Please, please, please tell me that you follow
Megan of Downtown Dough. Her cookies are absolute perfection - whimsical, fun, precise, and
stunning! When her creations pop up in my Instagram feed, I invariably let out
an audible gasp.
Over the past few months, she's been offering online live classes! (Highly
recommend signing up for one!) I recently took one on cookie lettering. I was
especially curious about this since I don't have a projector of any sort...and
don't plan on getting one, but I do love beautifully lettered cookies.
In the lettering class, Megan shared a method for lettering if you don't have
access to a projector. It involves tissue paper and a food coloring pen. I
guess this method has been around a while, but guys, it was new to me, so I
thought it might be new to you, too.
First, decide on the cookie cutter you'll use and what you'll be lettering.
Next, decide on the fonts you want - you may want to peruse some free font
websites.
Format the lettering to fit inside the cookie cutter. (View at 100%.) Print
out and adjust as needed. Because I wanted the "one" and "cookie" at little
closer to the "smart," I adjusted in the next step. This was as close as I
could get it in Word.
Cut out a piece of tissue paper a little bigger than the cookie cutter. Place
the tissue over your printout and trace over the outline of the letters. If
some of the letters have large spaces, just trace the outline, don't color
in.
MAJOR TIP: use a fine-tip food coloring pen. This was a
game-changer for me after trying it with what I thought were "fine-tip"
markers. You really need a fine-tip pen. This is
the one I ordered and used.
Now, place that tissue paper over the cookie that has been iced with
royal icing
and dried overnight. Trace over the letters again.
You'll be left with a light stencil of the lettering.
Use a small tip,
like a #1, or a
tipless bag
with the tip cut very small, to trace over the letters in piping consistency
icing.
For letters that need to be filled in, fill with a 15-20 second flood icing.
A fan helps for drying without divots.
I need more practice, but I'm SO excited to start using this technique more on
my cookies. (Even though, I sense a font obsession beginning to emerge.) Have
your tried tissue paper lettering?
