You know what’s all the rage right now?
Stencils.
And why is everyone talking about stencils?
Cause they are so cool. Yes, so cool. Even if you don’t have an airbrush. (Insert cheers and clapping!)
First of all – where did this striped idea come from? I was actually asked to do a "wood grain" tutorial. Obviously, this is NOT the wood grain tutorial that was requested. (Sorry about that! I promise to get better once the kids are back in school.) The idea for this tutorial started blossoming during a trip to Costa Rica. After walking around this market, I remembered a cutting board that I had purchased years ago, during my first trip there. I was going to take a picture of said cutting board for you but it’s not very pretty anymore. It got – accidently – placed in the dishwasher. Now I’m not pointing any fingers, but a wooden cutting board. In the dishwasher. Really??
It’s purely ornamental at this point. Some would say just sentimental . . .
If you are done listening to me reminisce and would just like a visual of the cutting board, this site has some that are very similar: Costa Rican Market
beauties, right?! Some would even say – inspirational!
If you would like to have "Fun with Stripes", you will need:
- Cookie iced with royal icing, dry
- Stencil with stripes, maybe even one with varying widths
- Paintbrush
- Bit of water
- Airbrush colors
- Paper towel, comes in handy
- Stiff royal icing (RI), if you want to add the letter detail
A bit about the "paint": When painting on a cookie, I like to use airbrush colors. I find them to be the perfect consistency for painting so there’s not a lot of water to work in. That being said, I do like to work with a damp paintbrush. So, you’ll see that I’ve listed water in your needed materials. Also, the water comes in handy when rinsing your paintbrush between colors.
As far as mixing the paint colors: I used brown as a base for this project. What does that mean? Essentially, I used blue, green, yellow, and red colors BUT mixed varying amounts of brown in with each of them. This will give you nice, muted shades that all go together. For a lighter shade, use a touch more water.
A bit about the stencil: Any stencil with stripes will work for this project. Use one that has stripes that are a bit on the thinner side. I think the effect looks cool when the stripes are varying widths, but use what you have. I actually had four stencils in my collection that would have worked. No judging. I buy them to make tutorials for you. See how selfless I am! 
A bit about the paper towel: I don’t know. It’s paper towel. You could substitute a dishtowel as well. Keep your area and paint brush clean. Rinse the stencil as needed.
You’ll want to start with an iced (and dry) cookie. Lay the stencil onto the cookie, making sure that it’s on straight. Using your damp brush, apply a light coat of paint. Color in all the stencil lines that you can. Lift the stencil off and allow the paint to dry. If a touch of paint runs under the stencil, no worries. In the end, all the stripes will blend together. If it’s a lot, you can use a damp brush to take it off.
As the paint dries, you can place the stencil back onto the cookie, and paint in more stripes. If you place the stencil onto the cookie when the paint is still wet, it can smudge.
Once you get toward the end - and have only a few open stripes to fill in – you should be able to just fill them in without the use of the stencil.
Now, should you want to add the letter details, wait for the paint to fully dry. Then use a stiffer consistency royal icing to pipe on the letter. A space heater or dehydrator will help eliminate craters. No one likes craters.
And that’s it!
Some variations:
- Colors. Go crazy. Sky’s the limit on colors that you could use.
- Need the cookie to be less time consuming? Use wider stripes.
- Add any detail that you want on top! Doesn’t need to be a letter.
- A chevron stencil would look totally cool too with this painting technique.
Have fun! Show me your cookies if you use this technique. And, as always, send me your requests! Tell me what you want to see a tutorial on!! Let me know if you have any questions.
*As a totally non-essential side note: Lieblongs are my new neighbors. New neighbors love cookie gifts!!
All cookies and photos by Yankee Girl Yummies.
Kari Arroyo started decorating cookies in 2011 after deciding to take a break from nursing, and learned the ways of royal icing by reading tutorials and LOTS of trial and error. When she’s not decorating cookies, you can find her chasing after two busy boys! Check her out on Facebook or her site, and email her your cookie questions at yankeegirlyummies@gmail.com.
Photo credit: Kari Arroyo
Note: Dear Yankee Girl is a regular Cookie Connection blog feature, written by Kari Arroyo, which allows you to get all your critical cookie technique questions answered, Dear Abby-style! Its content expresses the views of the author and not necessarily those of this site, its owners, its administrators, or its employees. To catch up on all of Kari's past posts, click here.
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