switched to Malibu Blue, you can airbrush the background color onto the 3" square cookie.

Next, you can mask off the paper plane element on the next stencil using the above technique. The Isolation Tool (just like the Quadrant Masking Tool) works perfectly for protecting the edges of the cookie from unwanted overspray.

Note: we ended up with the wrong size rectangle so we improvised and only used a portion of the ruler stencil design.

After this, add another coat of blue to the 3" square cookie if desired.

Next, switch to Honey and color in the background on the other rectangle cookie.

You might want to test Super Red on top of Honey before later finishing this particular cookie.

Next, use the Press'n Seal and trim around the apple. This time, however, you'll be peeling away the portion covering the bricks - not the apple. Switch to red and airbrush the brick background.

Isolate the numbers on the ruler stencil. Use the Quadrant Masking Tool (or Isolation Tool) to protect the edges of the cookie from overspray

Fill in the red numbers and place aside.

Cleaning the Stencils and Screen Genie

To clean the stencils, simply dip them in a bowl of clean water for a few seconds and then pat dry. 

Your Screen Genie will need to be cleaned every three to four cookies. You'll know it's time when the color begins to collect into droplets on the silk screen.

To do this, use a new spray bottle filled with clean water and spray through the screen until all the color is washed through. Next, use paper towels to hand dry the device and a blow dryer to remove any remaining liquid. Be sure that not a single drop of water touches your cookies!

Next, switch to black and airbrush the lined paper background on the 3" square cookie.

Do the same for the trail lines on the paper airplane design.

Now, finish the ruler cookie by airbrushing the black grid lines above the numbers.

Mask off the "#1 Teacher" text and finish the apple cookie!

You can add some flare to the paper airplane cookie by randomly placing some of the letters from the alphabet stencil. 

Also, now's the time to add the red alphabet to the blue lined paper cookie (airbrushing not pictured). Mask off the "Ab Bb Cc" first, then the "Dd", then the "Ee Ff", etc.

This is the last step.

Your Teacher Appreciation cookies are now ready to convey your gratitude and that of your family's!

For more tips and ideas, visit ConfecttionCoutureStencils.com today.