OH, NO, NO! Santa is STUCK! {Santa in Chimney Cookies}

When I decided to make these cookies I really thought I had a great idea, but within an hour, I went from patting myself on the back to wondering what in the HECK I was thinking.

I usually make it a point to simplify the cookie designs I post.  This was a miserable fail.  If I wasn’t a little short on time and if I hadn’t worked so hard, I might have opted for a redo.  But who are we kidding.  This is DECEMBER!

Anyway, I made these last year.  I thought they were adorable but they were pieced together.  I try NOT to do that if I can help it, so I was pretty excited  when I noticed I had a cutter that might work.

Talk about a stinkin’ useful little cutter!  So far, I have used it to make scarecrows, wheat bundles, pilgrims, Frankenstein, and even nutcrackers!  It’s part of the Wilton 3-piece ice cream set.  If you would like to purchase a set, you can find them HERE.

You can also use a Wilton cross to make a similar version. {Like the original} Either will work…

Anyway, things were going great until I started decorating.  Besides the fact that I was realizing that my simple cookies were not so simple, it was cloudy and overcast which is not so good for my pictures, so I got a little grumpy.  The good news is, the cookies worked out well, even if they were time consuming.

If you would like to make these you will need:

• light gray, green, and flesh tone 20-second icing.  For help with making flesh tone icing, click HERE.
• red and white piping and flood icing
• brick colored flood icing

Begin by using gray 20-second icing to outline the chimney.  Be sure to create a brick pattern leave a void for snow.

Let that dry a bit, and before moving on, try my little trick.  I know I try to give the appearance that I am magic, but really I’m not.  If I am decorating a cookie, and I’m a little unsure of myself, I will often sketch directly onto the cookie with a food color marker.  This helps me to orient the position of the design on the cookie.  See?  Easy.

Once I’ve figured out where Santa is going to go, I use twenty-second icing to add a face then I outline the beard and clothing.  PS-you may have noticed I forgot to take a picture of that step.  Just pretend I did =)

When the cookie has dried a bit, fill the hat, sleeves, and bricks.  Try to remember to fill the bricks in alternating sections so they don’t run together.

Next, fill the beard, and after that add facial features.  I used a #1 tip for this.

For the next steps the pictures will show one thing, but I am going to tell you to do another.  One of those hindsight things.  Trust me.

When I made these, I added mittens, then the snow.  It worked, but I don’t know why I did it in that order.  Poor planning.

  If you make these add the snow first, and go back and pipe mittens over the dry snow.  Then add the details. {another HORRID picture, sorry!}

Since we’re talking about what not to do today, let me tell you one more thing.  Every once in a while, I don’t know when to stop.  I really wish I had not put that line along the top of the chimney, but I did.  You shouldn’t.  It looked better the other way.

Let the cookies dry overnight and you’ll have these cuties!

Don’t be afraid to throw in coordinating cookies like Santa stuck the OTHER direction.  Also, if you like these cookies but want to save time, mix it with basic Santa related cookies such a gifts or “HO HO HO” cookies.

I meant for these to be simple, but even though they are pretty detailed, I hope you’ll try them!

I hope everyone is ready to go Christmas cookie crazy.  I’ve been working hard to recover from last week’s madness, and I think I’m making progress.  To top it off, IT’S SNOWING!  That REALLY puts me in the cookie mood. I have lots of exciting projects planned.

Happy Baking cookie friends!