Cookies are done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been lazy the last few days, lol.

I was in a bit of a quandry the other day........the bears were dry, and it was time to put the eyes and nose/mouths on them.  I colored some of my icing black and loaded it into a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a 1.5 PME tip.  My plan was to pipe dots for the eyes, and pipe the nose/mouths to look like an actual teddy bear (think.....anchor shaped).  I did a few, and was not happy with them at all!  They were looking like utter crap!  Then I tried just a smile, but it didn't look like a teddy bear.

I was talking to Janet, and she suggested pacifiers for mouths!  So, I tried it to see how it would look.  I LOVED it!!!!  The mom-to-be does not like pink (and is having a girl, lol), so I promised her no pink on the favors or cake.  Her favorite color is aqua, so that's the color I used for the pacifiers.

I then wanted to add a little something more to the ducks........they just needed something!  I decided to pipe a small flower on the duck's head.  I realized the icing I had was way too soft to pipe a flower, or to hold up once it dried.  I was going to need some royal icing.  Now, the recipe for royal icing that I have makes 3 cups....I barely needed a half cup, lol.  So, I divided the recipe into 6ths.  This little bit of icing is not enough to mix in the Kitchen Aid. 

So, for the first time EVER I made Royal Icing by HAND (gasp!!)........and it honestly was not too bad!  It even came out looking right!

So, I fitted another piping bag with a coupler and a PME tip 1.  Now...PME tips that are this small (and smaller....they make a 00) can get clogged VERY easily!  The best thing to do is to strain the royal icing as you put it into the bag.  The way this is accomplished is running the icing through a clean knee-hi stocking.  Now...the first time I heard this, I imagined quite the mess it would make.  Then a few months ago, I saw it done (and even did it!) and it was awesome!  

You take a knee-hi and put it over a glass, pull it down over the glass until the end of the knee-hi is at the top of the glass.  Then you scoop the icing into the knee hi, and take it of the glass.  Then I GENTLY smoosh the icing into a small log shape and put the icing/stocking into the piping bag, with the end of stocking sticking out the end of the bag.  Then twist the top of the piping bag, hold on tight, and pull the stocking out with all your strength.  The icing will be forced through the stocking, straining it, and you will be left with lumpless icing!!!  I didn't believe it would work, but it totally does!

I used my new, lumpless icing, and piped small little five-petal flowers on the ducky's heads.  Once the petal were piped and somewhat dried, I used the leftover aqua icing from the pacifiers and piped the center of the flowers.  They looked really cute!!

Here are both the cookies that will be in each favor bag.  I think they look really cute, and the aqua on each one ties them together nicely.