Salon Cookies for the grand opening of Beach House Salon in Boaz, AL

My friend Kelly in the last year decided to start over and she went to cosmetology school and opened her own salon in a year's time. She's done a fantastic job putting it all together and it really is like stepping into your place at the beach when you go in. I knew I wanted to do cookies for her grand opening and had told her so months ago. I couldn't decide then whether I'd do beach themed cookies or salon themed, but when she finally told me the date a week ago, I knew it would have to be salon themed because I only have a couple of beachy cutters.  Here's a pic of the lobby area at her salon, decked out with the Christmas tree.

Beach House Salon, Boaz, Alabama

I had seen these fantastic spa face cookies by Sugared Hearts Bakery some months ago and had absolutely fallen in love with them. Kelly thought they were perfect, so I set out staring at the pic to deconstruct just how she did them. Wow, there really is a lot of work to these, but the payoff is fantastic. You will notice that none of my faces look the same and I'd like to say that's because I wanted to give them all personality, but in reality it is because I lack the precision to make them uniform, but either way, they were still adorable.  I also did some nail polish ones, hair dryers, eye shadow kits and product bottles.  Notice that one product bottle is labeled, "Hair Gunk." I just couldn't resist and it was met with a lot of laughter.

Spa Cookies, Salon Cookies

Spa Cookies, Salon Cookies

Spa Cookies, Salon Cookies

Spa Cookies, Salon Cookies

War Eagle, Roll Tide and Happy Birthday Cookies

Living in Alabama, there is no escaping college football. This year was a particularly exciting Iron Bowl and I did cookies for a couple of Iron Bowl parties friends were having.

War Eagle cookies, Roll Tide cookies, Tiger Paw cookies

Auburn University cookies, University of Alabama Cookies, Paw Print Cookies

I also decided to try out the quick dry method for royal icing. My life may have been forever changed! Ha! I put the cookies in front of a fan on high for 30 minutes and then in the oven at 170 degrees (warm) for 30 minutes and they were dry enough to arrange/stack on a tray. I don't think I would do it all of the time, but for a last minute miracle, which I often need, since I wait to the last possible second to do these, well, pretty much anything else, too, it is a life saver.

Then my brother's birthday was later the same week and since Auburn pulled off the seemingly impossible and beat Alabama, and my brother is a huge Auburn fan, I did his birthday cookies in Auburn colors. Once again, I found myself waiting until the last minute to do them, so I used glaze on these, so that's why they are so shiny.

Happy Birthday cookies, Cupcake Cookies, Birthday Candle Cookies

I also did some Mr. Hankey and family cookies for him, but I won't show those here!