Ladybug Cookies

We recently had a little impromptu get-together with family and friends to celebrate my niece Sophia's 3rd birthday. {Have I mentioned that my husband and I have 10 nieces and 3 nephews between us? Some are here in Arizona and some reside in South Africa} 

Sophia's birthday wish was to have a Ladybug Party!  My sister did a great job of fulfilling Miss Sophia's spring-buggy decor request, especially considering we are smack-dab in the middle of Fall. She posted about it HERE.

As soon as my sister mentioned ladybugs, a photo taken of my daughter from several years ago popped into my head. This photo:

A sweet memory circa 2005. My little girly admiring a bounty of ladybugs. A rite of passage of sorts, isn't it? I HAD to try and translate this into ladybug cookies.

Rarely does a cookie plan execute itself as well as what I visualize in my head. More often than not I am disappointed by my inability to produce what my mind sees or what I assume another cookier would certainly be able to create with ease. But then there are moments where my hands create something unexpected. Such as these little ladybugs. I am not sure how this idea came to me. I had consumed an Ace Pumpkin Cider by this point, perhaps that did the trick. Yum.

I used Sweet Sugar Belle's 20-Second Icing for these guys. The bugs shown above were made as samples on a napkin and poorly photographed {sorry about that}. The ladybugs you see on the cookies in the other photos were made right on the flooded and dried cookies. I suggest practicing making a few samples like these on a napkin or parchment paper first. I guess you could make them on parchment paper, let them dry, and then transfer them to a semi-wet flooded cookie. You can do whatever floats your boat. Who am I to tell you what to do? I'm the one who drinks beer when I make cookies.

1. Squeeze out one drop of red icing- I used a Wilton Squeeze Bottle
2. Squeeze out one-half drop of black icing right next to your red drop
3. Using a toothpick, inserted slightly into the black drop, drag a bit of black down the red back of your bug
4. Using a toothpick, slightly dab the pick into the black drop,
5. Remove the pick and lightly dab it on the back of the bug to make the wing spots
6. Smile and admire your cute ladybug creation

Photo by my sis: Back Country Belle

Photo by my sis Back Country Belle

The bigger round ladybugs were inspired by these plates on Amazon.

My sister took beautiful pictures and posted about these cookies HERE. On a special note: the silver candy dish she displayed them in, once belonged to a true lady and loving baker, our grandmother. We love and miss her deeply and hope that we make our families feel as loved as we felt loved by her.

Thank you for stopping by~
Heather