Nautical Sugar Cookies

We are sharing how to decorate nautical sugar cookies! They are perfect for bridal shower favors, wedding favors or summer entertaining. We'll share the steps on how to decorate iced sugar cookies using the Cookie Countess Cookie Stencils with TruColor Paint Powder edible paints. With a little bit of practice you can make these pretty cookies and impress your friends or family! Read on to see how you can WIN some free stuff!

Decorating Nautical Sugar Cookies

Step 1: Decide what size cookies you want to decorate or do like we did and go with a mix of mini and 3" sugar cookies! You can make your own or purchase store bought bakery favorites. We used mini sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies to test out the Anchor Cookie Stencil and Scattered Hearts Cookie Stencil. Some sweetness was added by pairing the hearts with the anchor, then adding a pop of pink with the icing and edible paint! These would be just perfect for bridal shower favors with a nautical theme...or baby showers too!

Step 2: Ice your sugar cookies with an icing that will dry firm. We used a store bought cookie icing from Betty Crocker in white and light pink. The icing needs to set for many hours or preferably overnight before you can stencil on your design. This kind of icing doesn't dry as hard as royal icing so keep that in mind as you have to be a little careful when you begin to stencil. Royal icing could also be used since it's more firm and dries faster.

Step 3: Once your icing has hardened you are ready to turn them into nautical sugar cookies! Place the cookie stencil on top of one cookie. For colors we decided to use the TruColor Pink Shine Paint Powder for the hearts and TruColor Blue Shine Paint Powder for the anchor. The best applicator to use for stenciling with this type of edible paint is Martha Stewart Daubers. You can see them in the above bottom right of the photo and I found them at the craft store in the paint section.

The TruColor Paint Powders are 100% edible and natural! They worked well with the cookie stencils since you can mix the paint powders with a touch of water on a plate create a thick paste to use on the cookie stencil. Once your paint is mixed collect some of the paint on the end of a small dauber. Lightly hold the cookie stencil on top of your iced cookie and carefully tap the dauber to apply the paint. Do one shape at a time and allow to dry before adding another heart. We did the two anchors at the same time if your cookie is large and you can hold the stencil in place. For those that have a magnetized cookie sheet you can use Cookie Stencil Magnets to hold your stencil in place. Read on so you can learn how you can get a set for FREE for a limited time!

Tips: Have a couple extra cookies to practice on so you can get a feel for how thick the paint should be to create a crisp stencil design. These do take a little practice. If the paint powder is too thin the paint will run and bleed under the stencil. 

The scattered heart stencil was the perfect size for adding a sweet detail to the mini cookies. The nice thing about the Cookie Countess Cookie Stencils is that they come in a variety of shapes and sizes so you can pick what is best for your event and only use part of the stencil. I love the look of just one little heart in the center of the mini sugar cookie! We also used a brush and painted the top of some of the mini cookies with TruColor Gold Shine Paint Powder and TruColor Silver Shine Paint Powder. It created a iridescent sheen on the icing. If you are not having a nautical event the heart cookies would also work for birthdays, baby showers or Valentine's Day. If you are providing packaged shower favors our small truffle boxes with window fit four of the mini cookies and create a sweet presentation! The larger cookies would look pretty on a clear cellophane bag so you can see your delicate stencil work.

If you are creating a dessert display the cookies would look lovely placed on a platter. To soften the look place a flour sack towel loosely on your platter before placing your cookies. To take your mini cookies to the next level save a few and don't ice them so you can make mini cookie sandwiches by adding Nutella in the middle. Isn't everything better with Nutella!

We hope you have fun decorating some nautical sugar cookies! We are adding more cookie stencils to our shop each month. If you don't see what you are looking for in the Cookie Stencils section comment below with the styles you'd like to see added. We will select one person to WIN a free stencil of their choice (from options in our shop) + a free set of cookie stencil magnets!

EXTRA SPECIAL OFFER: If you purchase 3+ cookie stencils on one order now through Sunday April 17th, 2016 you will get a FREE set of cookie stencil magnets in your order! In the notes section at checkout type in "FREE MAGNETS" to claim your free set. Limit one free set of magnets per customer.

Happy cookie decorating!

Esther & Shauna

PS: If you enjoyed our post please share the love and pin it to save for later!

This post was written, styled and photographed by Esther of The Bakers Party Shop. If you share a photo from our post a link must be displayed back to this post and credit given to The Bakers Party Shop. All photos and content are copyright of The Bakers Party Shop - The Bakers Confections, All rights reserved 2016.