Monday, April 2, 2012

Let's Smell The Flowers Virtual Party - Iris

My friend Hani at Hanielas invited me to join her "Let's Smell The Flowers" virtual cookie party and I was very excited to be invited to play along. But, let me start by warning you that I know NOTHING about flowers. So when she read off a list of flower options for me, I didn't even know what most of them were! 

When I started riding my bicycle 5 years ago, the other cyclists made a point out of pointing out flowers and rivers and mountains, anything but the road, so that my neck wouldn't get all crinked up staying in one position. I'm just not a scenery gal. Now I enjoy ALL the sites on my bike rides, but I still don't know which flower is which. Thankfully I do have several flower cookie cutters though. 

I asked Hani if she would mind if I made an Iris. I honestly didn't even know what an Iris should look like, but a friend of mine asked me to make Iris cookies for a "celebration of life" for his mom that had recently passed away. He ended up changing his mind last minute and I made 100 daisies instead, but I had already bought this Iris cookie cutter and never played with it, so here was my chance.

I made one, yes ONE Iris. That's not really like me huh...
Well at least I made it into a tutorial for you.

The colors that I used were: Regal Purple Americolor gel, Lemon Yellow Americolor gel, Mint Green Americolor gel, Black for the outlining and Lavender from Wilton. I started by outlining my design onto my baked cookies and then I filled the bottom section with mint green.
 Next I used the Regal Purple to fill the top section of my Iris
 and then I used the Wilton Lavender to fill the middle 3 section of the Iris.
 I waited until the next day when the cookie was fully dry and then I added some lemon yellow details to the flower and some extra details onto the stem and leaves.

For a final product of:

and one more tutorial - how to put a flower on a stick WITHOUT having to bake the cookie extra thick to accommodate a cookie on a stick. Supplies: cookie, cookie bag, ribbon, popsicle stick or other and thick, strong packaging tape.
 Easy peasy - just tape the stick onto the back of your cookie bag! I think I learned this trick from the amazing Pam at CookieCrazie - luv her!
 and then turn your flower over and tie your ribbon into a bow underneath the flower. I'm not going to show you that final picture because it's not the Iris :-)

I made several different flower cookies on sticks and gave them out to the moms and grandmas at hockey last week. Thankfully I don't have to show you those. Mellissa informed me later that dandelions are supposed to be yellow. Oops, oh well, I pretty much have to add pink to most things ;-)

Thank you to the AMAZING Hanielas for hosting this "Let's Smell The Flowers" virtual cookie party and including me in the fun! I'm so excited to read all the posts by these fabulous gals! I hope you'll stop by and enjoy the virtual cookie party with us!

1. Black Eye Susan by Lisa, The Bearfoot Baker
2. Carnation by Meaghan, The Decorated Cookie
3. Cherry Tree Flower by Pam, Cookie Crazie
4. Daffodil by Georganne, LilaLoa 
5. Daisy by Stephanie, Ellies Bites
6. Dogwood by Marian, Sweetopia
7. Gerbera by Paula, Vanilla Bean Baker
8. Hyacinth by Amber, SweetAmbs
9. Hydrangea by Kim, The Partiologist
10. Iris by Cristin, Cristin's Cookies 
11. Lavender by Liz, Arty McGoo
12. Lily of The Valley by Hani, Haniela's
13. Lotus by Marlyn, Montreal Confections
14. Morning Glory by Glory, Glorious Treats
15. Orchid by Ali, Ali Bee's Bake Shop
16. Pansy Nicole, Life's A Batch
17. Poppy by Callye,  SweetSugarBelle
18. Sunflower by Bea, Cancun Cookies
19. Tulip by Lorriane, LorrainesCookies


and my floral blog background just for Hani's Smell The Flowers virtual party today:

18 comments:

  1. This is so pretty Cristin! I would have had no idea how to do an iris, and you did such a great job with it!

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  2. You made a pretty Iris, Cristin! Love the colors...

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  3. My family is very partial to irises because my great grandmother grew them competitively! She even names a hybrid she made after me! These are beautiful Cristen!!! Almost too pretty to eat...ALMOST!

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  4. Awww....I love them, Cristin. Purple is my favorite color.....so I'm partial to that part. Your style is always so fun. Great job! ♥♥♥

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  5. very nice! Iris is such a tough flower to do! I think it's amazing!

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  6. These are so pretty Cristin! I did Irises once last year, and I don't think I even bothered to share them, lol. They didn't turn out as good as yours!!! And thank you for the great idea for putting the cookies on sticks. I NEVER have luck getting the stick into the cookie without breaking it!

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  7. Wild Iris' grow along the country road where I walk Max every day. They are beautiful and your rendition on these cookies are wonderful. The colours are great Cristin!

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  8. Beautiful flower - my mom would love these! She grew them all the time while I was growing up!

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  9. Cristin, such a pretty cookie! Perfect tutorial and cookie stick tip too, thanks for sharing!

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  10. Cristin these are amazing!! I love the colors! I can almost smell it from here:) LOVE!!!

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  11. Cristin, for someone who doesn't DO flowers, you sure did an awesome job! Love, love, love the purple shades (and that you made your whole site purple for the occasion!) and the little details. I also was glad to see another cookier tape the sticks to the bags - I do that, too! I think it makes for easier eating later, and that's the best part! ;-)

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  12. I'm sorry we caught up so late in the process.
    I wouldn't know what to do with the iris and you made it look so easy and even though you don't do flowers, maybe just maybe next year you'll join the party again, what do you think, and make another flower. I'm happy you were able to participate Cristin.

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  13. Beautiful job Cristin! I love the two tone purples and the yellow just POPS. It reminds me of a beautiful stained glass window. I need to remember that bouquet trick. That is so much easier!

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  14. Beautiful job on the iris! How fun to be a part of the garden party:)

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I love hearing from you! Cristin