I made these cookies for a friend's daughter's baby shower.  Sweet Sugar Belle had a tutorial last year that used a balloon cutter instead of a ladybug cutter.  I didn't have either of them, but re-purposing is always a good thing so I tried it out.  The knot on the balloon makes a perfect place for the antennae, and I can re-use it next year for a certain someone's birthday party :-)  I made the leaves with a heart cookie cutter and just cut the heart in half and re-shaped them a little bit.

My friend Delphine bought this "Homemade" cookie press for me, isn't it the cutest?  Perfect for including a "signature" cookie with my creations.  They were a big hit at the party (and an even bigger hit when I brought a couple left over ones home for Kevin  :-)

Isn't my little raven the coolest?  Totally free-handed, not that I'm bragging ;-P  Interesting that my raven is better than my oval for the SF pennant.  Simple shapes require an exactness that I don't have. 

I used two new tools in this week's cookie-making extravaganza.

The first was my new Joesph Joseph adjustable rolling pin that Kevin gave me for Christmas.  Let me just tell you that this thing is The.  Bomb. 

I had been using square dowels from Home Depot as my thickness guide, and well, they were getting a little worn.  (Splinter cookies, anyone?)  Originally I wanted an adjustable dough board, but apparently they don't make them anymore, so he found me this contraption.  The 1/4" setting is perfect for cookies, and there's even a 1/8 or a 1/16" for pie crust!  (I guess that means I have to start making my own pie crust now, huh?  Hmph.)

The other tool I used was a heat gun.  Remember the cratering that I've been complaining about?  Well, the Experts say that a heat gun helps with this problem, so I stole (acquired) Kevin's heat gun out of the garage.  It did actually help some, though I did get a little cratering still on my dots, it wasn't nearly as bad as usual. 

I also used the convection feature on my oven to see if I could bake two sheets of cookies at the same time and have them bake evenly.  The answer is yes, but even though the oven adjusts the temperature for you, I found that I needed to adjust the time down as well to avoid over-cooking.  The cookies are a little crunchy, but I learned something.

Hope everyone enjoys the game tomorrow!  (okay, commercials.  I mean, who really watches the game??  Did you see the one with the baby Clydesdale?  awww...) 

Credits / Inspiration

Chic Cookie
The Art of Cookie
Sweet Tweets Online @ Etsy