Ready to PAR-TAY owl cookies

Soft pink, bright pink, pale green, white and chocolate brown. Put it all together for a first birthday and you’ve got a baby well on her way to little girl.

This particular pumpkin – Emmy’s – first birthday party came with the whisper from a whimsical little owl, perched on tiny tree branch and all dressed up for the party.

I made these cookies as favors for my cousin’s daughter, on the one year marker for the quilted birds and bottle cookies I did for her baby shower last January. These cookies tapped the same pastel palate.

The owl’s wrapped gift – like all thoughtful presents – required some planning. To place the present right on the owl’s belly and under it’s right wing, I needed to make royal icing transfers a day ahead.

Which prompted me to select the right cookie cutter and size the design for the cookie. To do this, I cut the owl’s image from the invitation and copied it on a home copier. Then I copied the image of the owl and changed the size until I found the size that fit the cookie.

I was able to free-hand most of the details, but it was important to get the shape and position of the owl’s body correct. To do that, I made a template of the body from a plastic sheet intended for sewing patterns. It was great for doing a number of cookies (50 plus in this case) because plastic is (virtually) forever. Once made, I simple traced around the template with an edible food marker, in yellow.

To accompany the owls, I also made a few monogram cookies, leaves and number one’s. Such fun for a sweet baby, er, toddler. (;